On Sunday 14th April Chris Myhill from the Peak RC is promoting a 50ish mile hilly (okay – very hilly!) sportive based at Rowsley.
He’s sorted out a great course and is currently sorting out event supporters to provide food and drink before and after the event, all in all it will be a great day out.
Numbers will be limited so book your place early.
Routes and details can be found here:-

www.myhillcycling.co.uk/spring-classic

You will also see the event on Facebook if you search for ‘myhill cycling’.

I don’t have too many details about the loss of another one of our stalwart members Mick Booker as I only heard about it at the end of December.
I’d not seen Mick for a few years, he was one the Club’s top time triallists during the 1980’s/90’s but he had been battling with Alzheimers and died on the 9th December aged 77. The funeral was held at the beginning of January at Shireoaks church.

Just arrived and in time for Christmas are the new 7cm ‘Skinny mudflaps’
The first batch we had from @TopFlaps were their standard 9cm Big Flapper but they have kindly made us a 7cm flap suitable for those that don’t have full on winter bikes and ride 23/25mm tyres with clip on mudguards.
Priced at £8 each they are available from me – simon@rutland.cc or at any Club meeting.

Rutland rider Dick Cubison passed away on Tuesday night, he had been dealing with the effects of cancer for over a decade but never dwelt on it and would just get on with it even when getting on with it meant riding over a couple of mountains in the rain.
Dick was twice a national champion on the track and also won a couple of Peter Fryer vets races with that wicked sprint of his that would occasionally get unleashed on the teacake ride even when he was well into his sixties.
A lot of Rutland members will have fond memories of him as he was with the club for a long time starting back around 1990 when his son Michael was racing as a youngster. He continued racing, often with riders decades younger than him and was still doing BC races in his fifties.

He was still riding up to the end of October this year after yet another bout of chemo and radiotherapy, he had bought a new bike and was planning to ride that crazy Pyrenean stage 17 of this year’s Tour de France next summer.
Dick rode over the Mortirolo and Gavia a couple of years ago with Andy Smith who he rode with regularly and Andy’s friend Phil Greyson. At the top of the Gavia a Spanish guy in his forties that they had kept up with for the last few kilometres was amazed at these old men and insisted they stop for drinks and biscuits from his support van. As they left Dick shouted back ‘just keep going, even when it gets hard and hurts just keep going’.

Our thoughts are with his wife Jan and their four children Michael, Anna, Ellie and Lara.
The funeral will be at 12:15 on Monday 17th December at St.John’s Church in Bamford, S33 0AY followed by a wake at the Sickleholme Golf Club.

Dick is pictured here with Michael on one of their last rides together in June.

The Club dinner isn’t far away and as the Lees Hall Golf Club have been a little slow in sending out the prices and menus it’s only now that I can post this…

Lees Hall Golf Club – Hemsworth Rd, S8 8LL

Saturday 17th November- 6:30pm onwards with the sit down meal booked for 7:30pm

The dinner will be £17 per head but if you bring your other half with you which we encourage and hope you will do, then the price for two tickets is £27.

The menu is as follows:-

Starters – Soup of the day or prawn cocktail (a choice on the night)

Mains – Roast turkey with all the trimmings including pigs in blankets, cranberry sauce served with roasted potatoes, mixed vegetables and gravy.

There will be a vegetarian option for those that require one which may be Grilled Halloumi with roast potatoes and pan fried spinach but I’ll confirm this nearer the date but please let me know beforehand if you want a veggie meal.

Dessert – Christmas pudding with brandy cream sauce, warm Bakewell tart with clotted cream or Tiramisu (a choice on the night).

You can use the form below to buy tickets.

Egged on by Peter McNally to have a bash at Darren Otter’s 18 year old club record of 277.26 miles Joe LeSage rode the Breckland 12 at the beginning of August and crushed it by a mammoth 0.62 miles, a whopping 0.21% increase. 277.88 miles.
Setting off at 6:12 in the cool, early morning for the 40 minute stretch to the A11, everything felt good and so it continued. Food & drink were going down well legs felt great, average speed was rising but so was the mercury.
Joe went through six hours at 24mph, just as the heat was really starting to bite. A five minute stop to replenish supplies and drench himself in water, and he was down to 23.8mph. The next two hours were rough. Temperature hit 30 degrees, with a relentless sun reflecting and radiating off the road.
A second stop at eight hours and the speed dropped to 23.5mph. Joe felt the club record was on, but it could all hang on when they sent him on to the finishing circuit.
As he came back round at 9.5 hours he desperately wanted to get off the main road and onto the lanes of the finishing circuit. He knew though, that he needed another lap on the A11. As he approached the roundabout he could see the marshal by his car getting ready to direct riders off the main road. He snuck through by a few minutes, and tried to put some power down.
With just under two hours to go, with 230 miles on the clock he left the DC and headed onto the Norfolk lanes. Undulating grippy roads and a rising wind sapped speed and strength, and by the time he hit the final hour he needed over 20mph to make the record.
If you’ve never ridden a 12, the final hour is the best bit. You can’t gain or lose too much, the hard work is done and there’s generally a good atmosphere and lots of support. That is, unless you’re chasing a distance. The final hour was hell. Despite getting caught up in some farm traffic he passed the old record with less than two minutes to spare crushing it by a mammoth 0.62 miles…..Sorry Darren, you’ve been well and truly robbed.

A few belated pictures from Tumby’s road race organised by Steve & Lousie Ellis at the end of July on the Braithwell / Stainton circuit.
Jamie Ridehalgh riding for Crimson Performance RT was the winner on the day ahead of Danny Winfield (J’s Cycle Shack) and Steven Guymer (Squadra RT).

Wet and windy conditions at the weekend didn’t stop Alex Deck breaking the Women’s Club 100 mile record in the Team Swift 100 on the V370 with a time of 4.36.30. The previous record of 4.44.43 was set back in 1960 by Elaine Herbert so after 58 years it’s time for a new name to be in the record books.

It’s been a while but we’re back at the best part of the year yet again, the time around the Summer Solstice.

The nights are long and golden, the leaves at their fullest and mysterious spirits gather around the Eyam stocks awaiting the arrival of the Rutland CC to perform their ritualistic crowning of the Drinking Chalice Champion!

We’ll be meeting at the Teacake meet at 7pm, heading down Grindleford and then straight up to the Eyam stocks to drink some Rum and enjoy this year’s unusual chalice entries.

Last year Gerry Acari won with a condom, it was outside the box enough to make the final and then beasted the ‘Crowd ClapOmeter’.

We now have an official Trophy so make sure you have a spare bottle cage to carry it home is case you win.

We’ll then cruise up to the Barrel pub for one then down the beautiful Abney descent, up Burbage and over the hill to the Norfolk Arms for sandwiches, chips and ale’s (see flyer attached)

Please get in touch with Brendon by email, text or Twitter for food numbers before next Wednesday and I’ll look forward to seeing you (and your wacky cups) at the Teacake next Friday.

All the best

2nd joint vice deputy ex Social Secretary,

Brendon

@BrenTyree

brendon@rutland.cc

Nick Latimer reduced the mens Club 25 record last Sunday taking it under 50 minutes for the first time in the Clubs history. Nick rode the Acme Wheelers Rhonda event on the R25/3H and recorded a time of 49.39.