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Several of us have entered a road race run by Chelmer CC which will take place on the first Sunday in April. We don't know yet how many of us have got in (possibly none of us!), but as I'm the only who has ridden it before we've decided to combine the club run with a recce of the course. I've been having trouble with ridewithgps making bizarre detours when I plan the routes, so I've planned this on strava instead. The basic ride, which does one full circuit (14-15 miles) of the road race course, is about 58 miles long to and from Walthamstow. I will be leading a B-group to do that course, there should also be a C group doing the same route. Barnaby is leading an A-group at a high pace with the intention of doing two laps of the road race course (so the total distance will be a bit over 70 miles). The route does pass through High Beach on the way out (and, actually, on the way back) so there could be a second pick up there, but this would be earlier than the usually advertised 9:45 - get there before 9:30 and try to let us know via Facebook if you're planning to join us there. I don't think there will be a café stop this week, though people could refuel at High Beach on the return leg if they're feeling empty. I think the B group will be home around 1pm (providing nothing goes wrong). Barnaby claims the A group will be back by 12:45pm, even though they're doing a longer distance - we'll see! Route here: https://www.strava.com/routes/7882246

Second link down on this page, George: https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/documents/index/riders
(and the district is 'London East')

Tomorrow's route (for the faster groups anyway): https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19194338

Going up Mott Street, then second pick up at High Beach. Leaving there by 9:45, café stop at The Shed in Sawbridgeworth.

So....it appears I can't change 'guid' to 'guide'. :-(

post 2 (continued from above)

The serious time trialists (or ‘testers’ as they are known) scour the country looking for the flattest, fastest dragstrip courses and live in hope of a ‘float day’ when the weather is absolutely perfect and they can set a personal best. Because of this, races on the fastest courses are usually oversubscribed and organisers only let the fastest 120 riders onto the start list. If you are looking to race for the first time, it would be best to enter a race on a slower course like the E2 or the E91 (in The Rodings area of Essex) as these don’t usually fill up – or, of course, enter a club event.
You can find lists of events on the CTT website and nowadays you can enter them online. Follow this link (and then filter the district to ‘London East’): https://cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/find-events
There are some time trials that are a bit different to these. Several are described as ‘hilly’ and follow a course which involves plenty of climbing and a series of left turns instead of just out and back. These are usually over non-standard distances (e.g. the ‘Hainault Hilly’ is about 29 miles long). Also, at the end of the season in October and the start of November there are a series of hill climbs. These are very short and involve just a few minutes of agony racing up the steepest hills in the area.
In terms of equipment, you can race a time trial on a normal road bike, but you will find that the fastest riders are using specialist time trial bikes with aero bars, aero helmets, disc wheels, etc. If your budget doesn’t stretch that far, you can spend less than £100 on some clip-on aero bars that will probably make you about 1mph faster – quite a good investment when every second counts.
Now we turn to road racing. The biggest road racing organisation is British Cycling*. To take part in their races, you need to become a BC member (gold or silver) and pay for a racing licence: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership
When you first get a licence you will be a ‘4th cat’ rider. If you managed to finish in the top positions of a 4th cat race, you will gain some points (typically ten for first place, down to one for tenth). Once you have gained at least 12 points in one season you will be promoted to 3rd cat status. Similarly, if you get enough points at 3rd cat level you can move up to 2nd cat and so on. Races can be held for more than one category to compete in, so for example a 2/3/4 race is open to 2nd, 3rd and 4th cat riders. At the higher levels you need to earn a certain number of points per year to keep your status, otherwise you get relegated down to the category below, but 3rd cats can never be relegated to 4th cat status.
You are most likely to start out by doing ‘crits’ (or ‘criteriums’ to give them their full name) on purpose-built road circuits. Traditionally the famous circuit in our area was Eastway, but this was bulldozed to make way for the Olympic Park. However, there are three circuits within easy reach which have opened up in recent years. The Velopark circuit is about one mile long and loops round by the Velodrome in the Olympic Park (near Stratford and Leyton) – this is fairly flat and not terribly technical. Hog Hill (aka Redbridge Cycling Centre) is a bit further afield near Hainault. If the full circuit is used it’s about 1.25 miles long and involves a vicious climb on every lap, but sometimes the races use a shorter version and avoid the hill. Hog Hill is more challenging than the Velopark, both in terms of climbing and in terms of technical cornering. On one hand, this makes it harder to race – it’s much harder to sit in the bunch than at the velopark and races are often quite attritional at Hog Hill, with the bunch getting thinned out every time it goes up the hill. On the other hand, it’s actually safer with fewer crashes – partly because the bunch gets thinned out and partly because the sprint finish is up a steep climb. Outside of London, but still easy to get to in less than an hour, the Cyclopark circuit is just off the A2 on the outskirts of Gravesend. This is 1.8 miles long: there are couple of tight bends and a long, draggy climb rather than anything steep. Although most people see the race season as running from March to September/October, you can actually find crits organised on these circuits all through the year.
A typical crit for 4th cats will be over a set time, rather than a set distance. So the race might be described as “40 minutes plus 5 laps”. This kind of racing requires a very different effort to a time trial. Instead of one constant level of exertion, you are constantly having to vary how hard you work: one minute you will be sprinting as hard as you possibly can just to stay in touch, the next minute everyone is free-wheeling and looking at each other. Initially it’s all about being able to stay with the bunch (it’s so much easier to ride in the pack than on your own, so if you get dropped it’s very difficult to fight your way back to the bunch). As you get better at that, it’s all about learning to maintain a good position or even being able join the right break and stay clear and, of course, being able to sprint at the end of the race.
Races on the open road are longer than crits. While a crit would usually be between 15 and 30 miles, a road would be between 40 and 100 miles or more (depending on the level of riders taking part). These races are based on circuits (usually raced anti-clockwise so that every turn is a left turn) between 5 miles and 15 miles in length. The roads are not closed, but you ride in a convoy, so up ahead of the bunch there will be at least two cars to warn oncoming traffic of what is coming up behind them, while behind the bunch there will be a commissaire’s car, a first aid car and (if you’re lucky) a car with spare wheels and so on. You must stay on the left hand side of the road when there are white lines down the middle.
You can search for events using the ‘calendar’ on the BC website: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events?zuv_bc_discipline_filter_id=21
As mentioned earlier, you’re more likely to have a crash in a crit or road race than in a time trial as you will be riding in very close proximity to dozens of other riders (perhaps even 80 riders in one group). Because of this you need to have experience of group riding before taking part in a race. It’s also well worth watching the series ‘Ride Smart’ and ‘Race Smart’ videos to learn about racing safely in a bunch. Here is one of them: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/article/izn20141117-Road-How-to-corner-in-a-bunch---Racesmart-0
Good luck!
*There are also races organised by other organisations, such as TLI and LVRC.

You might be thinking about racing on the road for the first time, but don’t really know how it all works. Here’s a little guide to try to explain it all.
First of all, the big divide is between road racing and time trialling. Road racing is where you all start at the same time and the winner is the first rider across the finish line, whereas time trialling is where you ride individually against the clock (usually the riders are set off at one-minute intervals to keep them apart). For historical reasons there are actually two different governing bodies controlling these events: road races are under the control of British Cycling (which used to be known as the BCF – British Cycling Federation) while time trials are controlled by CTT (Cycling Time Trials, previously known as the RTTC).
Doing a road race in a bunch takes a certain amount of bike-handling skill and courage, plus, of course, you have to be strong enough to keep up with everyone else. For this reason, most people trying out racing for the first time start off by doing time trials – you are far less likely to crash and you go at whatever speed you can personally manage. So, we’ll look at time trials before road races.
The majority of time trials are held over a particular fixed distance. The most common distances are 10 miles and 25 miles, though there are also races at 30 miles, 50 miles, 100 miles and (for the masochistic) 12-hour events (where you ride as far as you can in 12 hours). Usually these courses go out and back on the same road: for a typical 10-mile race you would ride in one direction for approximately five miles, do a 180-degree turn at a roundabout, then ride back in the opposite direction to the finish line which is fairly close to the start line.
Broadly speaking there are two types of courses. A ‘dragstrip’ is a course where you can expect to set a fast time – these are usually busy dual carriageways and are fairly flat. A ‘sporting’ course is slower and would usually be on quieter, smaller roads and be a bit more undulating. Time trials are not held on closed roads, so you will constantly have vehicles overtaking you and you may well have to slow down or even stop at roundabouts. There are marshals on the courses, but their job is not to stop the traffic – they simply point you in the right direction.
The CTT splits the country up into about 20 districts. We are in the ‘London East’ district (which extends into Essex and beyond), which means our courses begin with the letter ‘E’. All time trial courses have a code name (a tradition dating back many decades to when cycle racing had to be carried out secretly) which begins with the letter of the district. The courses that we use for our own events are the E1 and the E2 (in fact the names are a bit longer than that as they also include the distance), both up in northern Essex / southern Cambridgeshire. On the CTT website you can find maps of the various courses. Here is the E1/25b: https://cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/course-details/e1-25b. This is a sporting course on B-roads which we use for several of our events. We have our own Race HQ building nearby: https://leavalleycc.microcosm.app/conversations/253853/. Meanwhile, the E2 course is a dragstrip on the A11 dual carriageway near Newmarket: https://cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/course-details/e2-10
To take part in a CTT event you have to be a member of CTT-affiliated club (which Lea Valley CC is). Perhaps a little confusingly, to pay your £25 annual subscription and sign up to the club you actually have to go to the BC website (even if you have no intention of taking part in any BC events). Follow this link and then click on the ‘join our club’ button: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/club/profile/1376/lea_valley_cc
Time Trials are usually either ‘Open’ events or ‘Club’ events. A club event is intended to be only for members of one club and can be quite a small affair with just a dozen riders or so. An open event is open to members of any CTT-affiliated club and can have a field as large as 120 riders. Riders are seeded according to their ability (when you complete the entry form you give your previous fastest times, if you have any, so that the organiser knows how good you are). The fastest riders are given the numbers finishing with ‘0’, the next fastest riders are given the numbers finishing with ‘5’, and so on. The idea is to minimise the chance of riders of a similar ability ending up riding together – you are not allowed to ride with anyone else. You are set off at one-minute intervals. If a rider catches you and overtakes you, you must not try to sit on their wheel – you have to let them draw clear of you and not take shelter.
(continued in second post)

Mark - Carolyn said last night that the deadline you've put above is wrong - I think she said it's 28th February (i.e. Tuesday next week).

A bit of an epic yesterday. Again, we had another big crowd of over twenty at the town hall and picked up some more at High Beach half an hour later, where we split into those who were riding up to Cambridge and those who were trace the same route for about 25 miles northwards and then head back to London.
There were about ten of us in the Cambridge group - some of us were desperately hoping we could get there early enough for the 1:20pm train and some were intending to ride all the way back home again the same day and wanted to do this in daylight - this meant we had to just keep going. There was practically no stopping once we'd left High Beach: maybe a couple of minutes just after Theydon Bois when Matt's chain somehow got completely stuck and another two or three minutes when Aidan got a puncture near Matching Green - he actually had his Dad as a support car so we didn't even need to wait while he fixed it - Sean, if you're reading this we'd be very happy for you to drive behind us every week ;-) Apart from that it was relentless for three hours. Aidan was able to rejoin us maybe five miles up the road and we stayed as one group the whole way up.
Those on the shorter ride had a more fragmented time of it. A series of punctures (which you don't really want* on a such a cold and foggy day) seems to have left the group splitting up into four separate sections all making their way home separately, and that's without counting David 'the machine' Veitch, who clipped off the front and bridged across to the Cambridge group for a few miles of company before heading back on his own, presumably at 30mph.
Personally, I was suffering horrendously due to a lack of food and with over 30 miles still to go to Cambridge I was already thinking "maybe I could just go and lie down in a ditch somewhere and it will all be over." Roland fed me an energy bar and Tim did his best to tow me along whenever I looked like disappearing off the back. Finally, we made it to Cambridge. Me, Huw, Tom and Matt had about 15 minutes to buy our tickets, try to get some food / drink and then find the platform. We eventually got onto the train with about one second to spare, trying to balance bikes / pint-sized coffees / assorted pastry-based items while clambering in to the already crowded space and then having to sit on the floor.**
Meanwhile Alex, Tim, Roland, Charlie and Patrick went to a café before setting off on the long journey back home again. I feel sick just thinking about it. Once I'd ridden home from Kings Cross I'd done 74 miles and I could barely get off my sofa for several hours. These guys all did at least 120 miles with Alex doing a mind-boggling 134.

*OK, you never actually want a puncture, but you know what I mean

** Well, I say 'having to', but nobody else did, just me. I think I would have collapsed otherwise.

http://leavalleycc.tumblr.com/post/156808628488/winter-201617

Hi Roland. I think Tim, Alex and Charlie are also planning to ride back so you won't be alone.

Most people won't be going to Cambridge, so we should have a standard B and C group as well. Euan is planning to use this route (which mirrors the Cambridge route up through Matching Green before turning back): https://www.strava.com/routes/7543547

We have a tentative plan to do a train-assisted club run this Sunday (5th Feb). I'll lead a group that would be the equivalent of the B-group (see here for explanation) which should be following this route up to Cambridge: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18831164

**EDIT: ^ this is a new version of the route, if you downloaded it before 9:40pm on Friday, please delete that route as it went off road and get the new version instead**
We would be leaving, as normal, from the town hall just after 9am and calling in at High Beach on the way up, but going there directly (not via Mott Street) and not lingering, so if you want to meet there instead of the town hall, you should get there by 9:30 (not the usually advertised 9:45). There is a fast direct train leaving Cambridge at 14:20 and getting to Kings Cross at 15:08, the cost is just under £17. I might work on the assumption that I'm going to get this specific train and book a ticket for myself in advance (but then again, I might not!).
I expect that there will still be a lot of riders who don't have the time for this adventure and will be doing a more normal club run getting back at a more normal time - hopefully we'll get this sorted on Facebook over the next couple of days.
Also, at least two people have talked about trying to ride up and back on the same day (which will be well over 100 miles).

Last Sunday was a washout with freezing rain - don't think anybody made it out in the end as it was so grim. The forecast is dry and sunny tomorrow, but with temperatures starting below zero and not getting much higher. A lot of us have cabin fever and are desperate to get out, but after some discussion it's been decided to avoid the country lanes as ice has been reported out there. So it's a rather unimaginative route straight up the old A11 through the forest, Epping and Harlow to a café stop in Sawbridgeworth (with a possible fast group going a bit further) then returning down exactly the same roads. It's approx. 20 miles from the town hall to Sawbridgeworth, so about 40 for the return trip. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18620842

Hi Colin - I think the answer is 'yes' (but I've never really understood how the various time trail trophies work)

Normal service should resume this Sunday. Heading out into Hertfordshire. I'm happy to lead the 'B' group, route is up on Facebook looking for volunteers to lead A / C / D. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/15297754

For most 'normal' weeks (i.e. ones when we aren't organising an event that involves lots of our members) we're going to try to put a route for the club run up on Facebook (and on the club run thread on the forum) by Thursday or Friday and get people to discuss it there and hopefully volunteer to be ride leaders. In theory, we would have up to four groups on any given weekend as follows:

Group A: fast and hard, ranging from 19mph to >20mph chaingang, if you're dropped no one is likely to wait for you
Group B: moderately fast, ranging from 17mph to 18mph, possibly a coffee stop depending on what people want
Group C: social, 14-16mph, coffee stop very likely
Group D: introductory ride, gentle pace (12-13mph), shorter distance (maybe 25-30 miles instead of the usual 50-60)

Not all these groups would run every weekend - only if someone agrees to be Ride Leader.

Hi Charlie,
A quick question first - it could take months to design a new website, will it be possible to get the photos updated on the current one in the meantime?
Just some initial thoughts: I think the website would have two purposes for two separate groups of people. One is essentially as an advert for the club and first information point for anyone who is looking to join a club and considering Lea Valley CC. To this end, it needs to look good (with the same rebranding recently carried out to the Facebook page) and needs to have several pages explaining who we are and what we do. There should be at least a page devoted to club runs (typical group sizes, average speeds, ride lengths / routes, expectations in terms of what to bring / how to ride) as this is how many people first encounter the club. The other big thing that brings people to the club is the Tuesday Tens, so it's worth having a whole page devoted to this too. It should also have links to the club Facebook page / tumblr blog / forum (or, ideally, the forum could be incorporated into the website).
The other group is existing club riders. At the moment we have no reason to use the website at all - all it really does at the moment is point to Facebook etc. It would be useful if it had links / documents / pages that many members are likely to want / need over the course of a year. To give a few examples: the programme of races that we will be putting on during the season, a rosta of marshalling duties, a list of other events we're putting on (including social events), a list of club records, etc.
More later

Trying that route again this Sunday ^ (and hopefully not getting diverted at Fyfield again). Going to try for designated riders in an A group (fast, chaingang, no stop - Barnaby), B group (moderate 17-18mph, probably coffee stop - me) and C group (more like 15-16mph, no leader yet).

Cheers!

The 2016 edition of the Len Cooper race at a cold and foggy Hog Hill (with many photos and videos): http://leavalleycc.tumblr.com/post/153824557288/len-cooper-2016

A lot of people feeling under the weather at the moment, so there shouldn't be a chaingang tomorrow charging off at 19-20mph. Looks more like a 'B' group doing about 17-18mph and probably a 'C' group going slower than that. We're planning to use this route, going up to High Beech for a second pick-up via the dreaded climb of Mott Street. There's the possibility of a cafe stop in Blackmore on the way back, but we'll see who actually wants to do that. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14042931

Looks good, Charlie!

David is planning to take the fastest on a slightly longer route (which overlaps with the one above a bit) that doesn't go out via High Beach: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/17754864

Looks like being a wet one tomorrow with a bit of a headwind on the return leg. Because of the conditions, I'll be looking to do a shorter one than usual: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/17751574

The word on the street is that it was a full house tonight (all watt bikes taken?) with seven LVCC riders, old and new, in attendance. Good to see this is working and it should be a regular thing through these dark winter nights.