Weekly Round-up: 16 July 2023

All the latest news, events, and results from NFCC Members from this week’s two-wheeled adventures…

NFCC 10 Series Rd.8: P182

Windy conditions on P182/10 made for an attritional evening for the 10 riders that signed up for round 8 of the NFCC Ten Series. Bev Hards and Ben Schooling were the fastest woman and man over the line on the night in 30m14 and 25m29 respectively. Full results can be found by CLICKING HERE, a gallery of images by CLICKING HERE and the latest standings for the Ten Series by CLICKING HERE.

Thursday evening Chain Gang

Only four hardy souls made it out to the Thursday Evening Chain Gang this week and a solid focus on technique kept the quartet together all the way around the course… until a charge for the final pair of signs at the end, it was a textbook example of how riding together works well for preserving energy and moving quickly.
Note to all chain gangers; for July the start time moves to 1900.

Dudley Grand Prix

Friday evening saw the British Cycling National Circuit Series head to Dudley for an evening of racing around closed roads in the middle of the town centre. With family roots in the area, NFCC’s Phill Brown made a trip back to the Midlands to take part in the evening support race. A testing course with a pair of draggy climbs and eight 90-degree turns, including a few off-camber with zebra-crossings painted over them made for some tentative cornering in the wet conditions. Dodging a pile-up in the third corner of the first Lap, Brown put his head down and spent most of the race on the front of the chase group to be able to pick his own lines through the corners. With 60 riders signing up, 48 starting the race and only 22 finishing, of the 17 that made the full distance and didn’t get lapped, Brown crossed the line 7th for a few more licence points.

Saturday Club Ride

Due to the forecast for high winds, this weeks club ride was changed to an off-road event making use of the network of gravel cycle paths in the forest. Club Gravelmaster Phil Grant plotted a 75Km route that kept us close to home in case the weather turned inclement. Not only did Phil plot an excellent route he seemed to have made it so every time we crossed a road there was no traffic!
Only 6 riders turned up to the start, one of those was on a road bike as he had mangled the crank on his gravel bike with his immense power. So 5 riders headed out into the woods and planned to meet Neil S in Burley for coffee. Predictably given the rain we’d had there were punctures but these were swiftly dealt with by Jay and Phil J without much delay.
The ride went through Burley and stopped at the new coffee shop in the village, Shappens, which was highly rated by all. With perfect timing, the first heavy shower came down whilst we were taking shelter in the cafe.


The ride then continued on its last leg and we had the only shower in the whole ride which was amazing given the forecast. So it only leaves the decision as to “who’s in the barrel this week”. Nobody who braved the elements and rode that’s for certain. That accolade goes to all those who have cross/gravel/MTB’s and weren’t brave enough to face the elements this week! Hoping for better weather this Saturday after the last two Saturdays.
Barry

Sunday Club Ride

14 riders made this Sunday’s start with 6 heading out first and completing a pretty speedy circuit back to Setley Ridge for coffee and extras. The second group of 8 struck a more social attitude and were making steady progress until Bolderwood when Phil H’s left crank decided that it was all too much and exploded like a mango being hit with a hammer. It wasn’t a bike injury that could be ‘walked off’ so Phil made yet another call of shame and had to watch as the group pedalled off for more fun. Another thing of note from Sunday was that as far as I am aware it was the first time on an NFCC club ride that an e-bike has been ridden. Virtually indistinguishable from non e-bikes now the e-bike fitted in without any issues whatsoever. Perhaps a sign of the future?

Get Involved:

If you find yourself out and about representing NFCC, don’t forget to jot down a few words, snap a few photos and send them over to press@newforestcc.co.uk.

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