Kenny MacDonald

https://www.letsride.co.uk/rides/kilmacolm-to-bow-and-back
Weather permitting, I'm planning to host my first Breeze cycle ride this Sunday. If you know any beginners or people who haven't been out on their bike for a while, it's only 8 miles.  (ladies only)
 
 

Hi folks
Just a quick reminder for This Saturday. 
 
As part of our revised JWCC confined events calendar, in consultation with members, we will be holding a few informal APR training sessions through April, May and possibly June. The idea is quite straight forwards in that this is a format for people to have a good ‘work out’ with riders of a similar ability, in a ‘race-like’ format. For those who do not know what APR means, it stands for Australian Pursuit Race, which is a handicapped event with groups going off at timed intervals.
 
The circuit will be around Barmill. On the dates below we will meet at 9.30, at the club rooms, and ride over to the circuit. We will ride a lap of the circuit together and then we will set the groups off. I’m thinking 2 or 3 laps 
 
We want these events to be for everyone. It does not matter how fit or unfit you are as we will place you in an appropriate group based on age, fitness and or ability. The APR format is ideal. I encourage all members, young and old, to get involved. Hardened racers, fast guys can get a good workout in the scratch group, and those relatively new to all this can experience some of the buzz of working together in a group (a breakaway 😄) with others of similar ability. It should be fun.  
 
We hope to see some of you there
 
April 9th, 23rd
May 7th, 21st
June: tbc
 
Regards
Darryl 
 
 
 

I really like the idea of this.  What would the 100 mile circuit be?  If ferry involved it might go over the 6hrs, so hope the ferry time doesnt count lol.  
This is the type of thing that would motivate me to train hard to try and get Gold award, so my vote if for this (and a Single and Double Arran  )  

Just throwing in some events ran in past which proved popular
I used to run a two day event at Glengarnock circuit  it started with a prologue TT 1.6 miles followed by a crit of an hour plus 5 laps in afternoon. Followed up by a RR at Gateside on the Sunday all done with 3 marshalls per day .
We ran a series of APRs  at various locations a) Peesweep at top of Braes  b) Gateside  2 circuits  c) Kilmacolm d) RNAD always popular events
A hill climb series 4 climbs one after the other starting at Howwood then Club hillclimb then 2 climbs off Beith Road heading to RB at Lochwinnoch
Hill climb followed by cyclocross event  we ran this for a few years first as a confined then as an open event.
Place to place TTs instead of out and back great if you ride with tail winds only  or reduced distance one year we were getting great numbers at Georgetown and light was fading so we shortened distance each week down to a final 3 mile event everybody loved it .
We rented a field off a farmer near Howwood and had a series of MTB races for different categories on a weekly basis ( riders paid £2 each ) before that we built circuits at Bluebell woods Elderslie  , vacant ground opposite clubrooms , quarry near Georgetown road and Gleniffer braes 
Two ups where teams were chosen from hat on the night so you could have the fastest and slowest rider riding as a team , great for team bonding or not depending on the individual LOL
We used to traditionally follow up club hill climb championship with a sports day which had slow cycle ,obstacle race , speed judging , freewheel , plus novelty events ie throwing the welly a sort of shot putt on bikes . WE invited other clubs to event , traditionally Lomond Roads and Regent.
We did a couple of cyclist v Harriers events with Kilbarchan Harriers these were popular down south ( a couple took place in Irvine as well) 
we did try to organise a bike v horses event but failed to find a suitable circuit 
Sometimes you have to think out the box 
ie when I started the Millport events again we had a 3 up 10 mile lap of the island . Everybody told me it was too short for a team TT nobody would ride it  the first year we had over 120 riders and more the next year . It was only discontinued due to island becoming too busy .
The same was true of TTT championship when I reduced it from 100K to 50K everybody said it wouldnt work it went from 6 teams to 24 teams 
We also held open event series with other clubs ie
Early season APRs at RNAD Beith 36 , 45 56 miles an extra lap per week we did that with Inverclyde Velo and Fullarton Wheelers
We also ran a summer crit series at Glengarnock with Inverclyde Velo , Fullarton and Inverclyde CRT helping to run the events 

How about a revamp of the old Tourist Trial event ??  a sort of BAR club event 
A)  long ride  of 100 miles ie 5 ferries , double Arran or  nominated sportive which has to be completed in different times for each standard  Gold , Silver , Bronze (  dated events to allow qualification)
b)  a 10 mile TT ( part of League of 10s) again with standard times 
c)  a Georgetown TT ( Chocolate series) with standard times 
d)  a hill climb with standard times  ( 2 events to allow qualification time)
possible addition of confined circuit race , APR , cyclo cross or track event 
Gold , Silver ,Bronze awards  with Platimum for riders who qualify and also attend nominated whole club runs 
Separate category for e bikes as we must embrace that these bikes will become more and more prevalent in the future .
 
 
 

Just throwing in some events ran in past which proved popular
I used to run a two day event at Glengarnock circuit  it started with a prologue TT 1.6 miles followed by a crit of an hour plus 5 laps in afternoon. Followed up by a RR at Gateside on the Sunday all done with 3 marshalls per day .
We ran a series of APRs  at various locations a) Peesweep at top of Braes  b) Gateside  2 circuits  c) Kilmacolm d) RNAD always popular events
A hill climb series 4 climbs one after the other starting at Howwood then Club hillclimb then 2 climbs off Beith Road heading to RB at Lochwinnoch
Hill climb followed by cyclocross event  we ran this for a few years first as a confined then as an open event.
Place to place TTs instead of out and back great if you ride with tail winds only  or reduced distance one year we were getting great numbers at Georgetown and light was fading so we shortened distance each week down to a final 3 mile event everybody loved it .
We rented a field off a farmer near Howwood and had a series of MTB races for different categories on a weekly basis ( riders paid £2 each ) before that we built circuits at Bluebell woods Elderslie  , vacant ground opposite clubrooms , quarry near Georgetown road and Gleniffer braes 
Two ups where teams were chosen from hat on the night so you could have the fastest and slowest rider riding as a team , great for team bonding or not depending on the individual LOL
We used to traditionally follow up club hill climb championship with a sports day which had slow cycle ,obstacle race , speed judging , freewheel , plus novelty events ie throwing the welly a sort of shot putt on bikes . WE invited other clubs to event , traditionally Lomond Roads and Regent.
We did a couple of cyclist v Harriers events with Kilbarchan Harriers these were popular down south ( a couple took place in Irvine as well) 
we did try to organise a bike v horses event but failed to find a suitable circuit 
Sometimes you have to think out the box 
ie when I started the Millport events again we had a 3 up 10 mile lap of the island . Everybody told me it was too short for a team TT nobody would ride it  the first year we had over 120 riders and more the next year . It was only discontinued due to island becoming too busy .
The same was true of TTT championship when I reduced it from 100K to 50K everybody said it wouldnt work it went from 6 teams to 24 teams 
We also held open event series with other clubs ie
Early season APRs at RNAD Beith 36 , 45 56 miles an extra lap per week we did that with Inverclyde Velo and Fullarton Wheelers
We also ran a summer crit series at Glengarnock with Inverclyde Velo , Fullarton and Inverclyde CRT helping to run the events 

Just throwing in some events ran in past which proved popular
I used to run a two day event at Glengarnock circuit  it started with a prologue TT 1.6 miles followed by a crit of an hour plus 5 laps in afternoon. Followed up by a RR at Gateside on the Sunday all done with 3 marshalls per day .
We ran a series of APRs  at various locations a) Peesweep at top of Braes  b) Gateside  2 circuits  c) Kilmacolm d) RNAD always popular events
A hill climb series 4 climbs one after the other starting at Howwood then Club hillclimb then 2 climbs off Beith Road heading to RB at Lochwinnoch
Hill climb followed by cyclocross event  we ran this for a few years first as a confined then as an open event.
Place to place TTs instead of out and back great if you ride with tail winds only  or reduced distance one year we were getting great numbers at Georgetown and light was fading so we shortened distance each week down to a final 3 mile event everybody loved it .
We rented a field off a farmer near Howwood and had a series of MTB races for different categories on a weekly basis ( riders paid £2 each ) before that we built circuits at Bluebell woods Elderslie  , vacant ground opposite clubrooms , quarry near Georgetown road and Gleniffer braes 
Two ups where teams were chosen from hat on the night so you could have the fastest and slowest rider riding as a team , great for team bonding or not depending on the individual LOL
We used to traditionally follow up club hill climb championship with a sports day which had slow cycle ,obstacle race , speed judging , freewheel , plus novelty events ie throwing the welly a sort of shot putt on bikes . WE invited other clubs to event , traditionally Lomond Roads and Regent.
We did a couple of cyclist v Harriers events with Kilbarchan Harriers these were popular down south ( a couple took place in Irvine as well) 
we did try to organise a bike v horses event but failed to find a suitable circuit 
Sometimes you have to think out the box 
ie when I started the Millport events again we had a 3 up 10 mile lap of the island . Everybody told me it was too short for a team TT nobody would ride it  the first year we had over 120 riders and more the next year . It was only discontinued due to island becoming too busy .
The same was true of TTT championship when I reduced it from 100K to 50K everybody said it wouldnt work it went from 6 teams to 24 teams 
We also held open event series with other clubs ie
Early season APRs at RNAD Beith 36 , 45 56 miles an extra lap per week we did that with Inverclyde Velo and Fullarton Wheelers
We also ran a summer crit series at Glengarnock with Inverclyde Velo , Fullarton and Inverclyde CRT helping to run the events 

Just throwing in some events ran in past which proved popular
I used to run a two day event at Glengarnock circuit  it started with a prologue TT 1.6 miles followed by a crit of an hour plus 5 laps in afternoon. Followed up by a RR at Gateside on the Sunday all done with 3 marshalls per day .
We ran a series of APRs  at various locations a) Peesweep at top of Braes  b) Gateside  2 circuits  c) Kilmacolm d) RNAD always popular events
A hill climb series 4 climbs one after the other starting at Howwood then Club hillclimb then 2 climbs off Beith Road heading to RB at Lochwinnoch
Hill climb followed by cyclocross event  we ran this for a few years first as a confined then as an open event.
Place to place TTs instead of out and back great if you ride with tail winds only  or reduced distance one year we were getting great numbers at Georgetown and light was fading so we shortened distance each week down to a final 3 mile event everybody loved it .
We rented a field off a farmer near Howwood and had a series of MTB races for different categories on a weekly basis ( riders paid £2 each ) before that we built circuits at Bluebell woods Elderslie  , vacant ground opposite clubrooms , quarry near Georgetown road and Gleniffer braes 
Two ups where teams were chosen from hat on the night so you could have the fastest and slowest rider riding as a team , great for team bonding or not depending on the individual LOL
We used to traditionally follow up club hill climb championship with a sports day which had slow cycle ,obstacle race , speed judging , freewheel , plus novelty events ie throwing the welly a sort of shot putt on bikes . WE invited other clubs to event , traditionally Lomond Roads and Regent.
We did a couple of cyclist v Harriers events with Kilbarchan Harriers these were popular down south ( a couple took place in Irvine as well) 
we did try to organise a bike v horses event but failed to find a suitable circuit 
Sometimes you have to think out the box 
ie when I started the Millport events again we had a 3 up 10 mile lap of the island . Everybody told me it was too short for a team TT nobody would ride it  the first year we had over 120 riders and more the next year . It was only discontinued due to island becoming too busy .
The same was true of TTT championship when I reduced it from 100K to 50K everybody said it wouldnt work it went from 6 teams to 24 teams 
We also held open event series with other clubs ie
Early season APRs at RNAD Beith 36 , 45 56 miles an extra lap per week we did that with Inverclyde Velo and Fullarton Wheelers
We also ran a summer crit series at Glengarnock with Inverclyde Velo , Fullarton and Inverclyde CRT helping to run the events 

How about a revamp of the old Tourist Trial event ??  a sort of BAR club event 
A)  long ride  of 100 miles ie 5 ferries , double Arran or  nominated sportive which has to be completed in different times for each standard  Gold , Silver , Bronze (  dated events to allow qualification)
b)  a 10 mile TT ( part of League of 10s) again with standard times 
c)  a Georgetown TT ( Chocolate series) with standard times 
d)  a hill climb with standard times  ( 2 events to allow qualification time)
possible addition of confined circuit race , APR , cyclo cross or track event 
Gold , Silver ,Bronze awards  with Platimum for riders who qualify and also attend nominated whole club runs 
Separate category for e bikes as we must embrace that these bikes will become more and more prevalent in the future .
 
 
 

Club run 70s style back road to Port Glasgow from Gunpowder climb
Kenny MacD , Paul Mcgrath , Dave Smith , Ian Neilson  with international rider Drew Brunton giving a masterclass in puncture repair, 

Club run 70s style back road to Port Glasgow from Gunpowder climb
Kenny MacD , Paul Mcgrath , Dave Smith , Ian Neilson  with international rider Drew Brunton giving a masterclass in puncture repair, 

You know the problem is the club is made up of loads of different groups ( not a bad thing ) which all go out in their own separate groups  and currently Traditional Sunday Club Runs and Time Trials are not really that important to the current membership . Maybe we should deliver something different and bin testing maybe do  Timed Gravel Rides ( not races) would save the committee some time and stop trying to get a non racing club racing . At the moment we have one racing track , maybe one racing road and at best 2 doing time trials , we have more riding gravel than riders racing . So maybe we should focus our time getting all the bunches back out on a Sunday , jus a thought  

How about a revamp of the old Tourist Trial event ??  a sort of BAR club event 
A)  long ride  of 100 miles ie 5 ferries , double Arran or  nominated sportive which has to be completed in different times for each standard  Gold , Silver , Bronze (  dated events to allow qualification)
b)  a 10 mile TT ( part of League of 10s) again with standard times 
c)  a Georgetown TT ( Chocolate series) with standard times 
d)  a hill climb with standard times  ( 2 events to allow qualification time)
possible addition of confined circuit race , APR , cyclo cross or track event 
Gold , Silver ,Bronze awards  with Platimum for riders who qualify and also attend nominated whole club runs 
Separate category for e bikes as we must embrace that these bikes will become more and more prevalent in the future .
 
 
 

How about a revamp of the old Tourist Trial event ??  a sort of BAR club event 
A)  long ride  of 100 miles ie 5 ferries , double Arran or  nominated sportive which has to be completed in different times for each standard  Gold , Silver , Bronze (  dated events to allow qualification)
b)  a 10 mile TT ( part of League of 10s) again with standard times 
c)  a Georgetown TT ( Chocolate series) with standard times 
d)  a hill climb with standard times  ( 2 events to allow qualification time)
possible addition of confined circuit race , APR , cyclo cross or track event 
Gold , Silver ,Bronze awards  with Platimum for riders who qualify and also attend nominated whole club runs 
Separate category for e bikes as we must embrace that these bikes will become more and more prevalent in the future .
 
 
 

many thanks Chung gutted I missed it , need to make sure I get to it this year . Fine dining at its best .

Inspirational stuff from Aileen who had retired a year before event , some of us older guys remember her early career when Martin Keir was her pilot for a number of years . She was a regular solo rider back in these days which was also a huge achievement given her sight impairment. 

Hi All,
Its been a while since I wrote anything on the bunch ..... so, I thought I would start again 🙂
I think this would be a good place to start :-)
A bunch of 8 met at the clubroom for David's wee tour - Bill, Carol & David, Carol, Frank, Garry, Tommy & myself set off for some back roads!
It started out a bit on the cold side but David soon got us warming up as the climbs started early ..... which kind of set the tone for today! But back roads does not mean bad roads, on the contrary.... some of the minor roads David had planned were in fact in much better conditions than a lot of the main roads. Whats not to like, smooth road with NOT much cars at all! Well done, David! 🙂
Some of the roads I'm sure was new to some of us & certainly for me ..... or at least not been on for quite some time.
We stayed as a bunch through out & even up the climbs .... ok, maybe the occasional "attackers" stretching their legs a little when the road goes up a bit. But nobody was getting too far ahead since no one, except David knows where we were going 😎
It wasn't long before we got to our designated cafe just outside Stewarton, this place never disappoint, tasty fresh baking & friendly service ..... we had to fight for the last remaining 3 fruit scones amongst ourselves ...... so to keep harmony & peace 🤪, I opted for a full scale lunch instead (even though it was only 11 am) & left the scones for others 🤥
Fed & watered ..... we made our way back to Johnstone with a more usual & direct route ..... brilliant & fun descend down the Bowfield! Then David suggest a wee detour to Bridge of Weir before we finish today's run off 👍
Thanks to David for organising & everyone else for the wheels & company ...... I had a good time today!
Cheers all & thanks for reading 🙂
Chung
 

Be good to meet up with you again Kenny

Inner tube too stretchy I will bring a tow rope 🤣

Remember riding this in early 80s  Robert Millar won it from Drew Brunton in what would have been a photo finish these days  . They escaped at heads of Ayr when a horse unseated its rider and split race apart . I was in the break chasing and when we were coming down the  Nick of Balloch John Clanky Clark was descending like a demon we overtook the motorcycle marshals who couldn't keep ahead of us on the bends . Remember a hairpin bend with a bridge and my bars scraping the wall as we came round as my back wheel skidded on loose gravel . Cracking race with some tough climbs .  Ivy had Clanky , Ian Thomson , Davie Whitehall and Jim Mcmanus who took it in turns to attack break  all the way in from the NIck  .  Managed to get a 6th place on my first time riding it .

Remember riding this in early 80s  Robert Millar won it from Drew Brunton in what would have been a photo finish these days  . They escaped at heads of Ayr when a horse unseated its rider and split race apart . I was in the break chasing and when we were coming down the  Nick of Balloch John Clanky Clark was descending like a demon we overtook the motorcycle marshals who couldn't keep ahead of us on the bends . Remember a hairpin bend with a bridge and my bars scraping the wall as we came round as my back wheel skidded on loose gravel . Cracking race with some tough climbs .  Ivy had Clanky , Ian Thomson , Davie Whitehall and Jim Mcmanus who took it in turns to attack break  all the way in from the NIck  .  Managed to get a 6th place on my first time riding it .

Herdys Hell , now that was a classic gravel race before they were invented 

Remember riding this in early 80s  Robert Millar won it from Drew Brunton in what would have been a photo finish these days  . They escaped at heads of Ayr when a horse unseated its rider and split race apart . I was in the break chasing and when we were coming down the  Nick of Balloch John Clanky Clark was descending like a demon we overtook the motorcycle marshals who couldn't keep ahead of us on the bends . Remember a hairpin bend with a bridge and my bars scraping the wall as we came round as my back wheel skidded on loose gravel . Cracking race with some tough climbs .  Ivy had Clanky , Ian Thomson , Davie Whitehall and Jim Mcmanus who took it in turns to attack break  all the way in from the NIck  .  Managed to get a 6th place on my first time riding it .