The annual series of school boys and girls will once again be held in Victoria park on thee consecutive Saturday in March. The first races will be held on 13th March. The races are open to all under 16's and are seperated into age catagories. If you have a bike and would like to have a go at racing around the park turn up at the SouthportCC club room in the park at 9:30 to register. All enterants will have a chance to ride in 2 events each Saturday.
Maps of the circuits used are on this website, click here.
Prizes of bike frames and cycling kit are equipment have been donated by local bike builder Terry Dolan

A start list is on the Dolan 2010 Races page

Can anyone identify when this photograph was taken ?
What was the event ?

Despite the bad weather over the past few months some of the SouthportCC riders have continued to complete long distance rides.
Malcolm Heathcote, Pete Gawthorne, Allan Taylor and Steve Ginty have taken part in the 200km rides organised by Audax. The event last weekend started in Rochdale at 8:00am. After riding through freezing fog to Settle the stretch to Kirby Lonsdale and down the Lune Valley was in bright sunshine but this cooled down on the drag over the moors to Hasligdon then back to Rochdale just before dusk having climbed 2500 metres in 130 miles.
More Audax rides are planned for March, details are on the club website Audax page

The next track night will be on Saturday 19th June 2010. More details closer to the event.

SouthportCC's  oldest member Albert Hopkins who joined the club in 1933 is 90 this week. Albert was a good trackie in his day with many wins on the Bootle track. Albert is in the centre of the photo with Bob Bird on his right and Frank Marshall on his left.

Hard working club secretary Ken Beck is 70 this week.

The SouthportCC club track night on the 16th April at the Manchester Velodome has been cancelled as British Cycling, who run the facility are painting the track.
No other dates at the moment, Colin is on the case.

SouthportCC are trying to organize some training sessions in the club hut over the weekends as the bad weather seems to be in for the next few weeks. Watch this space for information.

Subscriptions are now due for 2010. Membership is £25 for adults and £35 for family membership. Payment can be made at the club hut on Monday evenings or by cheque payable to Southport Cycling Club sent to Ken Beck at
18 Melrose Ave Southport.
A club membership card will be issued as a receipt.
Please make a payment as soon as possible to ensure we can keep your club running.

The next SouthportCC track night will be at the Manchester Veledrome on Friday 16th April 2010 from 7:00 to 10:00. More information nearer the time.

Despite the cold weather at the start of the new year several riders turned out on the New Years Day ride through the pine woods at Freshfield and on the Iron Men at Crosby.
The following day, Saturday, there was a good turn out for the Saturday morning ride to the Fettler's Warfe cafe at Rufford. Sunday was again cold but a group of 8 made it to the Priory Cafe at Scorton; this is the most expensive brew stop in the area but its location close to the A6 made it bearable. just.

A report on the New Years Day ride to Crosby beach by Allan Taylor
Distance was just on 32 miles, there were about 15 people, we left the club house at 9.30.am and were back at Pontins roundabout by about 12.40. Weather was very nice but cold - Malcom Heathcote enjoyed riding through the ice on every frozen puddle he crossed and also detours off the main route to add interest. Peter Gawthorne was our Ranger leader and kept us on the right track.
This is a link to the route we followed this morning
http://www.mapmyride.com/route/gb/ainsdale/646126237010345860

Pete Gawthorne's account of the ride is on NewYearsDay2010 page

Colin Baldwin won the 2009 Boxing Day 10. Full results are on the Boxing Day 10 page

The final event in the 2009 club calendar, the SouthportCC Boxing Day 10 will start at the Weld Rd roundabout and head along the coast road, round the Pontins roundabout and back to the finish at Weld Rd. The distance is 10km. The club room will be open from 10:30 on Saturday morning for riders to sign on. The first rider will be off at 11:01 All entries on-the-line, everyone welcome to take part. Refreshments will be available after the event for rides, marshalls and spectators. p.s. no excuses please.

SouthportCC riders and former club president Bill Bradley has been included in British Cyclings hall of fame. For more details see
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/22122009/58/british-cycling-reveals-hall-fa me.html

SouthportCC are organising a ride for New Years Day to visit the Iron Men at Crosby . Starting from the clubroom at 9.30am to the tea wagon at Crosby via the coast road/pinewoods through Formby.Hightown/Crosby at an easy pace returning about 12.30pm. Mountain type bikes will be appropriate. All welcome.
Colin will answer enquiries / further info etc.

At the AGM held on 14th Dec Paul Mayor was elected asthe club chairman.
The next youth racing and fun night is on Friday 18th Dec at the club.
There is a copy of the 2010 club calendar on the calendar page, a list of club prize winners on the 2009_winners page and a list of club clothing in stock on the Club Togs page. A review of last years longer rides is on the Audax page.

The SouthportCC 2009 AGM is to be held at 8:00 pm on 14th December at the club room. All members are encouraged to attend as it is your club and your chance to instigate any changes you think fit.

Audrey from Yorkshire who organizes the annual jolly to Mallorca has negotiated a good deal for May 2010; this offer is open to SouthportCC riders. The cost of a twin room is a deposit of 75 Euro and 27 Euro per night per person for BB&evening meal, including transfer from and to the airport. There is more information on the Mallorca Wheels page. The provisional date for the one weekers is 14th May.

The SouthportCC AGM will be held on Monday 14th December in the club hut. If you have any proposals or issues you would like to be raised please contact Ken before !st Dec.

SouthportCC are planning to organize training sessions in the club room through the winter. Two computer trainers will be made available for competitive session; the club also owns several turbo trainers and some roller. Plans are to have a weekly session for women only as we have a lady coach. Training session for younger members are also planned.

SouthportCC rider Jim Henderson finished with a very creditable third place in the National Hill Climb Championship 2009 held in Stockbridge near Sheffield. The full results can be found using the link www.ctt.org.uk/Home/tabid/36/itemid/1617/Default.aspx

On  Monday 26th Oct in the clubroom, Southport Cycling Club members presented a cheque for £1400 to the Macmillan Cancer Appeal. This is the proceeds of the Bill Bradley Memorial ride held in July. A big thank you to all who helped to raise this amount, including the riders.. To read the report on the ride see the BBradley_2009 page
.
For anyone who would like to try some local cycling in  a group a beginners club run will leave the SouthportCC clubroom in Victoria Park on Fridays and Sundays at 9.30 prompt.For more information please contact Ken Beck on 01704 228968 or kenbeck18@btinternet.com

The SouthportCC 2009 club dinner and annual prize presentation will be held on Friday 27th November at Southport Old Links Golf Club, reception 7pm ,meal 7.30pm. Tickets £18.
Already about 50 names are on the start list and the maximum the venue can take is 112. There will be no EOL.
Could club members who wish to attend to contact Margaret Sims by phone or email or add their names to the list in the club rooms.

The National Hill Climb championship is being held on Sunday 25th October with the first rider off at 11-01 am. The start is in Pea Royd Lane Stocksbridge Sheffield. With a full field 150 riders SouthportCC rider Jim Henderson is no140. Jim has previously won the national title five times.

Local rider Pete Williams from Croston won the Tobago cycling classic It was a international 5 day race that finished on 5th Oct.
Peter rode of Chris Truett's Kenisis team until a couple of years ago, and used to ride the Sunday club runs in winter.. More details of the race can be found on the British Cycling website.

The SouthportCC track night held on the Manchester Veledrome was again successful with 43 riders taking a very active part. The most pleasing aspect was the enthusiasm shown by the 'youngsters' youngest of which was Tom Stewart 9 yrs old riding up the banking, he's a natural !
Chris Truett won both races, the Centeniary Shield over 6 laps and the  Club Track Trophy over 20 laps.
Photographs taken on the night are on the Track_night_09 page.

Positions:
Shield. C. Truett, S Coltman, M Phillips, A Judge, J Taylor, J Findley.
There were 18 starters.
Club Trophy C. Truett, S Coltman,M Phillips,S Duffell, A Judge, J Taylor, J Findley.
There were 13 starters.

On Friday 25th Sept . Margaret Sims held a Coffee Morning at the club hut in Victoria Park from 9:30 to 12:30 in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. and raised  £356.
Thank you to everyone involved and those who supported the event.

Harry Quinn's grandaughter has been in touch to pass on the sad news that H passed away on Thursday 1st Oct.  He had become very frail and at 92, just didn't have enough energy to keep going.  He died very quietly and was in no pain.

SouthportCC membership has now moved on to 159 as of 1st October, this is the highest in the history of the club.; 25 of these are schoolpersons who have joined as a result of school visits, the Grass Roots scheme and the Lord Street schools races that were associated with the Tour series.

Dave Hilton set a new club 10 record last Saturday in the Kent Valley event on the Levens, L1015 course with a time of 20.11

Bad news
Recently 2 SouthportCC riders have been hit by cars and suffered major injuries.
Karl Turner was knocked off his bike when a motorist open a car door in his path.. Karl's shoulder was badly dislocated, he is expected to be off work etc. for a month.
A couple of days later Robbie Hurst was run over in Liverpool by a car that pull out of a side street on his left.
"Get Well Soon" . both of you !

Dave Hilton won the SouthportCC 2009 Thursday Night 10 mile time trial series by 1 point from last years winner Rob Hurst. Well done to everyone who took part in the events, especially those who had the bottle to ride for the first time, then come back later to have another go! The series will resume in April 2010

SouthportCC rider Annette Robinson completed the coast-to-coast ride over the August Bank holiday weekend, her solo ride on a scenic route took three days. In July Annette rode form Lands End to John o'Groats with Diane Davis . Diane has since move to Qatar and taken her bike with her. see LEJOG_blog for their story.

SouthportCC member and Hill Climb champion Jim Henderson is featured in the latest edition of cycling plus.
Note in the photograph his chainwheel is on the left side of his bike.

There is a report on the succesful 2009 edition of the Bill Bradley Memorial Ride on the BBradley2009 page. Well done to Joan and her helpers who raised £1400 for MacMillan Nursing Care.

There is an account of Joe Croughan's recent cycling trip and roamin' in the gloamin' around Scotland on the Joe's jolly page

Membership of SouthportCC has reached a record of 159
For anyone joining the club in the rest of this year and paying the £25 membership, this will be valid until 31st December 2010

There are plans to hold training evenings in the club hut through the autumn and winter. Compu-Trainers, Turbos and roller will be set up for use by the members. Provisionally to be held on Wednesday evenings hopefully there will be some structure to the sessions.

There are plans to hold training and bike maintenance session for younger members on alternative Friday evenings. Instructor will need to be CRB checked (and maybe some of the participants should be)

The SouthportCC club dinner and prize presentation will be held at the Old Links Golf Club, Churchtown on Friday 27th November.

The Saturday morning rides, leaving the bus stop by the Plough Hotel at 9:30 prompt, are attracting more new riders each week. The rides around the lanes of West Lancashire are ideal for anyone new to cycling in a group, usually returning to Southport at midday with an optional cafe stop.

Other events on the trackinclude World Cup Cycling Friday 30th Oct, Sat 31st  Sunday 1 Nov. The winter series of Manchester Revolution Cycling events are to be held on 14th Nov, 5th Dec, 16 Jan and 27th Feb These are well worth attending, a good evenings entertainment.

There is a report with pictures by SouthportCC riders Annette and Diane on their recent Land's End to John O'Groats ride on the LEJOG_blog page.

Chapeau Wiggo
Local rider Bradley Wiggins finished 4th in the 2009 Tour de France. All that training in the lanes of West Lancshire has paid off.

SouthportCC riders are having another good year of long distance riding, 9 riders have completed the 300km ride from Southport to Penrith and back over Kirkstone pass. Details of this years Fleet Moss 200km and the shorter  150km and 100km rides to be held in September are on the Audax page. Details of 120km and 200km rides from Arnside on 6th Sept, and other Audax events can be found on the same page and www,audax.uk.net/calendar

During  this years school summer holidays SouthportCC will be running some rides for school aged girls and boys who are interested in cycling.
SouthportCC have bought 10 Dolan road bikes for use by anyone who does not have access to a bike. The Dolan bikes have been part financed by The Grass Roots Foundation to provide an oppertunity to cycle for interested youths in the community.
Contact colin.baldwin@talktalk.net for details
The interest shown by the youths involved so far has been encouraging. Parents and adults wishing to try cycling with the club are welcome to join in.

The 2009 batch of SouthportCC club clothing has arrived and will be ready for collection at the club hut on Monday 29th June. There is a list of items and prices on the Club_Togs page

Last Sunday's outing had 18 riders by the time the group had passed through Tarleton. The route over Harris End Fell led to a cafe stop at Scorton. The return journey through Barnacre then around Preston Marina gave a 75 mile ride. On the return leg Pete became a serious contender for the half-wheel trophy, with 25 miles of riding just off the front of the group !

There are a couple of short videos about some of the club's activities on
www.youtube.com/southportcc
don't forget to turn your speakers up.

There are some photos taken on the recent Jolly Boys outing to Mallorca on the Mallorca2009 and More Mallorca2009 pages. These are compressed images, if you want a copies of the originals or have any more photos you would like to be posted on the site let me know.

Reports submitted to the local press this year by out intrepid reported Paul Mayor are on the Viz 2009 page

Five club members took part in the May Day Mons-Chimay-Mons 200km event in Belgium last week. With the return ride from the ferry to Mons the group clocked over 500km in 4 days.

On Monday 2nd Feb Cllr Fred Weavers, Lib Dem, locally elected representative and on the Sefton Cycling Forum; will attend the club to discuss local cycling issues. If you have any questions, such as 'How much is left of the £5million awarded to Southport as a cycling town'; and 'What do we have to show for the money spent to date'; this will be an opportunity to ask questions

At the SouthportCC AGM held on 15th Dec. Mr Derek Rimmer (broo) was elected as the club President.
A full list of Club Officials can be found on this site.

            El Presidente

There are some intersting rides around this area during the summer; for more details visit www.LetsTravelWise.org/cycling to download a copy of the programme of Bike Time events; to find out more about cycle training and to order free cycle maps.

There are some superb photos of the Lanky Lanes ride taken by James on the Lancashire Lanes page

The latest version of "The History of SouthportCC" by Ray Green is now on this siteThe SouthportCC calendar for 2008 is now on this site.
Ken is about to send off the order for club kit for 2008. If you want to order some togs please contact Ken asap.

Audax rides for the next 4 months are on the Audax site, use the link http://www.audax.uk.net/  for more information; select the calendar option, then the event to find more details.

Reports of the weekend rides are on the "Club Runs" page.

There are some photographs of the SouthportCC track night at Manchester Velodrome on this site, on the page titled Velodrome !
A good time was had by all who attended. Big thanks to Colin for organising the event.