Kingston Phoenix Road Club Time Trial Sec's Report 2001 Another racing season is over. Looking back over the 7 months of competition we have, once again, been fairly successful with our racing calendar. Although the year started a bit disappointing in the Medium Gear on 1st April, only 5 members starting from a start sheet of 8. One non-starter being Grant who was the first puncture victim of the new season when his tyre blew off the rim, but with a fit Simon just getting inside an "8", perhaps the non-starters were the wise ones. From then on things looked up regarding entries, with 262 - a record number - in the 16 club events promoted, a staggering 100 more than in the lean year of 1998. Included in this number were 69 Private Time Trials (PTTs) from other clubs. I like to think that riders from other clubs riding our club events do so for the professional attitude to our evening 10s, with a result sheet posted to them, but coupled also with the friendly atmosphere they are greeted with by all members during the evening. Hopefully we will continue with this theme. The evening 10 on July 25th could have been a disaster, with 22 riders waiting to be dispatched, Ann was the first rider off at 19:31, Simon was last off at 19:53: this left me 4 minutes and 34 seconds to pack up the watch etc. and ride to the finish to time the first rider across the line, but of course this was unknown to me, and I spent the time riding to the finish constantly looking over my shoulder. The Interclub events this year went as predicted - we lost. The Redmon beat us by a mere 18 minutes in the 6 rider, 25 mile competition, but we came second in the 4 club Interclub 10 on the Portsmouth Road. At the time of going to print, I am not sure if this course will be used in 2002 due to the new traffic lights being installed at the Pains Hill interchange. Club Records As per last year these were all Vets records. Six for Ann and one for Ray. I urge all members to look through the record book, I am sure there is a record just waiting to be broken. If Ann can have an 11 minute late start added to her actual time and still break a Club Record, there could be others. Awards No one rider dominated the major awards this year, in fact seven members shared the eleven trophies. Brian won the Club B.A.R. for the 4th year running. Ann for the 3rd year is the Ladies Champion, but a new name will be engraved on the Vets Championship Trophy for 2001, that of Peter Edwards, but I predict not the last time. He missed out half of the season with a groin strain but still did a 1:0:51 on his last event of the year, a mere 13 seconds short of the 25 Cup. This was won by Simon who also won the Club Events trophy for the 4th year running along with the Kingston to Worthing Trophy, now 7 times. Joe Bertorelli proved too good for the Club Handicapper, again winning the Dare Trophy for the 2nd year running. Might I thank Brian, our Club Handicapper, for his work during the year, and hope he continues with this task. New Members One member renewing his membership after an absence of too many years was Andy Pearce, his 1st and only event this year being the Club 2Up 10. On reaching the HQ immediately after finishing he was heard to comment "now I recall why I packed up in the first place". But it is good to see him enjoying club life and just riding the bike. Two other new members who have raced this year are Ian Burt, an ex Surrey Road CC member, and Amy Robinson who, although her first love is touring, still produces some good times in the club events. Mature Members Other members such as Iain Margery are still being conned into riding by his wife Carolyn. Tony Tugwell has produced some good times now that he doesn't drive some 50 000 odd work miles annually. Ron, our President, got a Vets plus with his only event of the year, a 10 at Maidenhead, after an annual mileage of some 400 miles (although it was a bit of a float evening). Pete missed the Vets trophy by a whisker when Peter E did his "0" in his last 25 of the year. Jen's recurring back problem curtailed her season to a few (for her) gentle 10s. Lisa rode her fastest 25 for 6 years and Jackie gained strength from her road racing exploits for some good times. Andrew Hewett and Mark Mc had fairly quiet seasons, but hope to see more of them next year. The Open 10 Thanks to the regular army of helpers, this year's event went of very well (dare I say "As usual"), and with the generosity of club members and friends with their monetary donations we made a small profit. The 2002 event is on Saturday 20th April, unfortunately this clashes with the Phoenix members who are training in Majorca, but if the same members and friend that always help, that should not be a problem. Predictions For Next Year Who will win what......? I feel it will be much the same as this year, but if Ray rode the distances he would be Vets Champion, Peter Edwards to win the fastest 25, and Simon to win the 50 Championship, and Ian Burt to definitely win the George Crouch Trophy. We will see..... Do have a good winter and prepare for next season with our Sunday alternative rides. Frank Cubis Time Trial Sec. As Frank said about his original copy of this report " all the words are spelt correctly, it's just that the spell checker didn't always know which word I was trying to spell". I guess that most of this copy of the report on the internet will be very slightly different to the paper copy because I have had to type it out again - Lisa. This page last updated on December 4th 2001 by Lisa Colombo Return to the Phoenix Homepage | Return to the 2001 Index Page