The May club meeting occurred on Friday 6th May at newish usual place Palin Suite @ University Arms and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting this month.

As well having a right royal cycling related chin wag there were also a couple of points of note…

The most important one being a new rule introduced that will hopefully encourage people to do their bit and volunteer to help out with events. The new rule states, If you Marshall (event organiser/pusher off etc to count) at two Rutland events during one calendar year, you are eligible to claim free club membership for the following year! This is a great deal for the people who are helping out and will hopefully help out all event organisers to get all the helpers that they need without having to badger folk.

So what are you waiting for, get volunteering today…not only will it give you a nice warm glow inside that you are helping ensure the future of our sport but it could also bag you free club membership next year!!!

There are two further Rutland events this year, Tumby’s road race on Sunday 7 August and Danny’s ten mile trial on Monday 29th August the Bank Holiday weekend.

Volunteer for Steve’s Tumby’s road race

Volunteer for Danny’s time trial

The rest will not be in french as i am not that good at it yet although i can get bread and try to get riders to work in races with cries of allez!!! I have been meaning to write something for ages but during the winter not much happens apart from loads of rain but for the last five weeks we have not had a drop and tempretures have hit 3o degrees plus most days so it has been too hot to do much riding in the day. Since the start of March, when racing starts here, it has been full on every weekend, and lots of them to choose from. The licence is cheap only 38€ and you get  your kit with that and about 5€ to enter races. You don’t win money just loads of alcohol in the form of wine or a local brew call Pineau (potent stuff).  The first one I rode for my new club V.C St Romain was at St Vincent des Jalmoutiers it had 208 starters. I managed to get 3rd after 80km of mad action on little back lanes, at least all the roads are closed and not a angry motorists to be seen. Winnings- 2 bottles of wine-1 bottle of Pineau. My second event at Bertric Buree was a tough hilly course and I got 3rd again in a break of 5, nowt changes with my sprinting!!! Winnings-4 bottles of wine- 1 bottle of Pineau. If this carries on we will be alcoholics by the end of the season! I do hope all memebers are well and the racing is good. I do keep looking on the BC and CTT website for Rutland riders and glad to see plenty of them racing and placing.All the best for now.

Nick Latimer missed the Rutland 10 but while down South put lots of hilly Peak District riding to good use in the Welwyn Wheelers Good Friday Hilly TT, and the Bishops Stortford CC Easter Monday Hilly TT. Nick was 6th in a large field of 112 riders in the Welwyn event, posting a time of 1:05:12 for the 26.5 miles. Unfortunately Nick didn’t get to find out if he could hold off Alex Dowsett for 14 minutes in the Bishops Stortford event, as the Team Sky rider couldn’t start due to injury. In his absence Nick was 3rd out of 55, with a time of 1:08:06 for the 27 miles. Reports and pictures from the events are here:

http://www.velouk.net/2011/04/22/tt-report-hot-and-hilly-in-herts/

http://www.velouk.net/2011/04/25/report-bishop%E2%80%99s-stortford-hilly-time-trial/

Marc ready to do battle in his new French clubs kit. Magnifique!

I had an email from Marc earlier this week, updating me on his progress in France. This is what he had to say:

“The French season started last week end too so it’s gone from no races to loads of races every weekend. I’ve Joined V.C. St Romain, it’s the nearest club, great lads but all French so chatting is difficult at moment. Attached a photo new kit. Not my choice colour….I am still Blue, White and Gold inside!”

Gavin Evans And Nick Latimer in the Duo Normand Start house.

Saturday saw Rutland riders Danny Lowthorpe and Nick Latimer take first place in the SheffRec two up 25 on the O25/11 Hatfield Woodhouse course in 57:02.

The win carried on the tradition started by Darren Otter and Marc Mallender last season.

The event was again a credit to SheffRec’s fine organisational skills, so hats off to them for that and a big thanks to Rob and Denise for promoting the event.

Sorry I was too tight to buy any pictures from this event so you’ll have to make do with another snap from last seasons Duo Normand!

I’ve received an e-mail this morning from Malc confirming that they are all ok. By the sounds of it everything in the house that could break has done.
They are all in good spirits considering what has happened, it is an absolutely disaster and have no deaths or injuries in their immediate family.
Malc missed the big shock as he was working way down south. He drove home and arrived home at midnight and could not believe what he saw when he walked in to their house.
The city is totally devastated and may take years to come good.

Although he’s been left here since 1994 Malc Pearce can still turn in some good performances on the other side of the World. Whilst we’re freezing in sub zero temperatures Malc was out at the New Zealand National Road Champs this weekend doing what he does best……….getting his fancy dress kit on ! A few pictures of Malc enjoying a beer and the weather dressed as Goldmember.

If you’ve managed to get someone to buy you some sleek carbon fibre or polished titanium for Christmas then it’s probably not too late to take it back.  In the British Medical Journal a few weeks ago a study by Dr Jeremy Goves at Chesterfield Royal Hospital proved(!!) that riding an old steel lag is no slower than on a brand new carbon framed thoroughbred.  There is a summary on the bbc news here or you can read the whole bmj article here
The proof is included in the article and is (95% CI –00:03:34 to 00:02:30; P=0.72).

In fact his fastest commute to work was actually on the old steel lag but this was “as a direct result of chasing one of my fitter cycling colleagues to work”.  Probably not too difficult to figure out who that was so he must be fairly fit to keep up.

This is a great boost to my confidence.  When Pete Goodfellow drops me on Cressbrook on that old rusty steel thing with a rack and panniers it’s not because he’s fitter than me it’s because he’s riding an old steel bike thus gaining an unfair advantage.

So, we’ll no doubt see Bradley Wiggins burning off Schleck and Contador next July on an old 1970’s Raleigh.  You can’t argue with science and I expect to see plenty of supporting comments from the British Steel section of Rutland CC.

Thanks to everyone that turned out to make it another memorable Christmas do !
More photos from the lunch are now on the Facebook page.

It’s time for the snow bike conversion…read the full article on Brikeradar.