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Suspension of Group Rides during Lockdown
Due to Government lockdown restrictions coming into play again from Thursday 5 November, including the instruction that "You can exercise or visit outdoor public places with the people you live with, your support bubble, or 1 person from another household." the Exec Team has agreed that group rides will have to be suspended during this time. We will double check the British Cycling response to lockdown (their statements are usually released on Thursdays), but at the moment see no way that group rides will be allowed to continue. Please feel free to post Zwift Meet-ups, and keep fingers crossed that rides can recommence after 2 December. Questions to captain@vcgh.co.uk. |
Club Hillclimb 2020
 Great riding from all, with a fast and very tightly packed results sheet. Impressive to see a few PBs in there, even though there was no pushing-off today, which must have cost everybody a few seconds. First rider was Jon Hughes in 5:08 - only 9 seconds off his all-time PB. He was closely followed by Seb Morton in 5:10, and Chris Carroll in 5:16. Mark Pritchard (5:29) and Ross Ovens (5:30) were 2nd and 3rd vet behind Jon. Laura Senior was first female and 17th overall in 6:06 - setting a new VCGH women's record. Charlie Payne was first junior and a very strong 7th= overall in 5:34, for his first ever hillclimb event. Tom Cockle (2 years younger than Charlie) was our second under-18 in an excellent 6:31 - also his first hillclimb event. Big thanks to Will Ranoe for timekeeping, flexibility and mechanical assistance at the start line, and to Mark Wright for helping me with finish timekeeping. That's it for our 2020 season folks. Thanks for all your support this year - it's always great to see how many of you enjoy (?) the events. Make the most of winter training and hopefully see you next April for (maybe a more normal) 2021 series. Lara |
Big Bobble Hats
Simon Williams has suggested we might like to order some Big Bobble Hats in VCGH colours. Please use this form to let us know if you’d be interested.  |
Winter Club Kit 2020
Deadline Wednesday 30 September
Please use this form to submit your request. You will receive confirmation in the form of a PayPal invoice for 50% deposit in early October. Order lead time is 6-8 weeks. If minimum order quantities cannot be met, you will be notified. If you would like to order any standard club kit not on this list, please check the stock list and get in touch with shop@vcgh.co.uk. |
September Club TT Report
Today was our final 10 mile TT of the season (don't fret - we still have the club hillclimb on 17 October!) It was a beautiful, still, dry morning, perfect for time trialling, and we had our biggest ever entry with 33 riders. Fantastic to see so many under-18s riding, as well as a good bunch of female riders. And loads of PBs too, despite September not traditionally being so forthcoming. Big thanks to all of you who've come out to support these events - it makes everything worthwhile to see so many of you smashing it round the lumpy bumpy G10/45. In the TT category, Jon Hughes finished first in 23:22, proving that he's in fine form this year, as if there was any doubt. Not far behind was Matt Hill in 23:30, winning the vets category by a country mile. 3rd TT rider was Chris Carroll in 24:57. On the road bikes, Jez Meredith was first rider home in 24:01, with Ross Ovens in second place with 24:56, beating his previous best by 1:35. Callum Davies-Russell was 3rd in 25:40. First female rider was Kirsty Woodcock (unaffiliated) in 29:55, riding her first ever TT. In very close 2nd (1st female vet) was Jackie Johnson in 29:59 with a PB of 31 seconds. First junior rider (16-18) was Charlie Payne (unaffiliated) in an excellent 26:30, with Ethan Gubby first juvenile rider (under 16), hot on his heels in 26:34 (a PB of 38 seconds). Tallulah Sullivan (Lee Valley) was 2nd juvenile home, first female juvenile, and 3rd female overall in 31:12. Excellent work all! And many thanks to my amazing volunteer team once again, who run the show and this month were:
Photos: Adrian Cockle And to Adrian at Loxwood Sport who luckily took a passing comment about the 12 September being our next TT seriously, and was there to open up at 07:00 this morning, despite my last-minute panic! |
August Club 10 TT Report
 It was so good to finally be able to run an event again at Loxwood after having to cancel the April-July events! Loved seeing so much enthusiasm from club members, non-club-members, and volunteers alike. There was a really good vibe and it didn't seem to matter too much that there was no HQ allowed.Lots of kudos to give out. Firstly to all the teens who rode the course, from the blisteringly fast espoir Sam Clark (trainSharp) (pictured) who didn't seem to mind in the least that he wasn't on the smooth Goodwood tarmac and turned out a 22:25 to conclusively win the TT category by 1:22; to first-timers Yasmin Gubby (VCGH/Lee Valley), Will St Pier (unaffiliated) and Max Powell (Farnham Tri), all of whom looked super strong and determined when I saw them past the B2133/Plaistow Road corner. Yasmin came home in a brilliant 31:56, averaging 18.9mph at age 13! Watch your backs guys! This also meant that she was first female rider home, with Pip Beard 2nd (1st female vet) in 33:20. Yasmin's brother Ethan (VCGH/Lee Valley) was the first under-18 road bike home (11th overall) in 27:12, knocking 24 seconds off his PB despite having no big ring for half the course. Very nice! In the road bike category, Peter Allan (MB Cyclery) was first home in 23:09, coming very close to Will Ranoe's club record of 23:04. Jez Meredith was first VCGHer, in 2nd position, in 23:46, knocking 32 seconds off his previous PB, and Matt Callaghan (unaffiliated) - all the way from Winchester! - was 3rd in 24:46. On the TT bikes, first VCGHer home was Jon Hughes in 23:47 in 2nd position behind Sam Clark. 3rd was Matt Hill in 23:51. Well done all of you (28 riders in total) for turning up for such an early start on a slightly drizzly morning, and for putting up with all the crazy COVID-related shenanigans. Also big thanks as usual to my excellent volunteer crew, without whom it wouldn't be possible to run the event. This month's team was:
And thanks to Adrian at Loxwood Sports for accommodating us and for the last minute hand-towel dispensers!
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Returning to Limited Club Riding
The VCGH Exec Team has made the decision that from Saturday 18 July, club riding in a limited format can resume. However, as you are no doubt aware, we have had to put careful measures in place to mitigate risk as much as possible. This includes strict group sizing, compulsory sign-up, as well as various hygiene measures. Every rider must read and agree to abide by these important rules. When you sign up for a ride, you will be asked to tick a box to agree this. Please don't put the ride leaders in a difficult position by turning up to a ride without signing up, or if there is already the maximum number of riders present, or by disregarding the rules. Please respect that the rules are in place for the benefit of the ride leaders and the riders. The Merry Harriers ride is outside of the scope of the new club riding rules. If you want to continue riding MH, it is by your own personal arrangement and at your own personal risk. |
Strava Challenge Suspended
Unfortunately, as from Thursday 18 June 2020, we have had to suspend the Strava Challenge. This is due to emerging information that British Cycling insurance - both for clubs and for individuals - is voided by promotion or participation in such an event. This includes individuals holding BC race-level insurance, which is only valid for BC-authorised events. The VCGH team are currently looking into whether alternative ways of insuring the challenge can be found, to enable us to reinstate the challenge. In the meantime, the Club cannot support any Strava Challenge attempts by club members. More information can be found here: https://www.bikeradar.com/news/strava-and-cycling-insurance/ |
Anyone with a Hotmail address?
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VCGH Bottles Anyone?
 | Adrian Cockle has suggested the idea of VCGH water bottles and has drawn up a possible design as well as this quick poll to find out whether there would be enough interest to meet minimum order quantities. Please take 30 seconds to fill it in if you're interested (this is the same poll that appeared in the newsletter last Friday, so you don't have to fill it out again if you've already done so).
(Only the orange & white stripes would be printed). |
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