News Archive - 2007

Reliability Rides
The usual line up of reliabilities for 2008 are as follows with first group leaving at
20th Jan 25 miles 9.30
27th Jan 31 miles 9.30
3rd Feb 40 miles 9.30
10th Feb 50 miles 9.30
17th Feb 100km 9.00
2nd Mar 80 miles 8.45
16th Mar 100 miles 8.30
Will post route details shortly.

British Cycling Membership
If you are not already a member of British Cycling, as Witham Wheelers club members you can obtain:
• Free Silver membership worth up to £12.50 for the under 16s
• Free Bronze membership worth £12.50 for the over 16s
Download an application form (pdf file) for more details and benefits: page 1 and page 2

For non-racing members you can also access their Everyday Cycling website at WWW.EVERYDAYCYCLING.COM

4 Dec. The 2007 AGM took place with a reasonable turnout of members at the cricket club and the agenda contained a range of issues including updating the club constitution and agreeing the 2008 club racing programme.
New officers were elected with 5 new members coming forward to add some new blood to the committee, well done to Phil Atherton, Matt Pennifold, Pat Pennifold, Anthony Conneely and Dave Beckett for volunteering.!!
Membership fees had not been increased for many years and it was agreed that these would now be: Individual £20, Family £30, under 16 £10, Second claim £10, Social £5. A membership secretary will be appointed to make collection more efficient and to keep up to date contact lists.
Alterations were also made to some of the club competition criteria and a new list along with the updated Racing Rules and the 2008 race programme will be published here shortly.
Thanks were made to Loz Willetts for his years of service as Treasurer as he was now retiring from the position.
In taking over as Chairman Janet East was looking forward to celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the Witham Wheelers and has ideas for events during the year as well as the club dinner, which this year will be held at Belton Woods Golf Club.

Nov '07 Manchester Track
1 have heard several people say they would like to have a go, so I have got details, but it does get very booked up.
We can book the track for a 2 hour club session for up to 25 people, including a coach (2 legged variety) and bike hire for £30 a head, if we get a minimum of 20 people, (deduct £9 if you have a suitable track bike)

2 dates I have just been given:
Sunday 6th April 10am to 12pm or Saturday 12th April 8pm to 10pm

We need to let them know by the end of this week, so please let me know ASAP this week if you are interested and if you have a date preference.

It takes just over 2 hours drive from Grantham, so if we went for the Saturday evening you should be home for around 12.30 or so and still leave Sunday free.

Nov '07 Spinning
Where: Oceans Gym
When: Tuesdays (8pm) Jan 8th to March 25th - Coach Phil Etches
     Thursday (8:15pm) Jan 10th to March 27th Coach: Peter Pain
How much: £36 for the 12 week session
What to do: Confirm your interest to Peter Pain ideally by 7th December on 01476 577451 or email. Cheques payable to Phil Atherton, who is sorting out the finances and details with the Gym, thanks Phil. The bikes take Shimano SPD type shoes.
Note there are 22 seats available, you should be a paid up (2008) full time member of the Witham Whelers, if oversubscribed preference will be given to members looking to a full season of racing in 2008. Also note if you think the session with Peter will be easier, don't be so sure, he's not called Pain for nothing.!!

27 Oct Annual Club Dinner
Held as usual at the Kings Hotel, with Dave Gretton, stalwart of the East Midlands cycling scene for many years, standing in at late notice as the guest speaker. The evening followed the usual format with a 3 course meal, followed by some interesting words from Dave, then straight into the prize presentation and then rounded off by the raffle. All rounded off with a few more beers and a chance to plot domination of the local cycling scene by the Wobblies next year.

Thanks to Pat Pennifold and Gill Cocker for the organization, hopefully it wasn't too traumatic an experience and they will do the same again next year. Thank also to Janet East for her help - especially in sorting out the trophies.

It is envisaged that next year the date will be moved back a few weeks into November, to avoid the half term holiday period, as quite a lot of people were unable to attend

Photo album»

Club Champions»

2007 Velo 99 Australian Pursuit League for Old Codgers.
There are 14 races in the year. Your best 8 events score points towards your total for the year. The winner of a race scores 60 points and second scores 59 etc. Each rider must Marshall one event which scores 50 points.

There are 6 ability related groups, handicapped by their average speed from the previous race. ie group 1 avg 17mph start 1000hrs, group 6 avg 25mph start 1028hrs.

The winner for 2007 was Sid Wilson with 456 points riding in group 2
Club riders: Phil Etches 421 points (first in group 6 and 4th overall), Rob Howbrook 372 points. Dave Herd 340 points.

23 September Southwell Last Minute Sprint Triathlon
Three Witham Wheelers took part in the final local triathlon of the season at Southwell over a course of 400m swim, 12 mile bike ride and 3 mile run.
Stefan Lawrence recorded a swift 55 minute 22 second for 17th overall (3rd in the 24-29 age group), Matthew Pennifold broke the 1 hour barrier in 59.35 for 47th (3rd in the 44-49 age group) and Simon Cocker 1 hr 3.41 for 96th (12th in the 44-49 age group).
Winner was Oliver Mytton from the Nottingham TFN Tri Club in 50.42 with 397 finsihers.

15 September CDLCA Open 10
Good conditions on Saturday evening saw Dave Herd record 24.22 and Ian Simpson 25.32 on the Long Bennington- Gonerby Moor course.
The event was won by Julian Ramsbottom (Scunthorpe Poly) in 19.33.

9 September Vitruvian Triathlon
Peter Pain took part in his first long distance Triathlon at Rutland Resevoir: 1900m swim, 84km Bike and 21km run. Taking the swim easy due to a sore shoulder and rolling round the bike course, all was good until 3 miles to go on the run when as David Duffield would say ‘the man with the hammer came’. Peter still managed to finish in 4 hr 58 min 53 secs inside his 5 hour target. Good enough for 198th out of 700 entries and 15th in his age group.
Winner was Jonathan Hotchkiss Sigma Sport/Orca in 3.55.55.

1 Sept North Notts Olympic 10
On Saturday evening on the A1 course from Tuxford to Carlton-on-Trent in windy conditions, Dave Herd clocked 24.58 and Mike Lewis 27.41

26 August Velo 99 Australian Pursuit Road Race
On the North Kelsey circuit, Phil Etches took second overall in a close sprint behind Rob Blackburn from Sheffield. Rob Howbrook and Dave Herd took first and second respectively in their handicap groups. Phil Atherton retired on the last lap, still waiting for superform to return following his broken collarbone earlier in the season.

25 to 27 August
Tom Mendham took part in the Junior Tour of Wales finishing a creditable 66th overall against the top Juniors in the country, over 250 km split into 5 stages, in some seriously hilly country.

12 August Seacroft Wheelers 3 / 4 category – 39 miles
Tom Mendham and Shaun Culpin took part on a flat course near Selby, run off at an average speed of over 26mph. On the last lap Tom helped form a break of four riders following a prime, which established a small gap with Shaun doing his best to slow the bunch. In the finishing sprint Tom hung on for 7th place as the bunch closed quickly. Shaun finished near the front of the bunch. Robert Watkinson of Doncaster Wheelers was the winner

5 August Phils' Finest Hour
Vet Phil Etches had his best win of the year in the Notts Velo Road Race at Flintham on Sunday 5 August.
On the hottest day of the year Phil made the decisive break after sprinting for a prime with 3 laps to go. He was joined by 6 other riders who stayed away from the chasing peloton to the finish line. Phil snatched the sprint win from the current World Vets Champion Roger Iddles and scooped two primes on route. (Nice little earner).

Rob Johnson finished in the chasing group with Dave Herd in the main bunch.

24 June Nice Iron Man Triathlon
Special mention to Kev Flint who after a winter spent not training and eating pies decided after a couple of club runs that he was in prime form to enter the Nice (France) Ironman (2.5 mile sea swim, 112 mile hilly bike ride and finished of with a marathon)

Kev reports that after a steady swim in an hour plus a bit, the start of the bike ride was painful but he got into a rhythm and made it in about 9 hours, only for some officious Frenchman to declare him outside the time limit by around 3 minutes and refused to let him go further.
Maybe with a marathon still to run this was blessing in disguise, but still pretty frustrating, full marks Kev for giving it a go.

July 8 National Age Group Triathlon Championships at Wakefield.

Peter Pain took part in the national champinships Olympic distance event on
a tough course at Wakefield. He finished a very respectable 21st in the
45-49 age group and 186th overall with a time of 2 hr 31.45 for the 1500m
swim, 40km bike and 10km run.

The winner, in a time of 2hr 08.03 was Peter Swaine from Nottingham based club TFN. A total of 517 competitors finished the event.

July 1 Jim Coleman finished in the points the hard way in the Cambridge CC 75 mile road race on Sunday, getting in a three man break from the gun and then being joined by three more riders a lap later. The six man break worked well on a very undulating course until with a lap to go Jim and another rider were dropped and soon caught by a large chasing group. This group then split leaving Jim in a group of 10 from which he won the sprint to finish 13th overall

Wednesday 27th June - Grantham to Cleethorpes and Back.
By popular demand the Cleethorpes and back is on again for the 8th year, with leader John Hill just returned to the UK fresh from a 1000 miles pedalling a tandem up the Norwegian mountains.

Usual route, details of which are here (pdf file), please let John know if you are interested.
If you are wondering why Cleethorpes, then go on the ride and I am sure he will tell you.

24 June The harder half of the clubs Triathlon squad took part in the Dambuster Olympic distance (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run) starting at the unearthly time of 7.00 in the morning at Rutland Resevoir.

In his first attempt at the distance Stefan Lawrence finished in a respectable 172nd overall and 34th in the 25-29 age group in a time of 2.21.04.

Peter Pain overcome loosing his swim goggles in the melee at the start of the swim and then loosing his bearings in the water (painful) to finish not far behind in 2.23.14 for 206th overall and 21st in the 45-49 age group.

The winner was Daniel Conner in 1.57.21 with 633 finishers. Other time of local interest was Felicity Hart (Pell) from Colsterworth, first woman and breaking the course record in 2.10.25 for 44th overall.

17 June Jim Coleman rode the 70 mile 2/3/4 category Presidents Challenge Road Race
at Kingston -on-Soar.

Getting into an early 8 man break he finished 6th behind Matt Jennings of Webster Cycles to continue his consistent run of placings in recent weeks.
Photos & full results: www.britishcycling.org.uk

June 10 Gerry Thurlow 50th Anniversary Road Race
Jim continues to collect placings, with the latest in the 62 mile 2/3/4 category event promoted by the VC Lincoln, taking 9th place in an event won by Martin Wheeldon of Doncaster Wheelers.

June 10 Grantham Triathlon
Granthams 2nd Sprint Triathlon took place at the Meres with a 400m swim, 22km bike, 5km run and 135 competitors.
Conditions were ideal and times improved on the first event last year with Stefan storming round for an excellent 5th place with Peter not far behind in 9th. For the statisticians amongst you the splits were as follows. As can be seen the bike split by the winner is pretty rapid on its own without the swim and run!!

June 6 Ropsley Fun Run
Three quarters of Granthams no. 1 Triathlon squad warmed up for Sunday's Grantham Sprint Triathlon by taking part in the Ropsley Runners 6 mile fun run. With signing on in the back of a pub and a BBQ after, this seemed like an ideal chance for some fun training. However warming up there seemed to be some serious looking athletes from running clubs around Lincolnshire, maybe it wasn’t just fun?
This was quickly confirmed as the course shot up hill from the start and the real runners were already disappearing into the distance with Stefan amongst them. Matt and Simon opted for the more cautious mid-field approach.
The course turned out to be almost traffic free and quite scenic, which is just as well as it gave some distraction from the pain.
Finish places were: 5th Stefan 36.01, 14th Matt 40.34 and 20th Simon 42.32 with the winner Mark Baddeley in 34.05 with 52 finishers.

The senior members of the squad soon eased the pain with a beer and a hot dog whilst the squads young Tiger explained that this was the wrong approach, thus completely missing the point that they tasted nice.

Pictures show the squad psyching themselves up before the start and Simon wondering when the ‘Fun’ bit was going to kick in, as the finish approached.

June 3 British Cycling East Midlands Division Championships
Two Witham Wheelers took part in this event over a tough hilly circuit near Binbrook in North Lincolnshire over a total distance of 87 miles.

A break of 10 riders escaped early to dominate the race which was won by Dave Clarke from Leicester, one of the top national road racers on current form in a time of 3 hrs 39 minutes.

Jim Coleman rode strongly in the second chase group but ran out of food with a lap to go and did well to continue to finish in 20th. Dave Ostler was unlucky to puncture after only 6 miles and due to the high speed of the race from the start was never to see the bunch again and forced to retire.
Dave Clarke was presented with the Simon Goodge memorial trophy in memory of the Grantham cyclist.

Witham Wheelers Road Races 2007 July 15
This Year the club will be promoting 2 Open Road races under British Cycling regulations:

G T Ellingworth Road Race
For 3rd and 4th category riders, total distance 41 miles, entrance fee £10 (£14 on the line).
Starts 09.30

G.A.Bennett Road Race
For 1st, 2nd and 3rd category riders, total distance 73 miles, entrance fee £12 (£15 on the line).
Starts 13.30

Headquarters – Grantham Cricket Club – Gorse Lane Grantham.
The course is 3 miles from the HQ taking in a circuit on largely unclassified roads around Wyville, Saltby, Sproxton, Skillington and back round to Wyville, approximately 12 miles in length and best described as undulating, with the one significant hill around 1 km before the finish, always sure to make the judges task a little easier. Map of the course»

Organiser: Jeff Ellingworth, 19 Wentworth Drive, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 9QQ

May 27. Jim Coleman took 8th place in the 65 mile Keith Simpson Memorial road race at Bately which was won by Julian Ramsbottom from a race long break of 10 riders.

This puts Jim currently 6th in the British Cycling East Midland rankings for 2nd category riders, in his first season as a second category. In the 3rd category rankings currently Sean Culpin is 8th, Tom Mendham 12th and Dave Ostler 20th

May 27. Four Witham Wheelers took part in the Woodhall Spa Triathlon 400m swim, 15 mile bike ride and 5 km run, which also doubled up as the Lincolnshire championships. Heavy rain and cold made conditions very difficult especially in the bike to run transition where compliant fingers are needed.

The overall winner was Mark Redwood from the Nottingham based TFN club in a time of 1hr 1.05. Peter Pain put in a very strong allround performance to finish 20th overall and 3rd in the Lincolnshire championships in 1.08.50, closely followed by Stefan Lawrence in 25th in 1.09.48. Simon Cocker was 70th in 1hr 15.38 and Matt Pennifold 81st in 1 hr 16.16. There were a total of 328 finishers.

May 23 Lincs League 30 mile handicap race at Withern near Alford.
A good turn out of Witham Wheelers in a fast race on a warm calm evening. In a big bunch sprint up the gradual rise to the finish Dave Ostler fought through for 5th place with Jim Coleman close behind in 9th place. Other finishers included Rob Johnson, Michael Ostler, Simon Smith, Tom Mendham and Tony Mendham.
Also, a special mention to Jade Ostler for staying with her handicap group for the whole race, clearly showing the benefits of training with the local British Cycling junior Talent Team.

May 20 Jim Coleman took his first open Road race win of the year in the 2/3 category 57 mile event at Ashwell in Hertfordshire. On a mostly flat course Jim covered all the early breaks until with about 8 miles from the finish a 5 man break that he was in went clear.
Then with a 1k to go at the begining of the climb to the finish he attacked to win by a good margin at the finish line.
An added bonus was to be presented with his winning cheque by multi world track cycling champion Victoria Pendleton.

May 13 Two Youth riders from the Club took part in the Lincoln Grand Prix Youth Race at Yarborough last Sunday. Jade Ostler won her Under- 16 Race after breaking a lead and a strong sprint finish. She afterwards proudly received a medal and prize money on the podium. Ben Smith also did well for himself and the Club, by gaining 4th place in his Under- 14 Race.

In the Velo 99 race at Norwell on Sunday in difficult wet conditions Rob Howbrook, Phil Atherton and Dave Herd competed. With Phil taking 3rd place in group 3 and Rob just fading at the end with cramp after a strong ride in group 5.

May 9 Witham Wheelers Riders took part in the Lincs League at Reevesby near Boston last Wednesday on an atrocious night with heavy downpours and waterlogged roads. A total of 70 riders took part including 5 top road riders from Australia. Jade Ostler was unlucky to puncture, Simon Smith, Rob Johnson, Tom Mendham and Phil Atherton were well placed in the bunch sprint. Dave Ostler had the best result taking a hard fought 5th.

May 6 Three Witham Wheelers took part in the Southwell Sprint Triathlon (400m swim, 20km Bike, 5km run). The event was won by Nick Dunn in a time of 49.28 from the TFN 2XU Nottingham based club.

Stefan Lawrence was 32nd in 56.12, Matt Pennifold 136th 1.03.00 and Simon Cocker 145th 1.03.17 out of a total of 502 finishers.

Also Peter Pain took a good 4th Place in the Caythorpe Duathlon.

April 29 Witham Wheelers (Echo Personnel) Phil Etches won his first race of the season in a commanding up hill sprint finish.

The Velo 99 Australian Pursuit league event was at Alford on an undulating course which also saw Rob Howbrook and Phil Atherton of WW ride strongly to finish in respectable positions.

LINCOLN GP YOUTH RACES
In conjunction with the Lincoln Grand Prix
The Velo Club Lincoln are again promoting the youth circuit races at the Yarborough Leisure Centre race circuit, Lincoln on Sunday 13th May 2007.

9.30am Under 12’s, 10.15am Under 14 & Under 16 to run concurrently

All entries on the line. Entry fee £5.00 or £6.50 with BC day licence

All race enquiries to Nick Panton 07971 959153 or Steve Poole 07889 690187

The circuit and signing on will be available from 9.00am at the grandstand on the circuit.
To be held under British Cycling rules & regulations.

1 May Bury St Edmunds Criteriums
Witham Wheelers top schoolboy Tom Mendham sprinted to 2nd place, his best place this year, in the schoolboy town centre race.  

Tom is coming to form in time for the National Schoolboy championships later in the year.

New club Kit
The new club kit is now available. Impsport are supplying all items, the leadtimes are aprox 1 week. You get a 20% discount and do not pay the VAT.
Please call 07801 442452 with your order, or
Download an order form - click here.
(The form is a pdf document, 240Kb. You will need Adobe Reader - see link on home page) Fax the form to 01536 485544.