The Rutland entourage we’re living it up in York last Sunday shopping, sitting in pizza express and cheering on our boys on in the prestigious city centre crit.

We had Nick in the 3rds race and Danny in the E,1&2’s .

The course was really fast with cobbled speed bumps and lined with footed railings!

After seeing loads of bad crashes, failed attacks and people packing in due to the pace… our lads both had their time handing out some pain to the other riders and both finished in one piece.

Well done lads, it was a pretty cool race to watch, I would say it was the Monaco of crits and a bloody good test for Dan’s new Chinese Carbon wheels .

Richard Teare has contacted me to tell me that he has got engaged to to his long suffering girlfriend Alicia.

As way of a celebration he has arranged for a cake to be at the cafe on Saturday morning and would like to welcome all Ruttlers and Teacakers along for a slice.

Congratulations to Rich and his lass and looking forward to a slice of cake with you on Saturday.

Steve Ellis would like to thank all those who helped him to organise Tumby’s road race at the weekend. This is a big thank you to all marshals (don’t forget if you have marshalled twice in one season you can qualify for free membership next year !!!), all lead and following car drivers and our expert photographer !!!

He would also like to say a special thanks to his wife Louise, without her hard work Steve says the event couldn’t have gone forward.

As well as thanking all of those people, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Steve, on behalf of the Rutland, for organising the event!

Right hope that covers everyone, if anyone needed thanking that I’ve missed, add a comment to this and I will add them to the list asap!

Well it was a roller coaster of a bike race today from where I was standing / shooting.

In the last week of May during the school holidays Rutland riders Andy Smith and Dick Cubison rode the Pyrennean coast to coast with Richard Walker from Sheffrec and Mike who is too busy drumming with Sheffield punk band ‘the Fuckwits’ to be in a cycling club.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB4Xw3Ngav0

We took the train to Biarritz which is a fine way to get there and knocks the spots off the bike bus.  But you do have to take your bike apart.  There are bike spaces on the French TGVs but I haven’t a clue how you book one on the main routes.  Stick your bike in a bag though and no-one bats an eyelid, plus there is no need to pay a fee.   I stuck mine in a John Lewis blanket bag, cost £7:00 and will do me a few more train trips.

We even got to Biarritz an hour early.  Got back to Sheffield from Perpignan in 12.5 hours including 2 changes at Paris and St Pancras.

From Biarritz it was six days to Perpignan following more or less the classic Raid Pyrenean route but with a loop into Spain on day 1 and finishing with the much quieter Port de Paillheres.  We managed all the classic climbs plus a few others such as the Bagargui.

The weather was varied, we had everything, hot to cold, dry to wet, clear to mist, often on the same day.

We booked accommodation at the start and finish then winged it for the rest.  That worked out really well especially the Hotel de Cimes on the slopes of the Peyresourde and the spa at Tarascon that was full of ill people smoking!  It felt like booking into an old peoples home for a night.

The Pyrenees are much wilder and quieter than the Alps though slightly less high.  But there are miles and miles of fantastic smooth quiet roads.  When we climbed over the Port de Bales I think we met about 6 cars in 40 Kms.

We didn’t find that many other cyclists except for the first day when we looped into Spain when there were hundreds on what seemed like mega teacakes.  Ever single person wearing a crash hat as well but I got away with, only saw one cop and he didn’t make me get off and walk.

We did meet some Dutch guy in the bar at the top of the Tourmalet who left to go down to Luz in the rain into the wind wearing very little.  He’s probably still shivering.  We were lucky as we descended in the rain with a tailwind!!

My own highlights were

Biarritz – Beautiful town and a great place to start

Cols de Iraty, Spectacular roads and hardly any traffic at all

Lightning strike at Argeles.  Seemed about 50 metres away from where we were eating.

Hotel de Cimes – what a place.

Port de Bales – what a climb.

The spa at Tarascon – what a hoot

more pics here

Next year I’m planning to do a trip through the Italian dolomites.  If you haven’t been before the Dolomites make the Alps look dull.  Watch this web site for details on how to sign up in the next few months.

Tuesday 2nd August saw the first race put on by the relatively new club/team RVO racing. Many of you will be familiar with the kit due to two stalwart teacakers, Mick and Tim Rowson being members. The race was held up at the excellent Barlow triangle course, this time comprising of 15 laps.

We had four Rutland riders on the line, Simon Keeton, Nick Latimer, Steve Ellis (you’ll always be Rutland and you know it) and myself Danny Lowthorpe. A glance round the rest of the field showed it was more of a quality rather than quantity field with only about 30 turning out but some decent riders in the field.

The race started out a fairly brisk pace and after just a lap Chris Metcalfe decided to put in the first attack. After sticking his nose in the wind for about a lap he was joined by approximately eleven riders that would form the definitive break of the race. Luckily for us, three of our riders, Steve, Nick and Danny were safely tucked away in the break. Behind Simon put his brakes on hard and slowed the following pack.

Despite a few notable exceptions the whole of the breakaway worked smoothly together and despite a few attacks which came to nothing the group worked smoothly towards the finish. As the laps ticked by and the finish approached, the group began looking at each other and at this point James Thompson took his chance and attacked hard alone.

James remained in front for a few laps and built up a fair a lead. With three laps to go a reaction came from the group and it was again Chris Metcalfe who forced the pace with Mike (Surname pending) and Ben Kellett in tow. Danny managed to make this move too and before long they were working very smoothly together and quickly established a good lead. By the bell it became clear that the winner would come from one of these four.

There were a few break attempts on the final lap but three of the riders remained as the rounded the final bend. Danny kicked first with the finish line in site and gained enough of a gap to raise his arms and take the win.

Nick crossed the line in 10th after leading out the sprint. With Steve coming in one place behind in eleventh.

All in all it was a great night for the Rutland. Many thanks go out to RVO for a successful first promotion. And thanks to Andy Jones for supplying the following excellent photographs.

A few weeks ago my little brother Ollie came over to compete in the English Schools time trial championships at Darley Moor. He was up against some pretty stiff competition including some of the best from our region. It was also the first time he had ridden on a proper time trial bike (he borrowed mine).

The weather as per usual for Darley moor was very windy and just after the start the rain came pouring down. However he took it all in his stride and clocked a very impressive 24:29 to win the event !!! Top work Ollie.

Then in the afternoon there was a 2/3/4 crit and so up I stepped. Luckily for me the rain had stopped and the field was looking a little depleted. I took it to them from the gun and managed to force a move of about eight or nine riders by the end of the first lap. We stayed together for the first part of the race but with seventeen laps to go, I attacked again and got a gap. Shortly after I saw another rider coming across the gap so waited for him and then we worked till the finish. As the finish line approached I managed to put in final surge and took the win.

All in all a great day to for the Lowthorpe brothers !!! My brotehr in law was on hand with his camera, see the attached pictures.

I was supposed to be giving time checks...I didn't do very well...When the big hand gets to the top...he's up!!!

A skinsuit shot that doesn't make look thirty stone...result !!! Even my ankles look quite thin.

Before the end of the race...it proper p*ssed it down....

It's always good to get the arms aloft !!!

Stalwart teacaker, Tim Hall, recently sent me this pic that he took at a recent book launch in Nona’s on Ecclesall Road.

If you look hard at the picture in the background, doesn’t it look like the spitting image of a certain “retro” member of the club ??

All answers on a postcard please to: Tony Sweeney competition, PO Box 2011.

This 2011 Etape deserves a place on the podium as the most difficult edition ever due to the course profile coupled with the appalling weather conditions.
Setting off in July you’d expect the weather to be fairly warm. Not this day as the roughly 4,000-man amateur peloton set off from the start line at Issoire at 7am 17th July.

The stage profile already had everything in place to daunt the participants, with constant ups and downs which made it difficult to find one’s pace. The course was the infamous stage 9 of this years’ tour which saw a few top names crash themselves out and the TV car incident which saw Johnny Hoogeland impaled on a barbed wire fence.
The drenching rain, strong headwinds and cold temperatures (hardly 7°C on the route) did not accompany us throughout the entire day, but they did stay with us the whole morning. Typical winter weather!

Finally, there were only 1982 finishers in Saint-Flour. I, thankfully, was one of them. The rest either abandoned or got swept up by the wagon. Congratulations to all those who completed this freezing adventure!

www.leetapedutour.com

Rutland press the advantage of the break.

Last night saw Peak Road Club evening road race run off on the excellent Brampton triangle course, on the moors just outside Sheffield.

This course normally leads to a tough race and last night events was no exception. The short and numerous laps (17) including a testing climb lead to very little rest and last night the wind direction added to the testing nature of the course. Approximately 45 riders took to the start line last night but by the finish I believe that this figure was more like 19 riders. (I may have got this wrong as I was Marshalling so was concentrating on waving my flag more than counting riders so apologise for any inaccuracies.)

Luckily for the Rutland, our lads were more than up to the challenge and we were involved in the action from the start. Three Ruttlers took to the start line, Simon Keeton, Nick Lattimer and Steve Ellis (Out of the saddle but still a true Ruttler at heart). After a brisk first few laps…which saw some riders out of the back early on…the first main move if the night was started by Simon, who took off on his own after 4 laps. Looking like Cancellera in his prime, Simon soon established a sizeable lead and was looking strong. Sadly for him the bunch weren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet and gradually reeled him back in.

By lap 6 with gap looking precarious, Nick, Steve and Andrew Prince leapt from the bunch and worked smoothly together to bridge the gap over to Simon. With fresh legs assisting him, Simon and his new breakaway companions, quickly re-established a gap as the bunch looked at each other.

Over the remaining laps of the race the gap hovered around 25 seconds. Despite some valiant efforts from Alex Mitchell (Sheff Rec) on the front of the bunch, the gap to the bunch stayed largely the same and as the laps ticked by it looked more and more as though the leading quartet would survive to the finish.

By this stage I was getting excited…queue more vigorous flag waving…although that might have just been in a effort to keep warm. I was sure that our boys would use their numerical advantage and work over their break away companion in the last few laps. To be fair though they had all worked extremely hard together throughout the race to hold off the bunch who at no stage admitted that they were racing for fifth place.

The bell lap came and the leading quartet were still together…Come on Rutland…Steve was the first to take the initiative and attacked hard shortly after the final climb. After a short hesitation by Andy Prince, he was brought back just before the four swung onto the start and finish straight.

So it was to be a sprint finish. Andy Prince started the sprint and proved just too strong for a fast closing Simon Keeton who finished second. Steve rounded out the podium, having blunted his gallop slightly with the final break away effort. Nick Lattimer rounded off an excellent night for the Rutland finishing close on Steve’s heels in fourth.

So three riders in the top four. You can’t ask for much more than that. Massive congratulations go out to our valiant chargers, Nick, Steve and Simon. Well done to all of you. You made it a great race to watch.

Big thanks too to the Peak Road Club for organizing another great event !!!

Nick leaving the bunch in his wake.

Nick and Steve digging in.