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His clubmates all commented how he has been this belligerent and willing to use inappropriate equipment for his entire cycling history.

Back at the beginning of my cycling history, my fixed wheel winter bike was pretty much the same as everyone else's, and that remained the case for many years. I'm inclined to think think that it's the modern bikes that are inappropriate, especially when weather conditions are bad.

clubman, you must show photos, I love to see them.

I have just a few pictures from Monday. They aren't brilliant, but I'll try to get them up soon. There are a couple of photos of the bike higher up the thread.

Clubman was a legend on Sunday.

The BSA roadster weighed a ton.

Thanks for your praise.

On a point of in formation: the BSA weighs about 28 pounds, stripped of pump, spares, bottle, but with its steel mudguards. I am using a modern 'gel' saddle and Lyotard platform pedals with clips and straps - both these items are significantly lighter than the originals. There is a limit to my masochism.

Hi Clubman.

You are setting the bar high as 'something to aspire to'.

I've a 1924 Sunbeam, 2 speed epi-cyclic(?) gears (in the chainwheel), oil bath chain case.

My first ride out was a 40 miler around some of the lanes of North Norfolk. At the end I felt equal as if I had ridden 40 on the Holdsworth.

Is there a typo here? It doesn't quite seem to make sense.

I do have a little bit of experience with Sunbeams, and I the one I've ridden was hard work. The chaincase is integral with the frame, forming the right hand chainstay. Even though there is an additional strut within the chaincase the frame was notably lacking in rigidity and any out of the saddle effort on a hill would cause audible flexing of the chaincase.

I have found that these old machines do take a bit of getting used to, so you should not expect to get the best out of your ancient bike on a first ride.

Last Sunday and Monday (10th & 11th July) I completed my two 100 mile Marcel Planes Tribute Rides, using his BSA roadster.

Sunday’s ride was a Hounslow & District clubrun: Staines, Arborfield, Swallowfield, Lasham (lunch stop), back to Staines via Bentley, and then an extra loop to Chobham to make up the distance to 102 miles.

Monday: Willesden, Dean St., Soho (where he lived), up the old Great North Road to Tempsford (Beds.) and back to Willesden via Hitchin and St. Albans. 117 miles.

I have some hopes of ink and paper publication of this adventure, so I will refrain from going into much depth here.

I’d certainly like to hear if others think this story is interesting, or if there’s anyone else out there prepared to contemplate long rides on this type of machine, which I have found better suited to the purpose than I had expected.

[QUOTE=Fixedwheelnut;2249293.

(Steve Abraham)he was a late start and left his rack on as well since he carried two panniers with camping gear to the start :)[/QUOTE]

Yes, I had noticed that his bike was not set up exactly in the way I would choose for myself for that sort of outing.

The same could be said of George Berwick, the amazing 70 year old doing his fiftyfirst 24 on a bike which most of us wouldn't think was good enough to ride down to the shops. It wasn't so much the distance he covered that was surprising, but the fact that after the finish in the HQ, he seemed completely unaffected by an ordeal that would wreck ordinary people. If I wanted to describe him in one word it would be 'chirpy'.

What I don't understand is all of this circuit switching. What's the reason for that?

I agree with MDCC tester's comments above, but I think its worth adding that a consideration in all long distance events is that it is necessary to keep the field more or less together.

This is essential in order to avoid the situation where marshals and the finish timekeeper are stuck at their posts waiting for some slow rider who is way off the back of the field but won't give up. In a 100 this can only be done by putting the slow riders off first (and this is one of the reasons for the bloody complicated entry form), but in a 12 or 24 it's done by sending the faster riders on more circuits than the slow ones.

I understand that on Saturday night John Warnock was not sent on one extra loop, which the organisers had intended him to take, simply because he arrived at the junction at the same moment as two slower riders and the marshals were unable to direct him onto the extra section without confusing the other two.

I think we may be beginning to see why its taking some time to get the final and definitive official result!

Great ride Hippy – Congratulations!

I was there yesterday and I thought you turned out a really super performance, especially considering this was a first attempt at a long distance time trial. You are certain to improve in the future.

I was also impressed that Hippy could hold a coherent conversation with me shortly after the finish. I was there to support my former clubmate and training companion Rob Richardson (now Chippenham & Dist.Wh.) who we think did about 450 miles, but passed out at the HQ. “Not unusual for Rob at distances of 12 hours and more” his dad commented, showing remarkable *sang froid *as his only son was stretchered away. He was right – Rob was out of hospital later in the evening and I hear is now almost back to normal. After all, it is hard to tell at the end of a 24 whether a rider is unconscious or just asleep.

It’s perhaps worth mentioning that both Andy Wilkinson and Dave Shepherd (3rd place 475 miles) were unsteady on their feet as they approached the podium – that said, Wilco gave a good acceptance speech.

There was one rider on fixed – Steve Abraham (North Bucks RC). I didn’t manage to speak to him, but he seemed to be going pretty well and I think he did something over 400. Just looking at his bike, I’d say his gear was 86”(52x16)

I don’t know when the last 24 was won on fixed, but it remained quite a common occurrence long after most had gone over to gears. Just one example I happen to be aware of – Fred Burrell (Middlesex RC) who was champion in 1956 and 1960. According to the books both wins were exactly 477.7 miles, but I don’t know if this is outstanding consistency or bad proof reading. I believe his gear on both occasions was 79” which I suppose is reasonable if you’re aiming for a 20mph average.

Back to Hippy – now that he can look at a 12 as a middle distance event I think he should have a go at the British Best All Rounder competition next year. (Best average speed over 50, 100 miles and 12 Hours).

Nik Bowdler- Chainring!

The single gear prize winner, John Beer.

Paul Holdsworth, Jill Bartlett taking a feed.

Adam Topham.

Pictures refusing to upload at the moment. I'll try later.

Below is my press release for the 100. Forum readers may be interested in the fixed gear competition, which I did not mention in the report.

The fixed gear prize was won by John Beer (Kingston Phoenix RC). He told me that he had chosen not to use his normal TT bike (which has gears) because he thought the position would be too uncomfortable for a hundred, so he opted for his normal ‘ride around’ bike with an 85” single freewheel. He described the machine as ‘nothing special’ and the only alteration to it was the clip on bars. This might sound like a crazy decision to most TT’ers, but John, a 60 year old comeback rider, did a very respectable 4.42.26 which was an improvement of just over 22 minutes on his qualifying time.

  Strictly speaking he did not qualify for the prize, since he had not quite beaten my 2006 time, but since he had a much worse day than I did, I felt it would be absurdly mean to quibble over a minute or so.

There was only one other single gear rider and he opted for 83” fixed. I will not report his exact time, but I will say that he achieved a substantial vets’ plus. He was not the sort of person who would be asked for ID when buying wine in a supermarket, and he had a very smart machine which was completely ‘old school’ (that is – no aerodynamic aids, no clip on bars) except for the brand new carbon frame.

Hounslow & District Wheelers 100 (29th May 2011)

Adam Topham (High Wycombe) riding only his third ever 100, discovered unrealised potential at the longer distances by beating former British Best All Rounder Nik Bowdler (Team Pedal Revolution). Topham recorded 3 hours 38 minutes 46 seconds to Bowdler’s 3.41.38.

 It was not an easy day: among the early starters seventeen of those who finished were out in the strong and blustery south west wind for over five hours and no one should imagine that Nik Bowdler did not do a good ride. He was leading at 50 miles with 1.48.02 to Topham’s 1.48.51, and when he went over the finishing line in a time that beat his own course record by a minute and forty five seconds he must have had hopes of victory, but it was not to be.

Back at the HQ the winner said: “Previously, when attempting this distance my power output has dropped in the last 25 miles – today it was constant. All the same, it still hurt.” He added that his “three hour turbo sessions have proved their worth.” His strategy had been to go hard into the wind and ease off a little on the tailwind sections.

With a trajectory like this, perhaps these are the words of a future BBAR champion.

 The National Vets’ Mixed Tandem record fell in this event with Paul Holdsworth and Jill Bartlett (Hounslow & District) recording 3. 56. 40.
 Paul was pleased and a bit surprised that they had got under four hours in that wind  and Jill, when asked how she managed to look so fresh replied “well, it didn’t seem to take very long – if I’d been on my own I’d probably still be out there!”

Result:

1. Adam Topham (High Wycombe CC) 3.38.46
   
2. Nik Bowdler (Team Pedal Revolution) 3.41.38
   
3. Steve Berry (San Fairy Ann CC) 3.48.20
   
4. Geoff Loveman (Fareham Wheelers) 3.56.06
   
5. Matt Malloy (Finsbury Park CC) 3 .59.31
   
6. Jon Lewis (Charlotteville CC) 4. 02.29
   
7. Stefan Harrison (Team Echelon Rotor) 4. 03.03
   
8. Graeme Stirzaker (A3CRG) 4. 03.21
   
9. Steve Irwin (Kingston Wheelers) 4.08.35
   
10. Jim Lay (Kingston Wheelers) 4.08.54.
    
    

Pictures should follow.

Have entries closed for this, clubman?

I'm afraid they have-and its an open event so, unfortunately, there's nothing to be done.

Hounslow & District Wheelers 100 – 29th May 2011.

Next weekend the Ron Brown Memorial 100 returns to its normal place in the calendar as the first long distance time trial of the season.

It’s sometimes said that modern time trialling is all about short distances, but this year’s Hounslow race has attracted an excellent field of one hundred riders headed by the 2008-9 BBAR Nik Bowdler (Team Pedal Revolution). Other leading names with qualifying times inside 4 hours include: Adam Topham (High Wycombe CC), Steve Berry (San Fairy Ann CC), John Dowling (Hemel Hempstead CC), Phil Ember (Kingston Wheelers) and Jeff Loveman (Fareham Wheelers).

Although the Anfield 100 (to be held the next day) has a longer tradition the Hounslow event can now fairly be called a classic, having been run by the club since 1956. However its history goes back much further than this since the 100 was previously run by the legendary Calleva RC, who originally started it as a *club *event in the 1930’s. It has twice been honoured as the National Championship at the distance, and on the last occasion in 1997 Kevin Dawson recorded the record time (for the Hounslow event ) of 3.29.03.

The course is the H 100/88 which uses the A31 road between Farnham and Alton, with the HQ at Lower Froyle. First man is off at 8am.

I have just written this article to go on our 100 TT start sheet. I think it is relevant here. Mal Rees was a well known West London bike shop owner with a sideline in cycling journalism - I think he was pretty good at both callings. There are still a few frames around bearing his name.

Why is the Hounslow 100 known as the Ron Brown Memorial ?

Ron died in an unexplained cycling accident in 1968 but he is still remembered vividly by those who knew and rode with him. Since there now remain only a diminishing number of these contemporaries who knew him in the flesh it is time for a reminder of the man.

It must be said at some point that Ron only had one arm. He himself would not have wished this to be mentioned prominently since he succeeded in ignoring his disability and was always insistent that no allowance should be made for it. However we lesser mortals could not help but notice and wonder.

Although he made cycling the centre of his life he had a career in the engineering trade, again ignoring the absent right arm. His employers included Park Ward, the Rolls Royce coachbuilders and Gillot’s (the famous South London shop and frame builder). It is said he could assemble a bike quicker with his one hand than most can with two.

His philosophy of training went along the traditional lines of ‘every mile pays a dividend’. Most of the who knew him as young riders who are still in the game today remember following his wheel into an oblivion of fatigue. Not scientific perhaps, but it seems to have had a beneficial hardening and tempering effect since they are still riding today.

Here is Mal Rees’ obituary, published in Cycling 22nd June 1968.

‘Ron was the most popular star of his generation and remained at the top throughout his long career.
He came to fame with the Calleva Road Club in the war years being especially notable for his rides at 12 hours, winning the South Western “12” in 1945 and placed frequently.
He was 8th in the first ever RTTC championship 100 (Bath Road) in 1944 with 4.37.18 (won by Arch Harding, 4.28.12) and was in the winning Calleva BAR team of 1946.
This season he had succeeded in getting inside the hour at 25 miles (59.48, Basildon) a terrific ride for a man of 48 and a feat still exceptional for any veteran (40 and over)
His manifold championships and wins, remarkable as they were, did not entirely account for the great esteem in which he was held by clubfolk over 30 years.
The perfect gentleman always, he took pains to ensure that his armless handicap was not taken into account or high lighted ever.
He stressed that, having lost his arm as a child of four before learning to ride he could see nothing remarkable in the fact.
The most marvellous bike handler in traffic, he could “honk” a hill better than most and rode kermesses during the war years.
He insisted that journalists and photographers should not pin point his physical deficiency nor make news of it.
The sport has lost one of its greatest sons, the like of whom we shall never see again.

I have posted this report here because I feel the last para. may have a particular interest for forum readers.

There were no riders in the event using fixed, but the conditions were unsuitable with a strong wind blowing pretty much along the course.

Hounslow Open 10 Mile TT - 14th May 2011.

** **Pete Tadros (InGear-Quickvit RT) was one of the few riders in the Hounslow 10 who seemed to be unaffected by the windy conditions last Saturday.

 Tadros finished in 20 minutes 10 seconds which gave him a comfortable 21 second margin over second placed Simon Tout (Velo Club St. Raphael) who recorded 20.31 and Peter Weir (Maidenhead & District CC), third with 20.57.

Among the ladies Julia Shaw, the reigning national champion, was, as could be expected, the clear winner with 21.18. Rachael Elliot (Newbury RC) was second with a creditable 23.31 which made her a prize winner in an open time trial for the first time in her career.

Similarly there was little surprise that the Veterans’ Standard prize went to John Woodburn, although anyone outside the sport would find it surprising that a 74 year old could ride at an *average *speed of 25 miles an hour. His actual time was 24 minutes exactly.

 The Hounslow did have the consolation of winning the team award. The counters were: Nic Stagg 21.59, Paul Holdsworth 22.30 and Rob Gilmour 22.34.

Second claim Hounslow member Rob Richardson must have ridden further than anyone else on Saturday. He arrived at the start already having covered 63 miles from his home in Devizes, and then after recording a respectable 23.49 he rode home. Crazy? Well he is preparing himself for the 24 hour Championship in July.

At the result board the winner was modest about his performance “In an event like this, without the big boys riding, I can sometimes win.” The simplest research shows that Pete Tadros has entered eight time trials so far this season and of those he has won six. In the two cases where he did fail to come out on top the victor’s margin was tiny: two seconds in the Sussex CA 10 and a single second in the Kent CA 25 – surely this is an outstanding record.
  On the subject of scientific preparation, widely practised and discussed in the sport at the moment, Pete said: “No, I don’t really bother with it – I just like riding a bike. I’ve decided to race on gears this season, but I believe fixed wheel suits me best for training, and I think the benefit comes from the combination of suppleness induced by spinning at high revs, while strength comes from having to climb on a relatively high gear”.

 Scientific or not, from the roadside he looked a sleek and aerodynamic winner.

Result:

      Pos
     Rider
     Club
     Time
     N1
     N2
     N3
         1 
     Peter Tadros 
     In-Gear Quickvit RT 
     00:20:10 
     V 
     +5.20 

         2 
     Simon Tout 
     VC St Raphael/Waite Contracts 
     00:20:31 
     V 
     +5.11 

         3 
     Peter Weir 
     Maidenhead & District CC 
     00:20:57 



         4 
     Chris Birch 
     East Street Cycles.com 
     00:21:07 



         5 
     Tejvan Pettinger 
     Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team 
     00:21:16 



         6 
     Julia Shaw 
     www.drag2zero.com 
     00:21:18 
     WV 
     +6.54 

         7 
     Gabriel Martinez 
     VC Meudon 
     00:21:36 
     V 
     +3.54 

         8 
     Chris Long 
     PBscience 
     00:21:39 
     V 
     +4.15 

         9 
     Nic Stagg 
     Hounslow & District Wheelers 
     00:21:59 
     V 
     +3.31 

         10 
     Oliver Roberts 
     PBscience 
     00:22:08 



         11 
     John Storms 
     Kingston Wheelers 
     00:22:11 
     V 
     +3.55 

         12 
     Ian Reece 
     Newbury Road Club 
     00:22:20 



         13 
     Paul Holdsworth 
     Hounslow & District Wheelers 
     00:22:30 
     V 
     +4.24 

         14 
     Paul Williams 
     West Drayton Beyond Mountain Bikes 
     00:22:32 
     V 
     +3.46 

         15 
     Robert Gilmour 
     Hounslow & District Wheelers 
     00:22:34 
     V 
     +7.00 

         16 
     Ian White 
     Farnham Road Club 
     00:22:35 
     V 
     +4.32 

         17 
     Darren Fagan 
     A3CRG/SIS 
     00:22:48 



         18 
     Mark Haylett 
     Team Specialized 
     00:22:52 



         19 
     Sean Gorvy 
     GS Henley 
     00:23:25 
     V 
     +3.42 

         20 
     Rachael Elliot 
     Newbury Road Club 
     00:23:31 
     W

Are those tubs with Woods valves? If so then presumably also including a front rod brake.

I've only just noticed an unanswered question here.

No the tyres are not tubs, although they did exist at that time. It's just as well they are wired on, because I guess there cannot be any seviceable 26" tubs in existence, since they eventually perish with age, so even if you tracked down a stash of your great grandfather's tubs, they would probably be useless.

The wheels in the bike are 26 x 1.25" westwoods,which themselves can only be slightly more common than hen's teeth. This size (with high pressure 'endrick' style rims) was still in use in the 1970's before the advent of 700's, and were sometimes used by club riders when converting an old racing frame (built for sprints) for use as a winter hack. As a result there are still a few useable tyres around - even inner tubes with presta valves, which I have fitted since the photo above was taken.

I hope to come to the meeting tomorrow.

I've had a long term interest in the V-CC and it was my enthusiam for old bikes that brought me back into club cycling. Now that my competitive career (such as it was ) seems to be on the wane, my old bike enthusiasm is coming back into focus.

I'm more interested in riding old machines, rather than collecting and restoring. My thread in the Rides and Races section 'The Century Competiton of 1911' (currently near the bottom of page 2.) may give you an idea of my approach to veteran cycling.

I hope to see you tomorrow night.

I did change before riding. Hot weather poses a slight problem with this bike, since wearing modern racing style kit doesn't seem right, but what can one do?

Judging by old photographs it would appear that men born before 1900 were capable of cycling during the summer wearing a jacket (probably tweed!), waistcoat and plus twos with long woolly socks. I don't know how they did it, and I cannot. Perhaps this is a symptom of the degeneracy of our age?

Ready for the ride back from Weedon

I'm tempted to have a go just to make 50s seem shorter :-)

Yes, I think this is a valid reason.

Riding a 12 to make 100's seem shorter doesn't really work since it will probably take the rest of the season (or possibly, your life) to recover.

Although I don't feel good for a couple of days after a 100 it doesn't take that long before there seems to be a beneficial effect. Even if it's only that the other distances *seem *shorter it's still worth having.

The Hounslow 100 again offers a £25 prize to the best rider on fixed gear.

The same condition applies as before: if there is only one rider on fixed, he (or she) must beat my modest 2006 time of 4.41.06. to be awarded the prize.

I hope to ride myself, and I doubt whether I am capable of going as fast as I did five years ago, so if there are only two of us your target should be a bit easier.

Entries to: T. Gilbert, 74 Churchfield House, Lushington Drive, Cobham, Surrey. KT11 2LX. Entry fee £10.
This is an open event, so you must fill in a CTT entry form and get it to the organiser by Tuesday 17th May* at the latest. *As I've said above, you don't need to worry if you can't fill in all the spaces, there will not be a full field.

Marcel, December 1911.

This was the bike he used for the epic year, a 1905 'Mead'. This is not a make I had ever heard of before, but apparently it was a Birmingham firm with only a moderate reputation for quality. This type of machine was (and I suppose still is) known as a 'light roadster' Light here is a relative term, and I think the idea was to make a contrast with the heavier type which had 28" wheels (26" for the Mead and the BSA), and a chain case. As I understand it, the other features of a roadster are : rod brakes, normally onto Westwood rims, upturned bars, and bolted up seat stays (rather than brazed). There are many disadvantages to this design, but it has proved incredibly long lasting, evolving around 1900, with quite a few examples still in use around London even today.

  The string binding the seat stays together is not visible even in the best copy of the picture in my possession, but I've no reason to doubt it was there.  Cycling politely described the machine as: 'by no means ideally suited to its purpose'. Fully kitted out for the road it weighed 45lbs.

  I guess the background is a London street - riding on roads as empty as this must have been some compensation for the problems with the bike.