Reading Cycling Club press report, week ending Sunday 8 August 2010

Alpine triathlon, chain halts play, would-be record-setting ride
thwarted by accident.

Alpe d'Huez Triathlon

Nigel Crowther went to France for the Alpe d'Huez triathlon. The format
of this race is short but intense, consisting of a 1200M swim in Lake
Verney followed by a 25Km cycle leg up the climb to the ski resort of
Alpe D'Huez and finishing with a 7km run at 1800m altitude. Crowther
describes his race: "The swim was both amazing and scary in equal
measure. The cold lake and mountain scenery were awe inspiring but
swimming with 1200 competitors one soon forgot the scenery and
concentrated on staying afloat. Once out of the lake in 22mins it was
onto the bike for an easy ride to Bourg d'Oisans and then an exhausting
ascent of the legendary 21 bends of l'Alpe D'Huez. I had forgotten how
relentless the climb was and finished at the top with little spare
energy. The run was relatively flat but hard on the lungs due to the
altitude. I finished in 2hrs 24, some half an hour behind the winner,
and in 199th place out of 1000 finishers." The winner was Italian
Olympic Distance Champion Alberto Casada who took 1:51:33 to complete
the course.

Road Racing

Peter Graham rode `The Follicly Challenged ` road race promoted by South
Western & Kingston Wheelers on the Dunsfold circuit near Guildford. He
put up a fine performance with a disappointing finish. Graham reports:
"The race was animated from the start with lots of attacks. I initiated
some and went with some; the 3rd of these which occurred at 35 miles
looked promising but the relatively easy circuit meant none of the
attacks succeeded. This did not stop people trying but I decided just to
keep at the front and watch if anything promising looked like happening.
Nothing stuck so we headed for the uphill sprint finish. I kept my
position comfortably in the first 10 riders, avoided a crash and headed
for the finish. I got to the bottom of the hill, moved past some riders
putting me in 3rd place but then 200 metres from the finish line my
chain broke and I had to stop within sight of the line. At the time I
was very disappointed but on reflection I did get to do 99% of my first
road race since breaking my collar bone earlier this year."

CC Breckland 12-hour time trial

Last weekend saw the rare occurrence of Reading CC fielding four riders
in a 12-hour time trial, namely Greg Woodford, Barry Quick, Steve Bale
and Nick English. The daunting format of this event is that competitors
must cover as many miles as possible in a 12-hour time period on a given
course. No-one enters on a whim and everyone does extensive preparation.
The Reading squad was a strong one and there was an expectation that a
new club record for a team would be set. Therefore it was a shock and a
disappointment when a rider (non-Reading) was struck by a car about 8
hours into the event, suffering broken bones. An air ambulance was
called, the road was closed and the event was abandoned.
Barry Quick: "It was a big disappointment for everyone but especially
for the poor guy involved in the accident. For my part I had ridden a
steady race and at 150 miles was approximately 20 minutes up on my
schedule. I was just coming out of my bad period and starting to pick
up for the finishing circuit and a final push for the line. I felt at
the time that I would make 220 miles but you can never be certain. The
cancellation spoilt many riders record and PB attempts."
Steve Bale: "Overall a bit of an ordeal at times and obviously without
completing the full 12 hours I can't say how I would have been at the
end but it seemed as though I had finally found my level and looking at
the projection would have been on for around 250 -260. All the other
riders similarly seemed to be up on their schedules so it is a shame the
race was curtailed but that's life."
Nick English: "I estimate that I was on track for maybe 288 miles,
allowing for some slowing on the finishing circuit."

Sunday clubrun
All groups leave Reading Market Place at 9am on Sundays.

Roderick MacFadyen
Reading Cycling Club