Rye and District Wheelers Newsletters, September 2019.

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Rye and District Wheelers

Newsletter September 2019

From the Chair

I’m writing on my return from a MacMillan Coffee Morning hosted by Sue and Richard Morley, in memory of Andrew Whittaker. I was pleased to meet so many weekday members wearing something other than lycra! And it was lovely to see Andrew’s daughter Emily and grandson Harry who were pleased to meet so many of Andrew’s cycling friends. Thanks Sue and Richard.

It was good to be around for the “Up for Lunch ” event on 1 September. David Richardson is generous in his praise for the work of others in organising and promoting such a challenging event, but the real credit goes to him! Well done David, and thanks for the time and energy you invest in the club.

Paul Wilson

From the Captain

It’s encouraging to see all ride groups are being supported and good to see new members being recruited in particular on the Tuesday morning and Tuesday afternoon rides. Well done to all who manage those rides.

On a personal note, it was good to be back out on a couple of Sunday Club runs during August. “Loaf” at Sandgate was a new experience for me, a quirky menu that offered chickpeas and avocado on toast instead of true cycling food, beans on toast. Bacon butties are on offer, but comes with green leafy stuff. One of our favourite Sunday rides is Whiskeys, Stowting, however disappointing to find they were no longer doing breakfast, so it’s a slice of cake or a Sunday Roast. We are hoping this will not catch on and the new chef gets outed. Pleased to say that we were not let down when we turned the clock back for an Old School Ride to Hythe, one mixed group, enjoyed a coffee, beans on toast and a chat with the Chairman and a welcoming tail wind on return.

On a weekday training ride, I found time for a quick chat and banter, with the highly motivated Tuesday morning group with some new club members, before they dispersed to the Blue and White.


Looking forward: Wednesday Night Chain Gang will be starting this month, either on the 18th or 25th. Full details will be published in good time.


Captain’s Ride is scheduled for the 24th November. New ideas to be tried and tested with a new routes and self-catering at The Victory Hall, Hamsteet. More to follow on this.

Ride safe.

David Greenwood

From the Hon Secretary

It’s been a quiet month for secretarial duties, just emails and website updates mainly to promote Up for Lunch. David Richardson is very much like myself and worries about getting club members to commit to taking part in events. He even infiltrated our WhatsApp mid-week riders group! He may have left the group by now, tired of the amount irrelevant traffic on it that has little to do with riding!

I think it’s a healthy part of managing things if you’ve done all you can, that’s it! By all accounts, a good turnout.

All for now.

Steve Blattman

From the Racing Secretary

Following the excitement of the National 24 hour, the mid-season quiet period carried on in Kent, where there were few open events on the calendar, though the Ashford Wheelers club series provided fast times for James Ashburnham (21:13), Steve Gooch (21:10) and Leigh Foxton (21:44) at the end of July.

Dave Greenwood and Steve Gooch rallied a team of helpers to run our own club event on 26th July while I was away, for which there was a rather disappointing entry of just five riders. Roadworks and poor weather rather dominated our own series this summer, but we were able to finish with a flourish of two well attended events.

Twenty-one riders were able to enjoy a perfect evening on the 21stAugust, six of whom came from our own ranks, and it was Steve Gooch who came out on top by going under 22 minutes for the first time in a decade on the Q10/33 course.

 A rather hastily arranged club championship and inter-club with Ashford Wheelers brought our series to a close on 28th August. After the previous weeks warm sunshine, the evening was dark and drizzly, although by the time of the first starter the road had all but dried out and all twenty-one entrants were able to complete the course. The combined times of the first five Rye Wheelers totalled 1:55:57 while those of the first five Ashford Wheelers were 2:00:29.

Results from the opens:

Medway Velo 50 Q50/11 11th August

Nick Wilson                         1:50:59
Steve Gooch                       1:54:27

Catford CC 25 Q25/12 25th August

Nick Wilson                         54:23
James Ashburnham            56:59
Rebecca Wilson                 1:03:48

Thanet RC 10 Q10/30 1st September

Mark Amon                        24:20

This was Mark’s return to racing, on his road bike, following a frustrating season interrupted by an ankle injury. Fingers crossed he’s properly back in action soon.

Nick Wilson

Members Contributions

Up for Lunch | Rye Hospital 1st September 2019

Rye Wheelers line up at the start

On Sunday 1st September, Rye Wheelers held the fifth annual Up for Lunch charity cycle challenge. With three courses on offer, riders had plenty of choice as to how much they were willing exert themselves on what turned out to be a fantastic sunny day.

There were 42 entries in total both online through British cycling and 12 who turned up and paid the higher fee on the day. Katie Gurney and her team from Rye Hospital were very helpful at reception

assisting Paul & Freda Wilson who were conducting the signing in. The 27 riders on the 100k black route set off around 08.30 at a blistering gallop by all accounts. The pace was only tempered when navigational issues cropped up, but this was just as well, given that there was over 1900M of climbing to contend with. Around 10.45 this group had completed the arduous 1.25 mile climb of Willingford Lane and were rewarded with lunch supplied by Paul Simpson.

Wheelers 1st to arrive for Lunch

The 75K Red ride attracted 10 entrants this year and set off around 08.50 half of them having entered on the day, presumably when they knew what the weather forecast was going to be.

The Lunch at top of Willingford Lane, well deserved

Despite a few hindrances on the road due to last minute closures, this ride set off at a more reasonable pace. Some of them seemed to be riding primarily to enjoy the magnificent scenery and on such a lovely day, who could blame them.

James Ashburnham was the first to appear at Hundred House Lane proving what a good all-round rider he is (when family commitments allow). He was shortly followed by William Murtagh who was still showing some signs of discomfort after his epic achievements on the Pan-Celtic earlier this year. Captain Dave Greenwood and race secretary Nick Wilson soon followed them, lured in no doubt by the prospect of Helen Fox’s handmade cheese & ham rolls. A feature of this year’s ride was the provision of vegan “sausage rolls” which

seemed to be appreciated by both veggies and carnivores alike.

Thanks to a great deal of effort from Phil Riley the course was more heavily sign posted this year and this was mentioned by several riders. We’ll try to increase the number of route markers in future because despite all the modern route planning technology supplied, people still prefer to follow the arrows at junctions. Phil averted a potential disaster when he spotted that Mountfield Level crossing was due to be closed on Sunday 1st Sept and re-routed the black & red rides into Battle via the A2100.

Rovers a close second

Despite all the road closures around Brightling most people stuck to the course, there was only one group that ‘got lost’ and they soon found their way back on track. There were some amazingly quick riders who made it the finish in three & half hours and everybody reported back to Angela Collier patiently sitting at the hospital by 2.30pm. We only seemed to lose one Eastbourne Rover, who, having been discarded by his team, presumably turned tail and headed back for Eastbourne. Fortunately, no Rye Wheeler was abandoned ‘like yesterday’s cold rice pudding’ due to mechanical mishaps, despite complaints to the contrary. I was pleased to learn that club chivalry was once again extended to members of other clubs when punctures occurred. We look forward to doing it all again next year!

David Richardson

Steve Gooch | Black Group Sunday Ride | Glider Club Café

With dry weather forecast we convened at the bridge for the usual chat and route discussion. After weighing up the options we decided on the Glider Club with Paul, Charlie and Mark opting for the route out via Hothfield and the Westwell Lane climb to the cafe. Barry, Leigh, John, Alastair and myself chose the route via Aldington, Smeeth and the punchy climb up Hastingleigh hill to the top of the Downs to take in the views followed by the long decent into Wye and the customary 10-minute stop at the level crossing, then up the tough White Hill climb to the café.

Looking for a short cut, Charlie sought out one of Mick Ashdowns fabled routes straight up the Downs through the woods from Westwell Lane and into the Glider club via the back door. Some cried foul, as strictly speaking a mountain bike was needed but that didn’t seem to bother Charlie much as he tucked into his bacon sandwich well before anyone else arrived.

With refreshments and banter finished there was a slight bit of drizzle in the air so we made a hasty escape, less than 200 yards up the road the heavens opened and we were totally drenched wet through and freezing in seconds, not one of us packing a rain jacket. We sheltered for a few minutes in the trees but Barry decided we should man-up and make a move, there followed a very wet decent of Charing Hill and a wetter dash through the lanes to Little Chart, Bethersden and High Halden where I peeled off to empty the fish out of my shoes and take a well-deserved shower.

The others pressed on with Barry finishing in the bone-dry sunshine via Appledore to Udimore, ending up with a very creditable 68 miles. Perhaps Miss Mollets Tea Shop would have been a better choice in the first place.

Steve Gooch

Contact Details

Paul Wilson, Chair.
stonegarth@gmail.com
Dave Greenwood, Club Captain.
dmgreenwood65@aol.com
Steve Blattman, Hon Secretary.
ryewheelers@outlook.com
Nick Wilson, Racing Secretary.
mail@dotwilson.com
Doug Lambert, Treasurer.
lambertdoug@hotmail.com  
General Enquiries
info@ryewheelers.com

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