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Hi people, the title of my post might have set alarm bells ringing. Sorry for that. So.... I’ve not been well for the past 3-4 years. Up & down. Making bad choices then punishing myself for it. Caught in a loop. Eventually went to get help. Basically l, I had a really bad experience when I was young that I hidaway from.Denied it happened. Beat myself up for it. Eventually, I sought help. I was referred to a councillor and a CBT therapist. I won’t lie, having to discuss my issues and experiences was brutal. Why am I telling you this? Because if I hadn’t I probably wouldn’t be here. Things got so bad that, what I thought was my salvation, “cycling” became toxic. Watching my weight, training, trying to keep up &, as life unravelled, being dropped was very crushing. I saw cycling as being my validation but it became a pressure & a stressor. Thanks to mental health professionals & some very good friends in the club who have given me council, I’m on the mend. Thanks, guys. I’m still cycling but for now I’m just going out when I feel like it. I’m also eating like a horse with no qualms or worries about “racing weight” I never raced much anyway! Why am I posting this? We live in a society that is so driven by aspiration and the need to “get on” and compete. I’ve come to the conclusion that after my experiences I’m just lucky to be here. I’m quite proud to be alive. So my message is- if you are struggling, don’t be ashamed to seek help and if you think a friend is struggling don’t shy away from asking if they are ok. you just might savesomeone’s life. If you are struggling and looking for help, message me. I might not have the answers but I can signpost you to people who can help you. It’s ok not to be ok!

David B, David C and myself returned to Galashiels for another Audax, this one was the last one we needed to qualify for PBP. David B had decided not to go to Paris and was just doing this for the craic. Davie Borland was planning on riding straigh through the night so he could meet his wife for stake and chips about 1pm the next day, the pace he set of at it seemed he would! he was flying and lead the field throughout the day, as this was 3 out and back legs we got to wave a couple of times. He sensible decided to stop after the second leg rest up and meet the wife. David C and my self had a more relaxed plan and after the first leg 230km we were feeling good, We then headed of into the night for the second leg towards Gretna and rode with a Friend of Campbells called Neil. He was stopping at lockerbie at the first passing, but we decided to continue on hoping to complete the 2nd leg without stopping, but our pace had dropped in the darkness and as we hit Gretna it was fairly cold. When we got back to lockerbie about 380km in we were very tired and the usual pains we each had were back. We decided to stop at lockerbie truck stop(from and Irvine Welsh novel) and sleep for 3 hours and head back over the climbs in daylight. When we woke we both agreed to head back to Galahsiels and call it, it was a tough call but by this stage we had difficult sitting down and our pace was abysmal. I suppose training for these events are a good thing! and the qualifiers did there job, and weeded out the chancers trying to do the bare minimum to get to Paris! any way we got back to Galashiels after 460Km and plenty of time to do the 140km left, but of to McDonalds and home we went! Thanks to David C and Davie B for the company on this adventure! one my buttocks will never forget! Salut!

Utterly brilliant day on Arran and 3 new members of the SA Hall of Fame. Fantastic, and many congrats to SA Rookies Sam McGrath, Colin Sales and Alan Hendry, who were joined by seasoned SA vets Jan McTavish, Mark Kelly, Andy Gumley and myself. So 7 started as a team and 7 finished as a team. Also took all the rankings from 2nd to 6th or something on the Strava segment. This was a rarer anti clockwise assault due to the predicted wind, however there was near zero wind all day. Very smooth paceline with much encouragement in evidence. Lots of resurfaced roads helped and I reckon this could be a year for records. Still some pretty grisly bits mind you. Weather was probably the best I have ever seen on Arran and I have been there a lot! Truly heaven on earth. So now you have a taste guys, set your sights on the Grand Daddy of them all - the DA in August. As I may have said somewhere before, this is a monumental and life changing experience that you will regale your grandchildren with, you will have it engraved on your gravestone, you will forever remember the single biggest day of your life. You will feel immortal. To round it all off me and Jan rode over the Ross to meet my two girls at the Velo café, then clung on to their wheels to get back for the 1.55pm ferry as we were both tank empty status. 86 miles and 2,000m of ascent made for a fantastic day out.

........... & there's more!

In our goal to qualify for Paris Brest Paris Myself, Davie B and David C headed down to Galashiels for the 400(420)km out and back to Barnards Castle. We stuck together until the Barnard Castle the half way mark and then Davie B continued at a faster pace with a couple of guys we had met and David C and I started the dusk Wet Climb over some Moss hill. Through the damp night we rode but! it was a balmy 12 degrees so it was not too bad. We did encounter few kms of road with 100s of frogs on it which passed the time trying not to squash any, which we managed! Until I heard David shout! -1 frog bless his soul, a few minutes later a Huge Rat ran into David's wheel but he managed to stay upright, I used to have a Rat her name was "Otago" David loves my patter. It was about then 3am? that Davids Knee started to hurt and our energy levels were very low, luckly we passed through lockerbie and had only 20km to a 24 hour with a service stop, I'm not a big fan of McDonalds but I was tonight. After about 5mins cycling David convinced me that the service station was here?? "Look" he said and pointed towards a BP sign behind some trees, But we stil had had 20km to go? I wasnt going to argue with him or his shiney new Wahoo gps, a few minutes later we got to a Service stop only to find it was the wrong one and nothing was open(Hammock Award Contender), a few swears were jokingly exchange and we rode on to McDonalds. Once we got there David went for a Sleep and I changed out of my wet clothes. I tried to sleep but people were intent on talking to me even though my eyes were closed, but best McDonalds I ever had, I even ate David's leftovers once he fell asleep. Back on the bike and back into the rain, With Davids Knee and my development of what I can only describe as "the worse butt pain in the world ever®" we took a nice steady pace back the last 100km.. the sun came out near the end and we were greeted by fried egg and bacon sandwiches by the organisers. A quick shower and off back up the road, I told David I would stay awake on the journey home as he was driving, I think I lasted abut 5mins. Started at 9:00am finished next day at 10:17am Distance : 419.91km Time pedaling 18:48:33 Elevation 3,922m Avg Speed 22.3km/h Elapsed Time 25:17:05 Anyhow only a 600km to do to qualify, To be honest i thought these would be easier than they are... yes they are physically draining but it really is all in the mind. Thanks for the company Lads

Thought I would share a few pictures of my overnighter on Islay last week with my boys. Just cycled from Port Ellen to Port Charlotte and camped overnight. Islay is quite stunning and I have never seen such a huge and clear night sky. I may have to work out how to carry a telescope by bike too.

I’m not sure what the focus of this piece is or who it is aimed at. Maybe it’s to inspire other women to take on similar challenges. Maybe it’s just me saying ‘hello’ again and to let you know that I’m looking forward to getting back out with the bunch. Whatever the reason is, someone suggested that writing a race report would be a good idea. The only problem is, nothing I did this year was a ‘race’. I’m not getting bogged down in stats and intricate details. I am a girl who likes a challenge and I set myself a couple of challenges this summer. They went something like this. August 2018 - Marmotte Pyrenees 160km, 5600 metres ascent Ramsay and I had already decided to spend this summer in the Pyrenees. We completed the Marmotte sportive in the Alps last year and loved it. I knew that they did a similar event out of Argeles Gazost and by chance, it fell within the weeks that we were planning to be there. The decision was made and we were signed up. Unfortunately for Ramsay, his knee went again in June and he knew that he would not be ready to ride again for months. We knew that a bunch of Wheelers were out riding too and Ramsay really enjoyed supporting everyone on the day (tonnes more photos of the boys on the Tourmalet than me, which is not a bad thing)! It may sound selfish, but I knew that in order to make it to the finish at the top of Luz Ardiden, I just had to do my own thing and plod away at my own pace. I love alpine climbs. I love the challenge and the sense of accomplishment when you get to the top of those infamous Cols. The scenery is spectacular and the baguettes with camembert at the pit stops are perfect! I don’t know whether being a women helps. I had so many shouts of “allez allez femme” which was brilliant. Having spoken to some of the boys at the BBQ and confessed our body weights, being a women of a smaller stature, certainly helps when you are climbing an average gradient of 10% for several hours! Yes, it was tough. Yes, there were times when I asked myself why I was doing this. It certainly felt harder than the Alps last year, but finishing was never in doubt. After a hot shower and a good night’s sleep, the legs had recovered and I enjoyed ticking off so many more of those famous climbs during our time in the Pyrenees. I can honestly say that one of the highlights was meeting up with the guys the following night for a BBQ. Great food, lots of wine, even more beer and brilliant banter. It reminded both Ramsay and I why we joined the club in the first place. Thank you! September 2018 – Around the World in a Day 245 miles from Machrihanish to Aberdeen, ~ 3500 metres ascent Then came the second challenge of the summer. In 2017, Mark Beaumont set off to cycle around the world in 80 days. He achieved this by riding an average of 240 miles per day. The concept for this challenge was to have one rider to represent each day (80 riders in total) and us all to cycle 240 miles. Hence, ‘Around the World in a Day’! The day was planned exactly as Mark had ridden around the world. Four times four hour sections of riding (approx. 60 miles per section) with a 30 minute stop in between (Furnace, Lochearnhead and Forfar). The route started in Machrihanish and headed north through Ardishaig, before heading north east to Inverary and Dalmally. We then turned east across the country to Forfar with the final stretch up the north east coast through Stonehaven to Aberdeen. was one of ten female riders to start and one of eight to finish. I had ridden 184 miles as a reccie earlier in the summer and only hoped that my weeks in the Pyrenees helped with final preparations and the final miles. It was a typical Scottish day.....started cold, dark, wet and windy. The sun came out briefly in the afternoon before it got cold, dark, wet and windy again. My strategy was to keep a high cadence during the day and shelter within the bunch as much as possible. I managed a few turns at the front and myself and a couple of the girls led the group for a few minutes when the boys stopped for a pee. Oh how we laughed!! For the majority however, the boys looked out for us and made sure we were safely tucked in as much as possible. The last 30 miles were probably the hardest miles I have ever ridden. It was a rollercoaster of highs and lows and all I wanted was to be warm and horizontal! I stepped off the bike in Aberdeen and was shaking with cold and exhaustion. I thought I was either going to be sick or faint or both. I admit, I cried when Ramsay came to give me a cuddle and it took me some time to reach the “that was an amazing experience” feeling. But again, after two hot showers and a good night’s sleep, I woke up feeling ok and began to appreciate what had happened the day before. I guess that’s how I get through any of these challenges. I know that even when it feels brutal and you hurt all over, it doesn’t last. You will recover and you will get back on the bike again......quickly. I don’t consider myself a powerful rider or a fast rider. I don’t glide up the ascents. I bob about in the saddle and do everything you shouldn’t! I am a steady rider who is happy to tap away at the miles at my own pace. In saying that, I didn’t just walk in to these events having done nothing. I put the effort, the hours and the miles in this year. If I’m honest, I did very little other than cycle and work for most of the summer! It’s been a while, but I will be back out with the bunch again soon, enjoying the Sunday runs around Renfrewshire and beyond. I’m looking forward to not just the training (must work on that power output over the winter), but for the banter and the camaraderie. Hope to see you all soon.

Not naming any names, not pointing the finger at anyone in particular and i dont want anyone else to do it either. Everyone has made mistakes from time to time so this applies to everyone including myself. There was a moment tonight on the rise between Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir when Stevie, through no fault of his own, was forced onto the white line as a car approached due to someone switching from the left line to the right without looking. Not a pleasant couple of seconds seeing this unfold in front and was only a few cms from turning nasty very quickly. On a couple of other occassions tonight riders were crossing the white line to move up the bunch or maintain their position. If there is good visibility and there are no cars about (and importantly you check there are no cars!) and its clear, then crossing the line briefly then fair enough. No complaints about that and ive done it myself. But doing it going round a bend when you dont know what is coming or even worse doing it when there are cars coming the other way then forcing your way back into the line so you can avoid them - then not cool at all. Try and remember it is a training ride not a race so look out for one another. Actually same applies to races too.

Winter Solo Single Where do I begin. Last night I was visualising my moment of glory on the Hall of fame. Arrived on Arran this morning with nothing but positive vibes, winter bike metal frame full muddies rear light but chose to ditch the front to go for the title. Set off on a steady pace and feeling good, weather was meant to be sunny but still foggy. Half way round, 5 minutes behind the summer pace, first negative thought creeps in but crack on. 36 miles, 2 hours dead, means 20 miles in 45ish minutes, games a bogey but again I'll crack on. Got to the top of Lochranza climb with 30 minutes until the ferry leaves, bottle empty and a wee packet of wiggle haribo, I can make it, I've lost my minerals! Rode as hard as I could, really really struggling by this point, missed the boat by 5 minutes. I'm writing this still on Arran, next boat is 2hrs 40 minutes later, ouch! On the plus side I don't think I'll have a harder training ride this winter, rode in Z4 for 1hr 2min and Z5 for 1 hr 52min! Anyone who completes the Winter Solo is a strong man! Cheers

Flanders Tour Day 7 Brugge to Ieper Today I travelled to my last stop - Ieper, before heading over to France on Friday. Rather than just going South West directly from Brugge, I thought I would make a detour up to the coast & back down to add some extra km & variety onto this part of my journey. I rode through farming communities, small town, canals, coastal single carriage ways, inland dual carriage ways, coast town promenades, along side trams, dock ports etc, but one thing was constant - the friggen WIND, mostly head or cross wind too, only managed a wee tail in the beginning However, I never felt I was in any danger - cyclist (or all kind) is respected here, I lost count of the amount of times motor vehicles stopped to let me cross roads/junctions, even on busy roads. It got to a point where I actually felt embarrassed for holding them back :-/ Sorry for going on about this, but I just think personally it’s a very important factor of my reason wanting to come ride here! Why can us Brit’s be like that Anyway, my detour up to the coast took me to a very nice wee town call Da Haan, it reminds me a bit of Largs, with mostly kids, families & elderlies :-) Eventually got to Ieper a bit wet & muddy after getting caught in a wee rain storm. Luckily the owners of the guesthouse I’m staying in are cyclist too, Edouard & Stephanie got the buckets & sponge out to help me clean my bike, how good is that! Edouard also informed me that the room I’m staying in had been stayed in last year by none other than ANDREA TAFI ....... did you miss that, I’ll say it again ....... ANDREA (Lombardia, Tour of Flanders & Paris Roubaix winner) TAFI :-) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Tafi_(cyclist) (Un)fortunately the bed’s not made of Pave & the bed sheets are not the garish Mapei colours, but hopefully the magic would rub off on me, as I need all the help I can get on Saturday :-) A few images of the coastal beach & Ieper at night :-) Cheers

Paul L and I completed the JWCC awards on Charlie's doorstep. Hamoc duly presented.

As we edge gradually back to semi-normality we are now allowed club runs, albeit in reduced group sizes and with safeguards in place. The committee have given the ok for club rides to start up but only in groups of a maximum of 5. We can do multiple groups though, so long as we don’t mix. With this in mind I propose the first ride to meet at 9:30am this Sunday outside the club rooms. It’ll be the bog standard ride to BB in Largs. The reason being it’s somewhere we are familiar with so less chance of any social distancing faux pas in the cafe. If all goes well we can do different routes each week. If folk post up here to let me know they are coming I will call the BB to book a table as it’s reduced capacity and bound to be busy, going by the forecast. anyone wishing to attend must give me their phone number so I can pass it on to Eric, our Covid officer. I will bring hand sanitizer which anyone is free to use but ideally you will bring your own. If someone has a mechanical they will have to fix it themselves due to 2 metre rule. Finally, if you have a dry cough, have lost your sense of smell &/or taste or have a temperature PLEASE STAY AWAY!!!!

No words required. Received this magnificent photo today from an SA vet who quite understandably would love to become a DA vet 🤣

I am getting this all together now. It is so good to see so many people helping out, everyone is needed and important to the day being a success. I will be at Bishopton Community Hall from 0700h, with me I will have an allocation of signs, zip ties, hi viz jackets and a note of where you are positioning yourself. The first rider is off at 0801 so please arrive to give yourself plenty of time to get into position. Please do wear the hi viz while you are marshalling (it is in the risk assessment) your own safety is your first priority on the day. Just use a bit of common sense when positioning any signs, making it reasonably visible to other road users and please remember to bring them back. You there on the day as the eyes on the course so we do want any emergency. I will have my mobile number on the hand out, give me yours and I can text you to say your work is done. Here is who I have where Start Line - Scott M Holding up - Ginty West Ferry R/about - John C Langbank R/about - Tommy & Greg B Woodhall R/about - Ian McTavish, Ian Carvill, Colin Sales Dead Turn - Karen G & Richard Newark R/about - Davic C, Paul L, Marc Exit - Chung Finish Line - Stuart I hope everyone is okay with this, please like this post if you are so I know you have seen it. Looking forward to a great event for the club.

Hi All, Some of you might know that I’m a bit “keen” when it comes to working on my bike(s), some might even say it’s an illness :-) Acquiring bike specific tools is also a sick obsession of mine. Recently my Campag Neutron wheels needed a bit of TLC as it was feeling rough when spinning, the hub bearings definitely need servicing, so I thought why not do it myself & in the process got a bit “carried away” in buying some fancy tools to do jobs properly - punch, bearing extractor, hub bearing press tools etc. Needless to say, it made the job(s) of servicing/replacing my Campag cup/cone bearings hubs a lot, lot easier, it would also work well on seal bearings hub too, it’s almost a pleasure to do it now rather than being a PITA job. Now I have these tools which will hopefully last me a life time & it would be a shame not to get it use more often :-) Therefore, if any club members of the Joanins have wheels that needs work on the hub bearing, then give me a buzz & we can see what I can do. Obviously this is just my desperate attempt to get the chance to mess about with my new tools, NO charges involve, you just pay for any parts needed & we can do the job together if you fancy giving it a go. I’m telling you, taking a hammer to your lovely carbon wheels hub certainly does raise your heart rate to a new level :-) I think it’s an experience every cyclist should have! Also, some of the tools I have are Campagnolo wheels specific with the cup/cone, ball bearing types, so for those of youse with higher end Campag wheels i.e Zonda, Eurus, Shamal, Bora etc & Fulcrum equivalent. Then I have these tools especially if you want to extract any damage cups that need replacing that are pressed solidly into the hubs. The need to ride our winter bike is upon us & it would make sense/good practice to examining your summer wheels to see if it needs some TLC before storage or winter ones so to face the harsh road conditions of winter. Cheers Chung

What a weekend with the Joansin family. Could not have asked for better company, weather, digs, food or cycling. Looking forward to reliving it all when Chung gives us his full account of the weekend and others sharing their pics and stories. Thanks to all for making it such a memorable event. Same time next year, I hope. PS yes I'm biaised, but Jets were the best drilled bunch in Flanders.

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I know this is not strictly the Jets forum and I know many of you will have seen this on Facebook but just had to mention a HUGE congratulations to Lusia Steele who has been selected to represent Team GB at the Junior Worlds in August in the sprint. Very exciting trip ahead for Kenny methinks

Jan is quite right, the safety of participants has to be paramount. This is the case whether it is a race or not. However, people are always less inclined to look after others and to take risks in races, despite the commissars’ warnings about crossing the line etc. The JWCC Thursday night chaingang has changed from the initial idea introduced by Charlie. It was conceived as an opportunity for club members to train in a much more controlled context than the free for all of the Renfrew Bunch. It now resembles a race. The ethos seems to be to drop people and to go through the line at ever increasing speeds. It has always been the case that everyone looks after themselves, but the pace seems higher and less steady now with lots of jumping, surging and switching. Indeed, the fact that there are points on offer (which is good fun btw) has added a competitive element to the mix that unfortunately makes it more likely that people will take a few risks. The roads are also poor in places which, at race pace, can lead people to switch line to avoid crashing. What to do? In my view, given that we all know the course and where the bad bits are, we should refrain from all out full gas efforts until the bunch is safely through them. There are areas such as the Westferry, The Clune, The Georgetown, where full gas might be the order of the day, but perhaps a less full on effort at various ‘bad bits’ would be sensible. This only needs to be an informal common understanding. After all, it is our club run which means we can make it more controlled, in the interests of safety and providing a positive experience for riders.

Good turnout today for the mural unveiling - after that a ride over the Crow and then a loop through Killearn and Strathblane and back to the start. I’d like the record to state i was joint first to the top of the Crow - beating everyone else including the former Tour de France polka dot jersey winner in the process. A show of strength from Scotlands premier cycling club to the watching media.....I may have started 5 minutes before everyone else but it still counts 🤣

Hmmm, it was me.

First of all, Thank you Darryl for suggesting/organising this Sportive & all the Wheelers & friends for another very memorable day indeed on the bike! I wouldn't have thought about doing this if it wasn't for Darryl's idea, since all I do these days are flat & cobblily :-) ............. but I'm glad I did this even though as everyone have said - it's brutal ! It's been a long time since I've done a "local sportive", probably have to go back to 2012 now, so it was a great reminder that there are still some brilliant events to be ridden without crossing the Channel. It might not have the glitz & glamour of bigger, more internationally recognised foreign events, but what it lacks is made up for by the warm reception (everyone I met, locals/marshalls helpers etc all had a smile on their faces) friendly atmosphere ........ & less riders to elbow out the way at feed stations In my opinion, this was an extremely well organised event with some lovely scenery & some of the hardest climbs I've ever done I've lost count of the times 20/21% gradient reading shown on my Garmin & these were always at the end of some long constant 10,12, 14, 16% slopes. Every time I ask Darryl, how many more climbs, he just said "........... only 1 more" ........ I know full well that it was not true ........ but somehow want it to be so! What also pleasantly surprised me was the conditions of the roads we drove & rode on, it was actually quite good without too much pot holes or broken surfaces, that was very welcome indeed, especially the brilliant & long but fairly technical descents. Which was great because after everyone climbs, the long down hills would munch away the km's, bringing us closer back to the finish! It goes without saying that I had a great time - thanks also to Gerard for pick-up & drop off & to my travel companions ............. P.S We were lucky with the weather, because I dare to think what it would be like if it was windy & wet Cheers

Fellow members, I have attached the draft confined event calendar for 2019. Please note that all events may be subject to change depending on road conditions and clashes with open events. Please also note that we are still looking for people to be listed as organisers for the Don Smith, Jim Daly and Sam Dooley events. Anyone who would like to hold their hand up for this should pm me XLS 20190205 Provisional 2019 club calendar.pdf

5. Mass drinking sesh in amaretto....

Just left Amaretto Paul Leavy has a lot to answer for

You'll know this already if you're on Facebook, but just to keep everyone in the picture. Huge win for oor Lusia today, wholly justifying her selection to the GB Team for world championships next month. Reward for dedication: her's and Kenny's. Chuffed to bits for the whole family.

Well done to Richard tonight breaking the Georgetown record for a fixed gear with a 14:56. That placed him 2nd overall to John A (who broke the record he set last week with a 13:20 - Katie also broke the womens record to with a 15:10!)

Firstly I would like to congratulate Iain McTavish for making the chain gang such a popular event. The introduction of points has made it even more fun. We just need to remind ourselves that fast bunch riding can be dangerous. We now have quite a few new members who bring fantastic fitness & enthusiasm to the bunch but have not had a lot of experience of racing or big bunch riding. We also have members who perhaps need a wee refresher. I suggest that the likes of Paul McDonald jann Darryl remind us all at the start of what is expected. A bit like the chat u get from a Commissaire before a race. I like the present format as i am riding my bike with friends. I like it when Paul Leavy shouts at me to get over Bishie hill. Ilike the fact the bunch waits for us at top of Clune. I like it that Paul McDonald went back to check we were all there( sorry Alan T u were just a bit late last thurs) I like the buzz of hanging on to end. I like it when new members tell me how much they enjoyed The Chain Gang and I like to hear Stevie say he has gone from being dropped last season to being a racer this season. We actually may have something that provides fun and is a stepping stone for those who aspire to race. I did not see the manoeuvre that put Stevie in danger but whoever it was needs to be told. When I was out with Renfrew bunch it was common to hear experienced riders give an earful to any one who rode erratically.

That was a good Arran run with a strong team at the start...but Arran being Arran it seems to always manage to throw challenges at you! We were setting a good pace until I got a pinch puncture going over a pothole at 25 miles to go...we decided at the start there will be no waiting and so I mended the puncture and set off in TT mode keeping calm not to blow early. 3 miles later I see Jan on the side of the road with a puncture, gave it a quick thought and decided I would keep going as agreed at the start. Just before Lochranza climb there were some road works and I was stopped by the workers for 2 or 3 mins ruining the momentum I had going . They gave me the go ahead and then back to TT mode, half way up the climb looked back and saw Jan catching up...I thought perfect we would rejoin for the last 10m as I needed a good push to catch the 11.05 ferry! At that point it was around 10.30 already so once we rejoined we set off at a good pace sharing the workload and just manged to catch the ferry...don't think would have made it alone. Thanks Jan for the nice steady wheel at the end and Paul and Ian for the team work at the start . That's SA done

Flanders Tour Day 10 Paris Roubaix Challenge 145km On the morning of the ride at my 3.15am alarm call, I made the quickest & easiest decision during this whole trip - A. Do I get up now & ride to Roubaix to catch the 5am 1 & a half hour coach transfer to the start village? or B. Do I stay in bed for 4 more hours and do the shorter version? With in 3 seconds of the alarm sounding, I was on the phone texting Paul & co to leave without me :-) Chapeau to them for sticking to the original plan! (I somehow forgotten about this ridiculously early start part of the trip :-/ I remember it was early but not that early???) I on the other hand opted for extra 4 hours :-) in my warm bed & start the day more leisurely as the shorter route starts & finish in Roubaix, I even had the time to get lost getting there & in the process hooked up with David from Spain who was lost too, we cycled / stumbled / chatted (in limited English) our way into the Velodrome for a more “friendly” start to the ride. But as soon as the horn went, a lot of them just went full gas down the road, I joined in for a wee bit but thought better of it & just eased back, as there was a strong head wind on the flats 50km ride before we hit the first secteur of Pave, but it was the 5 star full booner - Arenberg though! So, you’re basically thrown straight in at the deep end really. The previous times I did it, you won’t hit the trench until after 10 secteurs. So, for the folks who’s doing it the first time, they must be thinking “holy sh*t”! When we got there, we were surprise (then relieved) to see that they have closed the Pave part off & instead you were diverted onto the foot path. I looked over & the big stones were covered with black slippery wet soil. Maybe the organiser deemed unsafe to ride & made the decision that they did. A couple of Americans behind me said .....”what’s going on, I paid good money to ride this expletive deleted bit of road ..... I want a refund ....” :-) Eventually they let us back on the Pave about half way in, but it was extremely difficult & scary riding on those slippery & bumpy surface, I did not enjoy it at all Riding the shorter route meant, I was on my own, without the rest of the full router’s company. However, over the course of this trip, I’ve gotten use to riding solo & we tend not to say much in these Sportive situation anyway, so it wasn’t too bad. Unlike Flanders last Saturday I didn’t have the joy/entertainment of seeing young Ruairi’s heroics smashing the cobble climbs, so to preoccupy myself, I started to look at other riders numbers pinned to their backs. Like Flanders, your number also had your name on it plus your nationality too. I had brief chit-chat with guys & gals from USA, England & even a lassie from the South side of Glasgow etc :-) It was a good way to pass time on the road sections indeed! Eventually I bumped into Paul McD at I think the second last feed stops, it took him a wee while to register it was me when I stood in front of him & he looked concerned! I said everything ok? To which he reply “not really”, Paul unfortunately had a puncture earlier & afterwards his tool bottle lid came loose & all his tools/tubes where scattered around Northern France. He was worried as he only had one tyre lever & one tube left. Luckily I had 3 levers & gave him one, so off he went as I wasn’t going to try hold his wheel since he was doing his usual DA attempt pace no doubt :-) Later I found out David & Paul Leavy had punctured too, with Paul Leavy being the more “eventful” one with his tubeless set-up & recently acquired €10 pump from “Hell” made his repair a bit more “stressful” :-) I think Paul can fill you in with that :-) I’m that respect, I was lucky indeed with no real mechanical at all! Despite being 30km shorter, there’s still 19 secteur (compare to 29) of Pave to ride through, they came thick & fast. Before you know it, the last 5 star “Carrefour de L’Arbre” was in front of you, the positive on the day was that the temperature gradually got warmer & by then it was 21 degrees & sunny. So that kind of made up for the rattling pain to your hands, arms, feet, bum etc ....... basically everything hurts! There seems to be a lot of punctures this year & always sad to see - a few serious casualties with paramedics attending On the side of the road, I hope everyone was fine in the end! The final stretch before the Velodrome finish is always a bit of a mess in this event, you have hundreds of cyclist jostling for space with cars & bikes weaving through traffic into spaces. But to be fair to the local French motorists, they were very patient & understanding. I didn’t see or hear any complaints or aggressive horn, Chapeau to them too! Later we all found each other & meet up at the Velodrome where we swop stories, a few beers, fries & lying on the grass soaking up the late afternoon sun after having survived the “Hell of the North”! I personally think this will be my last time on Pave! I had such a wonderful great week in Flanders & to top it off with a great enjoyable ride with my fellow Wheelers in Roubaix, what better way to end my journey for the last 10 days! Chapeau David, Paul & Paul! Thanks again for a great few days spent with youse, its been a real pleasure! Cheers Chung

Flander Tours - Day 3 Ronde Van Vlaanderen Cyclo 173km OK ....... where do I begin with the above question :-) Good start to the day, Martin picked me up on time from my hotel in Nazareth (which was a good 15km away from Oudenaarde) ...... and things got interesting after that :-) Got to the start without too much issue, getting ready & then some kind bloke pointed out to us that Martins car had a flat rear tyre, oh dear a puncture already & we haven’t even started riding :-) still, at least it wasn’t our bikes ...... Busy start understandably as Oudenaarde was the start for 3 of the km category, Antwerp being the other one for the longest ride, but all finishing in Oudenaarde. We - Martin, Lewis, Danny, Ruairi & myself set off with our plan of staying together. I would like to point out at this point that Mul’s youngest Ruairi is only THIRTEEN years old & I was told up until yesterday, his longest ride was only 50-ish miles :-0 He was determine to break the ton today, crikey, you couldn’t have picked a harder one to do it ....... huge Chapeau! 30km in first “incident”, Danny’s knee injury flared up & was really struggling with severe pain & so Martin decided the best way to distract him was to do a somersault off his bike on one of the cobble section :-0 Luckily he got back up & was ok, but unfortunately Martin’s lovely restored Colnago came out worse, the rear drop out was crack & un-ridable. So, he rode the remaining course with Danny’s bike which was a bit too small for him, had a seized seat post & dodgy bottom bracket, while Danny headed back gingerly to the car on his Dad’s broken bike. At this point, we were thinking of shortening the ride & go for the shorter route, but later when we got to the junction point, we had to decide! Ruairi was determined to get his 173km & not swing denied the Kapelmuur, so we stuck to the original goal! One berg after another & regular feed stops gone without much incident thankfully. This year, the organiser have cleverly printed the participants name on the number, which had to be displayed on the front of everyone’s bike, that meant the cheering crowds on the climbs knew who to shout for. Young Ruairi got the biggest cheers on the day & rightly so! It was brilliant to watch him dancing pass big tall guys with “badass” tattoos on their guns going up those bergs, it was certainly one of the highlights of my day! Chapeau again young man! Just before the Kwaremont, disaster struck again, it was Ruairi this time, he hit the deck when a big 7ft German guy took him down on a straight flat stretch road! Thankfully he just dusted himself down & got back up after Martin checked that everything was fine & got back on the bike to tackle the final 2 climbs. These Mulholland’s are made of granite :-) But the other guy didn’t look so good, no real injury though, just really shell shocked & probably low on sugar level. Size doesn’t matter! Finally, it was great to see the finish line in what have been the most memorable day in Belgium for me so far! Big Thank you to the Mulholland’s for letting me tag along & witness this their epic family tradition & for the lifts to & from the hotel! I absolutely enjoyed myself immensely today & it was a brilliant ride! Massive Chapeau to them ...... oh, we even had a “local” Wheeler at the finish to buy us all beer - Phil Malcolm who now resides on Ghent came by to say hello & bought Martin & me a Flanders gift too, thanks big man! Thats all for now & thanks for listening :-) Cheers Chung

Hi Folks, Well, here I am in Flanders again, this will be my 4th time in 5 years & certainly will be my longest stay thus far! Traveled from Glasgow yesterday early morning, 12 hours later I was in Brussels. Sitting in my hotel room last night, I was thinking - why am I here?! I’m missing home already & worrying about the busy traffic outside (I’m staying just across from the Eurostar terminal & it’s not the best part of town) & if I will manage to get out of this busy city without bother All I had was my IPhones google map app & some old fashion paper map ........ I was nervous ..... & my last minute change of plan (only 2 days prior setting off) carrying 2 rear panniers instead of my original single “trunk bag” had me really worried, I only manage a wee test ride of 5 minutes around my street on Tuesday & I did not enjoy it Needless to say, I didn’t have a very good night sleep :-/ Fortunetly, shortly after I set off from the hotel this morning, all my worries & concerns prior quickly vanished, I guess my question from the night before had been answered, once I started riding the bike, everything just felt fine ....... great even :-) That was why I was here! Despite the busy Brussels roads, the driving & cycle paths are just first class, I felt safe & riding with the rear panniers wasn’t that bad either! A quick detour into Geraardsbergen was a good call & definitely the only time I would be able to stop & admire the place! The App did not show were the Kapelmuur was so I stopped & asked an auld local who understandably did not speak English, but the “Muur” is famous, he apologises & appointed straight on & left, but he did warn me though :-) - Check my Strava photo please! The Mulholland & I had planned to meet in Oudenaarde in the afternoon so I made my way there hoping to have lunch with them. As I left Geraardsbergen, I spotted a bike shop & quickly stopped & chap the door, it was shut but the man let me in anyway, I was missing a bar tape end plug (it fell off in the a Eurostar transit) & the tape was about to come loose, not ideal for tomorrow! Anyway, he sorted me out & as I left he told me he was a pro rider, his name was Tony Bracke & use to ride for Lotto :-) I asked him did he rode with Cadel Evans :-) maybe that’s why he thought I was Australian ..... haha! He gave me one of his old autograph card - €7 well spent! Met up with the Muls & now back in my hotel, getting ready for tomorrow ......... & it’s raining outside :-/ Not to worry, I’m sure everything will be just fine when we start pedalling! Cheers Chung

Is their an algorithm for filtering out negativity? So depressed knowing people have such good excuses for not doing things. I’ll be along because I don’t have a life. No mates, no family, no job, no illnesses, no broken bikes, no sympathy.

Charlie, I can't make Sunday but I'll have my mobile on me just incase....wonder who will ring first? Pregnant wife or Charlie with broken bike....

The bunch going through West Kilbride, thanks to my mum getting a picture. Yes Billy I am at the back once again

Good evening all. We, the Johnstone Wheelers, are in the very fortunate position to be one of the only clubs in Scotland to have a purpose built clubroom, owned and operated solely by us! So, why aren't we using this MORE? I'm proposing we hold a big Summer BBQ at the clubhouse on the 16 Aug 2020 to round of the summer. This is open to all, members, family and children. A small fee would be payed in order to buy food and possibly some soft drinks. If you want a few beers BYOB. A short turbo challenge and a raffle would also be held. This event would follow a short full club run. So, the question is, who's in? And who's interested?

Contrary to my post title - I managed NOT to get a soaking after all 🙂 Being Johnny-no-mates for the day, I opted to start from Glasgow instead of heading for the Bridge. Got to jump on a Bunch of "Lomond Roads" coming into Milngarvie, after introducing myself to them, I slotted into the group seamlessly since our Club colour are pretty much the same ........ very friendly Bunch of cyclist so they are 🙂 Pretty much got dropped off by them at the door step of Aberfoyle where upon it seems every cyclist in the Glasgow area was there, including Iain McTarvish & Jess. Got there so early that we sat OUTSIDE in the sun for more than an hour waiting for the Peloton to arrive - ETA 12.10noon. It was all good weather wise up till that point, but just as we were about to head up the Duke's, the heavens opened but luckily for me, I took shelter underneath a porch & stayed dry, while most must have got drenched up on the climb. Waited for the convoy & then the Race Peloton to pass, everyone (especially the Police Moto riders) look cheering & enjoying themselves, well, apart from the Riders :-) Then back down the climb & a detour with Big Ronnie Chard over the Lake of Monteith & another cafe stop in Kippon, then the Crow & home without getting wet at all. In fact, it was pretty hot later on the day, strange weather indeed! End up being a really nice day on the bike for me, loved it! Cheers

Thanks Gerard - that’s the JWCC bunch at the start of the ride - all looking relatively fresh. It was a different story at the end though! There were 7 JWCC and two friends - Scott (just back from a weeks training in Majorca) and Glynn who was always going to be good on the hills given can’t have weighed more than 55kg - wet through. The intention was to ride ‘as a group’ at a very conservative pace. This proved to be a very good decision. Group was intact when after 30 miles or so Linda peeled off to follow the 60 mile route - sterling effort Linda! After that the fun and games began. I’m sure some of the others will want to add their own experience, but suffice to say that this is a very very hard ride indeed. In a word, brutal. It is every bit as hard as the Fred in my opinion. Anyway, our policy of keeping the group intact and stopping at the feeds served us well. Everyone was in good spirits with no mechanicals or mishaps (we saw a few which served as a salutary reminder that the course can be dangerous, especially the downhills). I’d ridden quite a few of these roads before so I had an idea what to expect, but I kept that to myself to preserve morale , as each climb was as hard or harder than the next, with a few 25% sections thrown in for good measure. We regrouped in Hawes for the last time and had a welcome coffee before tackling the very last climb - Fleet Moss. I hadn’t ridden this before, but Graham had, just the previous day (yes he cycled down!). He told us with a solemn look on his face that it was just as hard as anything we had already done. He wasn't lying. Overall a great day out, which will no doubt gain epic status in our memories, once we forget about how hard it was. It was a long day though, with the drive back to Glasgow. With hindsight, staying another night would have been good. Thanks to all who participated - JWCC and friends. Cheers!

Jets had a blast this morning. Thanks to all in the 9.00 bunch for making them so welcome despite their tender years aka making sure they did their fair share of work :-)

Some video clips from the event if you dare to look back at the scarring moments and tempt the PTSD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoGTKkP4T1M

2nd Overall so well done to everyone I've got some medals to pass on for whoever was in the top 8

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How about this selfie F78D3996-0756-4BAD-A7BE-CB25ECAB5531.MP4

Race report on this event, seeing as I'm still a paid up member and race in club colours. Flat course, fairly light winds off the sea, warm and sunny.......getting warmer as the morning progressed. Usual friendly atmosphere and well organised. First tri of the season for me and first since last summer's 70.3 effort. Target time around 2hrs 30 mins based on my training efforts. Swim was solid and pretty much as expected albeit marginally slower than pool times. Chalking that down to it being my first open water swim of the year. Not much of a scrum in the water which was good . I didn't feel i got into a good rythmn but a 26.26 swim was ok and was well placed in age group. T1 was a disaster time wise. Wet suit refused to come off. Room to improve here and gain back 2 mins lost. Bike stage was good. There and back again course. Bit of a head wind but not overly so. 1:08:13 . Could have gone harder but know the run is comparatively my weakest event and I need to judge my effort to avoid blowing. Got off bike feeling reasonably fresh and had made up ground on those who passed me in T1. T2 - better than T1, could get smoother but generally happy with this. Run - hot kind of covers it. Been regularly doing 45 min 10ks when fresh so anything close to this would be pleasing. Did 48:17. Slightly slower than I hoped for but the heat doesn' t agree with me. No cramp on the run, which is a first but the last 2k seemed to take an age. After entering this event I realised it was the English championship. Accordingly there were some proper athletes racing. The winning time was around 1:58:38. My age group winner posted 2:02:25. I was breathing down his neck at 2:28:53. That put me in 20th for my age group and 146th overall in a field of 400. Hard to tell the quality of a field but I reckon a gave a reasonable showing. Pleased with a 12 minute improvement on my last standard tri and beating my target time. Looking at my splits I'm giving away easily 8 mins to my nearest time placing rivals on the run - 14 places. T1 cost me a couple of mins and 10 places. Lessons - get wet suit legs trimmed and practice wriggling out of it more. No doubt there are a few minutes to be gained in the swim and on the bike. Incidentally, I had gained 25 places over the 25miles. Hydration still not perfect and need to work on this. However to really move up the placings a 40-45min 10k has to be the targeted improvement between now and Allerthrope in August. My target was to get close to 2:30 . Target achieved. New target now set at 2:20 Onwards and upwards M

Cool and windy night for our 6 riders .. some great times none the less, and well done to Richard for being the first person to win the Frank Lauder Trophy 4 years on the trot .. Richard 21.30 Gerrard 23.29 James 23.37 Scott M 23.56 AlanT 25.57 Mike 29.33 All riders paid.. Thanks to George for hawdin up, was blooming freezing

Mibbee

Cracking day for a cycle, good company and nice ice creams, now looking forward to the 300km at the end of April.

Glorious night for the Frank Lauder, 9 riders and check out the brilliant times all round... all very tight except for the 5 times in a row Champ 1st. and JWCC 10 Mile TT Champion : Richard Montague - 20.50 (pd) 2nd. Stuart Tennant - 23.05 3rd. Colin McPhee - 23.09 (PB) (pd+1) 4th. Gerrard Deeley - 23.16 (PB)(pd) 5th Scott McIntosh - 23.18 (PB) 6th James Snodgrass - 23.28(pd) 7th Colin Sales - 23.34 (PB) 8th Alan Thomson - 23.37 (PB)(pd) 9th Joseph McIntosh - 26.35 (Jet) Well done all the riders... a lot of very good testers this year .. Alan T collected a few quid for the coffers, but I don't know how much.. Cheers McGinty

just noticed i got a KOM after all the best bit is that Wout van Aert, Dimitri Claeys, Jaspar Stuyven, Greg van Avermaet and Jelle Wallays were joint KOM holders so they will all have received the message.