Most recent activity
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Our annual club circuit race will be held on Sunday 3rd September using the lower circuit at Hog Hill (aka Redbridge Cycling Centre). Signing on from 10am and the race should start at 10:30am.
The usual format: the race should last for somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour. The first lap is The President's Lap and everyone has to ride (slowly) behind the club President. After that we have an unofficial neutralised 'truce' for the first 15 mins or so, where the bunch will go round at about 20mph so that people new to racing/riding in a bunch can get used to it and see what it's all about. Then there will be a prime (an intermediate sprint for a prize) and the gloves are off - the pace will go up and the bunch will get thinned out and/or split into smaller groups.
The event is run under TLI rules, so you need to become a 'day member' of TLI. Please print out the attached form, fill it in, and bring it with you on the day to save time. The entry fee is also payable on the day. Price is provisionally £12
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The 'tourist trial' (named after a former member of the club) is always the most difficult event on our calendar to explain. The winner could easily be the slowest rider taking part - basically you are given a route and a target time in which to complete it and whoever finishes closest to their target time wins.
In a break with tradition, this year the routes are available in advance (so no messing around with OS maps and pencils). I've tried to cater for everyone so there are four separate routes available: the longer the route, the faster you are expected to ride it (details below), ranging from A-group pace to a group for beginners.
The start and finish is our Burton End HQ near Stansted Airport. This is our 'hut' in a field behind 'The Ash' pub (as you look at the pub, you need to go down the track on the right hand side). Location here: https://bit.ly/330fyc2
If you don't have a car, it should be easy enough to arrange a lift with someone. Or if you prefer to get a train, the 8:22 from Tottenham Hale gets to Bishops Stortford at 8:49, and the 8:52 gets in at 9:15.
The event is free to enter, but we expect most people to pay a fiver for food. Tea/coffee and cake will be available at the start and then Frida will be cooking up some kind of chilli or curry (with a vegetarian option) for everyone to tuck into post-ride at about 1pm.
You can ride alone or in a group - it's up to you. Your departure time will be logged and we will see when you make it back and how close that is to your target.
Elite Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30471362
Approx 100km with a target time of 3 hours 15 minutes. Suggested departure time: 9:15am.B Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30471391
Approx 76km with a target time of 2 hours 45 minutes. Suggested departure time: 9:40am.C Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30471432
57km with a target time of 2 hours 30 minutes. Suggested departure time: 9:50am.Easy Riders Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30471459
Approx 32km with a target time of 2 hours. Suggested departure time: 10:00am.One extra rule: you need to take a selfie! The elite riders will need on outside The Fox in Finchingfield, and the other three groups will need to get one at the Guild Hall in Thaxted.
Frida will need to know how many to cater for by Friday 18th October, so please get your free 'ticket' online here before then: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lea-valley-cc-tourist-trial-gordon-attwell-tickets-75606305495
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Not too late. Coming back same day - possible train times above.
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UPDATES:
The cafe that we were expecting to go to in Brasted will be closed, so we're intending to go to the Landemare Cafe at Chartwell instead. This makes the route about 3 miles longer in total and involves a little detour after Brasted before rejoining the original route near Ide Hill. I've edited the route to put this detour in:
https://www.strava.com/routes/15017195Also, there are now three groups, not two, each with different departure times:
A group: leaving from the town hall at 8am, riding fast ("B+ pace") and doing a 100-mile route which is largely the same as the others, but once down in Sussex diverts away from Herstmonceux and instead heads further west to take in Beachy Head and Eastbourne before rejoining the route as we head east along the coast: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30917819
Social: leaving at 8:30am and going at relatively gentle pace (13-14mph)
B group: leaving at 9:00am and going at a moderate pace (16-17mph)
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The August Bank Holiday is coming up which means it's time for John Summerhayes's annual lengthy club ride known as the 'Summer Saunter'. This year it will be heading down to Hastings on the south coast on Sunday 25th August. Here is the intended route for everyone to download: https://www.strava.com/routes/15017195
This is the route we tried last year, but had to abandon halfway due to torrential rain. This year we might have two groups, with the faster group setting off a bit later (see schedules below).
John says:
"Meet at Waltham Forest Town Hall at 8:30 am. Proceed though Wanstead, Forest Gate, East Ham and Becton then cross the river at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel. Slight climb over Shooters Hill then down to Eltham, onto Chislehurst and Orpington. Once south of the Thames the route is very open and green. At 20 miles London is now behind us. Onto Downe and then a 25% climb up to Cudham. We then drop down to Brasted for coffee and cakes etc. Estimated time of arrival around 11:00-11:15.
With more climbing we head towards Chartwell then Ide hill, then it's downhill to Bough Beech. Afterwards we head to Chiddingstone, Fordcombe, Stone Cross, Groombridge, Eridge Station, Marks Cross and Rotherfield. This part of the route is undulating. We then climb up to Mayfield (with a stop for refreshments) then downhill to Heathfield and Cade St. Then on to Herstmonceux Castle. After this it's a flat ride across Pevensey Levels to Pevensey and still a flat coastal ride to Bexhill. The very last leg is a ride along the beech cycle path to Hastings. We then head to the Station to book the journey home. In the past it's been a special price of £10 each for a family of 4. Or as some are already doing you can book a B&B for the night and storm back the next day, as it's the Bank Hols.
The last and most important item on the agenda is to find a good place to eat. With good food in comfortable surroundings with safe parking for the bikes. We all settled for Wetherspoons last time.
I hope to see you on the ride."Here is an approximate schedule for the normal 'sauntering' group going at a fairly leisurely pace (averaging about 14mph / 22-23kmh, once out of London):
Meet at 8:30am at the town hall. Depart by 8:40am, cross the Thames around 9:30, stop at Brasted from 11:00-12:00 (possibly here?), get to Mayfield by 2pm, leave again at 2:30pm, be at Herstmonceux Castle around 3:45pm and Hastings by 5:30pm.There is talk of a possible second group going at a faster pace (aiming for 17mph / 27kmh) and setting off a bit later. A possible schedule for this could be:
Meet at 9:00am at the town hall and depart by 9:10. Cross the Thames around 10:00, stop at Brasted from 11:30-12:15, stop at Mayfield 1:45-2:15, be at Herstmonceux Castle around 3:15pm and Hastings by 4:30pm.Here are some possible direct trains:
16:50 (gets to London Bridge at 18:25)
17:31 (gets to London Bridge at 18:55)
17:50 (gets to London Bridge at 19:25)
18:31 (gets to London Bridge at 19:56)
18:50 (gets to London Bridge at 20:25)
19:50 (gets to London Bridge at 21:25)Tickets cost between £10 and £14 and John says it should be possible to get group tickets for groups of four at £10 per person.
John would like to know ASAP roughly how many people are intending to ride, so if you are planning to come please email him at irongate@talktalk.net -
For a while, some routes were being posted in this thread so there are some more to look at there, but that thread also hasn't been used for quite some time.
Someone started a Lea Valley group on ridewithgps a couple of years ago or so and there are more routes there. There are also various routes which were made on Strava, which obviously won't be in the ridewithgps group, and lots of routes which were only posted to Facebook. It will take quite a while to get them all together (and to edit any which don't go via High Beach), but ultimately it should be possible to have a page on the website with lots of routes on.
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