Lancaster Cycling Club

Thursday evening this week was dry, moderately mild & slightly breezy; a reasonable night, in other words. No doubt there were others too, but certainly young William Statham earned a personal best, recording 6:52 over two miles, after a fair few weeks of 'short sevens'.

Fastest of the 22 riders over two miles, though, was Jack Tipler in 6:08, with Dylan Edwards four seconds back in 6:12. Ethan Yates took 3rd place in 6:35. Fastest girl was Emilia Wood in 6:48, one second faster than her brother Cameron, and 11 seconds quicker than 2nd placed girl Megan Howarth, with 3rd place going to Amelie Earnshaw in 7:20.

The top three of 20 riders over 6 miles were James McCracken (16:48), William Dykes (17:02) & Adam Hodgson (17:04). The fastest girl was Nancye Roberts in 19:48, with 2nd placed Esther Wong in 20:38.

Of the 39 riders tackling ten miles Andrew Horn was fastest in 21:54, from Ian Sibbert (22:31) & Ian Rutherford (22:35). First woman was Jenny Evans in 27:17, from Kerry Oldfield (28:14) & Louise Goddard (29:15).

Thanks to everyone for continuing to make Thursday evenings such great occasions. What better way to be enjoying the longest evenings of the year than sharing a love of cycling in such fine company!

Full results below.

We struck lucky for the first of LCC's two Club hill climbs, with a lovely dry & sunny evening for the ride from Conder Mill Bridge on the River Conder up the west side of Quernmore valley towards Lancaster. A good crowd gathered at the topmost turn, to cheer the riders as they passed. All up 37 riders rose to the challenge, and in the good if not perfect conditions three riders broke the two-minute mark. In first place was Ryan Coulton of Better Cycling in a time of 1 minute 56.8 seconds, exactly a second ahead of second-placed George Wharton riding for Kent Valley RC; with Dave Huck of the Lakes Road Club two-tenths of a second further back in third, 1:58.0. Their impressive times make you realize just how quick was Jack Pullar's course record ride of 1:37.2!

The overall results also make you realise just how significant Salt Ayre Cog Set has become to the local vibrancy of racing cycling. Four of last night's top 10 (George Wharton, Jonny Wong, Alex Chesters & Ben Barlow) belong to Cog Set's race team; and evidence that the talent keeps on coming was provided by the fine performance of youngest rider on the night, twelve year old Youth C rider Adam Hodgson (3:07.9).

The fastest of the three women was Sue Holden, riding her first hill climb, in 3:36.5.

Thanks to all those who helped on the night, & to those who came to cheer the riders on.

The second of our Club hill climbs, the longer ride up the other side of Quernmore valley to Jubilee Tower, is next Monday 22nd June, 7pm.

Full results below. Updated standings in the Inter-club hilly series will be published here once we have them.

Congratulations to Tom Brook, David Trotter & Steve Hodgson who raced into the Club records over the weekend.

It's pleasing that their record-breaking rides formed part of our Club's Open 10 on L1015, the Levens/Lindale course on Saturday evening. Tom's time of 20:08 makes him the fastest ever Lancaster Cycling Club rider over 10 miles, beating the mark of 20:24 set by Ryan Coulton in the Club 10 on the same course just a few weeks ago. Tom's ride placed him 8th of 106 finishers, and just over a minute back from winner, last-man off James Gullen of Velosure Starley Primal Pro Cycling, whose time of 19:03 was just ten seconds shy of Bradley Wiggins' event record. Not bad given it wasn't a perfect night, with the westerly wind always discernible & gusting occasionally.

David Trotter, first-man off on the night, came in 18th place with 20:48, and Steve Hodgson finished 58th in 22:22 to complete the team of three. The trio's combined time of 63 minutes & 18 seconds beats the previous team record of 64 minutes & 34 seconds by one minute & 16 seconds; this was set by John Ingham, Phil Barnes & Graham Atkinson on the same course back in 2010.

With so many LCC riders going so well of late, it'll be interesting to see whether any other Club records tumble this season.

Our open 10 was superbly organised by Ken Peasnell, & a whole team of volunteers helped make everything run smoothly - but a special shout-out to Club Secretary Tim Norton who held everything together on the night.

And if you've ever thought to yourself you might be getting a bit old for racing, amongst many outstanding rides on the night, how about Cyril Wynne's, of Stretford Wheelers CC? 10 miles in 28 minutes & 49 seconds, at 85 years young - chapeau!

To get the full official results sheet, click here.

First off, good luck to Lancaster CC's team for this evening's Lancaster CC Open 10 mile time trial on the Levens course, L1015, organised by Ken Peasnell, ably backed up by a whole posse of Club volunteers. David Trotter (first man off, at 18:01), Steve Hodgson, & Tom Brook are flying the Club's colours, in a full field jam-packed with fast riders. These include Steven Burke of Team Wiggins, off at No. 10, and last man off, James Gullen of Velosure Starley Primal Pro Cycling. It's also good to see Land's End to John O'Groats record-holder (44 hours, 4 mins & 20 secs) Gethin Butler riding, at No. 113. The competition record is held by a certain Sir Bradley Wiggins, in 18:53. Wiggins also holds the course record, 17:58. The current forecast is for it to be dry, mild & with only gentle winds, so there should be some ultra-fast times to report. Results from the event will be posted here as soon as possible.

Also, please take note that the first of this season's Club hill climbs, Condor Bottoms, is this Monday 15th June at 7pm. The organiser Bob Muir is accepting advance entries up until 6pm on Sunday (14th); after that you'll need to show up & sign on at the start, on the evening - if there are no spare slots, you'll be given a start time at the end of the field (one reason the hill climbs have been moved to this mid-summer slot is to give us more daylight). On Monday you'll also be able to sign-up for the following week's hill climb, up Jubilee Towers (Monday 22nd June). Both these events form part of this season's Inter-Club Hilly Competition (organised by Andrew Barlow), in which we're currently lagging; so we need a good turn out of Lancaster CC riders to push us up the league table!

If you've any results to report whilst riding in Club colours, or have any other cycling news, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. & it can be put up here.

Our Club-run sportive Le Terrier enjoyed dry if slightly cool & windy weather last Sunday, June 7th with riders of all ages & abilities tackling the various route options (very well done to the youngest participant, nine-year old Amelia Wood, who completed the shortest but nonetheless still long & very hilly route!). Feedback suggests the ride was again very well received by those who rode it, with many positive comments about the friendliness of the volunteers, deliciousness of the refreshments, splendours of the countryside, quietness of the roads, & quality of the overall organisation. So well done to everyone - all those who rode, & all those who made it happen!

If you've not seen them already, you can access the full results on Le Terrier's dedicated web pages, here.

A gorgeous evening for our 15th evening of time trialling this season, combined with a mid-summer BBQ & prize-giving for the best rides of the year so far, courtesy of Clarkson Hirst Solicitors.

The evening's results first, & Jake Edwards was fastest of the 19 riders at 2 miles, in the only sub-6 minute time of the evening, 5:58. Jack Tipler came second in 6:02, with Max Davies third in 6:15. A good battle again amongst the fastest girlsl, with Esther Wong & Abby Trowse joint first in 6:47, and third placed Kirsty Maher only 3 seconds back in 6:50.

It was a close fought battle at the top of the leader board at 6 miles too, with Brian Murray nudging out Kyle Lewis by one second, to win in 14:49. Ben Pennance was third in 16:09, & Sasha Oldham fastest girl in 17:09. 27 riders all up, at this middle distance this week.

Of the 39 riders at 10 miles, only the super-strong George Wharton broke 22 minutes, winning in 21:59. Tom Phillips was second in 22:27 & Rob Barton third in 22:49. It's great, looking at the top 10 fastest times at this distance each week, to see a good balance between younger & older riders. Not of course that it's all about where you finish - the great thing about time-trialling down at Salt Ayre is every rider can set their own benchmark time, and then race their own self week-on-week!

The fastest of the women riding was Kerry Oldfield, finishing in 26:50.

At the close of the night's racing, as everyone enjoyed the sunshine, food, drink & company, we had our prize-giving ceremony for the best Salt Ayre time trials of 2015 so far (this will be repeated at the end of the season). Congratulations to all the winners.

Thanks to Clarkson Hirst for supporting this competition. Thanks to everyone for making the evening such a success, & to all those who have helped out in whatever way so far this season. Riders, please don't forget to offer to do your turn, but thanks to all those who keep coming to test themselves around Salt Ayre's track on a Thursday evening.

Full results below.

Don't forget, tomorrow (Sunday 7th June) is our club-run sportive, Le Terrier. The weather forecast is close to perfect - dry, sunny & cool but not too windy; the Forest of Bowland countryside is looking its stunning best - fresh green everywhere; and it's an event run by LCC members in support of two important local charities. So if you're thinking of riding, please do! There are 3 route options - 45, 71 & 104 miles. You can sign-on in the morning:

Registration: 07:00 - 08:00 for the Long and Medium routes; 07:30 - 08:30 for the Short route

Start Time: 07:30 - 08.30 for the Long and Medium routes; 08:00 - 09:00 for the Short route

Ample parking and event headquarters at The University of Cumbria, Bowerham Road, Lancaster, LA1 3JD.

For all the details, including routes, go to Le Terrier's webpages.

Then at our evening time trials at Salt Ayre next Thursday (11th June) we will be having our mid-summer prize-givings for the fastest & best-gauged rides so far this year. This should be a lovely social occasion, and (thanks chiefly to Tom & Carmen) we're having a BBQ with burgers, but we need everyone who's coming to contribute; so please bring along something to share - salad, puddings, cakes or something else. Fingers' crossed tomorrow's fine weather will continue, and hope to see you there!

Almost certainly the best evening of the year so far down at Salt Ayre - warm, dry & close to windless. And the best turn out too, with a total of 94 riders across the three distances; 18 at two miles, 31 at six miles, and 45 at ten miles. It was great to mingle over a cuppa afterwards, to hear about people's tumbling times, and to witness the quiet smiles of satisfaction spreading across their faces - a modest but well-earned pleasure.

Ian Richardson completed only the first few laps of his ten mile time trial, and therefore inadvertantly won the two mile time trial by a good margin, in the year's fastest time of 4:44. Jack Tipler was second in 6:00, and Max Davies third in 6:18. Fastest girl was Emilia Wood in 6:33, with Esther Wong not far behind in 6:39.

We saw the year's fastest rides at six miles too, with George Mason winning in an excellent 15:04, followed by Bobby Horton in 15:21, and James McCracken in 16:00. Honours for fastest girl were shared by Evie Barrow and Sasha Oldham, both recording the very good time of 16:58.

A superb battle at ten miles, with three of this year's best performing riders all cracking 22 minutes and separated by mere seconds; Andrew Horn taking the win in 21:44, from Sam Monkhouse in 21:47, and George Wharton in 21:53. Among the many other notable performances, young Ben Barlow finished in 22:50 and 5th place, finally beating his dad Andrew, by 11 seconds. With Lynn Hamel volunteering track-side, the competition for fastest woman was close fought, with Alison Oldham in 26:07 edging out Jenny Evans in 26:39.

Very well done to all riders taking part, including those - such as 13 year old Ben Keenan with his sparkling brand new bike - tackling a time trial for the very first time. It's always really, really great to see new faces down at the track, and to watch them test themselves over whichever distance.

At Salt Ayre next week we'll be having a mid-season BBQ and the presentation of prizes for the best rides of the season so far. Very kindly sponsored by Clarkson Hirst Solicitors, there's £25 for fastest, £15 for second fastest, and £20 for best gauged ride so far over each of the distances (with younger riders only eligible for the two & six mile prizes). So let's hope for another good night, and we hope to see you down there!

As ever, thanks to all who helped on the night, and full results available by clicking on 'Read more' just below.

Another dry Thursday evening of time trialling at Salt Ayre. There was a bit of a wind early on, but it died down for the later riders & had almost stilled completely by the time the last of us left the track to head home at 9pm.

Tilly Percy was fastest of 15 riders over 2 miles, in a time of 5:57. John Roberts was 2nd in 6:06, and Jack Tipler 3rd in 6:20. 2nd girl & 4th overall was Nancye Roberts in 6:30.

Over 6 miles George Mason pipped Ben Pennance by 1 second, to win in 16:23. 3rd of the 11 riders was Guy Jones in 16:55; and fastest girl was Hannah McKee in 20:25.

Tom Phillips was fastest of the 31 riders at 10 miles, and the only one to go under 23 minutes, in 22:47. Making a rare appearance in a Salt Ayre time trial and riding a conventional road bike, Fabian Brennan finished 2nd in 23:06; with Andy Barlow and Ian Sibbert joint third in 23:15. Fastest of the seven women riders was Jenny Evans in 28:40.

Our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Jan Muir, who was unable to run the signing-on desk last night, and Nigel Neil, who had a spill track-side. And thanks as ever to all those who helped out, including those who rallied round at the last minute.

Especially if you ride but even if you don't, please don't hesitate to take your turn in volunteering on a Thursday evening. Our Club cannot survive without you. To do so, go to http://vols.pt/WAVqPg

Full results as always are below.

Our third Bank Holiday Monday time trial of this year was also the Club Championship, and - with not too strong a headwind out to the turn - a fairly quick morning with some excellent times, including a few personal bests, recorded. One of those PBs, and also a new Club record, belonged to 16 year old Ryan Coulton, Lancaster CC's 2015 10 mile Club Champion, with 20:24. Congratulations to Ryan, and good luck to him in his endeavours to go quicker still during the rest of this season. Ryan beat the existing record (20:48), that's been held by Duncan Orme (now of Kent Valley RC) for almost ten years.

Second-placed Tom Brook also went faster than the previous club record, in 20:40, so it was his misfortune to have Ryan go better still. But another fine performance that augurs extremely well for still quicker times in the near future.

A trio of Cleveleys RC riders were tightly bunched in 3rd, 4th & 5th places - Tony Pilkington (21:04), David Turner (21:08), & Mick Smith (21:14). 3rd rider in our Club Champs was David Trotter, joint 6th fastest on the day (with Peter Thomas of Kent Valley) in an excellent 21:24.

Lancaster CC Women's 10 mile Time Trial Club Champion is Sarah Hart, riding her first time trial in quite a while and on a unfamiliar bike, recording a very respectable 28:09. Congratulations to Sarah. The fastest woman on the morning was Judith Irving of Kent Valley RC, in 25:21.

Many thanks to everyone who made the event happen - organisers, time-keepers, pushers-off, sign-on & refreshments team, & marshals. And best wishes for a speedy recovery to Jan Muir, who was unable to be there on the day.

As ever, full results below.