A reminder to all Club members that the Victoria Park circuit races will soon be with us, with the first event scheduled to take part on Saturday the 27th of March – only three weeks to go! See item below for all the details.

Racing members
Please take note that places are beginning to fill up for both the 3rd and 4th Category races. You are advised to get your entry to Chief Organiser Steve Hesketh, as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. There will be no entries on the day.

Volunteers and Helpers
With no Saturday ride on that day and the sun scheduled to shine brightly on the park, all other Club members are encouraged to please come along to help run the event and enjoy the fun. We need your help to fill the following volunteer roles:

? Park set-up
? Gear Checking
? Signing On
? Marshals
? Judges
? Lap Counting
? Serving Food and Tea

If you can spare the time, please contact Steve Hesketh as soon as possible to let him know if you can cover one of the roles.
Without your help there will be no races!

What could be better than a day of exciting racing, promoting your Club and eating endless amounts of cake at the same time?

Here is a racing opportunity that might tempt some of the ladies. Ruth Eyles set up a TT series to suit novices and experienced riders a few years ago, and this will be the fourth year of the series.

All women are welcome to join in the events, whether experienced cyclists or novices; how fast or slow you are does not matter. If you would enjoy the challenge of testing yourself against the clock then these events are for you. No special equipment or skills are needed! Most of the races are 10 miles with just a couple of longer ones at the moment – so nothing too scary !!

Everything you need to know about the events, how to enter and what to expect is explained on this website:
http://www.midlanddc.org.uk/index.php?q=node/350

Jackie Hobson is planning to ride some of the series, so if you fancy having a go but would like company then contact Jackie.

This year the Victoria Park Criteriums are due to take place on Saturday 27th March and Saturday 10th April. For those new to the Club, these races are the highlight of the Kenilworth Wheelers’ racing year and take place in Victoria Park, Leamington Spa. There are four races each day usually finishing around lunchtime. The racing is good for spectators and Wheelers members usually do well.

As always these races can only take place if we have enough volunteers to help on each day. In order for us to judge how many people are prepared to help, it would be helpful if you would e-mail our Organiser-in-Chief, Steve Hesketh at steve.r.hesketh@ntlworld.com saying if you are able to commit to either or both of the days (or even for a couple of hours) and also expressing a preference for task allocation if you have one. Please note that there will not be a Saturday Clubrun on either of the race days so members should be available to help.

Club members who intend to race are reminded that a completed entry form should be sent to Steve Hesketh as soon as possible, together with entry fees (which may be partly or fully refunded after the race providing that we can cover our expenses for the events) as there are no entries on the line. You can check out all the details on British Cycling’s website :

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/Bridge/calendar_future.asp?evt_disc=Road+Racing :- select West Midlands, click “go” then click on “Victoria Park Criterium”

Watch out for further information from Steve H on the Forum General Discussion pages.

You will all have no doubt noticed the error on the last Runs List which shows a beginners run on the 20th Feb. This is not correct of course, beginners rides are on the first Saturday each month.

Therefore, we have just published a new list with a corrected 20th Feb and a few more weeks added. Let’s hope the weather forecasters are completely wrong and there will be no more snow and ice this winter/spring/summer !!!

The Stratford CC are running their annual reliability ride again this year on the 7th February (good grief – that gives us only 2 weeks to get in some panic training!!!!!)
The route covers 54miles of undulating Cotswold roads (most of you knew that I guess!) with a new start point this year at the FISSC Sports Club in Knights Lane, Tiddington (just behind the NFU buildings).

The start times are 10.10am (4 hour group), 10.20am (3.5 hour group) or 10.30am (3 hour group) and the entry fee is only £3 with all profits going to charity.

For those new to the game (and those with poor memories) you can check out the whole route through the Stratford CC website or at the following address:
http://www.stratfordcc.co.uk/pdfs/2010Reliability.pdf

This popular event has just been announced for this year. The start is at Dunchurch Village Hall from 9.30am onwards.
There is a choice of two rides: 100km or 60km, both rides finishing back at the village hall.

The village hall has parking and changing facilities and refreshments will be on offer.

Entry is on the day, just sign on, pay £5 and ride. A donation from any event profits will go to “Marie Curie Cancer Care”.

There is usually a crowd from the Wheelers riding so check out who’s going and we could have a “clubrun” on some new roads (maybe the snow will have gone by then as well !)

This is just a short reminder to any Club members wanting Club clothing (particularly if you want racing kit for Spring next year).

Our Clothingmeister, Neil Goodridge will be sending a bulk order in very soon now. If you want any kit please get in touch with Neil (phone number on your membership list or on the Forum item on Clothing). Neil has already posted a note on this on the Forum so you can look up a bit more detail there.

The important thing to note is that the deadline for this forthcoming order is 15th December – so if you don’t want to miss it contact Neil now!

Another well-attended Annual Dinner with some 80 people turning up (the highest number for a few years) last Friday evening at the Charlecote Pheasant Hotel. There was so much chat in the bar that no-one wanted to sit down and eat – ChairmanSteve had to “round up” the stragglers!! This year the trophies were presented by the Club’s own celebrity, Lance Ravenhill.

Amongst this years awards were the Road Race and Criterium trophies which went to Andy Webb, and the Cyclo-cross trophy which went to Nick Bosworth. The Track award went to Lance Ravenhill after his fantastic year at National and European level (see articles below) and he received a standing ovation from the assembled diners. The Most Improved Rider trophies went to Jackie Hobson and Richard Fairholme and the Achievement Trophy went to the team who completed the Land’s End to John O’Groats ride, raising £4000 for the Warwickshire Air Ambulance in the process.

The few “least sought-after” awards went to Neil Goodridge (best dismount in a ford), Jon Stephenson (half-wheeling), Dennis Witt (“how not to lock your bike” award) and Phil Muir (runs organiser award).

We understand from the Hotel that substantial amounts of “malted barley and hops sports recovery drink” were consumed during the evening but despite this, some 35 members made it out on the Saturday clubrun!!

With record Club membership numbers this year, ChairmanSteve is already thinking about hiring an even bigger room next year.

Due to a booking mix-up and the popularity of the track at Newport, the date for Lance’s trip has had to be changed to 29th November. All other information below remains the same and Lance’s note on the Forum remains valid as well.

National Track Champion Lance Ravenhill is organising a few trips to Newport Velodrome this Autumn/Winter. The first one is booked for Sunday 18th October from 3.00pm to 6.00pm. (There should be more sessions depending on interest from club members)

The session will be limited to 30 riders on a first come first served basis. If you would like to go (the sessions cater for track novices as well as more experienced trackies) please get in touch with Lance asap.

Lance has provided more details about what you need to do if you want to have a go at this exciting day out – click “more” to read all about it. He has also written a note on what the session will be like and you can see this on the Forum – well worth a read!
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