New AVP Race Jersey

With the advancing interest in competative cycling, the AVP has a new jersey for its fledgling race team! This is a potential game changer for a club which has a predominately social and ageing cycling membership. The importance of the second kit, lost on some but starting to be understood by most, is to differentiate the heritage from the competitive; after all, the memory of me being asked to remove the word 'sport' from our Charter a few years back is still all too fresh in my memory! I've even designed a new club flyer to illustrate the intent.

The new Club flyer

You'll notice the new jersey sports, not only a new colour scheme but also a couple of sponsor names: our local and now more of a club house than cycle and coffee shop, The Filling Station & Colyford Cycles and RBS Scaffolding.

You'll see this more and more over the summer as we have 2 riders competing in the Seaton Cyclefest and race and TT season gets into full swing.

Time to Time Trial

We have a transformation taking place within our cycling club at the moment. With the establishment of a race committee, the interest in competitive events has soared. In the past 2 months we've had 37 member entries to crits and time trials, an almost a 10 fold increase on last year.

So when I had the call from one of my racing members to see I wanted to join him and take part in my first local TT, how could I refuse!

The entry list was not large, but this meant at least I was guaranteed a top 10 position! And my time was just under 30 minutes, a credible time for an old first time as myself!

Will be back next week for another go .. I may bee hooked!

Tour of Cambridgeshire 100

Never Say Never Again is that Bond movie Sean Connery should never have made. Every time I get the urge to enter another sportive, I am reminded that these are the same words I say after every such event and yet just as with Connery, I never know when to quit! So, when one of my Coffee Club mates suggested we ride the Tour of Cambridgeshire 100 mile sportive, the answer was obviously, yes.

A couple of weeks before the event, I had the perfect excuse to call it all off when my ride partner, a fanatical Liverpool fan, though the Champions' League Final was a more important occasion than riding 100 miles with his Coffee Club mate! But just as with Connery, for some reason I decided, I had to do it; after all, when would a Devon cyclist have such an opportunity to ride so far over such flat land.

The Saturday before the ride was the day to register and an opportunity to test the route I would be cycling to start; thus avoiding the closed roads, the A1 and the extortionate parking charges the East of England Show Ground proposed charging for the privilege of parking on their grass!

The 'cycle path' was not really fit for the Venue

Registration at the East of England Show Ground

Registration complete .. this is my number
The same which ever way you look at it!

My steed, this will be its longest ride 

The day of the ride begins well. I enter the start gate from the wrong direction, but this at least ensures I am at the front of the peloton, even if I get a few strange looks. This actually turns out to be an important advantage when food and water unfortunately soon starts to run dry at the feed stations for later riders.

As for the ride, well it was a different from anything I've done to date .. no hills! But strong winds over the Fens made for an interesting experience. I think I prefer the hills, at least you can see them!

So that's it, no need to do another one .. or is it another case of  never say never again?!