June 1999

CLUB TIME TRIALS

The first two club ‘25’s of the year took place over the last month, on the new 24.1 course that we are forced to use. Both evenings saw good conditions and decent times, but unfortunately neither had a size of field to match. Ten riders took the line on the 11^th of May, while only seven turned up on the 1^st of June.

The Podium – 11th May

Handicap

The Podium – 1st June

Handicap

Mike Daly completed the list of finishers, and was awarded "First on style"!!

The full results are available from Danny, and are also on the events page.

Stop Press: The North End’s Open ‘25’ has been cancelled following insufficient entries being received (this contradicts what I've put in the paper newsletter).

RACING RESULTS

Further to last month’s news about road success for Rachel Heal, I can inform you that not only did she make second-cat status, but she was ranked 6th second cat woman in the country, according to the BCF’s website (www.bcf.uk.com). Or rather was, until she then came 4th in the Wyre Valley RR (a national womens series event) and 8th in the Women’s national circuit race championships. So she should be even higher now! Steve Cummings also has a high ranking: he is 7th junior in the country.

A few North Enders took part in the Anfield ‘100’ on Bank Holiday Monday, including the ubiquitous Miss Heal, who clocked 5-08. Mike Daly did 5-22, Dave Parry did 4-57 and Chris Neukom did 4-42. Well done to you all.

Stop Press: Jeff Vernon took 8^th place in the Senior Div Championships on the 6^th of June.

MARSHALLING ROTA

Here’s a reminder about upcoming marshalling duties:

JUNE 15 TUESDAY CLUB OPEN 25 7PM D25/14
H.Mahar, D.Mahar, A.R.Masterson, J.McAllister, M.McAllister, A.Kelly, M.Bennett, P.Young, M.Daly, J.Fox, P.Gregory, B.Hughes, R.Hunt, P.Kay, J.King, D.Lethbridge, J.Lyth

JUNE 22 TUESDAY CLUB 10 7PM D10/19
A.R.Masterson, P.McGill, Robin Smith, Elwyn Jones, S.Cummings, A.Massey, B.McDonald, B.McLellan, R.McLellan

JULY 6 TUESDAY CLUB 25 7PM D1/25
J.McAllister, M.McAllister, Robin Smith, A.Kelly, N.Fitzpatrick, J.Moore, A.Johnston , C.Neukom, P.Nobes

JULY 11 SUNDAY SHROPS 100 7AM D100/2
S.Old, D.Phillips

FANTASY TOUR DE FRANCE

With the approach of July, may I take the opportunity to bring to your attention the Fantasy Tour de France competition that Les Kennedy and myself will be running. This has been quite popular in the last couple of years among North Enders and their families, and we hope that many of you will want to compete again. Entry forms will be available from either of us later this month (shortly after the STDF announce the full list of teams invited to ride). Entry costs £5, with all monies being returned as prizes. I will also be putting full details in a dedicated Fantasy TDF section of this site: click here

2 MEN & A BALLOON (LES & IAN ON THE PRUTOUR)

Saturday

Race HQ - The Marriot Hotel in Heathrow. Famous people milled around, and we tried our best to fit in, and not stare and point too much. We collect our accreditation, and I do a huge double take when I find myself standing next to Stephen Roche. "Where do we get radios?" I ask. "Never mind radios - where do I get chips?" Stephen replies.

Later on, we are next to a Big Mat rider at reception. Ian is full of cold, and can’t hear properly "Is that Jay Sweet?" he ‘whispers’ to me, in a voice loud enough for most of the lobby to hear. Even Jay turns around!

Sunday - London

Weather is nice, not too windy and mostly sunny. I put on my BNE body warmer when it is a bit cooler, and an ex- member comes over to talk to me and asks about getting a BNE top. Time for the race, and we cheer everyone we recognise. Unfortunately the commentary doesn’t stretch to our position, so we rely on Ruaraidh telling us what Channel 4 are showing, via the miracle of mobile phones.

Race over, we meet a pal from our Tour de France Holidays. Great, he can help us pack away ! Next stop Portsmouth.

Monday - Portsmouth

This is a long day, as we are up for the finish of the Road stage and also the Time Trial too. We cleverly manage to position the Arch next to a bench, and spend time there sunbathing, and watching the Red Devils and Arrows (although fortunately not at the same time). A Chinese rider in the TT sprints for the balloon arch and then relaxes, not realising he still has 1k to go - oops! Chris wins the Time Trial so we can go home happy! Get back into the Landrover to realise that our heads match the red polo shirts we wear!

Tuesday - Bristol

Nice hotel, but all of the staff look upon Fawlty Towers as an establishment they could only dream of working their way up to. Putting a beer on the room account takes about three people and a multitude of forms.

In the morning we find our location is just off the main road, at the entrance to the grassy downs overlooking the Gorge. Putting the arch up requires some effort as we have to force it through trees on both sides. Cars dart under the Arch as soon as it raises off the ground, never mind waiting for it to be vertical. When the riders appear they are well spread out. 75 minutes covers the field, and the road closure runs out for the tail-enders. We turn into Traffic Marshals to direct the public and race traffic. We realise that with red polo shirts, a pass round your neck and a walkie-talkie in your hand motorists obey you. Something to bear in mind for the Next Club 25 perhaps - maybe we can use the old course after all.

Wednesday - Swansea

Our site is on the fast descent into the City. This causes a bit of a problem, as the 1k has to be vertical, not perpendicular to the road, and this reduces the clearance for vehicles. We set up, only to hear a double-decker bus straining up the hill - max heartrate achieved! The bus passes safely below: just as well otherwise the 1k would now be calling at all stops from Mountpleasant to Port Talbot.

The race arrives, and the riders hurtle down at ridiculous speeds followed by the team cars, and the smell of burnt out clutches from the climb up Constitution Hill.

Thursday - Birmingham

Bright start at 5am after the fire alarm goes off. We troop out into a nice summer’s morning, and see the lovely Michaela Strachan close up for the first time.

Then we have a problem in that the security doors have locked behind us, but one of the French TV crew manages to jemmy the door with his knife, a useful talent. We make a mental note not to offend anyone who is that handy with a knife!

We later find out that the alarm had been caused by burglars robbing the hotel, and smashing the alarm glass just to cause maximum confusion. Nice of them.

We have a problem here as putting the 1k up means closing down one of Birmingham’s busiest roads. We witness a three-car shunt that the six policemen standing about six feet away somehow all manage to miss. Then they are all reluctant to do the business - I guess the paperwork is too much !

The Police tell us they will give us closure ten minutes before the first vehicles arrive. The pressure is on! When the moment arrives, we spring into action and get the arch up in a record breaking 3mins 15 seconds!

We have to be prompt in taking the arch down too, so we don’t hang around, and get on the road for Blackpool pausing for tea back home on the Wirral. We try to avoid showing the sunburn we got in Portsmouth, as we’d only get told off by our wives!

We arrive in Blackpool at about 11pm, and it looks nice to me - I had never been there before and hadn’t wanted to, but I’m thinking about changing my mind on the place.

Friday - Blackpool

It’s pouring down - boo! Down at breakfast most people are carrying pool cues. Hmm either they expect trouble or there’s a tournament on.

We find our place on the Prom, and we can just about squeeze in below the illuminations, but it is very blowy, although the rain has stopped. The Red Devils are due to drop in, but this has now been cancelled due to the gusty conditions - doesn’t bode well!

In the cold light of day Blackpool doesn’t look quite as nice, and none of the newsagents stock the Comic, so I won’t be spending my summer hols there.

Ruaraidh surprises us by popping along to see us, having previously seen the start in Liverpool.

We try to put the arch up, but as soon as we unfurl it, the wind tries to take it away. With air inside, we’d have no chance of controlling it, so the mission is aborted. We make do by displaying a spare kite on the back of the Landrover, but at least this means we can have a quick start for Edinburgh.

Saturday - Edinburgh

Saturday dawns with another fire alarm, but this time it’s at 7.30, so much more manageable. After our practice in Birmingham we are getting good at this, so we are one of the first out. We consider laying our clothes out Fireman style before going to bed tonight, and gluing our trainers to our pants, to shave vital seconds off the next practice.

Its raining again: we hope it’ll go away, but it doesn’t. And it’s blowy too !

We get set up with the help of two friendly traffic wardens who stop the traffic for us. The balloon handles the crosswinds well, and before long the riders are through, and we frantically pack away to get set up on the crit circuit.

We frantically do the last set up of the race on top of the Mound. As I am unrolling the balloon some tourists ask me where the Children’s Museum is. Does everyone with an inflatable arch double up as tour guides in Edinburgh?

The race is maybe one stage too much for us, as the Pros have dictated that no-one is to do anything stupid, and just keep it safe. Not very exciting, and we are very cold and soaked to the skin. The race is soon finished though, and we head off for hot showers back at base. We stop off in the hotel car park to try and blag some goodies from the team cars, but only manage a couple of bottles, a very poor result. Ian did ask for a souvenir US Postal helmet, but with no success.

Sunday

Get to sit next to Michaela Strachan at breakfast. When we leave our table to collect our Coco Pops, Alan Rushton tries to nick my spec, but I’m not letting that go!

Mick Bennett, technical director, tells Ian he is pleased with us, and says that he may want more arches for next year! Cool!

It only remains to pack all our gear up, and off home! Roll on next year!

Les Kennedy

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