ESCA Reliability Trial Sunday 20th November - From Martin Malins the event organiser Update 7/01/06 from January's Newsletter 'it's a tie!' After consulting the ESCA rule book, the official verdict is that the ESCA Reliability is a dead heat, with both the Wanderers and Eastbourne Rovers posting 15 finishers. Our argument that as reigning Champions, we would have had to be beaten to lose the Shield, apparently does not hold water in ESCA law! C'est-la-vie. So who looks after the Shield then? Update 30/11/05: Chris; sorry to disappoint but just checking the finish sheet it seems that Mssrs Coe and Burgess were DNF's; so the result was a dead heat of 15 riders each between the Wanderers and Eastbourne Rovers. I do not know of any rules which could break the tie, will refer to Richard Blackmore the timekeeper when he returns from Spain. Martin Malins 26/11/05 - Once again The Wanderers produced a few surprise on the line entries to win the event. I hope you all enjoyed the course, I tried to use the best bits of various rides in the area to make a scenic and challenging ride. All being well we will be organising the event again in 2008 Martin Lewes Wanderers CC 17 riders M Levett - M Read - P King - R Meade - P Limpus - P Price A Lloyd - I McGuckin - A Herbert - T Gale - R Coleman (2nd claim) I Burgess - P Baker - P Barling - G Jeffs - I Landless - J Coe Eastbourne Rovers CC 15 riders - East Grinstead CC 12 riders Crawley Wheelers CC 7 riders - Horsham Cycling 5 riders 21st Century Airports CC 2 riders - Sussex Nomads CC 2 riders Brighton Excelsior CC 1 rider - Steyning AC 1 rider The pain that is the Hill Climb - By Chris Martin Back in 1996, as the racing season drew to an end, I realised that I had ridden 49 events. These consisted of 46 Time Trials from 10 miles to 12 hours, a couple of Lewes Crits and a Duathlon. Despite being in denial about my OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), I needed to make it 50 events! All that was left was the 1450 meters that made up the Sussex Hill Climb, so I entered. The week before, I rode up the climb with Chris Hill on my training bike. Hard work but ok and "yup I can get up that". On the day I was an early starter off, No. 2 and off I went on my Time Trial bike! It was wet, windy and horrible, I had traction problems with the rear wheel spinning and eventually crossed the line and collapsed. I was more knackered than after anything I remember having done on a bike, with the possible exception of a heart max test in the gym. After getting some of my breath back, I sat near the finish watching the other poor souls cross the line. My undying memory is of hearing the riders gasping for air long before they appeared. The reason for recounting my story is the look on the faces of the three Wanderers below (Mark Winton; Peter Barling & Andy Cox). These photos are from the Brighton Mitre Hill Climb on Saturday the 22nd October and the same three riders went on to win the Team Prize in the Sussex Hill Climb on Saturday the 5th November, the final event of the Sussex 2005 season. These photos were kindly provided by Paul J. Wright. They are free for us to use on the Club Website, all Paul asks is that people don’t print them off. If you require prints please contact Paul by email: pjw2409@tiscali.co.uk You can also visit Paul's Website which has photos from all the events he covers: www.pjwphotos.co.uk Click on 2005 Gallery to see more of Paul's shots from the 2005 season A few words about our 2005 Winners - By Chris Martin 2005 was a great year for racing Wanderers. We had five new Club Records, four best performances on existing courses, two outright wins in ESCA events, along with numerous Team Wins. Jim Cheek broke Shane Faulkners Short Distance BAR Record set in 1998. Jim has had an amazing season, he won both the ESCA 10 and 25 in September. This was the first Association wins by a Wanderer since Dave Pollard won the Sussex CA 50 back in June 1999. Jim's 2005 haul also included winning both the ESCA BAR and Points Competitions. His 53m34s in the Southern Counties 25 is the fastest 25 by a Wanderer since Shane Faulkner did a 53m17s in the Oxford City RC 25 back in July 1997. And to cap it all he beat Michael Hutchinson in the National Hill Climb Championship! Finishing 32nd overall (Michael finished 101st!), this is the best performance by a Wanderer in a National Championship since your Editor finished 5th in the National 24 Hour Championship, also back in June 1999. Sorry about mentioning that, probably makes me a sad bloke! But it does remind me that once I rode in anger and as I'm still off my bike (no helmet required), it may help motivate me to ride again. Jim finishes 2005 with one new Club Record, three fastest rides on existing courses and the highest ever points total in our Classic League Competition. Great Stuff. Along with Jim our other top fast man in 05 has been Mark Winton. Mark started fast by beating Jim and leading the Wanderers to a Team win in the ESCA Hardriders. He then won both Newhaven - Beddingham and the Club 25 Championship, both with new Club Records. Mark's consistency all season, despite getting married, having a honeymoon and eating too many chips. And to cap it all, Mark finished the season leading the Club to another Team win in the Sussex CA Hillclimb. Bravo Mark. John Mankelow became only the second Wanderer to win the Club BAR four years on the trot. The only other Wanderer to achieve this was John Honeyball back in 1974 to 77. John M also shared most of the Vets Standard awards with Ian Landless. Final score: John 5 - Ian 4. John also finished 2nd in the Southern Counties CU Vets BAR. Along with his four Vets Standard awards, Ian Landless finally beat one of Ron Rogers Vets Records without Ron coming straight back and reclaiming it. That leaves Ron with just the 25; 30; 50 & 100! See what Ian can do about those next year? The Wanderers mister consistency, Peter Baker was the only other Wanderer (apart from John & Ian) to get a Vets Standard award with his win at Chailey. Heather Wimble (nee Stevens) has held the entire Wanderers Women's Records since setting them in the early to mid 1990's. Ruth Elliott beat Heather's 25 time (1h04m25s set in October 1994 on the F1A/25) by nearly two minutes with an excellent 1h02m38s ride in the Sussex CA 25 miles on Sunday the 4th September. Ruth then beat Heather's 30 Record (1h22m07s set in June 1992 on the G848) in the Lea Valley CC 30 mile event on Sunday the 25th September with a 1h20m25s (Jim Cheek also entered the event and finished second with 1h07m05s). Above are the glory boys and girl. But the Wanderers is a big Club and a lot of our boys and girls rode many events and many miles, they/you pushed themselves/yourselves and delivered PBs and contributed to various Team Wins and a Wanderers presence in numerous events. Well done to you all and best wishes for 2006. No Helmet Required - By Chris Martin I was cycling home from work on Wednesday 10th August 2005, the next thing I remember is when I woke up and found myself in Eastbourne District General Hospital. I had apparently crashed on my left hand side (bruised left thigh and cut left arm and small finger) and had an 8 inch fracture to my skull (from above my right eyebrow to the middle of the back of my head). I have no memory of what happened. According to the Ambulance Report I was involved in a collision with two foreign students. The students were apparently not injured. I spent two weeks in hospital. The first few days are a complete blur whilst they tried to stabilise me with some serious medication. I live in Heathfield and work in Eastbourne; my ride to work is off road. I use the Cuckoo Trail from just outside my house to just outside Eastbourne Hospital, this is about 17 miles. I then have 1 mile and a bit on the busy roads to reach my office. I had just joined the off road part of my journey home when the accident happened, at least it was very convenient for the Ambulance Crew (round trip of one mile)! The track was good quality tarmac and it was warm and dry. I had done the journey many times including both Monday and Tuesday that same week. I ride conservatively, knowing that pedestrians can be unpredictable and loads of them have dogs, who can be even more unpredictable than their owners! Now, I have to confess, that I was not wearing a helmet. If I had, I would probably have just suffered the bruised body and road rash. Why wasn't I using a helmet? As a policy I wore my lid on road rides, club rides etc. I had made the decision not to wear a hat on my ride to work based on the opinion that if I was to come off on the Cuckoo Trail it was my body that would be damaged. Also it was summertime, warm and a helmet made my head sweat and as I needed to do a day's work in my office clothes it wasn't helpful arriving for work with a crash helmet hairstyle. After three long months recuperation I am back to work. I have had to go in on the bus as I am not allowed to drive (or ride a bike) for three months. I have made a good recovery, although my energy levels still get depleted quite easily and my focus can drift. The most obvious effect of the injury is that I have completely lost my sense of smell and this I'm told will probably never return. With my regular rides to work before my accident I was getting quite fit and was contemplating a return to competition. I'd show them youngsters a thing or two! The return is now on hold. Anyway, I intend riding my bike soon. I will start with a bit of turbo than try some gentle rides. And yes, I will now always wear a helmet. I have had very tolerant and loving help and support from friends, family and work. I would very much like to thank everyone involved in helping me during the last three months.