Viz

Southport Visiter report 21st March 2008 by Paul Mayor

SouthportCC long distance group settled for Southport-Settle-Southport for their March edition of a challenge to complete at least one 200km ride per month right throughout the year.
Last Sunday, the faster group of Steve Ginty, Steve Duffel, Allan Taylor and Bolton pair, Dave Walker and Lee Hunt, departed from Southport at around 8am
With a dry day forecast, it was a rare but tough north east wind that made the outward leg through Dunsop Bridge, Slaidburn and over Tatham Fells to Bentham a real test before a turn towards Settle and a very well earned break. The return leg in comparison was almost easy with the tail wind and after Waddington, the quintet took in Whalley, York – the one near Langho – and Ramsgreave just to make a ride of it.
On Tuesday, it was the turn of the group who like to take a little longer over their rides and so it was Terry Seanor, Peter Gawthorne and Nev Holgate, who left Southport a little earlier at around 7.30am to take on their ride.
Again, it was a dry forecast but still with a headwind on the outward leg and after the break in Settle, the trio returned via Waddington
Unlike their Sunday club mates, the three opted for a more sensible return through Longridge – not surprising since two of them are turned 70, which makes their rides all the more creditable.

Tomorrow, the club's time trial riders are back in action again in a 10-mile event on the same A6 course used for the Combined Club's race a fortnight ago, which starts and finishes on the Garstang bypass.
Once again, Dave Hilton heads the team – this time in the North Lancashire Road Club promotion. Dave is clearly building for later in the year, but has already claimed a sixth place in the Chester RC 28-mile event on March 1 and put in good performance clocking 1hr 11mins 12secs in the Pendle Forest CC, Circuit of Ingleborough, over a hilly 27-mile course.

On a sad note, Wednesday this week saw the funeral Keith Marsh – a member from a good few years ago.

 

Southport Visiter report 29th February 2008 by Paul Mayor

The road racing season here in the North West of England got underway last Sunday with the 90km Clayton Velo Spring Classic held on the Bashall Eaves circuit between Longridge and Clitheroe. There is always the usual debate regarding starting racing in February and the weather at the 10.00hrs start, heavy rain accompanied by a temperature around 5°C, did little to bolster the case for the early season start lobby. However a field of eighty riders ranging from the top UK elite team down to the lowly fourth category club riders made the start line, most in full winter kit, to do battle over fourteen laps of the 4mile circuit. The annual race is run as a handicap and this year the elite category riders had to give the fourth category riders almost nine minutes start. For the first half the race the fourth category riders held on to their lead but as the rain reduced to a drizzle and rain capes were discarded the elite group began to raise the pace and inevitably overhauled the rest of the field. The elite group had a large representation from the Rapha-Condor Recycling.co.uk team and it was hardly surprising that they dominated the race with ex World track Champion Chris Newton taking the win followed by five of his Rapha-Condor team mates filling the next five places. From the rest of the field there was some spirited riding from the Southport based Kinesis UK team with under 23yrs riders James Sampson and Matt Cronshaw finishing 8th and 9th respectively with what were very creditable performances against such strong opposition from the men in all black of the elite Rapha-Condor Recycling.co.uk squad.  

Whilst the Clayton Velo event saw heavy rain for their race seven riders of the Southport Cycling Club's Audax group, Steve Ginty, Allan Taylor, Dave Walker, Lee Hunt, Terry Bolland, Joe Croughan and Nev Holgate, enjoyed a dry start for their 200km Cheadle-Newport-Cheadle ride. However as the day progressed and the riders headed south through Cheshire so did the rain, as it moved out of Lancashire, leaving a wet return over the final third of the route back to Cheadle. All seven completed the 200km ride with John Keenan completing the 150km option, maybe he had checked weather first. 

Tomorrow sees the second of the North West's early season road races in the shape of the Eddie Soens Memorial event. The 47th edition of the race which takes place on the Aintree racecourse circuit will start at 10.00hrs and is once again a handicap event with the elite category riders away last. Again the Rapha-Condor Recycling.co.uk squad have a dominating presence this week with a total of fourteen riders in the current field of one hundred and thirty riders. Southport Cycling Club has two riders in the field Martin Lyon and Lee Durkin but with such in form opposition from the elite riders just getting to the finish will be an achievement for any club riders. 

 

Southport Visiter report 22nd February 2008 by Paul Mayor   

The past couple of weeks of dry and sunny conditions have provided a welcome respite from the wind and rain of January for members of Southport Cycling Club. The past two Sunday clubruns have been well attended, with more than a dozen riders taking in Harris End, Scorton and the Fylde last weekend and a group of eighteen taking Waddington via Nabbs Head, Mellor, Whalley and Pendleton the previous week. The long distance group of Audax riders have also been in action.

Last Saturday provided the challenge for the mile eaters in the form of the 200km North West Passage Audax event. A tough ride starting and finishing in Rochdale with outward controls at Settle and the turn round at Kirkby Lonsdale before returning via the Lune Valley, Quernemore, Scorton, Longridge and Haslingden. With an 8.00hrs start the riders including the quartet from Southport Steve Ginty, Dave Hilton and the Bolton boys Dave Walker and Lee Hunt faced freezing temperatures but as the sun began to rise a little higher so did temperature as well as the speed, as Dave Hilton tested the field of riders with some strong front riding. The return from Kirkby Lonsdale along the Lune Valley was ideal with the sun at its height and cloudless skies but the final leg from Scorton was a hard ride into a slight headwind accompanied by dropping temperatures. However all four completed the ride in the daylight clocking up a notable 128miles for their efforts.  

The previous week two club members completed solo rides worthy of mention. Peter Gawthorne took on Southport (Ainsdale) to Settle and back clocking up an impressive 136 miles on
the day with Terry Seanor tackling a route to York via Whalley, Gargrave,
Kettlewell, the infamous Park Rash climb, Masham and
the Vale of York before ending in the city also with a 100 plus mileage total.

Tomorrow evening sees the fourth and final event in this current winter Revolution Series of international track race meetings held at the Manchester Velodrome. Racing starts at 7.00pm with the sprint teams from Great Britain and France together with a host of madison riders as the star attractions. It is a chance to see some of the world's top riders in action on the same track where they will compete in the world championships later in the year at the end of March. A special event on the night will feature ex England footballer Geoff Thomas and ex England rugby captain Martin Johnson. Each will lead a six man team in an Italian pursuit challenge which will also feature kilometre specialists Chris Hoy and Arnaud Tournant. The event is being staged to promote awareness and raise funds for the Geoff Thomas Foundation which was set up by Geoff to support the fight against Leukaemia.  

Southport Visiter report 1st February 2008 by Paul Mayor    

Last Sunday members of Southport Cycling Club welcomed the brief respite from the recent prolonged spell of wet weather, which only a little over a week ago saw many parts the local area threatened with floods, when almost thirty riders took advantage of dry but breezy conditions to   clock up a total of some two thousand five hundred miles on a variety of rides in an around the region.

The normal Sunday clubrun unusually turned out to be a two destination affair with around ten riders taking on a run to Scorton cafe via the usual route through Woodplumpton, across the A6 to Claughton before taking in the climb up Bell Lane, Barnacre Reservoirs and Harris End. The second group of half a dozen or so headed off for Rivington via Eccleston and Adlington before their coffee break at the lower barn. A good few years ago there were regularly two Sunday runs to cater for both the stronger riders and those wishing to enjoy their ride at a more relaxed pace. However the recent trend has favoured the single destination. Maybe it's back to all our yesterdays.  

The long distance group saw five riders, Steve Ginty, Allan Taylor , Nev Holgate, Terry Seanor and Terry Bolland take on the challenge of the 206km, Cheadle–Whitchurch-Cheadle, Audax ride  with the more circumspect pairing of Joe Croughan and John Keenan opting for the 155km route. Both rides started at 8.00hrs and all seven completed their respective rides with the duo of Steve and Allan returning first to Cheadle at around 17.00hrs .

Preston Wheelers reliability ride was the event for the final group of riders. Starting and finishing in Preston, the annual early season ride covers a distance of only around 75 miles but it takes in some pretty tough terrain through Longridge, Whitewell, Dunsop Bridge, Slaidburn followed by the long hard climb over Bowland Knotts to the lunch break before returning via Wray, Quernmore, Bay Horse and Garstang. A total of sixty eight riders including seven from Southport took on the challenge which started from the Withy Trees at 9.00hrs and with the inevitable inter-club rivalry which always surfaces on these 'sportive' type rides the early pace was hectic and for the majority unsustainable. However once an element of common sense surfaced the riders settled into mixed club groups at a pace each could handle a little more comfortably and the seven Southport riders went on to complete the ride by early afternoon.   

Southport Visiter report 11th January 2008 by Paul Mayor    

The first Sunday clubrun of the new year for Southport Cycling Club saw an encouraging total of fourteen riders taking advantage of a dry and bright day last weekend for a run out to Scorton via Preston, Woodplumpton, Bilsborrow, Barnacre Reservoirs and Harris End Fell. The mainly light south-westerly wind made the outward leg to the coffee stop a fairly easy ride apart from the usual bit of sport on the climb up Bell Lane and the 3km drag up to the reservoirs, which as expected split the riders, however a brief wait on the exit from the reservoirs allowed the group to reform and the riders arrived at the cafe in Scorton unusually all together. After the break the return trip routed across the Fylde through Winmarleigh, Nateby, Rawcliffe, St Michael's and Catforth, passing through Preston via the dock before the usual run back to Southport. The return home although flat proved to be the harder part of the ride as the continuing brisk pace coupled with the rising wind began to test the rider's legs. It was however a good day out for the first Sunday ride of the year with riders able to record around eighty miles on their mileage logs and all completed without any hint of rain.

Tomorrow evening sees the third event in this current winter Revolution Series of international track race meetings held at the Manchester Velodrome. Racing starts at 7.00pm and features the sprint teams from Great Britain and Holland as the star attractions. It is a chance to see some of the world's top sprinters in action on the same track where they will compete in the world championships later in the year at the end of March.

Southport Visiter report 4th January 2008 by Paul Mayor   

Southport Cycling Club saw its 75th anniversary year draw to a close with the running of the final event on the calendar, the Boxing Day time trial. The event used to be held on the local ten mile course at Tarleton but over recent years lack of numbers led to a decision to reduce the distance to a little over five miles up and down the coastal road to avoid the embarrassment of riders being outnumbered by race marshals and timekeeper. However the 2007 edition of the event attracted the largest field for a few years with twelve riders which included three women facing the timekeeper. Maybe restoration of the ten mile distance might be considered for the future. Food for thought?

The race produced a win for Steve Ginty beating Dave Hilton into second place by a large margin of 49secs with Colin Baldwin taking third place just two seconds behind Dave and comeback rider John Fewtrell a further 10secs back in fourth.

The full result for Boxing Day 2007:

S Ginty, 13mins 11secs; D Hilton, 14mins 00secs; C Baldwin, 14mins 02secs; J Fewtrell, 14mins 12secs; K Skillicorn, 14mins 24secs; I Robinson, 15mins 02secs; J Eden, Audax WA, 15mins 34secs; A Grice, 15mins 57secs; R Rix, 16mins 44secs; Annette Robinson, 17mins 35secs; Diane Davis, 17mins 39secs; Jane Eden, 19mins 59secs.

Whilst most of Southport riders missed the usual clubrun on the Sunday before the Xmas break due to the icy conditions, two riders from the club's Audax group Steve Ginty and Nev Holgate took a bit of a gamble and travelled to Bredbury, south Manchester, to tackle the 200km 'Winter Solstice' ride. The route took the riders out to Farndon in Cheshire then through Whitchurch to Market Drayton before returning to Bredbury. With a scheduled 8.00am start the roads were icy for the early part of the ride but with main roads gritted it was side roads and lanes that carried the ever present risk of a fall that at best results in minor damage to the bike and a few bruises or worse can lead to couple of months off the bike with broken bones. 

Fortunately both Steve and Nev managed to stay upright throughout the day and although their speed was reduced in places they completed the icy challenge by 17.30. 

Southport Visiter report 7th December by Paul Mayor

LAST Saturday, four Southport Cycling Club members took on the challenge of the Southport to Settle and back Audax ride.
Regular long distance riders Steve Ginty and Lee Hunt were joined by Dave Hilton and Steve Duffell for the 200km (125mile) test.
Dave Walker, from Bolton, the second of the chuckle brothers, another one of the regular long distance group, missed the ride.
Dave has been a little below par recently, but was hoping to complete the ride before having to have his tonsils removed last Monday.
The ride was dominated by the weather ,with sleet and hail encountered over the higher parts of the route and strong, near gale force winds, facing the four for the return leg to Southport.

The ride time for the four of nine hours for the 200km is commendable in those conditions.

At last, there is a bit of good news regarding the state of the roads across Tarleton Moss.
Starting Monday, December 10, Gorse Lane, Tarleton, is to be closed for a couple of weeks for resurfacing work and certainly not before time – it has been in a poor state for a year or two.
Let us hope the work shows some worthwhile improvement to what is popular cycling route that avoids the A565 dual carriageway.

Members are reminded that the club is holding a track night at the Manchester velodrome on Monday, December 17.

Around 30 riders are so far signed up for the evening session on the recently re-boarded wooden track that will host the World Championships in March 2008.

If any more members wish to take this opportunity to clock up some laps on one of the world's best indoor tracks, they should contact Colin Baldwin.

Southport Visiter report 26th October by Paul Mayor

The short but hectic autumn hill climbing season draws to close this weekend with the National Championship event being held on Sunday over a course running up through Cheddar Gorge.

The so called hill is 3.4 kilometres long with a total height gain of only 150metres giving an easy  average gradient a little under five percent, 1 in 22 for those who have not had the software upgrade since leaving school, and to make matters worse 75metres of the height gain is achieved over the first kilometre leaving what can only be described as a long drag for the remaining 2.4km to the finish. It is certainly not a hill for specialist hill climbers who relish a climb of around 1.5km but with lung bursting gradients of twenty percent (1 in 5) or steeper along the way.  

 It is against this background that Southport Cycling Club's star hill climber Jim Henderson takes on the challenge of trying for his sixth National Hill Climb title with his previous five wins all on the shorter but steeper climbs. The last was at Luddenden near Halifax in 2003, a climb of 1.6km with a height gain of just under two hundred metres, that's an average of twelve point five percent (1 in 8), a proper hill.  

Sunday's event sees a rare maximum field of one hundred and fifty riders, starting with the first rider away at 10.01hrs followed by the rest at one minute intervals. However the real interest will be concentrated at around 12.10hrs when the final twenty containing all the seeded riders begin their battle for the title.  Jim starts at 12.28hrs, followed by David Clarke, second last year but riding for a new team this year, Blue Sky Cycles, with defending champion James Dobbin, Arctic Shorter Rochford Racing Team, last man off at 12.30 hrs. Good luck Jim from all your club mates.

It is a rare occasion these days that Southport Cycling Club is associated with success at an international level. However it just seems a pity that with the recent rugby world cup defeat by South Africa, a former Southport club member, John Moss, who won a bronze medal in a 10km points race (60-69yrs age group) on the final day (21st Oct) at the UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships in Sydney, should be riding for the RSA national team.

Southport Visiter report 19th October by Paul Mayor

Southport Cycling Club's super hill climber Jim Henderson rode to victory last Sunday in the Lancashire Road Club Hill Climb held on the steep twisting Rake in Ramsbottom and brought his total of wins on the infamous 947 yard long course to a magnificent seven.
With a field of sixty riders which included an entry from Olympic gold medal winner Bradley Wiggins competition was expected to be fierce for what was labelled as the "richest bike race per yard" on account of its first prize of £600. However on the race day Bradley failed to show and was posted as DNS, which may have been disappointing for the spectators but not so for the remaining contenders competing for the very generous prize list. 
With the last of his six previous wins on the Rake back in 2004 Jim's success last Sunday was particularly sweet. In 2005 he was beaten by just three tenths of a second and again in 2006 it was less than a second that cost him the win. However this year Jim returned to winning ways clocking a time of 2mins 29.5secs with the added kudos of  pushing James Dobbin, Arctic Shorter Rochford RT, the current national hill climb champion into second place by a margin of 1.3secs. Dave Clarke, HBM Mercia RT, took third place well off the pace with a time of 2mins 35.7secs.  
The Southport Club's final two competitive events of the 2007 were also held last Sunday. As has now become the tradition the hill climb was held in the morning on Jeffrey Hill near Longridge and following a coffee stop at Chipping, the freewheeling championship was held in the early afternoon at Bleasdale.

With Jim Henderson away contesting the Rake event and looking to get a hand on the big first prize the Southport club hill climb should have been a little closer fought, but as was expected, Andy Grice, maybe not as fit as he could be but still built for hill climbing, took the title for the second year running beating David Abram into second place with Robbie Hurst third.     

Following his morning defeat in the hill climb, David Abram was desperate to hold on to his 2006 title as freewheeling champion. However it appears that other riders have been following David's successful pies and pizza diet which brought him the title last year and he was beaten into third place. On the day the 2007 title went to Lenny Collins with Bill Lloyd filling the runner up spot. Once again it appears that mass x acceleration has prevailed over aerodynamics.

With racing on road virtually ended for the season the winter track season begins at the Manchester Velodrome. Last Friday local rider Pete Williams from Croston scored an impressive win in a 50 lap points race and later in the evening took a second place in a 40 lap scratch race.

With the Manchester Velodrome in mind tomorrow evening 7pm sees the start of the first in the new series of Revolution Race Meetings. Anyone wishing to attend who has not already booked tickets is advised to check if tickets are available on the door before travelling. Last year's first meeting was a sell out. 

Southport Visiter report 12th Oct by Pete Leonard
The hill climb season is now in full swing with Southport CC member Jim Henderson showing some early season form by winning the Thurcroft CC hill Climb at Stocksbridge, South Yorks last Sunday in 2m 39 seconds beating 2nd place L Hobhan of Merlin Racing by 1 second. This coming Sunday sees the Lancashire Road Club hill climb on the Rake where Jim will face Olympic gold medallist and Tour de France rider Bradley Wiggin's for the honours. Bradley's presence is sure to draw a large crowd.

Club members will be going down hill as well as up on Sunday when the club holds its Freewheeling Championship, for many the most prestigious event of the year. The venue for this will be Bleasdale after which the clubs Hill Climb Championship will take place up the steep side of Jeffrey Hill.

Last Sunday's club run saw a beautiful day greeting rider's as they travelled across the Fylde to Scorton after which it was decided to go over Harris End before making the way home via the reservoir road.

November 17th sees the club hold its 75th anniversary dinner at Formy Golf club. Tickets are now available from Ken Beck on 01704 228968

Southport Visiter report 3rd October by Paul Mayor

This coming Sunday sees the Southport Cycling Club holding two events on the one day. First off will be the hill climb event which will be held on Jeffrey Hill near Longridge. With Jim Henderson away at Ramsbottom there will be a chance for other riders to shine.

As a bit of light relief following the club hill climb the club downhill championship will be held on the usual course at Bleasedale. The object of the event is for each rider in turn to freewheel down a short steep hill, with no pedalling allowed, and try to glide as far as possible up the other side. Fitness is not the main requirement for this event, save for the getting to Bleasedale on the bike, but competition is nevertheless very keen.

This weekend's clubruns will depart as usual from the Plough bus stop, Preston New Road. Saturday 9.30hrs, Sunday 9.00hrs. New riders are most welcome. The Sunday run will of course be out first to Longridge  and later to Bleasedale.

 

Southport Visiter report 12th Sept by Pete Leonard

Southport Cycling Club held its Bickerstaffe Road Race on Saturday and it also provided the winner in the shape of Jim Henderson. Jim, more noted for his hill climbing exploits having won the national championship on 6 occasions, won the event by 2 seconds form Chris Dursley riding for the Lancashire Road Club.

Local rider Pete Williams, who is at the moment riding for the Belgium based Peter Williams, Kingsnorth International Wheelers, followed up a victory at Dikkelvenne last Sunday with another superb win this time in a criterium at the Flemish coastal town of Blankenberge. He soloed to the line seven seconds clear of the next group at the end of 43 laps of a tight 1.6km circuit. The on form 20 year old and his Kingsnorth team mates ride an Interclub this weekend in Dunkerque, France.

More success for the club members came at the Merseyside Ladies 10 on Bickerstaffe on Saturday were the club had had 3 category winners.

Dave Hilton was second overall and won the 40 + category with 22:21

Bill Sedgwick won the 50 + category with 24:05 and Bill Lloyd won the 60+ category with 24:39.

With some members electing to ride the Bill Bradley Audax event on Sunday a depleted club run went across the Fylde to Scorton returning via Barnacre.

Southport Visiter report 7th Sept by Pete Leonard

After a long season it might be expected that Southport Cycling club members would start to relax. But there are still some late season events to be involved with.

Thursday saw the club run its final 10 mile time trail of the year in which Andy Grice turned out to be the fastest Southport rider with a time of 23 minutes and 51 seconds. However this did not give him enough points to beat the consistent Steve Ginty who takes the trophy for gaining the most points over the season.

Mark Wilson travelled to the north of Scotland on Saturday to ride The Bealach-na-Ba Challenge. The Bealach-na-Ba or Bealach nam Bo (Pass of the Cattle) is the UK's biggest road climb at 2053ft (626m),  rising from sea level in just 6mls (10k).   It is set in a fabulous unspoilt landscape with outstanding views of the sea and the hills.  The Applecross Peninsula is renowned as a gem in Scotland's crown of natural wonders.  With 500 other riders Mark was never short of company and although the weather was far from perfect he completed the 90 mile route in just over 6 hours.

This Saturday sees the club organising the Bickerstaff Road race which starts at 10 a.m. The full field of 40 riders includes club members Steve Clarke and Martin Lyon. Ken Beck requires marshals for the event, if you are availabe to assist Ken please give him a call on 228968.

Southport cycling club news 22nd August by Pete Leonard

Last Sunday saw Southport Cycling club hold their Open 25 Mile time trial event at Tarleton in far from ideal weather conditions. Taking the first three places were the Preston CC trio of Robin Brennan, Neil Higgins and Paul Johnstone. Robins winning time was 56 minutes and 33 seconds. Fastest Southport rider was Dave Hilton in 58.36 whilst Rob Taberner managed second place on handicap with a time of 1 hour 4 minutes and 10 seconds. Bill Sedgwick also rode the event and finished with a creditable 1.1.38.

Steve Ginty was the fastest Southport rider in Thursday night's 10 mile time trial in a time of 23.24 and must be favourite to take the trophy for the most consistent rider throughout the year. Forty six seconds behind Steve was Andy Grice who also has his eyes on the trophy but now needs to beat Steve in the final two events to stand a chance.

Last Thursday also saw Liverpool Mercury hold a series of circuit races at Litherland Sports Park where Dan Slater finished second in the youths handicap event.

The wet conditions on Sunday did little to deter a number of riders on the club run from venturing across the Fylde to Scorton, where a stop was made for refreshments. The weather now started to improve so it was decided that the return route was over Harris End Fell and Oakenclough to Bleasdale before returning to Southport.

 

Southport Visiter report 14th August 2007 by Pete Leonard

Warm sunny weather attracted a field of 31 riders for Southport Cycling Clubs Thursday 10 mile time trail which was once again dominated by Dave Hilton. Dave's time of 21 minutes 44 seconds was 16 seconds faster than second placed Pete Johnstone of Preston CC. Second fastest Southport rider was Jim Henderson, making his first appearance of the season, in an impressive time of 22.54.

Steve Ginty, who is leading the season long 10 mile championship, could only manage fourth place his speed probably blunted having just returned from riding across the Alps.

Together with Steve on the trip to the Alps were Rob Whitfield, Allan Taylor, Lindsey Whittaker and Pete Leonard. The 740 kilometre Raid Alpine route starts close to Geneva and finishes in Antibes taking in 43 cols and some of the highest roads in Europe. Weather was perfect for most of the six days until the top of the 2800 metre climb of the Col de Restefond where riders feared for their lives when hit be a violent storm with lightening, hail and gail force winds. Pete was forced to shelter in a friendly Frenchman's car until the whole thing blew over but all eventually managed to descend safely to the valley below. Plans are already in place for a trip to the Dolomites next year. Somebody suggested trying the Italian wine for a change!!

Sunday's club run was a very wet one. Only a few riders managed to reach Scorton where a stop was made for some refreshment. Although the sun came out for a brief period heavy showers meant an uncomfortable ride home.

Southport Visiter report 3rd August by Paul Mayor

Southport Cycling Club's Dave Hilton rode to an excellent second place last Saturday afternoon in the Warrington Road Club fifty mile time trial held on the J4/16 Cheshire course. The event covered three laps of a circuit around the giant radio telescope at Jodrell Bank and was blessed with some improved weather conditions, at least drier and sunnier than seems to have been the norm recently. Dave posted a time of 1hr 57mins 52secs (25.45mph) just a little over a minute behind race winner Glen Longland from the Antelope Racing Team who clocked 1hr 56mins 48secs.

Dave was also in action last Thursday, posting the best time of 57mins 14secs in the last of the three 25mile events that are slotted in at the end of May, June and July respectively within the usual Thursday evening ten mile time trial series. The June twenty five mile race was cancelled because of atrocious weather conditions and last week a very heavy downpour which lasted almost up to the 19.00hrs start time looked liked causing another cancellation. However by start time the rain had stopped and the sun had finally broken through and following a little gentle bullying from timekeeper Richard Abram, nine riders were persuaded from the shelter of their cars to make it to the start line. As the race got underway on drying roads the evening produced near perfect conditions for time trials, warm and sunny with little or no wind and on the night three 'under the hour' times were posted from the eight riders who made the finish.

 The full result for the 25m TT Thursday 27th July:

D Hilton, Southport CC, 57mins 14secs; P Johnstone , Preston CC, 58mins 32secs;        D Reilly, Fleetwood RC, 59mins 57secs; D Fairhurst, Lancs RC, 1hr 00mins 44secs;         J Griffiths, Wigan Whs, 1hr 02mins 50secs; C Baldwin, Southport CC, 1hr 03mins 12secs; D Mason, Fleetwood RC, 1hr 07mins 01secs; D Peacock, Southport CC, 1hr 10mins 48secs.

With the recent poor summer weather being a topic on almost everyone's lips, members of Southport Cycling Club who were organising the Bill Bradley memorial rides were certainly keeping their fingers crossed for favourable weather for last Sunday. Maybe they were lucky or there could be some truth in the old adage 'the sun shines on the righteous', whichever, dry sunny conditions though a little breezy, greeted a total of over one hundred and twenty riders who were starting out from Preston Arena on the two planned rides. The shorter 40mile route for families and lesser mortals took riders  mainly on roads over the Fylde with a coffee stop at Scorton, followed by a choice of return via Barnacre or Harris End Fell. The longer more sporting (read much harder) 80mile route for the fitter and stronger riders also shared the route over the Fylde to the Scorton stop, but then headed for the hills taking in Jubilee Tower, The Trough of Bowland, Waddington Fell, before returning to Preston via Chipping and Longridge. Amongst the group of eighty seven riders who tackled the 80mile route it was good to see a number of Bill's friends and former racing colleagues including John Geddes,
Jack Lowe, Doug Petty, Willie Moore, Pete Maxwell, Ricky Garcia, Frank Lyon,            and Phil Thomas, all now getting a bit long in the tooth but nevertheless proud to remember a great cyclist that was Bill Bradley.

One Southport Club member taking part in the 80mile ride was veteran Ken Davies. He   usually talks a good ride but on Sunday he rose to the challenge and battled his way round the tough hilly route. Well done Ken.          

Southport Visiter report 27th July by Paul Mayor

In a period which has been dominated by unseasonal wet weather Southport Cycling Club were lucky last Thursday evening when a brief return to summer saw a field of 23 riders facing the timekeeper for the twelfth round in the current season's evening ten mile time trial series.

In the absence of the Southport Club's Dave Hilton it was out of town riders that filled the first five places, however his absence has also brought keen competition to the battle for the local club's ten mile championship between Steve Ginty and Andy Grice.

Last week's winning time of 22mins 16secs was posted by P Johnstone, Preston CC, just eleven seconds ahead of Simon Geraci of Team Swift AS, but enough of a margin to give him his second win in the 2007 series. Steve Ginty took the points towards the Southport Club Championship with his time of 23mins 28secs, just four seconds faster than Andy. Maybe Andy can find that extra turn of speed to claw back those extra few seconds over the remaining five rounds in the series which ends 30th August. For the second week in succession Terry Seanor took the points in the veterans standard competition with his season's second best ride of 26mins 26secs giving him a plus of 6mins 52secs.

The full result for Thursday 19th July:

P Johnstone, Preston CC, 22mins 16secs; Sgeraci, Team Swift AS, 22mins 27secs; I Hughes, Wigan Whs, 22mins 39secs; D Fairhurst, Lancs RC, 23mins 21secs; D Warren, Ribble Valley CRC, 23mins 25secs; S Ginty, Southport CC, 23mins 28secs; A Grice, Southport CC, 23mins 32secs; D Biddulph, Lancs RC, 23mins 33secs; R Hurst, Ashurst BC, 23mins 34secs; E Farrell, Wigan Whs, 23mins 56sec; P Leonard, Southport CC, 24mins 04secs, R Taberner, Southport CC, 24mins 07secs; B Sedgwick, Southport CC, 24mins 19secs; V Eastwood, Bury Clarion, 24mins 42secs; B Gore, Lancs RC, 24mins 51secs; A West, Preston Whs, 25mins 46secs; D Peacock, Southport CC, 25mins 46secs; J Keenan, Southport CC, 26mins 00secs; T Seanor, Southport CC, 26mins 26secs;         T Holt, Bury Clarion, 27mins 11secs, T Hesketh, Chorley Tri, 27mins 28secs; B Duckworth, Bury Clarion, 29mins 06secs; A Stark, VTTA, 29mins 52secs.  

There will be no Sunday clubrun this weekend as the Southport Cycling Club is staging the Bill Bradley memorial rides. There will be two rides, a 40mile route for families and lesser mortals mainly on roads over the Fylde with a coffee stop at Scorton, followed by a choice of return via Barnacre or Harris End Fell and an 80mile route for the fitter and stronger riders which also takes in the Fylde and the Scorton stop, but then heads for the hills taking in Jubilee Tower, The Trough of Bowland, Waddington Fell, before returning via Chipping. Both rides will start and finish at the Preston Arena, Tom Benson Way. Full details of the rides, routes and maps and details of how to get to Preston Arena can be seen on the Southport Cycling Club website at www.southportcc.co.uk , Bill Bradley Rides.

Southport Visiter report 20th July by Paul Mayor

At last the Southport Cycling Club's Thursday evening time trial series had a brief reprieve from the relentless heavy rain that has caused two cancellations in successive weeks. Although not by any means a perfect summer evening on the local Tarleton course Thursday July 12th did at least provide dry conditions but the improvement was not enough to encourage the usual number of riders to compete against the watch. Only thirteen rolled on to the start line, around a half of the normal field for the time of year, and it was a visitor M Bienkowski of Oxford University CC who posted the best time on the night, 22mins 14secs beating Southport CC's current time trial champion, Dave Hilton, into second place by a margin of just thirteen seconds. In the veterans on standard category the absence of Bill Lloyd gave Terry Seanor the chance to grab the points with his time of 28mins 30secs giving him a plus of 4mins 48secs. 

The full result for Thursday 12th July:

M Bienowski, Oxford Uni CC, 22mins 14secs; D Hilton, Southport CC, 22mins 27secs;    M Moorhouse, Tri Preston, 22mins 49secs; S Geraci, Team Swift, 23mins 35secs;           S Ginty, Southport CC, 24mins 01secs; A Grice, Southport CC, 24mins 47secs;              R Taberner, Southport CC, 25mins 21secs; B Gore, Lancs RC, 25mins 39secs;  N Hall, Bury Clarion, 26mins 41secs; D Peacock, Southport CC, 27mins 03secs; T Seanor, Southport CC, 28mins 30secs; T Holt, Bury Clarion, 28mins 49secs; B Duckworth, Bury Clarion, 29mins 38secs. 

Entries are now rolling in for the Southport Club's, Bill Bradley memorial rides which take place on July 29th. Two rides have been planned, a 40mile route mainly on the Fylde for the lesser mortals with a choice of return via Barnacre or Harris End Fell and an 80mile route for the fitter and stronger riders which also takes in the Fylde but then heads for the hills taking in Jubilee Tower, The Trough of Bowland, Waddington Fell, before returning via Chipping. Both rides will start and finish at the Preston Arena, Tom Benson Way. Full details of the rides and entry forms can be seen on the Southport Cycling Club website at www.southportcc.co.uk , Bill Bradley Rides.

On a historical note this being the 75th anniversary year of Southport Cycling Club, 24th July 1932 saw the first clubrun of the newly formed club. Unfortunately there is no record of the destination or of those who took part. Next Tuesday's run may well attract a bigger turnout than usual but the weather will have to be a little more welcoming than of late. 

Southport Visiter report 13th July by Paul Mayor

It is fair to say that in general northerners are not unduly concerned with what happens in London. However last weekend was a wonderful and welcome exception, most certainly for cycling fans, when the capital city played host to the opening of the greatest bike race in the world, the, three week long, Tour de France. The superb organisation complimented by some very much needed fine weather saw massive crowds on Friday evening for the official race welcome to London and the introduction of the teams which took place in Trafalgar Square, but on Saturday, for the 8km prologue time trial and Sunday for the roll out of stage number one to Canterbury the crowds were even bigger, exceeding numbers seen at the start of any previous editions of the race, even those in France. Of the two days racing on British roads it was Saturday's prologue time trial in the city centre that attracted the most attention , after all there were five British riders starting the great race and one of them local rider Bradley Wiggins from Eccleston, was one of the time trial favourites. In the end Bradley finished in 4th place, a tremendous performance against a field which without doubt must be the strongest the bike racing world.        

On the club time trial scene Southport Cycling Club's Thursday evening ten mile time last week was not as lucky with the weather as London had been at the weekend. For the second week in succession the evening event was cancelled due to heavy rain and strong winds.

The Sunday clubrun also benefitted from much improved weather and a group of around twenty riders headed off to the Scorton cafe stop via Barnacre reservoirs and Harris End fell. After the stop the riders returned across the Fylde lanes to Preston before returning to Southport covering a total of around eighty miles without getting wet, much more than could be said for the commendable and rare assortment of riders raising money for charity on the annual 60mile Manchester to Blackpool ride. Just before noon they fell victim to one of those localised but heavy downpours which occurred around Chorley at about two thirds distance, however despite a thorough soaking spirits were not completely dampened. The afternoon heralded some long awaited sunshine giving riders a chance to dry out over the final fifteen miles to the finish in Blackpool's Stanley Park.

This weekend local interest focuses on Blackpool for the three day Cycling Fest. Events start tonight, Friday, with two circuit races on the North promenade, one for elite category riders plus a supporting race. Saturday sees further races which form part of a national circuit race series for both youth category riders and women. Sunday sees a climax to the weekend with a 86mile road race, the Blackpool GP, part of the Premier Calendar Race series. The race starts and finishes in Blackpool but moves out of town to take in 8 laps of the 6.4mile circuit which starts at the Hand & Dagger, Treales. Whilst the race is out of Blackpool a family ride has been organised which takes place on closed roads. Two Southport based racing teams will be fielding riders over the weekends racing, Kinesis UK Race Team and Kuota Biemme Spinergy Racing Team. Details of all the Blackpool events can be found on www.cdnw.org/Blackpool_cycle_fest .

Southport Visiter report 6th July by Paul Mayor

This weekend the greatest bike race in the world, the three week long 3550km Tour de France, gets underway in London. For fans from all over the country including a substantial number from Southport Cycling Club this weekend will be the highlight of the year, seeing the Tour starting in the British capital. Tomorrow, Saturday, the race opens with the 8km Prologue Time Trial which starts in Whitehall and finishes down The Mall after passing Big Ben and Buckingham Palace and taking in a 3km loop in Hyde Park. This will be followed on Sunday by the first road stage proper, a 203km flattish run from London to Canterbury and in keeping with tradition the winner of Saturday's opening time trial gets to wear the famous Malliot Jaune (yellow jersey) for the start this first stage. However it is Saturday's prologue to the 94th edition of the great race that will attract most attention. All eyes will be on Eccleston based rider Bradley Wiggins the Olympic Gold Medallist from Athens, who will be carrying the colours of his team Cofidis. He starts as the favourite to win the opening time trial on Saturday and what a wonderful weekend it would be both for him and fans alike to see him in yellow on Sunday. Let's hope the weather in London over the weekend is kinder than of late and doesn't spoil what should be a exciting bike racing spectacular and I am sure that rain soaked tennis fans would also welcome a bit of sunshine for what should be their final weekend at SW19.

Last Thursday evening should have seen the last of the three evening 25mile time trials that are interspersed with the season long 10mile series. However the event fell victim to the unseasonal heavy rain that has been with us for the past number of weeks and has given us one of the wettest Junes for years. Only two riders turned up prepared to race but a hasty meeting with the timekeeper and race marshals, who had all turned out despite the hostile conditions, quickly came to an agreement to cancel the event in the interests of rider safety and perhaps not surprisingly with a little concern for their own personal comfort.

The Sunday clubrun also was affected by the heavy rain. Only a handful of members made the 9.00hrs start, coaxed out no doubt in one of the drier interludes. However their optimism was short lived as it was not long before the rain set in and left the riders with a thoroughly wet ride home.   

For those members who are not down in London for the Tour de France the weekend clubruns will depart as usual from the Plough bus stop, Preston New Road. The Saturday run leaves at 9.30hrs. The Sunday run leaves at 9.00hrs. The weekday runs also depart from the Plough bus stop; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 9.30hrs with the Wednesday run setting off at 10.00hrs. The Saturday and weekday runs are covered at a more comfortable pace, so if you're new to cycling these runs are the way to start.