This was my first time trial after returning from our tandem cycle tour in the Hebrides and was a return to the Stony Stratford course after three weeks (I failed to post a report on that event). It was actually the nicest evening for a club event this year, nice and warm and with only a light breeze to contend with.The nice weather brought out the usual crop of airborne arthropods (the course is flanked by crops, livestock and waterways): throughout the event, I could hear insects bouncing off my aero hat! Actually, my legs felt they were still in touring mode, and in particular I found getting up the hill to Nash a bit tough, even tought than usual. Other than that, I cannot point the finger at any cause of problems.I finished with 28:11, to take third place (second place on vets standard), behind Simon Cannings, who did a sterling ride, and Dave Glossy. Results

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -
1	11	Simon Cannings	Equipe Velo	25.57	V45	30.07	.+ 4.10
2	10	David Glossy	Team Corley	27.40	V42	29.51	.+ 2.11
3	12	Robert Saunders	NBRC	28.11	V55	31.00	.+ 2.49
4	14	Tim Bailey	TeamMK	28.18	V48	30.22	.+ 2.04
5	6	Andy Sharman	Baines Racing	28.26	V44	30.02	.+ 1.36
6	16	Jason Lee	TeamMK	28.30	V46	30.12	.+ 1.42
7	5	Ant Newland	Bossard Wheelers	28.35	V49	30.28	.+ 1.53
8	8	Graham Line	NBRC	29.10	V50	30.33	.+ 1.23
9	9	Darren Haydon	NBRC	29.20	V44	30.02	.+ 0.42
10	17	Gavin Old	Equipe Velo	29.44	V43	29.56	.+ 0.12
11	13	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	29.50	V46	30.12	.+ 0.22
12	4	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers	30.16	V64	32.06	.+ 1.50
13	7	Clive Faine	TeamMK / MKCA	31.27	V68	32.46	.+ 1.19
14	3	Trevor Watson	Bossard Wheelers	32.26	V56	31.06	.- 1.20
15	2	Wayne Thomas	NBRC	32.42	V64	32.06	.- 0.36
16	1	John Pick	Chronos RT	39.27	V70	33.10	.- 6.17
	15	Luke Daniells	NBRC	DNF	V42	29.51
Time Keepers:- Steph Cousins & Tony Farmborough NBRC
Pusher off:- Bryan Scarborough. NBRC

The club had agonised about whether to run this event - 24h beforehand, it was clear that we were heading for some pretty windy conditions, with gusts up to 50mph (and of course the Astwood circuit is pretty much on a hill!). We finally took the decision not to cancel, as the BBC forecast suggested the gales would subside to a mere 24mph by 7pm.So I rode to work on my P5 as usual on race day. Unfortunately when I can to leave work for the race, I found it so windy that riding a P5 with a front trispoke was alarming at best and downright dangerous at worst! I got a lift home and switched to the P3 with a rear trispoke and a regular road wheel in the front. Unfortunately, this left me only 25 minutes to dash to the start. What the hell, I thought, I'll go for it! Sadly, the railway crossing barriers were down and I got stuck for several minutes there. It was clearly very gusty as I pressed on. I had a tail wind up the hill to Cranfield and onward to the start point of the race, so I made pretty good time. I arrived a few minutes after 7pm (well warmed up), to find several riders plus timekeepers milling about deciding whether to abandon. By this time, the wind had really whistled in, bearing a nasty shower. A few riders ventured off down the course to evaluate the situation, and an in the end the wise decision was taken to abandon and we retired to the Bikebus cafe for a coffee before returning home.It did seem as though conditions were better while we were in the cafe, but frankly I think that was an illusion - it was still pretty awful as I rode home, and I had a couple of very alarming gusts.

This was only my second ride on this fast 10 mile course (F11/10), based on the A41 Tring bypass. It's a fast course because of the significant hill riders descend, but don't have to race back up. The last time I rode the course, I got held up by a line of cars at the first turn, which sort of reduced the race to a training ride!I went out to this event with Katja, who's been seeing some good performances lately, and who was off about 15 minutes after me. As per usual, I felt a distinct lack of enthusiasm as we drove out to the event and as warmed up. Also as per usual for me, the enthusiasm suddenly surfaced as I was just about to start!The start is on a slip road down to the A41, and I quickly got up to speed. Unfortunately that didn't last, as soon I was on the section of road that was resurfaced last year (much to the disgust of regular riders on the course) with a really rough tarmac. I found myself clattering along and feeling that everything was horribly inefficient. Still, that section got much better and by the time I reached the turn, everything seemed fine. I got round the turn without problems and set out on the main leg of the event.I felt great, and especially so on the descent, where I hit 47mph or thereabouts. We'd been warned of a couple of potholes, but frankly the road seemed in pretty good nick. I also got round the second turn without problems, and set off towards the finish. The last half mile or so seemed quite tough, not sure why! We'd been warned that we'd be disqualified if we didn't ride properly up the sliproad to pass the finish timekeeper, so I made sure I kept left! I finished in 21:27, which I think is my third best '10' ever, and my best in the the last 5 years. Just as I finished, the rain began. I think Katja got a bit wet out there, but finished with a PB (22:42?). I haven't seen a results sheet yet.

This was the first time the Brogborough '10' course had been used for an NBRC club event. The course was first used a few years ago when the new link road to the Bedford bypass was opened, thereby rendering the old A421 quite quiet. It features a gift start hill that doesn't need to to raced back up. On the other hand, the road can be quite exposed, and the surface leaves a bit to be desired in places. The Marston Moretaine roundabout needs a bit of care on the outbound leg, because the exit lane doesn't seem in line with the entry lane!On the evening, the weather was fairly breezy - what wind there was provided a bit of side and a bit of tail wind going out - though there was enough crosswind to make things a bit twitchy at times.I was number 17 in a field of 21, and as I lined up at the crest of the hill in the lea of a big articulated lorry, dark clouds were gathering as the temperature dropped. A few big raindrops fell, and I think we all felt a bit apprehensive!I set off down the hill, feeling reasonably good. There were a few minor twitches due to the wind, but nothing alarming. The outbound leg had been widely expected to be roaring fast, but I guess the real direction of the wind was not going to allow that. At times my speed fell and rose for seemingly inexplicable reasons! I had no trouble with traffic at the first pass through the Marston roundabout and only got slowed slightly at the turn roundabout. I had Andy Wickham in my sights by this time, and on the return leg used him as a target (I eventually passed him shortly before the finish).In the return leg, my speed seemed to fluctuate quite a bit, but by dint of keeping in a quite big gear, I kept things rolling well enough. The last half mile seemed absolute torture to me! I finished in 22:30 to take second place behind Jez, who did a splendid 21:11.Results

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	4	Jez Honor	Equipe Velo	21.11	V44	26.18	.+ 5.07	1
2	17	Robert Saunders	NBRC	22.30	V55	27.09	.+ 4.39	2
3	12	Simon Moss	Equipe Velo	22.51	V41	26.04	.+ 3.13	4
4	21	Lindz Barral	Equipe Velo	23.02	Sen.
5	13	David Carrington	TeamMK	23.21	V49	26.41	.+ 3 20	3
6	6	James Barlow	Albarosa CC	23.28	Sen.
7	19	Alan Crane	Chronos RT	23.29	V46	26.27	.+ 2.58	6
8	16	Andy Wickham	NBRC	23.35	V44	26.18	.+ 2.43	9
9	8	Ant Newland	Bossard Wheelers CC	23.45	V49	26.41	.+ 2.56	7
10	3	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	23.50	V46	26.27	.+ 2.37	10
11	11	Trevor Hook	TeamMK	24.34	V57	27.20	.+ 2.46	8
12	15	David Price	NBRC	24.52	V47	26.32	.+ 1.40	12
13	9	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers CC	24.58	V63	27.59	.+ 3.01	5
14	18	Ian Markham	Chronos RT	25.26	V46	26.27	.+ 1.01	14
15	7	Trevor Watson	Bossard Wheelers CC	26.07	V56	27.14	.+ 1.07	13
16	14	Ross Andrew Callacher	Leighton Buzzard Roads CC	26.23	Sen.
17	2	Clive Faine	TeamMK / NBRC	26.26	V68	28.42	.+ 2.16	11
18	20	Luke Daniells	NBRC	27.06	V42	26.09	.- 0.57	15
19	10	Dave Crane	Chronos RT	33.41	V50	26.45	.- 6.56	16

Katja Rietdorf (#5) didn't finish. Timekeepers were Steph and Tony, with Dick doing the pushing off. Bryan, who's hand was recovering from an operation was sort of general factotum and jacket curator.

I usually find the events on the club's Stony Stratford course not to my liking - the course runs out via Beachampton and Nash to turn at a roundabout on the A421. The outward leg therefore has a fair bit of climbing and usually acquires a new set of potholes over each winter. In the event of roadworks or other interference in the course, we revert to a back-up course. In the backup course, riders bear left soon after the start and proceed via Calverton and Whaddon, to turn at the A421 (at a roundabout just along the road from the normal turn). The course retraces and finishes short of a give way junction. This is closer to 10 miles than the usual Stony course.The replacement course is a bit more of a challenge in some ways, overall the road surface is atrocious, very rough and bumpy (though fortunately the road up towards Whaddon has been substantially repaired), and it has several sharp corners, spiced with numerous cars parked on the road.On the evening, I just couldn't get a sense of rhythm and found myself rattling and clattering around the course. I didn't have any trouble, as one often does on this course, with people manoeuvring cars in and out of driveways. But I found myself riding very cautiously round the bends and past the parked cars.On the return leg, I completely misjudged the short but very steep climb between Whaddon and Calverton, which really knocked the stuffing out of me! Altogether a rather unsatisfactory ride. Jez Honor showed the rest of us how to do it!Results

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	11	Jez Honor	Equipe Velo	25.06	V44	27.54	.+ 2.48	1
2	7	Trevor Hook	TeamMK	27.30	V57	29.00	.+ 1.30	2
3	12	Robert Saunders	NBRC	27.35	V55	28.48	.+ 1.13	3
4	4	Ant Smith	TeamMK	28.11	Sen.
5	5	Mark Simmons	Open University CC	28.52	V42	27.44	.- 1.08	8
6	3	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	28.53	V46	28.04	.- 0.49	4
7	13	David Price	NBRC	29.00	V47	28.08	.- 0.52	6
8	10	Ant Newland	Bossard Wheelers	29.09	V49	28.18	.- 0.51	5
9	2	Karlo Porter-Price	Open University CC	29.48	V51	28.27	.- 1.21	9
10	8	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers	30.47	V63	29.41	.- 1.06	7
11	6	Finn Hanson	TeamMK	30.50	V51	28.27	.- 2.23	10
12	9	Trevor Watson	Bossard Wheelers	32.18	V56	28.54	.- 3.24	12
13	14	Wayne Thomas	NBRC	32.58	V64	29.49	.- 3.09	11
14	15	Luke Daniells	NBRC	33.23	V42	27.44	.- 5.39	13
15	1	John Pick	Chronos RT	41.34	V70	30.49	.- 10.45	14

Timekeepers - Tony Farmborough and Bryan Scarborough. 

Having ignored Team Grumpy Rule #2 (Don't tinker with your bike the evening before the event. It will break, either then or, worse still, during the event) before Sunday's '25', and having paid the price in mechanical up-cocks in the opening few metres of that event it seemed entirely reasonable, I suppose, to similarly disregard Team Grumpy Rule #5 (Never train or race with a bad cough - it will destroy your entire season) and to turn out for this club event on the Astwood sporting course.The club has pretty much decided to shift the start/finish to the area of the Bikebus cafe for the Astwood events. And on an evening as lovely as this, it was indeed very nice to be able to sit out on the decking for a cup of coffee after the race! The race itself attracted 22 riders (though one poor soul punctured before starting). A cracking evening saw some fine times, notably Jason Gurney's winning ride of 22:34.For my part, I was quite pleased with 24:36, though I slipped back in the placings! I didn't really suffer from the coughing while out on the course, though I could feel a horrid rattling sensation in my chest throughout the race.It was good to see that we had several riders from Team Corley - some of who had been at the "Come and Try It" event a few weeks earlier, but some were riding for the first time.Result

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	4	Jason Gurney	Arbis/Colbert Cycles RT	22.34	V45	26.23	.+ 3.49	1
2	10	Richard Golding	Equipe Velo	23.37	V46	26.27	.+ 2.50	2
3	21	Steve Torley	TeamMK	23.49	Sen.
4	9	Simon Moss	Equipe Velo	23.53	V41	26.04	.+ 2.11	4
5	17	Robert Saunders	NBRC	24.36	V55	27.09	.+ 2.33	3
6	7	Ant Smith	TeamMK	25.12	Sen.
7	2	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	25.19	V46	26.27	.+ 1.08	5
8	15	Alan Crane	ChronosRT	25.25	V46	26.27	.+ 1.03	7
9	18	Andy Wickham	NBRC	25.28	V44	26.18	.+ 0.50	8
10	13	Andy Sharpe	Unattached	26.07	Sen.
11	3	Andy M.Smith	TeamMK	26.13	V57	27.20	.+ 1.07	6
12	16	Ian Markham	ChronosRT	27.23	V45	26.23	.- 1.00	10
13	22	Grame Freestone-King	45 Road Club	28.02	V50	26.45	.- 1.17	12
14	11	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers CC	28.09	V63	27.59	.- 0.10	9
15	8	Glenn McMenamin	Equipe Velo	29.58	V43	26.13	.- 3.45	13
16	6	Matt Holland	Club Corley	29.59	Sen.
17	19	Helene Wighs	Club Corley	30.07	LV52	29.03	.- 1.04	11
18	12	Yvonne Raw	Club Corley	32.38	LV44	28.29	.- 4.09	14
19	20	Stephen Mayes	Club Corley	33.11	V51	26.50	.- 6.21	16
20	1	John Pick	ChronosRT	35.22	V70	29.02	.- 6.20	15
21	14	Dave Crane	ChronosRT	37.38	V50	26.45	.- 10.53	17
	5	Jason Lee	TeamMK	DNS	V46	26.27

This event was on the F1B/25, the southbound course starting and finishing near Tempsford (the only F1 course remaining now the Black Cat roundabout has been “improved”. The forecast was really not encouraging: cold and breezy - at least it was a (sort of) tail wind from the south. I had chosen to ride the P5 with the Hed wheels (with a Powertap rear hub) that I used for Wednesday’s club event. In fact, I disobeyed Team Grumpy Rule #2, by tinkering with the bike on the day before, fitting normal brake blocks instead of the carbon-specific cork blocks.

Warming up before the event, I did several accelerations to check the rear wheel was solidly in place. The start crew were very good, particularly the pusher-off, who held riders very steadily from behind. He must have got a bit of shock when I stopped almost immediately after starting, as I pulled my rear wheel and jammed it firm against the brake block. It took two attempts to sort this out, but which time the guy starting behind had passed me. First time I’ve been caught for a minute within 10 metres. After the event, I spoke to the pusher-off who said he’d worried it was something to do with him. Not to worry, it was all my fault!

This was the first of our evening events in the calendar, and was on the revised Stoke Hammond ’10’ course, which moves the start away from the Kelly’s Kitchen roundabout. It’s potentially quite a quick course, I think, though the short stretch on the outward leg between the penultimate roundabout and the turn roundabout can be a bit challenging, as it’s uphill.

Anyway, it was rather nice evening that followed a very nice spring-like day. We saw more than the maximum field size turn out - 22 riders. I was pre-entered as #7 owing to the fact that I went home from the previous event (the Hardriders) with #7 still pinned to my skinsuit.

This event was my first open solo event of 2015, and was an afternoon '10' held on the F2D/10, a course based on the A428, turning at the junction with the Madingley Road into Cambridge. The weather was pretty cold, with a bit of a stiff crosswind that may have provided a bit of assistance (but not much) on the outward leg. The event also revealed a bit of an issue with the Kask aero hat!I went out to "warm up" near the start, but really only succeeded in getting quite cold! The start is down a road running alongside the A428 dual carriageway, so that provides a useful stretch of road to ride up an down.  The start itself is by a large water tower, and it's only a short distance to the roundabout where we join the sliproad to the A428 - not much time to get up to speed before slowing to take a sharp left. I went off down the sliproad pretty briskly, and just before joining the A428 proper, I looked over my right shoulder to check out the traffic situation. At this point my visor (attached with small magnets) caught the wind and flipped straight off the helmet. This was a bit annoying - I reckoned replacement visors come particularly cheap (an eyewatering £43.99 at Wiggle!!!) and for the rest of the race, my thoughts kept returning to the fate of the visor!Anyway, there was no way I was going to stop to retrieve it and I pressed on. My hands were feeling a little chilly, but apart from that I didn't feel particularly cold once I was riding. The road is a pretty nice dual carriageway course that undulates a bit, so my speed (the only numbers I could read on my Garmin) did fluctuate a bit.The turn is a bit fiddly, but at least my memory of it from previous rides was accurate - a sliproad takes you off the dual carriageway, then eventually to a roundabout that you have to ride all the way round to get to the correct exit to return to the A428. Riding back down to the dual carriageway builds up a fair bit of speed, but fairly soon after, I found myself going inexplicably slowly - presumably a combination of a slight gradient and the headwind.Not much to report on the return leg, other than I got slightly stalled by traffic at the Cambourne junction. But still that won't have represented much of a dent to my time! The it was back to the HQ to see some times, eat cake etc. I finished in 31st place with 22:44, which was a bit quicker than last year's 22:54 (and in similar conditons). Tony was 36th with 23:00. The winner was Jason Boutell with a cracking ride of 19:57.Oh, and after the event, we went off in search of my errant visor. We found it apparently undamaged sitting on its edge in the hard shoulder of the sliproad. So a happy ending, though I'll have to figure out a better way of attaching it in future.[caption id="attachment_3418" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Near the turn, minus visor (Photo: Davey Jones)[/caption][caption id="attachment_3419" align="alignnone" width="640"] Rear view showing the number pocket (Photo: Davey Jones)[/caption]Garmin Trace (no power meter used)Top 36 places (full result here):

Position	Rider	Club/Team	Min	Sec
1	Jason Bouttell	Team Velovelocity.co.uk	19	57
2	David McGaw	Cambridge CC	20	04
2	Justin Layne	CC Ashwell	20	04
4	Mark Arnold	CC Desiragear	20	25
5	Simon Norman	Arbis-Colbert Cycles RT	20	27
6	Luke Hattersley	St Ives CC	20	33
7	Daniel Northover	Finsbury Park CC	20	36
8	Mick Hodson	St Ives CC	20	43
9	Tom Trimble	CC Ashwell	20	44
10	George Fox	Kingscliffe Flyers	20	45
11	Daniel Bloy	Team Velovelocity.co.uk	20	50
12	Carl Whitwell	St Ives CC	21	01
13	Phil Melling	45 RC	21	03
14	Stu Wright	Carnac Planet X	21	20
15	Richard Hancock	St Neots CC	21	22
16	Jason Green	Bedfordshire Road CC	21	26
17	Mathew Eley	Ely & District CC	21	27
18	Gavin Moore	Team Velovelocity.co.uk	21	29
19	John Mulvey	Cambridge University CC	21	41
20	Robert Watson	Newmarket Cycling & Triathlon Club	21	50
21	Martin Reynolds	Cambridge CC	21	55
22	Ryan Morley	Fibrax-Wrexham RC	22	10
23	Michael Martin	CC Ashwell	22	14
23	Neil Wood	Dig Deep Coaching - SCU	22	14
25	Gavin Ashfield	Hitchin Nomads CC	22	15
26	Mark Ellis	Team Milton Keynes	22	26
27	Adrian Taverna	St Neots CC	22	32
28	Paul Southern	45 RC	22	33
29	Franz Fuerst	Cambridge CC	22	34
30	Robert Golding	Ely & District CC	22	40
31	Robert Saunders	North Bucks RC	22	44
32	Stuart Jones	Kettering CC	22	46
33	Chris Pearce	CC Ashwell	22	47
34	Tom Sykes	Ely & District CC	22	51
35	Tim Childs	Westerley CC	22	52
36	Tony Parks	North Bucks RC	23	00

 

I have posted before now about the excellent Squeezebox streaming audio system from Logitech that is sadly now discontinued. Since Logitech knocked their line of Squeezebox players on the head, the system seems to continue flourishing, thanks to the open source nature of the server software.

Most recently, the BBC decided to implement a very poorly publicised change to the internet streams of live and listen again radio programmes (see, for example, this blog post).  Within days users of the Logitech Server had access to these streams restored, thanks to the efforts of developers who post on the forums. In contrast, users of just about every internet radio on the market and other streaming systems such as Sonos have to make do with pretty low resolution mp3 streams (and these are not a long term solution).