Great Yarmouth Cycling Club

The day didnt start well at all finding out that I left my pedals at my coach’s house or the fact that my bike was making grinding noises.Not great preparation but once this was sorted I was focused on my race.The start went amazingly well and I hung onto riders that were a year older from my area.At the end of lap one the riders started to pull away from me and I started to fall back which is the opposite to what usually happens.The course is one that didn’t really suit me as it was a long open,boggy course.I ended up 25th which I was very pleased with my result in my first yr u14.A lesson learn’t,never leave checking your bike untill race day.

Hillyfields cyclo-cross was not as bad as it sounds! It was mainly flat with a few steep, sharp, short hills. We had a great team of four: Zak Coleman(12), Dan Swindells(11), Rowan(10) & Matthew(12) Baker.

In the under 12’s there was a two man GYCC team of Dan Swindells & Rowan Baker. Dan rode a strong race to a brilliant 5th place, with Rowan rode a resectible 15th place a great under 12’s result!

In the under 14’s we had Zak Coleman & Mattew Baker to show off the team jersey. Zak rode to a great 6th position, 3 places above Matthew who finished 9th.

Click here to see Larry Colbys awesome review of our recent success against VC Barrachi…..>>>>>>HOLMES CUP



This years Tour of Britain – the UK’s biggest free spectator event – visited Norfolk on Saturday 17th September with a fantastic finish along the elegant avenues of the Royal Estate at Sandringham.

It is over 12 years ago since Great Yarmouth had a presence in the professional race with local talent Glenn Holmes who held his own and made a spectacular lone attack through the challenging Cheddar Gorge. Glenn has recently rejoined GYCC and supports the club’s drive to develop  the next batch of fresh talent. On Saturday, GYCC entered a team into the prestigious Team Sprint event which gives teams of four 9 and 10 year old riders the chance to race in front of the huge crowds that swarmed to the Stage finish line.

The GYCC team of Elle Turner (9), Archit Lal (10), Rowan Baker (10) and Seth Houlgate (10) had spent clubnight sessions training and practising for the exciting team race. Just before their first round race against the Bourne Wheelers team from Lincolnshire the rain fell and made the course treachourous. On the first lap, disaster struck and with the team pushing hard they misjudged the grip of the greasy surface and fell. They were immediately back on their feet and the team held their nerve and composure and cooly rode their way back up to their opponents and where narrowly pipped in a breathtaking finale. Their time – thanks to the slippery conditions and the fall – was much slower than their potentail and the times they had been recording in training. However, it was still enough to take the team into the 3rd place final again against the Bourne Wheelers. This time, with the surface fully dry the GYCC team did not disappoint. Archit led the team on the first lap and exploded from the start gate to quickly set the pace and build an early lead. Elle, the youngest rider in the team, took the lead for the second lap and maintained the advantage before handing the lead to Seth who rode smoothly and calmly before Rowan found the energy to push extremely hard on the last lap to stop the watch to record the fastest time of the day which sealed 3rd place.

The team earnt the honour of being awarded their bronze medals on the official race podium cheered on by a huge crowd that was eagerly awaiting the professionals but thoroughly enjoyed the enthusiasm, passion and committment of the young guns. The commentators, officials and the crowd gave the team a day they will never forget – until that is they perhaps match Glenn’s outstanding achievement of 12 years ago and become one of the main attractions at the Tour of Britain…

GYCC run coaching and training sessions every other Saturday at Great Yarmouth Stadium and are hosting race days for young riders and novice adults at County Hall on 25th September and 9th October.  At all these events the club can provide road racing bikes and helmets – come and have a go!

On Saturday 10th September Norwich ABC held their open 10 mile time trial on the familiar B10/43 course (Bungay bypass).  The usual culprits were joined, for the first time, by John Swindells, known only to myself as dad of stadium regular Dan Swindells.  I’d heard that he had put together a time trial bike from a collection of old parts and so, was interested to see how he’d fare.  John was off before myself and he didn’t arrive with much time to spare, so I missed the chance to make encouraging noises and wish him well before he’d disappeared off to the start.  I felt a bit bad that I hadn’t been more supportive but I shouldn’t have worried!

Neil Turner         22:12

John Swindells    23:09

Chris Roberts     23:27

Adam Houlgate  23:58

Roger Farrow     25:10

Neil was placed seventh overall,  Chris won third veteran on standard, and because of John’s effort Great Yarmouth won the team competition!  Actually, that’s the second time this season that this has happened, to my knowledge.  The competition was judged using the Bidlake system, whereby teams are ranked by the time of their third rider.  We only won by a second so “yes” Chris, “that blurred vision was necessary.”

As the time trial season draws to a close I think we can say that Great Yarmouth have been well represented.  We’ve seen the club 10 and 25mile records fall and had members present at most local open events.  We can win a team prize with our fastest three riders and even field a couple of reserves!

Adam.

PS (from Neil): Adam forgot to mention that this was a another Personal Best for himself and he broke the 24 min barrier for the first time having recorded 24.00 exactly in his previous outing! Another milestone – well done Adam…

Riding in a rescheduled 10 mile time trial on the challenging A14 course at the weekend Neil turner took a well deserved 3^rd place and in doing so broke the clubs long standing 10 mile time trial record by 5 seconds. Neil pulled out a stunning ride to take the record on overcast and wet day.

Riding his Cervelo time trial machine to a fast 21min and 21secs to slice 5 seconds off a record held for many years by club chairman Norman Harlow in the nineties and most recently held by James Eman for several years.

He had already equalled the record twice and had been only a second outside early on in the year so it was only a matter of time before it fell to him. The good weather (if you can call it that) was running out fast for this year so he knew this was possibly his last chance this season and he went into it after a bout of mystery illness, so it makes his achievement all the more amazing.

Well done Neil I feel a 20 minute 10 is not that far away (no pressure there then).

Trevor H.

Thanks to a donation from Larry Colby and the company he works for, a pair of sought after VIP hospitality tickets for Stage 7 of the 2011 Tour of Britain were put up for auction for GYCC members to bid on.

The winning bid was over £150 and came courtesy of Clive Julian.

Clive (pictured) was thrilled to be the winner and said he welcomed the chance to help such a worthy challenge.

Money raised from the auction is being donated to Sport for Rwanda, a charity setup to help Rwandan school children have a chance in life. As part of the £80,000 target the charity hope to raise, GYCC member Julian Claxton, along with two other cyclists is travelling 6000miles in 70 days, cycling from Bury St Edmunds to Kigali in Rwanda. More information on this enormous trek is available by visiting www.sportforrwanda.org

Luke & Ed’s Alps Ride for Children with Leukemia. Thanks to everyone who sponsored us, its gone to a worthy cause.

As you can see from the pics, their HARD WORK!! But we did it, and the views were out of this world!! (and the weather!! 30deg plus!) there are some pics of the area here aswell.

We did Mont Ventoux, Col Du Galibier and Alpe D’Huez in three days!

You can donate if you wish here

http://www.justgiving.com/alpsride/eurl.axd/eb493469a633ac41b8dfdd2559a37ea0

I wasn’t personally there, but since Neil isn’t going to blow his own trumpet, someone certainly has to.  For a little while now Neil has been tantalisingly close to breaking the club 10 mile record, with several attempts short by just a few seconds.  On Sunday June 3rd however, in perfect, still, warm, conditions Neil surprised even himself I think and broke the club 25 mile record on the fast B25/4 course down the A11.

Club legend Norman Harlow set the record.  I’m guessing that was getting on for twenty years ago (correct me if I’m wrong here Norman) and so it stood, at a daunting 54 minutes and 36 seconds.

Neil Turner now raises the bar to 54:22.

To put that into perspective; that’s the same as doing two and a half 10 mile TTs at 21:45 each.  My PB for ten miles is 24:10!

To put it another way; that’s 25 miles at an average speed of 27.6mph!

I’ve no idea where you find that sort of power output.  It’s a great achievement and I hope you are duly proud Neil.  I know that we as a club certainly are and I just wanted to put it on record.  Congratulations, and enjoy a well earned rest this week.

I need also to mention that Chris Roberts topped an already remarkable season by recording a 59:34.  Do we know what the club’s vet C record is Norman?  Paul Lewis came in at 1:00:27 and must have that hour mark firmly in his sights now.

Adam.

The latest league results have just been recieved. Its looking fantastic for GYCC youngsters!

Ben Turner is 3rd in the u12’s with Harrison Charlwood 4th. Zak Coleman and Patrick Manning are also top 10 with Jack Colby and new member Daniel Swindell chasing them hard. Seth Houlgate and Rowan Baker are 5th and 7th respectively in the u10’s even though they have not competed in all the rounds so far.   Rising star George Smedley is 7th in the very competitive u14s which is amazing considering he only started racing a couple of months ago!

Well done to all our riders – we are very proud of you!!!!

	Youth D Girls		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T
1	Elena Gough	Mildenhall CC	50	50		43				143
2	Megan Panton	Team Darenth				50				50
3	Emily Knight	LVYCC				46				46
4	Jessica Elliott	LVYCC				41				41

	Youth D Boys		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T
1	Harrison Powell	Lee Valley Youth CC	43	39	46	37				165
2	George Pace	Lee Valley Youth CC		43	43	41				127
3	Angus Toms	Norwich ABC	41	34	41					116
4	Aaron Freeman	Chelmer CC		50		50				100
5	Seth Houlgate	Gt Yarmouth CC	50		50					100
6	Felix Mackie	Lee Valley Youth CC		46		43				89
7	Rowan Baker	Gt Yarmouth CC	46	41						87
8	Leonard Mitchell	CC Hackney	37			39				76
9	Colin Mantle	Mildenhall CC	40	35						75
10	Tom Gorman	Iceni Velo		34	40					74
11	Owen Williams	LVYCC				46				46
12	William Davies	Welwyn Wheelers				40				40
13	Joe Lathan	Welwyn Wheelers		40						40
14	Oliver Partner	Colchester Rovers	39							39
15	Sam Skeggs	Team MK				38				38
16	Jackson Churchill	API Metrow		38						38
17	Max Leonards		38							38
18	Matthew Farrow	Eagle RC		37						37
19	James Finch	VC Deal				36				36
20	Johan Hasselder	West Suffolk Wheelers		36						36
21	Noah Tresham	Team MK				35				35
22	Louis Case	Team MK				34				34
23	Aidan Kerrigan	Lee Valley Youth CC				33				33
24	Elliott Malenfant	CC Hackney				32				32
25	Sam Bardill	CC Hackney				31				31
26	Artie O’Regan	CC Hackney				30				30
27	Woody Russell	Lee Valley Youth CC				29				29
28	Aaron Stone	East London Velo				28				28
29	Ewan McNicol	CC Hackney				27				27
30	Kai Watts	CC Hackney				26				26

	Youth C Girls		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T
1	Alexandra Sjolin	West Suffolk Wheelers	46	46						92
2	Jessica Feeney-Davies	CC Hackney				50				50
3	Sophie Holmes	Diss and District CC		50						50
4	Kiera Tippett	Essex Roads CC	50							50
5	Issy Torrie					46				46
6	Isla Rush	North Norfolk Wheelers		43						43

	Youth C Boys		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T
1	Theo Modell	East London Velo	46	39	46	38				169
2	Michael Parry	Welwyn Wheelers	50		50	50				150
3	Ben Turner	Great Yarmouth CC	36	35	40	28				139
4	Bob Longstaff	Colchester Rovers	39	37	39					115
5	Harrison Charlwood	Great Yarmouth CC	38	36	40					114
6	Dougal Toms	Norwich ABC	43	50						93
7	Zak Coleman	Great Yarmouth CC		46		39				85
8	Callum Bulley	Lee Valley Youth CC		41		31				72
9	Patrick Manning	Great Yarmouth CC	37	34						71
10	Oliver Woolsey	CC Ashwell		38		30				68
11	Charles Page	Hillingdon Slipstreamers				46				46
12	Logan DeMonchaux-Irons	CC Hackney				43				43
13	David Swindells	Great Yarmouth CC			43					43
14	Matthew Ellis	Spalding CC		43						43
15	Oliver Robinson	Thanet RC				41				41
16	Jack Colby	Great Yarmouth CC			41					41
17	Pierce Bacon	Ipswich BC	41							41
18	Thomas Burnett	Preston Park				40				40
19	Tom Durkin	Welwyn Wheelers		40						40
20	James Taber		40							40
21	Bede Geoghan-Hart	CC Hackney				37				37
22	Tim Torrie					36				36
23	Ewan Rex	Chelmer CC				35				35
24	Jacob Tresham	Team MK				34				34
25	Isaac Coutly	CC Hackney				33				33
26	Alexander Tarlton	Lee Valley Youth CC				32				32
27	Oliver Sleightholme	Team MK				30				30
28	Elliott Haigh	Team MK				29				29
29	Emmanuel Joseph	Lee Valley Youth CC				27				27
30	Thomas Deveney	Lee Valley Youth CC				26				26

	Youth B Girls		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T
1	Lucy Harper	Welwyn Wheelers	50		50	50				150
2	Rebecca Maynard	Welwyn Wheelers	46	50						96
3	Lorna Robinson	Ipswich BC	43	46						89

	Youth B Boys		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T
1	Louis Modell	East London Velo	39	39	50	39				167
2	Mitchell Powell	Chelmer CC	38	38	41	38				155
3	Joseph Fry	Welwyn Wheelers	50	50		50				150
4	James Tapley	Cambridge Tri	46	41		41				128
5	Tom Yiangou	Lee Valley Youth CC	41	40		46				127
6	James Jackson	Colchester Rovers	36	34	46					116
7	George Smedley	Great Yarmouth CC	34	33	43					110
8	James Ambrose-Parish	Lee Valley Youth CC	31	37		31				99
9	Daniel Maynard	Welwyn Wheelers	43	43						86
10	Frank Longstaff	Colchester Rovers	37		40					77
11	Matthew Clements	Lee Valley Youth CC	40			36				76
12	Adam Gough	Mildenhall CC	33	32						65
13	Jack Plumley	Welwyn Wheelers		46						46
14	Henry Dawson	Hillingdon Slipstreamers				43				43
15	Archie Wishart	Welwyn Wheelers				40				40
16	Markus Lankford	Cambridge Tri			39					39
17	Cameron Gutteridge	Lee Valley Youth CC				37				37
18	Zinzan Heap	Team MK				36				36
19	Lewis Bulley	Lee Valley Youth CC		36						36
20	Anthony Anderson	Kingston Wheelers				35				35
21	William Mapus-Smith	West Suffolk Wheelers		35						35
22	Cameron Gutteridge	Lee Valley Youth CC	35							35
23	Oliver Priddle	VC de Londres				34				34
24	Georg Jensen	Lee Valley Youth CC				33				33
25	Hugo Cavvas	Herne Hill Youth CC				32				32
26	Adam Burnett	Team MK	32							32
27	Tom Finch	VC de Londres				30				30
28	Callum Mackie	Lee Valley Youth CC				29				29
29	Jo Izatt	Chelmer CC				28				28
30	Jonah Hawkes	Thanet RC				27				27
31	Josh Lamb	Gateway				26				26
32	Jonti Heap	Team MK				25				25
33	Ned O’Regan	CC Hackney				24				24
34	Shaqville Eusebe	CC Hackney				23				23
35	Jack Arnatt	CC Hackney				22				22
36	William Warre	Lee Valley Youth CC				21				21
37	Garva Pyke	CC Hackney				20				20
38	Matthew Rox	East London Velo				19				19

	Youth A Girls		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T
1	Sherilyn Powell	Chelmer CC	39	40	41	40				160
2	Imogen Buick	Iceni Velo	46	50	50					146
3	Chloe Evans	Welwyn Wheelers	40	43		43				126
4	Francesca Morgans-Slader	Lee Valley Youth CC		41	43	41				125
5	Beth Hayward	Welwyn Wheelers	50		46					96
6	Keira McVitty	Kingscliffe Flyers	43			50				93
7	Kimberley English	Welwyn Wheelers				46				46
8	Sara Gent	Progressive Cycle Devt Squad		46						46
9	Jasmine Seller		41							41

	Youth A Boys		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T
1	Cameron Tomes	Iceni Velo	43	40	50	50				183
2	Luke Hattersley	St. Ives CC	46	39	46					131
3	Alan Trolove	West Suffolk Wheelers	40	46	43					129
4	Cameron Woolsey	CC Ashwell		38	41	39				118
5	Jack Jeffery	Lee Valley YCC	36	34		38				108
6	Ross King	Veloschils	50	43						93
7	Ben Lamb	Gateway CC		41		46				87
8	Theo Doncaster	CC Ashwell	41	37						78
9	James Madgwick	Lee Valley YCC	35			37				72
10	Jonathan Sjolin	West Suffolk Wheelers	34	35						69
11	Ben Green	Ipswich BC	39	29						68
12	Kristian Woolfe	Kingscliffe Flyers		50						50
13	Jez McCann	VC Elan				43				43
14	Elliott Phillips	VC de Londres				41				41
15	Jack Priddle	VC Jubilee				40				40
16	Jonathan Strauss	Glendene CC	38							38
17	Arran Rae	Discovery Tri Club	37							37
18	Tom Colvin	Essex Roads CC				36				36
19	Jonathan Pool	Chelmer CC		36						36
20	Matthew Madgwick	Lee Valley YCC				35				35
21	Noah Smith	Lee Valley YCC				34				34
22	Oliver Plumley	Welwyn Wheelers		33						33
23	Jonathan Chapman	CC Ashwell		32						32
24	Harry Bellars	Spalding CC		31						31
25	Joshua Stewart	West Suffolk Wheelers		30						30
26	Lewis Elsom	West Suffolk Wheelers		29						29