Clifton CC

So with this year soon coming to a close I thought I'd make this thread. What has your year being like?

For me it's being my first year of proper cycling and has been probably one of the best years in my life as cycling has sort of being life changing in the way it's improved my fitness and no longer sitting on my PC 8 hours a day.

2008 for me has being a truly GREAT year for me in terms of cycling

I bought my first road bike in March time (Carrera Vanquish), was found to be too small for me, but I held onto it for about 3 months, covered almost 3500 miles on it, was doing about 1000+miles every month, at first I was only doing 10miles every day on my own and still in normal clothes, averaging about 15-16mph (not steady at the time).

I then build up, doing 20-30 miles, still in normal clothes, this still tired me out though!.

The I heard about Clifton CC, so I asked on their forum if I could go on the social ride and if I'd be fit/fast enough, they said of course, so I rushed out and bought me some lycra padded shorts! .

I turned up to the square with a fleece on, the padded shorts and a big backpack, I look back now and think what a Muppet I was! , but that ride was 72 miles, averaging about 14.5mph!, I got home after that, was really tired, but amazed I did it, this was in April, I weight about 13.5stone at the time. From then on I progressed quickly doing every single Saturday ride, and my average speeds increased and in the space of about 2-3months I lost a whole 2 stone.

I then heard about the Sunday club run, these where harder and longer, I did my first one about 6 weeks after my first Saturday run, the first one ended up being 114miles on a very very hot day, lots of climbing trough dalby forest in the North York moors, this was by far the hardest ever ride I had done!, I was amazed I did it.

I kept doing the Sunday rides after that and the distances where increasing every week, in June I got my Genesis Aether Road Bike, the first Sunday ride with that if I remember rightly was 160miles, and 2 miles from home my spoke snapped!, I was tired, mental power alone kept me going on that one!

I've had my ups and downs but it's being brilliant, and in 2 months I have lost 2 stone! and I started doing TT's, averaging 19-23mph and managing averages like 20mph over 50 miles in such a short time since starting proper cycling!
Cycling since August mileage slowed down a lot, but so far since March I totaled up around 8,000 miles.

Proud of how I have came along, I hope every year for cycling gets better and I want to get faster and stronger each year, it would be amazing to be able to race or turn pro but I think that is just a dream allot of people have and it’s not possible for anyone like me to every achieve that which is a shame. I feel I was sort of born to cycle, reason being it’s one of the very few things I like and one of the very few things I’m good at (Well I don’t know if I’m good at it, I guess I might be, I don’t know )

All in all great year

Next year I want to go along with the aim of improving my performance by 1mph average and being able to do longer rides, I'd like to do this lake district trip next year which is 240miles round trip, this year I was unable to do it as I would not be able to cope as the max I've done is 160 miles and it was torture!! I started off in March 2008 cycling, since I moved to Manchester my performance has dropped massively, I intend to sort of start from scratch again (quite abit faster though than I was in March when I first started), so 2009 I get an earlier start to improving myself (December 2008) and I hope this will mean I'll be able to up my performance and do better in the TT's and looking forward to it. I think in 2009 I should make it priority to try the TLi's when they come around too.

2008 has been a good year as a whole.Well I have been flying the clifton flag in the following....

1.First time doing open time trials. Ended up racing every weekend and PB at all distances.Bit of a step up from the club spoco events that I have only previously done.In particular a 22:33 on a 10.
2. First time doing a 12 hour solo mtb event at plymouth finishing 12th out of 54.(had no support either) - on me tod.
3. First time doing MTB 100km marathons clocking pretty good times, not too bad given the wet conditions we had this summer.
4. First time on the track. I have just got my pink slip which enables me to work towards my accreditation, hopefully early next year.

All in all a good year (Only in my second year of proper training/racing, so room for improvement yet)....My fitness is a bit poor at the moment but if I can get motivated & train, next year will be awesome...

Looking back on it, a bit of an up-and-down year for me. Trapped nerve in neck laid waste to much of the first half of the spring, and I never really caught up. Didn't do that many races apart from the TLI's. On the up-side, the races which I did (and didn't get dropped from) I enjoyed a lot. The year really pointed up that the more you put in the more you get out, and fired up my enthusiasm to have a much more serious crack at it next year. I was also lucky to have a week on the bike in France in the summer which was wunnerful, saw a stage of the TdF for the first time, watched the regional champs from the commissaire's car, officiated over the finish of the club RR without getting punched and was in France at the time of the Olympics, and so had the great joy of reading the French papers' coverage of the Brits winning everything on the track.

Will:- "I intend to sort of start from scratch again and I hope this will mean I'll be able to up my performance and do better in the TT's..."

- Have you had a read of Tom's suggested training plan? You're just the sort of person it's written for....

For me 2008 will be a year I'd rather forget. Enthusiam and good form were about as sporadic as the racing I did. I finished my last road race in July, was dropped in a couple of events I thought I could go well in including our road race and decided it wasn't worth the effort to carry on to the end of the season.
However I did manage to get first my head and then the rest of my body together for a couple of decent performances - the Div Champs - the best I've ridden in a race in a few years (although even that dissolved into disappointment at the end) and the club hill climb - well you've got to be in it to win it or even come 3rd.
However I've enjoyed the winter club rides I've done and the Tan Hill ride was again the best ride of the year - a free challenge ride. I think I can find some more time in the new year to commit to regular training and although I've been relegated to a 3rd cat I still want to race at a high level. However the road racing calender looks about as sparse as it has in recent years as the success of British Cycling on a world stage certainly isn't filtering down to the grass routes. So I'll see how it goes?

Will - Far be it for me to advise you what you should and shouldn't do in 2009 but instead of aiming to do longer rides, why not aim to do shorter rides faster? You can do the long stuff when you're 60! For the majority of the year you are based in the UK capital of cycling - exploit it for all its worth - train with the clubs in the area and ride the track. You are young and getting stronger - the only way is up.

First of all thanks to Will for starting another good thread. It is interesting to hear the potted history of other members and the things they get up to or would like to do.

My intention for 2008 was to do a lot of cycling with some competitive and social rides but I did much less than in previous years. I started cycling again (previously when in early teens in Bristol) about 3 years ago with just going out in the evening for an hour or so about 5 times a week. Like Will, I lost several stones through cycling which was great and testimony to the healthy lifestyle of our sport.

I have two highlights and the first was “rescuing” and old 80’s Raleigh Pursuit from my long standing friend and sailing / racing campaigner from Penzance. An overhaul, new tyres, some rattrap pedals from my even older bike and some period chrome toe straps completed the rescue. This was completed just in time to do my first TT in the “come and try it” in June and managed to average 20 mph. For me that was a huge achievement and I then joined Clifton CC.

The second was a ride at the Manchester velodrome with Ben and Rich which was a fantastic experience. I would like to do this more and perhaps even race as I see they have a Vet series on Tuesday evenings.

I like Paulm’s comment in that it must be fantastic to be at University in Manchester and to have youth on your side. I wish I had got in to cycling earlier and been competitive. Will, you are fast and strong and I am sure you could be there with the best.

For me in 2009, I will continue with spinning / gym to keep me reasonably fit, buy a reasonable road bike, try to do some club runs and perhaps training rides. I would like to also do some competitive riding probably in the form of TTs with the new bike and then there is Manchester where I would like to do some more rides and perhaps race in the future.

What have you been up to and your dream for 2009?

An up and down year for me, started back in March with a few road races, first one being a scratch race at Stokesley and after that Seacroft, Brid, Hambleton and Wetwang, for a big lad I was pleased to be staying with the Whippets on the climbs and still being there to contest the finish, wetwang was an eye opener, 60 starters and 31 finishers. The summer months saw me competing more in time trials which I think Im better at than road races, some reasonable results including a short 22 for 10 miles.

Sportive wise I rode the Richmond 5 Dales with Nick B, he dragged me up all the rises sometimes disappearing from sight and I took him down the descents great day with a tough headwind for the final 20 miles from the top of Park Rash back to Richmond, many thanks to the Yorkshire Road Club guy who's back wheel we sat on for most of that, final time 6 1/2 hours.

September then came and along with it a virus which plagued me for 6 weeks, Ive struggled massively with motivation since then as it has left me feeling weak, nothing worst than starting from scratch again, hopefully though a new year means a new start and in 2009 I will be targetting the clubs open TT series and possibly a few BC Road Races.

2008 has been my second year of cycling and I have really enjoyed it.

Started off with some good long club rides, dales and moors in preparation for the sportives etc I had entered. In March I had a good week of biking in Majorca.

The dales sportives were a challenge, 3 in 3 weeks. First one was the Richmond 5 dales 100 miles, followed by the Dales Grimpeur 215 km and the White Rose Classic 185 km all with 4000 m of climbing including Fleet Moss and Park Rash.

I tried a few club TT's and was happy with the times.

The other highlights of the year included the Etape du Tour (plus a few days exploring other Pyrennean cols), the Ryedale Rumble and Ron Kitchen on which I finally conquered Rosedale chimney bank.

The Saturday club rides are always enjoyable, thanks to Kevin and Howard plus all the other riders who I have met in the last year and a bit since I joined CCC.

2008 finished off with a memorable ride to Tan Hill all 144 miles of it. Thanks to Rob, Paul and Howard for making it happen.

I did 2 TLi races and am planning on some more for 2009

Dave Cook

Ok, so just filled in my last training log of the year giving me a total of 8200miles, 20% down on last year but not too shabby (as Paul would say when he's not being Mr Grumpy). 7 open TTs went OK, hardly setting the tarmac on fire, but good to be riding full bore again and qualified for the Open Series competition. 7 Club TTs, competitive and fairly consistent. 6 BC RRs which were frustrating - never in trouble, but not enough horsepower to have an adventure. Gold award in the Challenge Series with rides in the Reliability, Dales Grimp, 3B and TH. Real adventures with the overnighter to Ullswater, 4 days touring in NW Scotland and 3 days on the tandem in the Peak District (both with Claire) and Winter Solstice TH. Plus various memorable training rides and clubruns (Muzzy, Howard, Andy etc take a bow).

Great to see fantastic improvements from many Clifton riders this year. Chris C and Jon C started the season well behind me in the club TTs, by mid season were pushing me close and by July leaving me well beaten (and Chris just riding a road bike - no fancy wheels, pointy helmet or aero-bars). Jon McDonald got round TH 3 hours faster than the year before. Nick B seemed to be rarely out of the points in BC RRs. Lots of new faces having a go at organising/timekeeping (Andy J, Andy S and others, sorry if I've forgotten you). Masses of mountain biking - the detail escapes me, but great to know its happening. And as for our RAAMers, Stacy and Brian, well they are completely bonkers.

A lot happened in 2008. I started the year thinking about joining a cycling club and planning to race some TTs in the Summer. So I was grinding up and down the A19 doing TT training, plus the odd trip up into the Howard hills when I had the time.

I finally joined Clifton just before the come-and-try TT and did alright there. Somehow my plans to race 'real' TTs kept falling through, and work prevented me from getting to any Spocos, but I read about the TLIs on this forum and realised that there was one at Wistow just down the road from me, so I took the plunge. That was a big turning point: racing was so exhilarating that even though I crashed on the last lap I pretty much made up my mind that TTing seemed dull by comparison: I wanted to road race. I seemed to be in pretty good form and I made the next TLI at Milby and finished in the bunch but found it pretty tough.

Then things started going wrong: I got sick, my youngest son got very sick and spent a while in hospital, and by the time we'd had a (delayed) family holiday the racing was all but over. Still I got back on my bike and headed into the hills as much as I could, and joined Helen+Nick's Yorkshire Alps tour which was a great day out. The Clifton Hill Climb was next and that went pretty well.

Since then it's felt like ice and snow all the way, and it's been difficult to get the miles in. But one of the best things I've done is convert my current training bike into a winter bike with treaded tires and proper guards. I use it to commute and for all my training rides, and I never get covered in sludge any more. Although the weather feels worse than this time last year, I think I've been able to get out almost as much because I know I've got the right bike in the garage ready to go with no faffing over wheels, guards etc.

Plans for 2009: join BCF, get a decent race bike so I'm not using antique gear as an excuse any more, and do more racing. And finally do an open TT. Got my eye on a Giant TCR alliance but last week it was a Planet-X and next week could be different again... Still have a couple of months to decide.

Tom