Boots & Spurs Spring 2014

No words could be read on this page.

CALENDAR

Why not get the National Clarion kit to supplement that of your local section?

Made by Endura in the UK, men's, women's and youth kit is available at reasonable prices in a variety of cycle wear. Contact National Secretary lan Clarke for more details at bike@clarioncc.org

2|BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

NATIONAL CLARIO

Use your benefits!

15%DISCOUNTAT ANNUAL

40+ COTSWOLD 3RD PARTY

OUTDOOR INSURANCE

Stores acrossthe UK (via the CTC,

and online. Quote up to £10m)

‘AF-NATC-99' atthe for just £16

store till and show protects your

your National Clarion personal wealth if

membership card. you have a claim

See www. against you while

cotswoldoutdoor.com cycling. For more

for your nearest store. details, contact Peter Roscoe:

10% DISCOUNT ON _peterroscoe80@

‘IN MOTION’ btinternet.com

PRODUCTS

Big discounts on PLUS

cycling clothing, Many sections have

accessories, tyres, discounts with local

tubes and sundries. bike shops. See your

Just select ‘Clarion local section for

Cycling Club’ details.

in the drop down

options for ‘How did IT’S WORTH

you hear about For the £6 National

us’ at payment, and Clarion membership

add your membership fee you get a lot of

number inthe ‘Other potential discount for

information’ box. little investment.

Buy online at www. Make sure you make

inmotionproducts. the most of your

com. membership!

Buy aclub cap

£10 only!

Fetching black, red and gold Clarion caps are available from Stockport Clarion.

Order your casquette now! Email Duncan McLaren on: secretary@stockport-clarion.org.uk

G President KEN HEMSLEY (Fenland)

Tel: 01159 873118

DAVE BISSET (Bolton) Tel: 01204 853127

davidbisset55@hotmail.co.uk IAN CLARKE (Fenland) Markham Cottage,

Low Street, East Markham, Newark NG22 0QQ Tel: 01777 872097

Vice President KATH LEESE (Heanor)

Treasurer

National Secretary

Membership Secretary DONALD LEVER (Bury)

eon: 14 Mosley Ave,

Ramsbottom BLO 9UH.

Tel: 01204 883584 memberships@clarioncc.org FRANCIS GRAFTON (Nottingham)

Tel: 0115 9875784 frank.grafton@yahoo.co.uk Secretary BOB HARBER

(Brighton) Tel: 01903 879598 CHRIS GOODE (Yorkshire Coast)

Tel: 01723 341050 twenty twowheels@hotmail.com

Racing Secretary

Standing Orders

Committee Member

National Clarion online: www.clarionce.org

Editors Matthew Ball and Kirsty Ball (secretary@ westlothianclarion.co.uk) Design Matthew Ball Printed by Key Print, Peterborough. Contributions to the magazine may be edited or omitted if there are space constraints,

Acalltoarms

t Eastbourne’s 2010 National Clarion conference, I laid out my ‘20-20 vision’ for the Clarion: to go from the 550 members

“m= of 2010 to 1000 members by (you guessed it) 2020. We hadn’t had that many members since the 1960s.

It is with great delight that I tell you that the Clarion surpassed that number a year or two back and is now in excess of 1500 members, much faster than I predicted.

But the Clarion isn’t just about numbers, it’s about enjoying the bike, making lifelong friends and sharing our love of the bike and the Clarion. The real point of the Clarion is that we are different, we are national and we are one club. Greater Clarion participation at Clarion events, races, weekends, meets and inter-section rides should now be our goal.

If you only attend one Clarion event more this year than last year, that’ll be great.

The club is nearly three times bigger than we were in 2010, and we need to start thinking like a club with membership in the thousands and not in the hundreds. We need help, people, officers, volunteers, brains, enthusiasm, engagement and more. In short, we need YOU!

Step forward if you’ve enjoyed what the Clarion has given you, if you can give something back to the club, and if you want to be someone who makes a difference to the progress of one of the only institutions of British cycling that has survived and thrived in the last 128 years. Is that you? Email me on bike@clarioncc.org. Ian Clarke (Tuxford)

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

Did you know the National Clarion has its own Facebook group? It's gaining popularity and is a great way to keep

up-to-date with what is going on across the country and see what other sections have been up to. NCCC events will be

WELCOM

Cover illustration by: Garry Marshall

The hard workand dedication of Clarion cyclists and supporters continues

publicised on the group so don't delay, join up today! Search for ‘National Clarion Cycling Club’ on Facebook.

SPRING 2014 |BOOTS&SPURS 3

2013 MEMBERSHIP DETAILS

Ian Clarke to step down as National Secretary

everal years ago, I took over as National Secretary and was

happy to do so for a number of

reasons. I had been Secretary in the 90s and gave it up then to pursue more racing while I was still in my thirties.

The job (part-time and unpaid) brings a lot of satisfaction and holds a great deal of responsibility to keep this unique and special club of ours moving forward, now in its third century.

lalways feel that it isa custodian role with a duty to keep the club at the forefront of UK cycling, as the biggest true cycling club in the country. But more than that, I try to enthuse and encourage

APPLY NOW FOR THIS VERY IMPORTANT ROLE

JOB DESCRIPTION

The role includes the following: meetings/ conference, constitution, correspondence/ communication, website/ social media, stock management, ambassador/ figurehead, event coordination, club development/new sections, and chief operating officer of the club.

4| BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

lanis s g{cPbin g

participation in the Clarion, so that all members can experience why this club is so special. At a national level, members are clubmates outside of their own sections and can ride alongside fellow members from all over the country (and even Italy), enjoying the friendship and love of the outdoors that make us part of the Clarion.

For a busy chap with a young family anda demanding job, I feel I cannot invest the amount of time needed to play my part in taking the club to the next level. For this reason, I intend to step down at this year’s Easter meet conference.

I would never leave the Clarion in the lurch it’s too important to me but it

18 people have been secretary since 1899 WILL YOU

is essential for the Clarion that we inject some new blood. For this reason,

[am available to act as Assistant Secretary (to the new Secretary), or to act as Secretary on a much reduced responsibility if others come forward to take over aspects of the club that I cannot dedicate enough time to.

If you feel you can take over all or some of these activities, then the Club will be very pleased to hear from you. Together we can move the Club forward and I will be happy to assist and cooperate with anyone who can bring something to the club.

Volunteer for the role email lan on bike@clarioncc. org or 01777 872097.

Membership up by a quarter to 1448

"ational Clarion membership

increased by 28% during 2013. There were 36% more new members while 16% of our members did not renew.

Women and girls now account for 17% of the membership. Brighton has an equal split between male and female, and West Lothian are at 27% female members.

Junior membership is about double what it was in the year before. The West Lothian and North Cheshire GoRide initiatives make up the bulk of this age category. But Fenland also had success with youngsters in 2013.

Only six sections ended the year with fewer members than they started and North Cheshire takes over from West Lothian as the biggest Clarion section overall with 275 members.

SECTION

Barnoldswick Blackpool Bolton Brighton

Bury

Calder Cambridge Clitheroe Coatbridge Crewe Fenland Heanor Hereford Italian

London Malmesbury North Cheshire Nottingham Saddleworth Stockport Sunderland Teesside Tuxford

West Lothian West Scotland Yorkshire Coast Other

Totals

TOTAL

32 9 56 45 56 108 6 19 42 6 154 6 16 5 23 14 274 24 56 52 78 11 23 254 6 16 57 1448

SENIOR/LIFE

32 9 56 44 52 104 6 19 42 6 137 5 16 5 23 14 211 21 55 52 76 21 6 14 57 1271

JUNIOR MALE FEMALE 0 6 29 ie) -3 8 1 0 +4 50 6 1 iL 23 22 4 8 46 10 4 35 95 13 0 cl 5 1 ie) 0 16 3 19 3 ie) -2 5

17 19 127 27 ai 1 5 1 0 1 13 2) 0 2 4 1 0 7 19 4 ie) 4 10 4

63 111 223 Si 3 ie) 24 ie) 1 49 7 ie) 4 44 8 2 7 74 4 ie) ie) 11 ie) 2 23 4

77 72 200 54 0 4 2 2 a 8 8 0 1 48 9

177 327] +1198 250

1/9/12 to 31/8/13. Other includes Private (8) and Central (46) and sections with less than 4 members.

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS |5

2013 MEMBERSHIP DETAILS

Enter now for the Clarion's top awards

he Clarion is blessed

with an impressive

trophy cabinet. Beside the championships and individual competitive awards, here’s a quick round up of other Clarion competitions held each year:

The hugely impressive

Tom Groom Trophy is awarded to the section that, in the judgement of the Clarion Committee, has given the most meritorious service to the Clarion over the year. Also, trophies and awards are made tothe Clubman, Clubwoman, Most Meritorious Junior

Thirty-three Clarion members are currently affiliated members of the CTC, secure in the knowledge that they have acover of £10m for claims against them for negligence while riding their bicycles.

Many others will be covered as full members of the CTC or BCF. These members also benefit from legal assistance if they need to make a claim as a result of the negligence of another road user. The alternative for Clarion members is the specialist claims solicitors who now advertise their services in Cycling Weekly.

6 BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

Tom Groom awarded in the 1940s

Rider and Best Novice, as judged by the Clarion

Committee.

To be considered for these awards, submissions should be made to the National Secretary Ian Clarke. Section nominations should be submitted for the Tom Groom Trophy in the form ofa report of activities over the

year, and section or individual E.AZ nominations

can be made for

the Clubman, Clubwoman and

Most Meritorious Junior Rider and Best Novice.

Get insured

If you are thinking about taking out CTC affiliated membership via The Clarion, the scheme runs from October leach year and costs £16

annually. If you wish to join

MORE AWARDS

Given at the Easter Meet:

The British Workers Sports Association Trophy for the highest (aggregate) mileage cycled to the Meet.

The Brian Braithwaite Memorial Award is a photographic competition held at the annual Meet.

The Neil Duckworth Memorial Trophy goes to the Section with the most members attending the annual Meet.

For more details Contact the National Secretary lan Clarke.

after April 1, then the fee will be £8 for the period up to. September 30.

was told that in a critical discussion on TV, one of the issues was that cyclists do not have third party insurance. Well many do, through British Cycling or CTC. In my experience it is a good thing.

For more details

Contact Peter Roscoe, CTC Affiliated Members Secretary, National Clarion Cycling Club.

Tel: 0161 761 6856; peterroscoe80@ btinternet.com.

Brian Hutton 1932-2013

tis with sadness that we

record the death of Brian

Hutton, the only one of our members who was also in the old Brighton Section back in the late 40s and 50s, our last link with it. He was unable to ride in recent years sO we never saw him on rides, though he and Mary did come to some of our socials. Sadly, he was too ill to attend the one we had before Christmas.

If you go to our blog at www. brightonandhove-clarion.org. uk, click on ‘previous website’, then ‘history’ and then scroll down, you'll find great pieces by Brian, full of humour and insights into the cycling past: The Glory Days of Sussex Track Cycling (with photo), The Old Brighton Section, which includes pieces on the Old Toll Bridge at Shoreham, and Cycling Cafes in Sussex in the 50s, and Robbed, about his experiences in an Isle of Wight race.

His account of the rivalry between the (conservative) National Cyclists’ Union and the revolutionary British

League of Racing Cyclists under the title The Early Days of Road Racing in Boots Spurs Autumn 2004 was

a wonderful read. Fred is putting it in the blog. Here is one little gem from the piece:

‘Tknew nothing of cycling politics then but the Brighton Clarion was a National Cyclists Union club, although most of its members adopted the British League of Racing Cyclists’ dress code and wore berets, sunglasses and trousers elasticated just below the knee. string of onions around the neck would have completed the fetching ensemble! By contrast the NCU riders wore plus fours, woollen sweaters and carried their kit in large saddlebags falling over the back wheel. I remember the late Alan Packett of the Brighton Mitre producing a spare chainwheel from his saddlebag one evening when he had chain trouble!’

Later in the piece, Brian describes his unexpected victory in the 1952 BLRC (Sussex) road race

OBITUAR’ 5

championship and then outlines his subsequent involvement with cycling racing. Here are the main bits: ‘In 1953 I won the Sussex Roadman Trophy, held ona league basis, and I finished second in the Southern BLRC championship road race. The winner was Brighton Velo’s Derek Cover, who, like

me, had started cycling as a

Brighton Clarion member.’

Brian acted as cycling correspondent for our local paper The Argus until he became too ill to continue reports in recent years. He could no longer drive and I ferried him to races and hill climbs on a few occasions.

His Clarion membership was mentioned by the celebrant at his funeral. There were several people there from other cycling clubs that Brian had been associated with over the years Brighton Excelsior, Brighton Mitre, Worthing Excelsior, and Lewes Wanderers.

Brian will be missed, and long remembered.

By Ian Bullock

THAT’S WHY PAUL'S GOING TO ICELAND

Bolton's Paul Hackin is looking for Clarionistas to join him ona cycle tour of Iceland. Paul says, ‘This is my second tour of Iceland, and I'm looking

for anyone interested in cycle/ camping in July for a week or more. You will need to have a good sturdy touring bike as we will see plenty of rough tracks and possible shallow

river crossings. am not quite sure of the route yet but am thinking we will be going off the ring road into the interior.’ If you are interested, please get in touch at paul-hackin@ live.co.uk.

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS 7

CLARION RACE RE!

Wins for Whitfield Clarke Fenland

By Chris Goode

YORKSHIRE COAST

verall winners for the

2013 competition are

Vanessa Whitfield (Saddleworth Clarion) and Joe Clarke (Fenland Clarion). The team award goes to Fenland by just three points from Nottingham, with West Lothian a further seven points back in third place.

Congratulations to all those that participated thirteen sections in total and a hundred riders, and many thanks to the race organisers, marshals, caterers and timekeepers. Competing with other sections and meeting other members of the National Clarion makes for a stronger club.

Joe Clarke had success in the road race and on the track, narrowly pushing Martin Knight (Nottingham Clarion), the ten mile champion, into second place by a mere two points. We look forward to a good tussle between the sections next season. Matthew Ball was very consistent: fifth on the track, second in the hill climb and first at Easter in the ten mile race for third spot overall.

Geoff Burgess (Stockport Clarion) was fastest in the cyclo-cross race, organised by Nottingham Clarion, with Mark McPhilips and Jonny Croston (Calder Clarion) next. In the Veteran and Women’s race, the Nottingham team of Neil and

8|BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

Caroline Mansfield came out as winners.

Vanessa Whitfield became the Woman’s points champion with an impressive performance in the road race at Darley Moor. Diane Clayton Chisholm was second with her best place in the West Lothian hill climb and Andrea Vaughan (Yorkshire Coast) was third overall with two first places in the ten championship and in the ten mile race at the Scarborough Easter Meet. Ingrid Shepherd (Sunderland) was fourth and was fastest in the 25 Championship, in June. Julie Dominguez was the best woman on the track for West Lothian.

For the 2014 season, there will be a separate competition for women so the points awarded will be determined by how they race in comparison with other women, rather than against the men. We look forward to the 2014 season.

Points competition results Clarke (Fenland) 130

2.M. Knight (Nottingham) 120

3. M, Ball (West Lothian) 118

4.N. Hall (Bury) 109

5. Clarke (Fenland) 76

6.M. McPhillips (Stockport) 71

M, Ewing (West Lothian) 69

D. McLaren (Stockport) 62

R. Birkin (Nottingham) 59

McCartney (Nottingham) 57 Dale (Nottingham) 50

Glass (West Lothian) 50 Hurst (Nottingham) 50

Mansfield (Nottingham) 50 Whatmough (Bury) 50

16. J. Croston (Calder) 48

17.M. Usher (Bury) 43

18. P. Lilley (Fenland) 41

19= A. Fisher (Yorkshire Coast) 40 19=S, Gregory (Nottingham) 40

21. J. Mason (West Lothian) 34 YA 22=K, Greenwood (West Lothian) 30 22= S, Mc Caw (West Lothian) 30 22= S. Smith (Stockport) 30

25. Shapiro (Stockport) 29

26. C. Goode (Yorkshire Coast) 28 27. A. Clare (Tees-side) 25

28=G. Bird (Nottingham) 24

28= J Hughes (Nottingham) 24 30=P. Ball (Bury) 23

30= B. Hancock (Calder) 23 Junior 32=G. Small (Yorkshire Coast) 23 32=C. Stephenson (Sunderland) 23 34. M. Sloanes (Sunderland) 22 35=T, Cloughlan (Stockport) 20 35=D. Kerry (Nottingham) 20

37= S. Grey (Sunderland) 19

3 O'Kane (West Lothian) 19

37= Vanessa Whitfield (Saddleworth) 19 FIRST WOMAN

40= M. Davies (Sunderland) 18

40= J McCartney (Nottingham) 18 40= 1. Wilson (West Lothian) 18 YC 43=P. Alderson (Sunderland) 17 43=D, Clayton Chisholm (West Lothian) 17 SECOND WOMAN

45= K. Howarth (Nottingham) 16 Junior 45= A. Horner (Bury) 16

45= P. Kenny (West Lothian) 16

H. Nahler (West Lothian) 16

A, Ball (West Lothian) 15 YC 49= Andrea Vaughan (Yorkshire Coast) 15 THIRD WOMAN

49=M, Tully (Sunderland) 15

5 Pollard (West Lothian) 14

5: Wright (Sunderland) 14 Junior 5 Hordon (West Lothian) 13 YC 5 Longworth (Bury) 13

Ingrid Shepherd (Sunderland) 13 54=G. Wright (Bury) 13 Hacker (N. Cheshire) 12 58=€. Henry (West Lothian) 12 McLeod (Sunderland) 12 58=M, Perfect London 12 58= J. Royle (Fenland) 12 63= Jayne Clarke (Fenland) 11 Davies (Saddleworth) 11 Firth (Calder) 11 Priestley (West Lothian) 11 Side (Bury) 11 lison Bryce (West Lothian) 10 YC Duffy (Sunderland) 10 Moreham (Saddleworth) 10 Roberts (N. Cheshire) 10 Smith Tees-side 10

LL (West Lothian) 9 YC 3= P. Dukes (Stockport) 9

73=R. Hemesley (West Lothian) 9 73= S. Kerr (Sunderland) 9

73= D. Owen Bolton 9

78= D. Healy (Sunderland) 8

78= D. Hodgins (Stockport) 8

78= N. Kirby (Bury) 8

78= A. Oxley (West Lothian) 8 YC 78=M. Royle (N, Cheshire) 8

78=R. Youle-Grayling (N. Cheshire) 8 84= A. Armstrong (Sunderland) 7 84=P. Baggaley (Sunderland) 7 84=K. Bird (Nottingham) 7

84= Lindsay Clarke (Fenland) 7 84=N. Dis(Bury) (Saddleworth) 7 84= Julie Dominguez (West Lothian) 7 84= R. Ewing (West Lothian) 7 YB 84=M. Price (Calder) 7

92=Vyvian Bryce (West Lothian) 6 92=R. Burton (Calder) 6

92=S. Clarke (Fenland) 6

92=R. Cooper (N. Cheshire) 6

92= S. Hancock (Calder) 6

92= Caroline Mansfield (Nottingham) 6 92=P. Whitehill (Sunderland) 6 99=B. Duckworth (Bury) 5

99=C. James (Calder) 5

99=C. Moreham (Saddleworth) 5

99= Erica Oxley (West Lothian) 5 YB

1 Fenland 247 2 Nottingham 244

3 West Lothian 237 4 Bury 202

5 Stockport 163 6 Yorkshire Coast 91 7 Calder 82 8 Sunderland 64

9 Saddleworth 40 10 N. Cheshire 30 11 London 12 12 Tees-side 10

14 Bolton 9

HILL CLIMB CHAMPS

28th September, West Lothian

By Matthew Ball WEST LOTHIAN

The hill climb O championship took place on a gloriously sunny Saturday morning in September on the notorious o.9km Kingscavil Hill in West Lothian. West Lothian Clarion were guaranteed a champion because no other

SPRING 2014 |BOOTS&SPURS 9

sections were represented. Nevertheless, the competition was fierce in both the women’s and men’s races.

John Glass triumphed with anew West Lothian Clarion club record and Diane Clayton Chisholm came out top in the women’s event.

The race attracts a big field for the youth events because it takes place on a closed road, funded by West Lothian Council. Many thanks to Iain Henry and Kevin O’Hara for organising, and all the volunteers on the day.

Hill Climb Champs

1. John Glass (West Lothian) 02:14

2. Matthew Ball (West Lothian) 02:21 3. Keith Greenwood (West Lothian) 02:31 4. Jamie Mason (West Lothian) 02:37 YA 5. Jamie O'Kane (West

Lothian) 02:56 6. Innes Wilson

(West Lothian) 03:23 YC 7. Diane Clayton Chisholm (West Lothian) 03:28 8. Patricia Kenny (West Lothian) 03:41 9. Alexander Ball (West Lothian) 03:43 YC 10. Debra Pollard (West Lothian) 03:44 11. Christopher Hordon (West Lothian) 03:45 YC

12. Elizabeth Henry (West Lothian) 03:47 13. Robin Priestley (West Lothian) 03:56 14. Alison Bryce

(West Lothian) 04:05 YC 15. Ruari Bell (West Lothian) 04:09 YC 16. Andrew Oxley (West Lothian) 04:20 YC 17. Ryan Ewing (West Lothian) 04:56 YB 18. Vyvian Bryce (Wes: Lothian) 4.58 19. Erica Oxley (West Lothian) 05:15 YB

ROAD RACE CHAMPS

31st August, Darley Moor GUEST RIDERS NOT SHOWN

1 Joe Clarke (Fenland) 2 Duncan McLaren (Stockport)

2014 NATIONAL CLARION CHAMPS

National Clarion races count towards the season-long men's and women's points series. NCCC also has Best All Rounder TT championships.

10 MILES TT on Monday 26 May, course V415 promoted by Yorkshire Coast.

50 MILES TT on Sunday

1 June, course A50/5 promoted by Nottingham.

25 MILES TT on Sunday 29 June, course M254 promoted by Sunderland.

TRACK (TBA)

ROAD RACE (TBA) date to be confirmed pending outcome of the youth weekend proposed by North Cheshire. Darley Moor

10 BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

may be booked again but a new organiser will be required.

HILL CLIMB Sunday 12 October promoted by Tuxford. CYCLO CROSS will be at Nottingham again, probably November but dates for series not fixed yet.

Note that the 10 and 50 TT championships incorporate the NCCC Championship in the

contact Race Secretary Francis Grafton by email: frank.grafton@yahoo.co.uk

Stephen Smith (Stockport)

4 David Grindley (North Cheshire) 5 Nick Hall (Bury)

6 Richard Birkin (Nottingham)

7 Paul Lilley (Fenland)

8 Vanessa Whitfield (Saddleworth) 9 Jonny Croston (Calder)

10 Martin Usher (Bury)

11 Mark McPhillips (Stockport) 12 John Hughes (Nottingham)

13 Ben Hancock (Calder)

14 John Longworth (Bury)

15 Matt Hacker (North Cheshire 16 Nick Firth (Calder)

17 Martin Knight (Nottingham) 18 David Owen (Bolton)

19 Richard Youle-Grayling (North Cheshire)

20 Noel Disbury (Saddleworth) 21 Steve Hancock (Calder)

22 Chris Moreman (Saddleworth)

The event organiser Francis Grafton would like to thank all

of those volunteers who contributed to the success of the event: special thanks go to Steve Clarke for organising the judging and race equipment.

AUTUMN RIDE-OUT

This year’s leisure riding, Autumn ride-out and YHA weekend takes place in the beautiful Sherwood Forest. Joint section clubruns take place on Saturday and/or Sunday with the NCCC Hill Climb Championships on

New Clarion youth weekend

rompted by a generous Pp large donation, the

National Clarion are planning to stage a Clariononly Youth Weekend in 2014. The venue is most likely going to be in the North West and will be over a weekend this Summer (2014). We will have closed circuit youth races for all age categories, providing several opportunities to race and become the Clarion Youth Champion at the relevant age category. To encourage parents as well, we also plan to run the senior road champs on the same circuit and a women’s championship if there is

The women’s group at last year’s ride out

Sunday morning. Tuxford Clarion will be running the event.

They will also help with ride leading and route planning as they know the best roads in the area, either through Sherwood Forest and Clumber Park, or South towards the beautiful Southwell Minster town.

enough demand from our female members.

To make it a fun weekend, we want to have local camping facilities, together

CHALLENGE SERIES

Sunday 9 March

RAD Tour: 7 castles of West Lothian Reliability (West Lothian) Enter: BC calendar Sunday 13 April

Enfer Du Saddleworth (Saddleworth)

Sunday 18 May

Marholm Sportive (Peterborough/Fenland) Sunday 31 August

Calder Clarion Audax Wakefield area

Sunday 7 September Llamas and Wizzard Audax (North Cheshire)

Updates on website

Suppor t this

GRE EVEN

Contact the

with social activities on the Saturday evening.

In order to begin planning, we firstly need to get an expression of interests from any section, family or rider who will tentatively pledge to attend and support such an event. We will also be grateful for volunteers who want to help run the event and be an important part of the organisational committee.

Details

If you want to know more please contact Geoff Prince at secretary@northcheshireclarion.co.uk

independent

Boots Spurs made a shortlist of six for the PPA UK Independent Publisher Cover of the Year award. It was also shortlisted for PPA Scottish Cover of the Year and Best Member Magazine.

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS 11

CLARION EVENT REPORTS: TRACK

2014 track championships

Astrong field, including a sizable youth contingent, produced an exciting set of races in Manchester

By Nick Hall BURY his year’s Clarion Track Championships took place early in the year and once again on the boards of the National Cycling Centre in Manchester. Thirty seven riders, all of whom were Clarion first or second claim members, were split into two groups an A seniors group with the cream of Clarion track riders, and a B group of juniors and not quite so quick seniors. Once again there was an excellent turnout of juniors in the B group, leading to a closely contested junior Omnium, eventually won by Gabriel Bird of Nottingham Clarion.

Each of the two groups had its own Omnium competition, with four out of five events to count from the 200m TT, 2km

pursuit, scratch race, points race and the elimination race. The racing in both groups was fast and furious with no quarter asked or given. British cycling commissaires Jeffand Sue ensured the race programme ran smoothly and on time.

The A Omnium was, as last year, won by Ryan Whatmough, who is a 2nd claim Bury Clarion member. In fact, Ryan dominated the group, winning every event and finishing with a perfect 48 points. Joe Clarke of Fenland Clarion finished second on 35 points and was also crowned Clarion 5-mile Champion after finishing just behind Ryan in the scratch race, with West Lothian’s Steve McCaw 3rd in the Omnium on 34 points.

Junior Omnium Champion Gabriel Bird also won the B Omnium, with Joe McCartney second and dad Mark McCartney third, making it a clean sweep for Nottingham Clarion in this

Nottingham’s Yriders and Ominum Wiiner Joe Clarke

12|BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

Once again there was an excellent turn out of juniors, leading to closely contested racing

group.

West Lothian teammates Mark Ewing and Matthew Ball fought out the Clarion Pursuit final with Mark Ewing narrowly coming out on top in the final. It was no surprise then, when these two were joined by pursuit specialist Steve McCaw, they won the 3km team pursuit ina time of 3.37.87, with Fenland second and Bury third.

MARTIN HOLDEN

The Clarion Sprint final was also contested by two West Lothian riders, with Matthew Ball coming out on top, ahead of Steve McCaw.

During the last race of the night, on the very last bend, there was an unfortunate coming together which resulted in John Yates crashing heavily. John spent five nights in hospital with a broken pelvis but is now on the way toa full recovery and raring to get racing again!

Thanks to all the volunteers who made the event another success: there are too many to mention, but without these people there wouldn’t be any Track Championships.

West Lothian: top team pursuiters

Track Results GUEST RIDERS NOT SHOWN

GROUPA

200M TT 1. Steve McCaw 12.46

2. Matthew Ball 12.53 3. Joe Clarke 12.90 4. Nick Hall 13.00 5. John Hughes 13.41 6. lan Shapiro 13.66

CLARION SPRINT CHAMPS FINAL 1st Matthew Ball 2nd Steve McCaw

PURSUIT

1. Mark Ewing 2.34.20 2. Matthew Ball

2.34.95 3, Andrew Clare 2.35.77 4. John Hughes 2.35.78 5 Nick Hall 2.36.62 6 Joe Clarke 2.36.81

7 lan Clarke 2.40.66 8 Paul Lilley 2.42.08 9 Duncan McLaren 2.43.37

OMNIUM

200m, Points, Pursuit, Scratch, Devil, Best 4

1. Joe Clarke, 7, 8, 6,10, 10=35

2. Steve McCaw, 10, 10, -,6,8=34 3. Mark Ewing, 5, 10, 8, 7 30

4, Matthew Ball, 8, 6, 8, 7,2=29

5. Nick Halll, 6, 7,5, 3,2=21

6. Andrew Clare, 3, 7,4,3=17 7. John Hughes, 8. lan Clarke, 2, 3, 2, 9, lan Shapiro, 3, 2, -,2,4=11 10. Paul Lilley, 2, 2, 2

11. Duncan McLaren, 2,-,-,-=2

GROUPB

200M TT 1. Joe McCarthy 12.81. 2. Phil Ball 12.97 3. Jamea Roberts 13.20 4. Gabriel Bird 13.24 5. Peter Smith 13.38 6. Ross Cooper 13.42

7. Julie Dominguez 13.45 8, Ben Hancock 13.45 9. Kieran Howart 13.47 10. Jamie Mason 13.50 11. Neil Kirby 14.00 12. Mark Royle 14.13 13. Chris Moreman 14.22 14. Gavin Wright 14.31 15. Paul Morphet 14.40 16. Mark McCarthy 14.43 17. Karl Bird 14.50 18. Mark McPhillips 14.61

19. Andrew Hammonds 15.09

20. John Yates 15.76

21. Bob Duckworth 16,43

22. Helen Osguthorpe 16.49

PURSUIT

1. Gabriel Bird 2.40.30

2. Kieran Howarth 2.41.84 3. Mark McCartney 2.47.39 4, Phil Davies 2.47.75

5. Gavin Wright 2.50.00* 6. Mark McPhillips 2.52.95 7. Karl Bird 3.00.45

8. Mark Royle 3.02.97

9. Bob Duckworth 3.18.95

OMNIUM 200m, Points, Pursuit, Scratch, Devil, Best 4

1. Gabriel Bird, 7,10, 12,12, 7=41

2. Joe McCartney, 12, 12, -,6,10=40 3. Mark McCartney, 2, 2, 8, 8, 12 32 4. Kieran Howarth (J boy), 2,6, 10, -,5=23 5. Mark McPhillips, 2, 8,5, 7,2=22

6. Jamie Mason, 2, 7, -,4,8=21

7. Gavin Wright, 2, 2,6,5,6=19

8. Phil Ball, 10, 2, -,-,4=16

9. Phil Davies, 2, 2, 7,3,2=14

10= James Roberts, 8, 2, -,-,2=12 10= Peter Smith* (050), 6, 4, 12. Ben Hancock, 3, 13= Neil Kirby, 2, 5, 13= Mark Royle, 2, 2, 3, 2, 15= Karl Bird, 2, 2, 4, 15= Julie Dominguez, 4, 17. Ross Cooper, 5, 2, Duckworth, 2, 2, hris Moreman, 2, 2, 18= Paul Morphet, 2, 2, 21= Andrew Hammonds, 2, 2, lelen Osguthorpe (J Girl), 21= John Yates, 2, 2,-,-,

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS

The flame still burns

Graham Horne of West Lothian Clarion has a notion to roll back the years

014 looms large on the horizon, and 4 with it my fiftieth birthday. Do I sit lemmalll back and grow

old gracefully? Naw, that ime

wouldn’t be me. So, nothing for it but to start racing again! I last raced seriously in my twenties: yes, that’s the early 1980s, and as I remember it hurt then so what am I doing now?

started cycling in my mid teens and, as my mum wouldn’t let me loose on the roads on my own, she made me join the CTC. It was the mid-70s and cycling became a way of life. It allowed me to go on touring holidays, it was a sport, a hobby and for many years, not owning a car, also a means of transport to and from work.

After a year or so hanging around the racing guys at club nights I joined the Edinburgh Road Club, the official racing offshoot of the CTC in the Lothians. So much for my mum agreeing to me getting a bike as long as I didn’t race around the streets.

As I think back to my schoolboy and junior days on restricted gearing, I obviously had some talent for the sport because I won a few regional

14 BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

Graeme in his 70's prime and today (inset)

and Scottish national medals. Unlike today, where cycling is high tech and has an ever more scientific approach, in the 70s I rode my bike, a lot, and the idea of a recovery ride was to go out the next day and ride harder than the day before. Nutrition took the form of whatever was put in front of me, and I have memories of handing the left overs froma fish supper to the starter at a mid week 10TT. Into my early twenties and, as with many budding sportsmen and women, I encountered full time work, night school, girls, drink and cars (not necessarily in that order of preference) and the racing suffered, eventually seeing the bike banished to

DoI sit back

and grow old gracefully? Naw, that wouldn't be me.

the shed for many years. That reminds me, I still have those gold Alfredo Binda toe straps for sale.

My cycling past through rose tinted glasses aside, I’m increasingly seeing the names of my old racing peers putting in performances in their forties that would have been unheard of 30 years ago. There’s a bit of me trying to hang onto my youth but mostly it’s a burning desire to see if I’ve still got it that has tipped me over the edge and forced me to come out

LOU RATTREY, CAMERON MASON, DAVID MASON

the closet and admit I’ve got a training plan and spend hours locked in my basement strapped toa turbo.

Unlike the first time round, when I employed raw talent and youthful exuberance, I’m now realising I’m going to have to throw every modern technique and technological advancement at it in order to achieve my goal. I don’t consider myself overweight or particularly unfit but am realising that my past few years on the bike have been like a diesel engine able to go all day at moderate speed but I now need to tune my engine to that of a sports car.

A combination of age and medical issues has seen my core strength reduce to that of a jelly and as for flexibility, well, I stopped stretching when Thatcher was in power so no surprises that I’m in trouble on that score. No real issues then! Here we go: training plan, core and flexibility routines acquired, pointy hat sourced, I’m now wired toa heart rate monitor and GPS device. Let the suffering commence. The first hurdle is to see if the body can hold up to a winter of training.

The ultimate goal isa sub hour 50 something, at 50 something, for a 25TT. Now I've said it out loud and it doesn’t sound too bad.

I'll report on my progress, optimistic as ever, in the next issue of Boots Spurs.

Got a good cycling tale? Email secretary@westlothianclarion.co.uk

Jamie racing this year, and when he joined the Clarion in 2010 (inset)

Playing the long game

West Lothian Clarion junior Jamie Mason reflects on his progress as aracer

started racing around five years ago; my brother raced, so I thought I would give it ago. I only took part in the odd mountain bike race and raced for fun, finishing well down the field. I then got a new bike and felt I had to earn it, so I began racing cross and road, still with fairly poor results but with some improvement.

I was committed now, and began cycling on my own once or twice a week, but it was not until I began attending British Cycling sessions that my results improved. These sessions taught me how to ride in a group on the road, something I hadn’t experienced, as I had always been dropped in road races.

learned many other

skills but I was still not

as strong as the rest of the field, no matter how hard

I trained. I kept practicing skills and racing all the time, improving in relation to

the rest of the field. At the start of this cross season, though, I finally felt the benefit of this perseverance, finishing second at the Scottish Cyclocross Series race at Callendar Park. I had achieved podium placing before but to do it at sucha large race made it my best result yet. I went on to wina race in the series and win the series overall in my first year as junior.

Ihave put this success down to the support provided by British Cycling, West Lothian Clarion and my parents, who all taught me to stay motivated and that the results will come. Iam looking forward to this road season and what I will be able to achieve.

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS 15

Raid your album! Swe

We're keen to feature archive photos so please send us digital scans from the distant (and near) past.

x teve Clarke, Graham M King, Paul Asplin lan Clarke in 1985

arion phot phed in Harrogate around 1900, with the Clarion newspaper proudly held

16 BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

Barnoldswick at Chester YHA in 1957. Left to right: John

Cuthbert, Brian Christian and Jack Cuthbert

CLARION CROCKERY UNEARTHED

Bolton's Tony Bowles has discovered an unusual set of crockery in his loft, buried among other club items from the past. The tea set is from around 1912.

Tony says, ‘The pottery looks like it's from the National Clarion with “Bolton Section” printed next to the national logo.’

‘I suspect these items were kept by Sid Clemmet who, on my asking how medals etc were afforded in between the war years, replied, “when we wanted money from the members we would hold social events, whist and beetle drives”. The membership were obviously very generous.’

Pre-war Scottish champs

im Harris from the

West of Scorland has

found a photo of the 1938 Scottish BAR champion cycling team. The team is made up of T. Blair and W. Mowat (Kilsyth Clarion) and J.S. taylor (Kinning Park Clarion).

Taylor was Scotland’s record breaking BAR time trialist and first to win the individual trophy twice.

The report accompanying the photo says he received tumultuous reception at the prize presentation.

In his speech, Taylor said ‘would advise Scottish cyclists not only to ride against Scottish champions but with a view to beating the best British performance.’

Taylor went on to to say that winning the Team shield was afar greater performance than the individual one.

T. Blair, W. Mowat and individual champion J. S. taylor

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS 17

The club

Matt Ball says old fashioned rules are returning to club runs

uxford’s Ian Clarke

sent me the National

Clarion Handbook from 1961. Inside, Brian Braithwaite from the Clitheroe section provides some timely group riding advice:

‘There are few callsin common use:

“STEADY” means watch out and be prepared to slow down or stop.

“BEHIND” means stop.

“SINGLE OUT” means

18 BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

ride ina single file until your leaders start riding in pairs again and it isalways the rider on the outside who drops back.

“CAR UP” means there is a car overtaking the club.

“CAR DOWN” means there is coming towards the club.

If you want to leave the club onarun, then let your leader or some other responsible member know, so that the rest of the club won’t start waiting

or looking for you.

Good club members and, of course, this means you don’t shout or act the goat in villages or cafés. Clubs get known, and ifmembers behave well, then they are all much more welcome. And itis very useful to be welcome ina cafe ona cold wet day.

Lastly, when you become an experienced club member, try remember that someone helped you when you joined the club, and ifyou in your turn can help anew member along then you will be doing a great service to the club.’

This excerpt isa reminder of how cycling used to bea much more formal activity.

During the last four decades, clubs seem to have takena more laissez faire approach to club runs, perhaps due to stagnating memberships.

But with cycling’s new popularity and an influx of novice cyclists, sections are now having to develop more procedures again, to help educate their expanding memberships.

Sections are going back to nominating ride leaders to help ‘manage’ club runs, pass cycle craft and develop group riding skills.

Cohesive club runs can be difficult to achieve but basic skills are essential:

Don’t half wheel, ride handlebar to handlebar, ease offon hills, don’t attack, keep gaps small, communicate, ride with moderation and be prepared.

And if you want to race, pin anumber on your back.

ust a few weeks after

Tom Groom’s original

letter appeared in the

Clarion on 26 May the following piece appeared in a miscellany of local reports entitled ‘Notes from the Front’ as part ofa report from ‘Manchester and District’ by Leonard Hall.

The latest and greatest ‘idea’ in the world is that of a National ‘Clarion’ Cycling Club with local centres. The electrical Tom Grooms and the oakhearted Harry Atkinsons of Birmingham have the honour of inspiration but there is nothing ‘Brummagem’ about it.

These neighbours of Joseph the Pneumatic have already a lively little society of jiggers’ who wear in their caps a natty gilt badge consisting of a miniature bugle with the legend ‘Clarion’ in silver letters permanent wear and who not only enjoy themselves but spread the gospel by way of sticking I.L.P. labels and texts wheresoever they wander on wheels.

Besides which they can lend ahand or rather a voice at struggling branch meetings in adjacent districts wherever occasion calls.

LL.P. cyclists and their name is now legion allover the country can have the aforementioned emblems by applying to Comrade Chris Thompson, 253 Park Road, Hockley, Birmingham, who is the designer. And local societies that wish to fall in with the National

Notes from the early years

‘C’C.C. should communicate with the same gentleman atonce, as it is proposed to organise a great gathering of the clans later in the summer at some convenient centre say Derbyshire.

By the way, why not have a great ‘Clarion’ picnic for alland sundry some August weekend, in some happy English valley, to which should come the faithful from the four corners of the world, on wheels, on legs, in trains, ye Bounder to preside over the revels and er the vittles.

Anyone mystified by Hall’s saying that ‘there is nothing “Brummagem” aboutit’ should recall that at that time and for many years before and after Birmingham had the reputation of mass producing cheap and rubbishy goods, so his comment is meant asa compliment to the Clarion CC. The writer of this piece, Leonard Hall, wasa longterm I.L.P. activist, probably best known later on, in 1910, as one of the authors of

WHAT'SIN A NAME?

The weekly Clarion newspaper had been going since December 1891. Most of the regular Clarion journalists and contributors had strange nicknames. This had started before the Clarion was launched with Blatchford when he worked on Bell's Life and then the Sunday Chronicle in the 1880s, writing under the pen-name Nunquam Dormio (I never sleep) soon shortened to Nunquam.

The Bounder, who features in many reports, was the tall, 18-stone, Irish, humorous writer, Edward Fay. There's a splendid picture of him, on his bike, on the 1895 Birmingham Clarion CC greeting card featured in Denis Pye'’s book.

The Clarion co-editor AM Thompson rejoiced in the name Dangle, and

the Green Manifesto (notan Blatchford's brother environmental tract) but so Montague was Mont Blong. called from the cover

ofthe

booklet). FELLOWSHIP READ ON

Its official S Buy Denis Pye's excellent name was en yang ewe Fellowship is Life, the

Let Us Reform National Clarion Cycling the Labour Club 1895-1995 priced at Party (yes, £4: 95.

even then!). seteeetsee

IAN BULLOCK order now

(BRIGHTON Email lan Clarke at bike@ HOVE) Denis clarioncc.org

SPRING 2014| BOOTS&SPURS 19

Trin uf at the 77%€h

EASTER MEET IN BEVERLEY

Friday 18 to Monday 21 April 2014

or cyclists and guest speaker is Mark Robinson, Minster, a gothic masterpiece. Prcatonetes Beverley is former British professional and The countryside around

wonderful venue for the Peace Race rider. Beverley is superb for the two 119th Easter Meet. We have an Paul Schofield, an social rides that are planned excellent headquarters at the experienced Local guide, will for the Saturday afternoon and Beverley Arms Hotel, in North lead the historical walk on Sunday. We look forward to Bar Within, where the signing Saturday afternoon, which will seeing you at the 2014 Easter on, conference, ceilidh (with include St Mary's Church, Meet in the historic market buffet) and the Annual Prize Hengate, Butcher's Row, the town of Beverley.

Presentation take place. Our Dominican Friary and Beverley CHRISGOODE

x BOOK EARLY

TO SECUR'

FRIDAY TO SUNDAY: £49 Adults, £24 Children (under 16), Children under 5 free SATURDAY ONLY: £25 Adults, £12 Children (under 16) mm SUNDAY ONLY: £25 Adults, £12 Children (under 16) Please send cheque payable to National Clarion CC to: Chris Goode, 56 Raleigh Street. Scarborough YO127LQ Tel, 01723 341050

clarion.chris@yahoo. co.uk

2014 BEVERLEY EASTER MEET 4

Beverly Arms is the'HQ

ACTIVITIES

Friday 18 April

From Spm Collect ribbons and a programme of events

7.30pm Meet the Mayor

drinks at the Beverley Arms.

Saturday 19 April

10-12.30am Conference with free refreshments

2pm Local History Walk with Paul Schofield

2pm Social rides

7.15pm Party with ceilidh and buffet.

Sunday 20 April

10am Group photo

10am 30-mile and 60-mile Tour de Wolds clubruns

Watch the Amstel Gold at local inn

7pm for 7.30pm Prize Presentation with special guest speaker Mark Robinson.

WHERE TO STAY VENUE Beverley, with the HQ being the Beverley Arms, Beverley, East Yorkshire HU17 8DD www.thebeverleyarms.co.uk.

Booking

Bookings must be made by email via hayley.kirkham@ thebeverleyarms.co.uk. Mention the Easter Meet.

Rates

Double or twin or single rooms: £40 per person per night including breakfast)

Children (under 16) Free (in same room). Meals extra.

Other accommodation:

Contact Chris Goode by emailing clarion.chris@yahoo. co.uk or calling 01723 341050 for camping or B&Bs.

Beverley Friary YHA

Tourist Information Centre, tel 01482 391672.

1G RIDES

C’était superbe

Alex Southern and three fellow London Clarion members found the Dieppe Raid an adventure worth repeating

nJune 29, three

of us met early

for the train to Newhaven where, Semeet” after a hearty breakfast, we met up with our secretary (a hardier man than us) who had cycled up from Tunbridge Wells. We easily completed the ticket and passport checks and joined a long line of cyclists waiting to board the boat (Newhaven to Dieppe tickets are discounted if you are going on The Raid). There was a great variety of cycles: carbon fibre, heavily dented old bikes, tandems and even cruisers. Some cyclists had brought cars

but the majority had bulging panniers and backpacks. The car deck filled with bikes was an unusual sight as was the great array of club colours in the ship’s lounges.

On arrival, we were conscious of the time constraints in getting to the opening ceremony at the HQ, which, we understood, was in the south western part of the town. We followed a number of other cyclists and tried to remember the map we had downloaded but I had usefully hidden somewhere in my bags. Embarrassingly, we realised that the cyclists

22|BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

we were following were destined for their hotel but, even worse, the cyclists

who were following us were likewise convinced we knew where we were going. Of course, we eventually spotted some old hands relaxing with a beer outside a bar (sensible chaps) and they set us on the right course. Arriving at HQ we found the bar brimming with cyclists and there began the camaraderie which is the most wonderful feature of the Dieppe Raid weekend.

There was a table filled with trophies, and a display about the local area put together by the local Dieppe cycling club. Various speeches began: a welcome by the Mayor, another welcome by the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, then various dignitaries from the town Council spoke, as did someone from the local cycling club, and not forgetting Caroline and Glen Street who endlessly work each year to ensure the event is success. We were told that 283 English cyclists were in attendance plus 281 French cyclists. We needed to register between 6am and 9am the next day and the welcome was rounded off with a glass of Normandy Cider. They were also collecting fees for the Dieppe Raid dinner on the Sunday following the ride. By stroke of good fortune we managed to get seats, despite

Dieppe cycling club rode the

course checking that we were OK

only being on the reserve list due to booking the event late. Up early on the Sunday, we returned to HQ to collect our programme and get our registration card stamped. Like most of the documentation for the weekend, we downloaded our map from the Dieppe Raid website but, in fact, wouldn’t need it because the 4 Dieppe cycling club mark the roads at every junction with your chosen distance (you can chose between 30km and 200km). Uniquely, there are no potholes! Proudly, we took to the road in our much remarked about kit. ‘Are youa religious club?’ since our tops bear our motto Fellowship is

Life. ‘Are you a musical club?’ as our kit bears a bugle logo. Our checked sleeves inspired an affectionate nickname. ‘It’s the spotty people!’

We had a joyous cycle. It was reassuring to be constantly met by members of the Dieppe cycling club, who rode around the course checking we were OK. Equally nice was that wherever we went, we met friendly fellow cyclists who did not boast about their prowess, rather, asked where we were from, checked we were enjoying ourselves and pleasantly passed time in conversation. Many explained that they had been doing The Raid for years.

Lunch is provided half way around the course and cleverly everyone meets at the same place. A foot-long baguette with paté or cheese, drinks and fruit is included in

the entry fee.

At the finish, a local bar beckoned, although one of our members decided to do the course again! While the Pelforth flowed he cycled and sweated and still managed to be back in time for the prize giving at 5pm. Prizes aren’t awarded on time or distance but on oldest and youngest doing a particular distance, or the person who has travelled furthest to the event etc. After closing speeches the raffle was drawn, with small prizes, then a second bigger raffle offers serious wins, including a bike. All prizes are donated by the local businesses in Dieppe and enhance what is already an amazing event.

There was also time for a photograph with Ade Birchenough, a veteran of the Dieppe Raid and member of North Cheshire Clarion.

The much-feted dinner is a

relaxed affair at which many attendees continue to proudly wear their club colours. There are no official speeches but it is a great opportunity to enjoy some fine catering and once again meet many of the other participants of the weekend.

We began Monday visiting the Canadian Cemetery where many of the dead from avery different Dieppe Raid are buried. The countryside of northern France is littered with such cemeteries and it’s important to remember the ultimate sacrifice that many bore. We then had a fine cycle along the coast, again meeting other participants of the weekend, and enjoying more fine French dining.

Back at the ferry port we were greeted by an enormous queue including many cyclists, some with carrier bags containing great delicacies strung across their handlebars. A cool breeze blew in from the sea but the crack was 90, as my Irish friends say, and you couldn't wish for better company to wile away the time until the ship boarded. We were last to embark and last to disembark at Newhaven, and made our train more through luck than design. There again on the train were our friends from Croydon and so many others we had come to know so well in so little time.

Weare very much looking forward to next year’s Dieppe Raid, an event that has been running for over 40 years and which I would heartily

recommend to everyone!

SPRING 2014| BOOTS&SPURS 23

BIG RIDES

Adate with history

By Julian Mortel ITALIAN

n February last year,

after finishing a

rather cold granfondo

Laigueglia in Liguria,

received a phone call from Paul Frost (Fenland) asking if I fancied doing this year’s L’Eroica. Held in Tuscany on the strade bianche (white gravel roads), LEroica is the classic ‘old bicycle’ race. It was easy for me to say yes as am already based in Italy, but didn’t give a second thought to getting hold ofa bike or the other regalia required by the ‘regulations’. After all, it was still 8 months until the race.

The regs call for steel bike frames of the 80s era or earlier, with toe-clips and straps, exposed brake cables, down tube shifters, and woolly garments and old style banana helmets. Picking up this gear was almost as difficult as the event itself, which was surprisingly hard. Hearing about my companions, Ian Clarke (Tuxford), Steve and Lyndsay Clarke, and Paul Frost (Fenland) getting their bikes ready was frustrating as I was here, in the heart of cycling,

24 |BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

struggling to get hold of anything to allow me to ride, until right under my nose, our local bike shop in Chieri came up trumps with a very nice second hand ‘Elio di Torino’, meeting all the requirements. Marco Gios of Gios cycles fixed me up with a lovely pair of Duegi wood sole lace up shoes for free too (still in the original box all this just two weeks before the event. Suddenly the thought of fitness crossed my mind. I hadn’t been riding as much as in the past, but the L’Eroica is more a social ride, the object being to finish, not to beat a

certain time (or rather Ian Clarke). The Friday before the event we collected the British contingent from Pisa airport and drove to our accommodation which Ian had booked. We arrived in the dark and my trepidation about the location of the accommodation was heightened as we drove for over a kilometer down narrow gravel path. However, the very nice villa complex more than made up for any concerns.

While unpacking the three bike bags from the roof rack, Ian caught one of the ratchets

lan surveys the tuscan countryside

with his left eye as I threw it down from the roof of the van. Could have been nasty but luckily he’s made ofrugged stuffand didn’t whinge much. Without further ado the guys set to unpacking and building the bikes while Lorraine and Lyndsay made dinner.

We all went to bed happy and woke up happy too, but just worried about the weather. Rain hadn’t been anticipated, let alone heavy rain! We went to sign on in Gaiole with 4000 other riders. It was still raining, heavily. We perused the open

Climbs are hard going

Heldin

Tuscany on white gravel roads, LEroica is the classic ‘old bicycle’ race

air bike-bits market. were some fine machines

on display as well as some rather exotic equipment. It was still raining, heavily. We had a coffee and a bite to eat. It was still raining, heavily. This helped us decide. We chose the shorter 135km. route, which we knew would still take at least 4 hours. Back to the villa and final

ere

preparations for the next day. Lyndsay had bought some old-school shoes at the market and got them set up for the ride; the bikes were checked again. Ian considered how much air to put into his 28mm, Steve oiled his Carlton and Lyndsay’s Harry Quinn. We tried on the clothing, unsure what the morning weather might bring. We had to be up early, so ate well and retired earlyish to bed.

5am and various groans and moans later we were having breakfast together.

Leaving the villa with Lorraine and Carlo behind, the journey to Gaiole gave hope; it wasn’t raining, in fact the sun was coming up and the roads were almost dry.

We crossed the start line at 7am and made off for a surprisingly swift first 1okm. It’s funny how there is never any wind early in the day or late at night. We then hit the first section of strade bianche. It took us 2h30min to get to Radi (first food stop) at 48km. What a welcome feed station that was. The selection was vast and included raw mince, horse meat, various salamis, bread soaked in wine, nutella, ham, honey, fruits, wine and water as well as many desserts and biscuits. That took at least halfan hour. We started to not worry about the time. This ride would take more than 4hrs.

The sun was really belting down at 10am and the neverending views made it feel great. Some of the climbs (and descents) on the

SPRING 2014| BOOTS&SPURS 25

BIG RIDES

strade bianche were very challenging in gradient, and maintaining grip and keeping your feet in the toeclips, avoiding the ruts caused by the rain the previous day, was tricky. One particular descent had me worried, too slow

and you were off, too fast and you'd overcook the bend at the bottom.

Four white roads were out of the way with two more to go by the time we reached the next feed station with more of the same fayre in Asciano at 12:22pm. That made a total of 29km on the rough stuff, 84km in total. One more food stop and four hours later we finished in Gaiole at 4:50pm. A beer while sitting on the cobbles of the main street went down well. It seemed like half the route was on gravel when in fact it had been only 33km. It had certainly sapped our energy. We reckoned less than 10 per cent of people rode up all the gravel climbs. It certainly was a satisfying experience and all the better for riding it asa group. Would we do it again? Maybe next year.

We've done it!

26 BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

lan’s Hill Special

BUILDING A ‘NEW’ OLD BIKE

Bylan Clarke

TUXFORD

It had long been a dream to get a vintage bike and ride the Italian retro sportive LEroica. decided the bike to do it on had to be a Padihambuilt Hill Special, built by the Hill brothers, Clarion members decades back.

I'd asked Robin Hatherhall of Clitheroe Clarion to keep an eye out for me, and a couple of years ago he found one. Then a call from Paul Frost of Fenland Clarion to say he had got entries for the 2013 Eroica took me another step closer. Two months before the ride started to get the bike in condition for the 135km, mainly off-road, gruelling challenge. It would be difficult enough for a modern bike; worrying for my 63-year-old Hill Special.

needed to sort out a period helmet and shoes, handle bar stem, retro bottle cage, and brakes that were safe and reliable. had some success on Ebay, but struck gold using Facebook and my Clarion connections.

Robin again came up trumps with exactly the stem needed, a 4% inch GB spearhead, and a ‘hairnet’ helmet. Ex-Nottingham Clarion rider (and now Tuxford Clarion member) Martin Smith's father in law Martin Purser helped me out with everything else. He even turned up one day while was at work and fettled a fix to my brake callipers.

But where was going to find leather cycling shoes? turned to Facebook again and within hours received a message from lan Cammish (yes, the country’s all-time best distance time triallist), who told me he'd put his. 1989 BBAR winning shoes on ebay. With sweaty palms and tactical bidding, secured them in the last few seconds of the bidding process.

We decided to collect them in person, and went to see lan. He's been a ‘testers’ hero of mine since was a young teenager. It made my day when he told me the story of how we first met, when my brother Steve and sat on Dad's wheel on the Al and caught him up.

Barnoldswick's Bob Jackson with his trusty Ewood Cycles’ tourer during last summer's tour of the west coast of Scotland.

Neil Heyes of West Lothian in front of the Coliseum in Rome during his mammoth 2800-mile ride to Naples.

North Cheshire's Adam Sharples says he was ‘pretty lucky’ to meet Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche at a café stop in Majorca.

RIDERS

Gift of hope

By David Mason WEST LOTHIAN n October 2013, I travelled to Uganda with volunteers from Deans Community High School, Livingston, to work with Touch of Hope Children’s Home. This is a non-profit Christian organisation that aims to meet the needs of the less

fortunate children of Uganda.

Uganda has been ravaged by HIV/AIDS and civil unrest, witha generation almost completely wiped out. It is very common to see grandparents looking after 6 to 12 children because the parents are dead.

We visited Entebbe Road Primary School near Kampala and Sunrise Primary School to the north east of Kampala, where the children were so grateful to receive an education in a safe, fun environment. We also visited Sanju Babies’ Home, where abandoned babies and toddlers are cared for

until they can be placed with relatives or be fostered.

One of the more difficult experiences of the trip was working with the Retrak Charity, which supports street children. At Retrak, the children get the chance to escape their daily struggle, have a game of football, a meal and be ina safe place for a while. Retrak helps to resettle children with their own families or, if that’s not possible, with other organisations. To date, 77 per cent of the resettled children have stayed off the streets;

a remarkable achievement under very trying conditions.

While there, I was amazed at what people could carry on a bike and it’s clear that bikes are a very important part of the economy and transport system, although the roads are the most dangerous I have been on in terms of surface, traffic and weaponry!

Find out more at www. touchofhopechildrenshome. org.uk.

SPRING 2014| BOOTS&SPURS 27

CLARION FASHION

Sunderland

Saddleworth

|BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

BARNOLDSWICK ur small section, which is growing in numbers, had a good summer. Along with well-attended Saturday morning rides, many of our members took part in several events and I completed two tours. Thirteen members rode and completed a reliability ride of the Yorkshire Dales of 80 miles in eight hours, including Fleet Moss. Michael Meath kindly designed and printed a certificate that was presented to’all who completed the challenge. Several members joined cyclists from across the country who converged on our town to take part in the annual Ride with Brad g Charity sportive, starting and finishing at Victory Park in Barnoldswick, where last 8 year Bradley Wiggins opened aspecial children’s cycle track named in his honour. Bob Kenny completed a seven-day Alpine Challenge

SECTION HEAD IS ORIGINAL SECTION NEWS MAST HEAD DRAWN BY EDW,

Tony Bowles pushes off Bolton’s downhill champ Dave Owen

ride in the French Alps.

Bob, a local GP, is one of

our stronger riders and has successfully completed many sportives.

I have made two tours of Scotland and the Alps, the highlights being the climb to the top of the Stelvio Pass and acircuit of the Dolomites. Bob Jackson

Barnoldswick, near their Harry Hill memorial seat

BOLTON

busy year, with

both weekend A

and B rides, and the Wednesday club rides being well supported. There was renewed interest in TT riding during last summer, with many of our riders achieving PBs. Nice to see Bolton Clarion colours in competition.

The Belgian tour was a success without any serious mishaps. A resumé of the tour was the subject for our November Club Night, when Mike Singleton entertained us with a photo presentation.

Club Nights have been a favourite throughout the year: during the summer achance for a chat, swapa book or DVD followed by a

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS

SECTION NEWS

beer. As the days shortened we had a subject for each meeting; once again Fred provided us with a ‘Staying Fit During Winter’ for the October meeting. No excuses now! Fred will be checking up as the January Club Night will be ‘Getting Fit after Winter’.

In December, there were two firm favourites. Bolton Clarion Track Night at the Velodrome, an event which is always fully subscribed attracting both members and non-members. The track night was followed by the Grande Downhill and Christmas Lunch, once again at The Cherry Tree another Tony Bowles extravaganza following on from his well patronised Arnside weekend. Peter Moore

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ("1 adly, we have lost Brian Hutton (see Obituary

t on page 7) and our link

with our predecessor, the Brighton Clarion of the 1940s and 1950s.

We have continued with our gentle fortnightly rides, including a recent ‘ill wind’ one that looked as though it might see us blown half way across the Channel, and another where the three riders (including the contributor of this report) daft enough to go out on such astormy day spent some time seeking refuge from the downpour in a handy bus shelter. At the time of writing we are looking forward to our final two rides for 2013 in

30 BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

Festive cheer in Bury

December and our Christmas Social soon after.

Several of us had a very busy day on 2 November, taking part in the local Defend the NHS march in the morning and meeting a contingent from the London Clarion who had ridden down to Brighton (well, most of the way) in the evening. We agreed to try to organise some joint rides or at least rides with common meeting points at lunch time (ie pubs) in the New Year.

Several of our members have had quite serious illnesses and nasty injuries this year and we hope that 2014 will see them all on the road again.

Jan Bullock

BURY ell hello again boyz

AvAN and girlz of The

Clarion. I hope your section has had as much fun as the boyz and girlz of Bury Clarion.

We’ve had so much fun, I can’t think where to start. I

know I’ll tell you about the Yates twins: you probably

know already, but I’m going to tell again, cos it’s reet good.

The twins had a great success in the Tour De L’Avenir: a tremendous sprint finish with Simon taking first place, and, hot on his wheel, Adam in second, that’s better than reet good, that’s reet gradely. Adam finished 2nd overall to become the highest ever placed British rider (only Robert Millar before him in 1982 getting on the podium).

In the Tour of Britain, Simon finished in third place overall: his victory in stage six was a splendiferous performance where an estimated crowd of 250,000 saw him win on Dartmoor.

The twins have now signed with Orica Greenedge; rumour has it that they are currently down under, enjoying the sunshine.

Back down to earth. The current increase in the popularity of cycling was reflected in the turn-out for our annual Have a Go Hill Climb. Fifty-two riders competed, and all finishers received a bar of Fair Trade Chocolate (didn’t I tell you we were having such fun?). Better still boyz and girlz, we had some wonderful beer in the race HQ afterwards.

In the Lancashire Road Club Hill Climb, which is held on The Rake, a fearsome 1in 4 climb, Bury Clarion riders were successful in winning the team prize.

Fastest Bury rider was Michael Humphreys with 2m 46.6s, Joseph Cadwallader was second with 3m 7.8s and

Simon and Adam Yates with Paul Whatmough and Chris-Taylor.and Nick Hall

Gareth Davies with 3m 11.28 Fifteen year old Liam Shaw completed the climb in 3m 26.6s.

Peter Roscoe holds our club record for The Rake at 2m 24s back in 1963. I always knew he was going up in the world. Fred Fernakapan CALDER

he Go Ride initiative has continued to be successful. Several young riders have taken part in their first cx races, consistently placing in the top ten of the current Yorkshire CX Association series, including three bronze medals between them in their first season of racing.

A group of Calder Go Riders and adult members participated in the recent National Clarion cx championships in Nottingham: full report in next issue of Boots Spurs.

The 2013 evening TTs have again been successful, with new club course records set for the challenging new 10TT course. Current record holders are Nick Griffiths with a time of 23:06 and Jenny Latham with 24:38.

We successfully promoted our first Audax event in July, with challenging 100km and 200km routes offered. The weather was good and we welcomed riders from a wide area.

GUEST STARS ONCLUB RUN

Nick Hall caught up with

Bury alumni Simon and “Adam Yates, who were

back'home over

2 Christmas after signing

pro contracts with Orica

GreenEdge. They

managed to squeeze ina

club run before heading

Off to start their season. In

January, Adam'finished a superb 11th in the Tour de San Luis. The twins will race together in February at the Tour Of Mallorca. They're not scheduled to ride any grand tours but

-Yare secretly hoping to get selected for the Vuelta a Espana if they impress during the year.

A grant has been secured from Metro (West Yorkshire PTE) to promote cycling and encourage riders young and old to take the sport up. We now have a gazebo with the Calder name and colours on it, which has been taken toa number of local events and has helped raise our local profile.

Andrew Spittlehouse

COATBRIDGE s 2013 comes toan end, the members of the Coatbridge

section looked back with

pride on the progress made in only the first full year of the club’s new era. There have been some fantastic

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS 31

SECTION NEWS

THE COATBRIDGE REVIVAL CONTINUES

John Gormlie, Secretary of the reborn Scottish section, introduces us to two of its

members

INSPIRATIONAL BILL It's not every day you meet a truly inspirational figure. Chris Horner inspired fortysomethings the world over when he became the oldest ever winner of a grand tour the 2013 Vuelta a Espana at almost 42 years old.

Coatbridge Clarion can boast their own super hero. Bill Clelland is no ordinary guy. In his younger days, running marathons and doing 5km swims for charity made him a well known figure locally. This summer Bill made a dramatic entrance to the cycling scene.

He arrived unknown to any of the riders at midweek fast riding practice. He asked if he could join in, at the same time playing down his capabilities.

He did well that night, fitting right in and showing speed and strength to

Phil and Bill (inset)

average over 20mph for the two hour session.

At the end, the members chatted with Bill and were astonished when he declared that this was his first time out with a cycle club —at the age of 72.

Bill signed up as a Clarion member and ordered his club kit right away. When not cycling he can be found in the gym doing spin and metafit classes.

He is off to Australia soon on holiday and will be wearing the club colours with pride. Coatbridge Clarion are very proud to call Bill Clelland one of their own.

PHIL IS ON TRACK

It has been many years since the Coatbridge Clarion raced in competitions. In the 1940s and 1950s, competitive success was very much a part of the club fabric. During those good old days, the club won the Clarion Challenge Shield no fewer than 9 times. Coatbridge Clarion is now in the second era of its history. With the main focus on road cycling, one member has ploughed a lone furrow for the club on the track. Phil Brady is a regular at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow. The news that he won a local track race was warmly welcomed by the members. Phil will play down its significance but it's the club's first win for decades. Phil has been involved in numerous sports. He enjoyed cycle racing as a youth, then turned to extreme sports with fell running, rock climbing and alpine skiing taking over for a while. His only distraction these days is the odd sailing weekend but cycling now comes first.

RIDE WITH PHIL ON HIS 2369-MILE CHARITY RIDE

Cyclist Phil Johns will be raising funds for Anna's Hope, a charity that helps children and young people with brain

tumours. His challenge is to

cycle 2369 miles over 18 days

to all 92 Football League Clubs.

|BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

He would really appreciate some support on the ride and would like to ask, would any of my fellow Clarion members

ride a section of the route when

it passes through their patch? The Challenge starts Friday

18 April 2014 and the last leg is on Monday 5 May.

details of the routes can be found at www.cycleroute92. wix.com/annas-hope JIM FELL (FENLAND) jim.felL@googlemail.com

times. As with all clubs, some members have faced very difficult challenges in their lives away from cycling. It is at times like these that friendship is important. The Coatbridge section doubled the membership in the last year but more importantly many good friendships were formed.

The past year has seen club runs really take off. The longer weekend runs were complemented by twice weekly fast group riding practice. This caused a real buzz, with everyone working together and encouraging each other in the pursuit of continuous improvement. These were replaced by midweek turbo sessions in the winter nights, which have also been a huge success.

Highlights included the arrival of our new club kit with almost all of the members being proud owners. The club runs to Lowther Hill and the Isle of Arran were brilliant days in the sun through breathtaking scenery.

Along with twitter on CoatbridgeCCC, the club website is now up and

running. Check it out on www.

coatbridgeclarioncycleclub. com John Gormlie

GOSPORT osport had a Clarion section, Gosport Clarion Cycling Club,

during the golden age of

British club cycling during

the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

The recent explosion in the popularity of cycling seemed like the perfect opportunity to re-establish a club in our locality, and so the Gosport Clarion Cycling Club was resurrected during a meeting in the pub in July 2013.

Our section ethos is to promote recreational and leisure cycling rather than racing, and we have two regular rides every week:

a road outing on Thursday nights and an off road expedition on Sunday

nights. True to the National Clarion’s socialist origins, the Gosport branch’s activities are friendly, supportive and inclusive. We aim to provide for a wide range of cycling interests and abilities with few, if any, costs. We are striving to provide what our members demand. To date, there are 14 in the group

and we are an extremely varied bunch, from absolute beginners to competent riders who have been cycling since

GOSPORT TO ITALIAN

their toddlerhood, from skilled mechanics, bicycle recyclers and retailers to those who are keen to glean all they can from their more experienced club colleagues. We also ride a diverse range of bikes, from 1970s ladies’ shoppers and vintage steel bikes to modern road, BMX, mountain and tandem bikes. Plans in the pipeline include a greater variety of riding activities: organised trips, a regular club meeting night, skills classes, challenge rides, charity fundraising etc. With local advertising, word of mouth and the help of anew Facebook page we’re hoping that we continue to expand as quickly as we have so far... Lisa Drummy

ITALIAN 013 was a fantastic year. Section membership more than doubled. We

welcomed Giovanni Bazzoni

(roadie) to the Clarion since

last writing. Gio is our first

Coatbridge's day out to the Isle of Arran

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS 33

Italian member. Dick Ayre (another new member) rode the Quebrantahuesos in June: 200km in the Pyrenees, including col du Somport, 1700m at 50km and Portalet 1800m at 150km, a total of 3800m of climbing. Having paced himself early on he wishes he’d gone full gas as he felt great at the end of just less than eight hours’ riding (finishing 4158 out of 9000 starters). Well done to Dick, who is looking for another big challenge in 2014.

Since last summer, we have had a tour at Lago d’Iseo, climbing Passo San Fermo with long sections of 1in 5 at its base. We also met up with members of Fenland at lEroica in Tuscany (see story on Page 24).

Dick took part in the Garmin Triathlon Barcelona, taking on the Olympic distance in 2 hours 26mins.

This year, the Giro passes through Chieri where we are based, with the TT the day before from Barbaresco to Barolo (two of the best wines you'll ever try). We're a little excited about that. Buon Natale a tutti!

Julian Mortel

34|BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

Italian Clarion’s Dick, Lorraine and Julian

NORTH CHESHIRE orth Cheshire had 310 members at the “end of October, which includes over 60 juniors. The road ride programme is increasing to include a club ride every Saturday as well as our increasingly popular skills rides.

The juniors have had a great year, with seven riders making progress in events, especially Euan Hacker who achieved a season’s best of 58 points. Our junior sessions have now moved inside for the winter allowing them to keep their fitness up over the dark months.

The adults have been

competing in all disciplines, with David Grindley winning the National Clarion Senior Road Race. Giles Perkins, Mike Plant, Kev Cawley and Rob Longdon are competing in the North West CX League, with Ade Hughes, Phil Rowsell, Ben McCaulder and Andy Meade competing in TT competitions all year.

In July, Ade Hughes took part and successfully completed the London- Edinburgh-London Audax in 104 hrs and 43 minutes. Congratulations to him.

After four years, Giles Perkins has stood down as North Cheshire Clarion Secretary. He has been a real inspiration to the club and its members and we wish him all the best for the future. Geoff Prince

SADDLEWORTH

T A Trell the good news

is that we continue togrowand

continue to enjoy ourselves.

The Christmas prize giving

Saddleworth: winners of the CTC’s Beard Cup

CHESHIRE TO SUNDERLAND

was sold out and we had a successful year on the sporting front.

Chris Cullen, Mike Wigley and Steve Butterworth completed the London- Edinburgh-London Audax and in so doing helped the club gain an impressive 135 points placing us 20th nationally and well clear of all the other Clarion clubs.

Locally we won the Beard Cup a team hill climbing trophy hosted each year by Manchester CTC seeing off other local clubs. Well done to Ben Gillespie, Ian Canaway and Simon Cullen for their efforts, to Vanessa Whitfield for winning the ladies trophy, and Mike Gradwell on his Brompton based victory in the tourist section.

Simon Pateman has been representing the club at cx and is having his best season to date in the local Yorkshire CX League.

Club runs continue to leave Uppermill, so if you are ever passing, then come and ride out with us.

Tim Mitchell

Sunderland's troops gather for the hill climb

STOCKPORT embership is on the increase, currently at 56 members.

In races, Sarah Clegg won the Hope Brownbacks MTB. Doug Clark won USA National Triathlon Champs for his age group. AGAIN! Dunc McLaren was 3rd in the North West Divisional Road Race.

This year, Dan Moores cycled East to West Russia, 8350km through Siberia, up through the Ural Mountains, across central and western Russia. He averaged 135 miles a day, sometimes no café for 200km. Dan just wished some roads were quieter. Dan has many adventures planned. He is doing the RAAM (Race Across America) with the support of some of Stockport Clarion. This year, Dan is also cycling from the South Pole to the North Pole. Find out more at www.danielmoores.com.

Stockport helped to marshall at the Tameside circuit races, and also ran the National Clarion 10TT champs. SCCC and

Manchester Wheelers jointly held a club 10TT on a Monday night, a very popular series with local riders.

Stockport had a weekend away in Bedgellert, witha combination of MTB and road. rides. This was a camping weekend but after being eaten

alive by midges, the second night was spent ina B&B.

Our website is continually being updated with news/ results/pictures etc (SCCC is also now on Flickr).

We had a new club hill climb format. Three climbs on the same day, and accumulative time wins. Paul Whittaker was the winner, just ahead of Steve Smith.

Longstanding member of Stockport Clarion Ric Brown has now emigrated to Trinidad Tobago. Allat Stockport pass on their best wishes.

Duncan Mclaren

SUNDERLAND ast year was rounded out in its usual manner with the club’s annual open hill climb, which was put back to October to give

SPRING 2014 BOOTS&SPURS 35

S) NEWS

local riders a chance to try a longer hill the week before the National Hill Climb. It was also the final climb to be organised by Ian Taylor, who, along with his family, has put on an event over the years that the club can be proud

of. The hill climb saw Craig Stephenson seal a rewarding season with the club’s trophy; he also took the club BAR this year after a number of years without a winner, having fully sunk his teeth into time trialling and picking good number of the annual trophies.

Along with the hill climb, the autumn ended with the annual hostel trip; this year the group headed north to Wooler with over 20 members taking part. Off the bike, the section also welcomed family and friends to enjoy some late sun in September for a BBQ.

Finally, 2013 took its toll on the Sunderland section, with enough broken bones for a good rendition of Dem Bones. The worst luck has to be that of Chris Wilson who recovered from a broken pelvis, only to break his wrist. Matt France

TUXFORD t’s funny how in such asmall area so many people can share a passion

without others knowing. Of

course, in recent years, road

cycling has taken offas a

recreational activity anda

way for people to keep fit, but what started as a small group of enthusiasts who used to do

regular Sunday morning

Tuxford: mastering group riding

ride has grown into a new club. Once we'd met with

Tan Clarke, who lived in the next road to me, the seed of a new club was formed. Ian’s cycling background and his association with the National Clarion gave us the impetus we needed.

Following the first club run, where 11 hardy souls turned out, there was the first club meeting in a local pub. Once we'd elected some club officials, National Clarion membership forms were presented and a decision on the club name was agreed. In the space of six short months we've grown the membership to 34 people with a regular, well-attended Sunday morning run of about 40 to 50 miles.

We're fortunate that where we live in Nottinghamshire has 10 to 15 regular routes taking us north, south, east and west, giving a wide variety of countryside to explore with varying difficulty.

A change for us all but we've learned quickly to ride in a group, mastering hand signals and even getting to do

some ‘through and off’ when the roads permit. We've completed our first club races with a TT and a hill climb and we're currently getting in some winter miles ahead of some planned races in spring this year. With colours agreed for a new jersey we are very much looking forward to the year ahead. We’ve made some new friends who all sharea passion for cycling and with some friendly competition we've grown into a great club. Long may it continue. Joe Duane

WEST LOTHIAN

n October, members

of Scottish Cycling

unanimously passed the resolution at the SC AGM to restructure our governing body. This means that the regional centres will cease to exist from January 2015. Instead, the country will be divided up into five regions, managed by a regional development officer (RDO)

West Lothian are based in

the East and our RDO, Craig McCulloch, has already been

50 MILES, CAFE AND A NEW CLARIONETTE

Joining a cycling club, what a daunting prospect. After all it's just for shade-wearing, Assos clad super fit men and women who were probably born with a bike between their legs. As took delivery and unwrapped my first drop bar bike in 26 years, that is exactly what wished for.

found myself outside the Newcastle Arms in Tuxford, half an hour before the 9am meeting time. Enough time to back out. Should stay or

should go? If stayed! could

end up in trouble but if left would never know. noticed a friendly face with a ciggy clamped between his Lips, removing his bike from the

very active, organising cx and track cluster sessions for youth riders, and track sessions for adult riders. Nineteen adults from the club took part in the first track coaching session in December.

Graeme Horne managed a smooth changeover of our kit supplier to Force GB, with members pleased with the fast turn around and accurate sizing.

At the club’s AGM, Graeme was voted in as the club’s 4th president after Tom Beattie stepped down. Tom is recuperating after sustaining nasty burns in an accident and the club wishes him all the best in his recovery, although he’s been spotted on

back of his car. felt more at ease and decided to stay.

A group assembled and we set off on the run. Before had time to think was at the back of a peleton, living the dream. soon got chatting and it became clear the group

was made up of strong riders

and novices like me, gelled together by cyclist (lan Clarke) who was enthusiastic, experienced and obviously a natural born leader who managed to make suggestions rather than barking orders.

We rode a 50-mile circuit with a much needed cafe break. arrived back home exhausted to find my wife in

the odd club run already! In September, the club implemented a ‘ride leader’

system for club runs. Twenty-

five members attended the

discussion to develop the new

practice and signed up to lead

our group rides. Reports have

been positive and subsequent

runs have been more wee A

the garden. When she saw my face, she asked if wanted lunch or an ambulance? Four months and 1000 miles later am starting to refer to myself as a cyclist. Not once has it been a chore to miss out on a Sunday lie in to meet up with this friendly group of like-minded people. The only thing find hard is that use up 4 or 5 hours of Sunday family time, well 2 or 3.as they don't rise until around 10.00am, but rejoice in the thought that just maybe one Christmas or Birthday my girls will unwrap their first drop bar bike and join me on Sunday mornings. ANON

consistent.

Second claim member Jen Taylor signed a pro contract with new club Startley Primal and we wish her all the best for 2014.

Sixty-two youths participated in the club’s 6-race series, with Ellie Hamilton, Finn Mason, Abbie

A Le Mans start for West Lothian’s Santa CX

SPRING 2014| BOOTS&SPURS 3

SECTION NEWS

Mason, Max Guthrie, Eilidh McFadden, Alison Bryce, Alex Ball, Innes Wilson, Erica Oxley, Cameron Mason and Kai Mitchel winning in their categories.

Alison Bryce was awarded most improved girl, Chris Hordon most improved boy, and Alex Ball Rider of the Year.

Finlay Turner won the under-8s Scottish cx championship with Jamie Mason narrowly pipped into 4th place in the Juniors.

Carrie Anderson and Ken Blake completed the first part of their Level 2 coaching course.

Matthew Ball and Diane Chisholm picked up the honours in the club’s hill climb champs, Brian McClellan, Debbie Pollard and Jamie Mason won their respective leagues in the 10TT series. Matthew Ball and lain Elliott won the 2up-TT and Matthew Ball and Diane Chisholm were first across the line in the cx champs.

Sixty members entered the Santa cx race, which included a ‘mince pie alley’, a balloon jump-over and of course a santa’s grotto. Special guest was Jane Barr, who donated jersey to the raffle which raised over £300 for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Liz Henry was awarded

member of the year at the Champions Night and Paul Lynch picked up the ‘cobble’, winning the downhill competition.

In the autumn, Neil Fraser and family organised another superb 3 Glens Explorer Audax with a good turn out, no doubt encouraged by the post ride grub.

Laura Polwart and Diane Chisholm raised over £500 selling club merchandise.

Congratulation to Craig and Anna Duncan on the birth of Cameron; Alison and Ewen Fulton on the birth of Alasdair and John Halin and Lynn Gow on tying the knot. Matthew Ball

YORKSHIRE COAST

hanks are due to

Ian Turton and all

club members for a successful open TT in June in the Yorkshire Wolds. The 20-mile hilly will be on at the same time in 2014 and it will be good to see you, and at the National 10TT on the Burton Fleming course in late May.

We also hope that you

will be able to make it to the

Easter Meet in Beverley, East Yorkshire. There is some great cycling terrain anda local history walk is available for those wishing to learn more of the historic market town. The band on Saturday

ORKSHIRE COAST

evening will blow your socks off. Frank Vaughan has had both hips replaced so that he will be able to be in top dancing condition. He is recovering well and apologises for not being on Strictly Come Dancing.

Andrea Vaughan has done well in the points competition and was 13th in her age group in the European Triathlon Championship.

Greystone has raced successfully at all distances up to 100 miles and will be in contention for one of the veteran awards. Andy Fisher and Chris Goode have had a good year on the tandem, with personal bests at 10 and 25 miles.

Terry completed his own personal Vuelta in October, covering 500 miles in eight days, learning more about the Spanish Civil War, and meeting up with Gernika CC again and other friends from the 2008 Glasgow to Barcelona ride.

Another major success for the section was Tony Graves raising £1200 for Children with Cancer by riding from Newcastle to London in less than 21 hours, in August. This was a distance of 321 miles! Well done and we look forward to meeting up with fellow Clarionettes in 2014. Chris Goode

Boots Spurs is a great way to show how busy you and your section have been. Send your news, photos and section round-ups to us at the email below. We want to include something from EVERY section in the next edition: secretary@westlothianclarion.co.uk DEADLINE: May 31st, 2014. The SUMMER issue will be out in July 2014.

38 |BOOTS&SPURS SPRING 2014

BARNOLDSWICK

Bob Jackson, 01282 817017 fred@alpineoverland.co.uk BLACKPOOL Hi www.blackpoolclarion.webs.com Chris Smith, 07885 650426 blackpoolclarion@hotmail.co.uk BOLTON Ei www.boltonclarion.co.uk

Peter Moore, 0161 790 9771 m739735@aol.com

BRIGHTON HOVE Ei

brightonandhoveclarion.wordpress.com lan Bullock, 01273 682133 ibullock@ntlword.com

buryclarion.myzen.co.uk

Peter Roscoe

0161 761 6856 peterroscoe80@btinternet.com CALDER www.calder-clarion.co.uk

Andrew Spittlehouse,

01977 796551 andrew.spittlehouse@gmail.com CAMBRIDGE

www.cambridgeclarion.org

lan McNally, 01223 264078

CLITHEROE

Martin Catlow, 01200 425852 martinhilcat@aol.com

COATBRIDGE

John Gormlie, 01236 424346 john.gormlie@blueyonder.co.uk CREWE

www.creweclarionwheelers.org Andrew Grace, 01270 841836 andrew.grace@ dicksonssolicitors.co.uk

FENLAND

www.fenlandclarion.co.uk Martin Jones, 01733 319486 martin@fenlandclarion.co.uk GOSPORT

David Palk, 01329 312589, daveipalk@virginmedia.com HEANOR Ei

heanorclarion.org.uk

John Gott, 01773 769781 johngott@gmx.com

Ei

Meet up on Facebook

Join the National

Clarion group

fi Clubs on Facebook (search by their name)

HEREFORD

Alvin Smith, 01568 770327 alvin.smith@btinternet.com www.italianclarion.com/ Julian Mortel

info@italianclarion.com LONDON

www.londonclarion.org.uk

Martin Perfect, 01892 523927

MALMESBURY

Howard Sprange, 01666 823476 howard.sprange@btinternet.com NORTH CHESHIRE Ei www.northcheshireclarion.co.uk Geoff Prince, 07739 516613 secretary@north cheshireclarion.co.uk

NOTTINGHAM

Paul Harwood, 0115 911 8183 p.harwood@ntlworld.com

SADDLEWORTH saddleworthclarion.webs.com Tim Mitchell, 01457 837532 stonedrose89@hotmail.com STOCKPORT Hi www.stockport-clarion.org.uk Duncan McLaren,

0161 487 4828 dunchewitt@hotmail.com

SUNDERLAND Hi www.sunderlandclarion.org.uk Allan Smith, 0191 584 8948 allanpsmith@live.co.uk

TEESSIDE

Colin Armstrong, 01947 880488 TUXFORD

lan Clarke, 017777 872097 bike@clarioncc.org

WEST LOTHIAN Hi www.westlothianclarion.co.uk Matthew Ball, 07989 597175 secretary@westlothianclarion. co.uk

WEST SCOTLAND

Jim Harris, 01236 730157 jimharris35@yahoo.co.uk

YORKSHIRE COAST Chris Goode, 01723 341050 twentytwowheels@hotmail.com CENTRAL

Ann Burchell, 01404 891507 PRIVATE

Donald Lever memberships@clarioncc.org

CLUBS ON TWITTER @boltonclarionce @calderclarion @ClarionCC @CoatbridgeCCC @fenlandClarion @HeanorClarionCC @italianclarion @LondonClarion @northcheshire @nottmetarionce @saddleworthece @sunderlandece @wiclarion

SPRING 2014| BOOTS&SPURS 39

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