kelly van der toorn

Dear all Just to let you know I had my babies just over a week ago - 4.30 and 4.31 am on Tuesday 6th September - requiring an emergency section having gone into premature labour on the Monday night. It was all a bit traumatic, as at 34 weeks, my twins are requiring 'Special Care' and will be looked after by the experts for a few more weeks it seems. The first born, Fletcher Gregory, weighed in at 5.3 lbs, and his sister Thea-Fleur was 5.7lbs. She's a dainty madam with swimmers shoulders, delicate hands and big feet, while he's got biceps and builders hands. Both have a decent pair of legs on them, but my dad reckons Fletch will have to pilot the tandem as his giant hands will be better suited to operating the brakes. Thea has fine hand control which has seen her remove heart rate monitors, oxygen prongs, feeding tubes and all sorts, and Fletcher seems fairly unphased by anything. Both have had a few problems in the first week, placing Greg and I on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, so we arent really feeling like celebrating thier birth until they are given the all clear, and we can bring them home. We look forward to sharing them with you all some time in the future.... cheers Kells X

hi folks! Can I just add my name to the list of those who marshalled last year in order to ensure riders like Kat werent prevented from competing...I forget what the event was - think it was the Scottish mens RR champs - but the penalty was the same if marshalls werent provided from our club. Donald Scally's wife - Lesley? was also with myself and Sharon that day....and I think there was only Donald competing from our club so it wasnt as if the men were all racing!! Apologies for my great excuse of being too pregnant to step in and help out this year! hope to make it out for another timekeeping session before the twins arrive (end of September) but finding myself struggling to do much more than put my feet up in between work and sporadic bouts of tiling and diy in the flat!! cheers Kelly

Many thanks to John Dargie, coach of the Glasgow Triathlon Club, for helping out with the timekeeping last night - cant think why he didnt want to ride!! Apparently 6 degrees, horizontal rain - thanks also to George for the loan of an arctic puffa jacket which stopped my and the twins from developing hypothermia at the finish... The triathletes showed up the wheelers in attendance, rumour has it they all wore wetsuits under their clothes and swam home across the clyde afterwards. Gerry Donaldson 32:30 Sian Tovey 34:10 (including about an extra mile after wrong turn!) Ursula Schulz 31:02 (great first attempt) Charlotte McShane 33:49 (including a wrong turn also) Maisie Dargie 29:45 Diana McPherson 27:02 Angela Mudge 28:23 (first time on a road bike, former world mountain running champ) Colm Daly 29:32 (just recovered from pneumonia, probably has it again today!) Richard Wild 27:46 Alan Newark 24:10 (My dad, lean 58 yr old who froze riding in a skinsuit and no socks!!!) George Hamilton 22:45 (Johnston wheelers – good ride) Tony Carrigan 30:59 (Johnston wheelers) Campbell Crombie 27:11 (johnston wheelers) See you all soon Kelly

Hello all, I'm just back from 3 weeks in South Africa - can timekeep on Wednesday night no problem. My dad is up from down South, roped into doing some work on my flat, but he's keen to do a midweek event while he's here so I'd like to bring him along.... Will need the stopwatch please. See you Wednesday Kells

I can timekeep for this event if someone can bring me a stopwatch! (I dont even own a watch since my Polar died...) Let me know if Im needed - I'll be driving out specially! Where do we meet / park up for this one? Kelly ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For all your computer needs, spares & repairs - PC Express, Love Street, Paisley 0141-561-0323 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi there everyone, Hot off the press news... Greg and I are expecting twins in late September all being well!! I might be a bit slowed up this year...will be available for timekeeping duties so hopefully see you all soon much love Kelly vdT X ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For all your computer needs, spares & repairs - PC Express, Love Street, Paisley 0141-561-0323 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Superb, see you there! Kelly

FAO Kenny / Shazy As I said before Ive booked Sunday in for marshalling this race. I havent written to the organiser to let him know I'll do it (as I havent really left the house much lately!) - Kenny provided postal details for Alistair Ogg - I did try to phone the organiser this evening but the number in the SCU handbook just goes dead.... Please can someone confirm that the Race organiser and official body knows we are providing marshalls as Im not up to confrontation at the minute and dont want to turn up and be told I am too late / surplus to requirements etc... And finally... can anyone tell me where to go for the strip / what time to be there etc? Cheers Kelly

The London Triathlon is being shown at 8am tomorrow on Channel 4 (I think). Kerry was second in the swim, out of a top class international elite field of women and bossed the first pack around on the bike section before finishing sixth overall after the run. Watch Kerry in action and listen out for her being bossy - apparently something she learnt from the Renfrew bunch boys!!

Right Shazy, sounds like a date to me! Marshalling is always better when you've got good chat and am now looking forward to it even more! Fingers crossed for good weather.....I'll bring a golf umbrella. cheers Kelly PS, Im doing this so that Kat can still ride the British TT Champs without fear of being disqualified from racing by WOSCA or whoever is threatening a ban!!!

I'll do it if no-one else can. Will still be post-op recovery so need a marshalling place not too remote and somewhere I can sit down when the action isnt there!! Think I'd enjoy watching the mens RR champs though from the SCU forum chat it seems its been badly advertised and not many entries as yet... cheers Kelly PS what does a ban actually mean to us? Do we ger banned from all events (TTs and RRs?) Is it just a black mark? Or Is it just some historical 'shaming' thing like in English time trials when they divide DNS racers into DNS's with apologies, and DNS's without apologies??!!

Dear clubmates, Sorry about my tasteless posting about lending out my wheels - it was little more than a sarcastic comment aimed at my recent misfortune......on Tuesday I was out with the renfrew bunch having complained of stomach pains in the morning which were still lingering - hey I was sore off the bike so rather be sore on it and do something than sit around all evening whining - anyway, two more days of stomach pain and one Time trial later and I collapsed on Thursday and asked Greg to take me to A&E -and I dont do hospital! - later that night we were told I was two months pregnant and having an ectopic pregnancy with huge internal bleeding. Thats like one where the baby tries to grow in the wrong place and it just exploded in my fallopian tubes - hence the pain. So 1 litre of blood lost, Im going to be off the sport for a few weeks now and am recovering well but am very light headed. My folks are here but going home tomorrow and everyone is running round for me so thats good. Anyway...I'll be out to help timekeep in a couple of weeks and look forward to hearing all the news. Bet we're headed for a spell of great weather and fast TT times just to add insult to injury! See you all soon, Kelly PS Please could someone organise Kerry Lang or Ali Winship into getting an SCU license so that three JWCC girls can break the Scottish womens team ten record on the Westferry in August!!! Vicky Begg did a fantastic PB 24.17 on Saturday at the Fullarton Wheelers 10 and Kerry finished 6th Elite in the International London Triathlon and Katrina got the qualifying time she was after for the 3k pursuit at the weekend, so the ladies are surely capable of kicking some ass!!!

Cheers for the response - think Im sorted already! thanks anyway Kelly

Are there any friendly electricians out there in the bike club? Kenny told me when I joined, that there was one of everything...plumbers (Harry you just fell to second priority), hairdressers, etc etc - We just had an exciting shower-blowing-up kind of experience complete with fireworks and burning smells. If theres anyone out there qualified to fix it (replace the shower and associated wiring) who doesnt mind travelling to the West End of Glasgow please mail me off the group. Id also like the electrics checked generally in the flat (cos things blowing up doesnt seem right to me!!) Thanks in advance Kelly

I seem to have found my way onto the start sheet for the TT and RR...but seriously doubt if I can make it. Sorry to whoever I gave the impression I'd be going - I was supposed to be away surfing after the national 10 up north, but now looks more like I'll be just recovering from the race back in Glasgow. Ive got a cold at the mo and while I should make the 10 on Saturday, I dont think I'll plan on another 'back to back' weekend of racing for a while. If theres any chance I can come along on Sunday I'll be there to help out and not race!! cheers K

am I the only one doing anything at the moment???? heres my racing news anyway - cant just put it under road racing cos its a bit more than that.... Hectic weekend: Scottish RR champs Saturday afternoon (50 miler) and a "Sprint" Triathlon in Ayr (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run) on the Sunday morning. Glutton for punishment that I am, I always seem to get stronger just when I shouldnt do. The road race was ok. I have mixed feelings about it as Im hearing stuff now that adds up to me having been marked and singled out from the word go - as Kat said, thats what I get for joining the wheelers - Im known, and yet Im a relative novice which is a laugh. The race had a few breakaway attempts, all of which got chased down at one stage or another. There was a bit of shouting done by Katie Wylie and Shona Robson mainly, and there were 3 Edinburgh roads girls determined to do no work at all. I was also keen to avoid working and soft pedalled whenever I took a turn on the front. The only work I did was upping the speed a bit on hills to stay with the pack. So, knowing there was an uphill drag before a flat sprint finish, I attempted to take a flyer from the back as we came down the fast descent, with a mile and a half to go. Katy et al jumped on my wheel and then EVERYONE boxed me going up the hill and I started the sprint at the back going into the last corner. Fortunately I corner better than most so took the shortest line and scraped back a couple of places going for the line. Moral: sit in and wait for the sprint - I might not be world class at sprinting but Im probably better than most of them. Next day, new story. Woke with a stiff hip for some reason, and wondered how it would be on the run. Decided to take the race less seriosly and took my Principia for another outing. Id heard the course had a few hills so figured I could just tuck in on the drops instead of time trialling, and I climb better on my road bike - tend to grind a bit on the Giant as the gears are a bit massive! River swim in dodgy water - that reminds me I must drink some coke to kill the dodgy bacteria - Came out of the swim with Vicky Begg but was quicker in transition, as I use the pro method of pre-clipping shoes onto my bike and slipping my feet in whilst pedalling down the road. Bike was uphill and headwind all the way out (small chainring and feeling a bit pathetic to be honest) then as I reached the turn and hadnt seen anyone come by I figured I was going alright! Then one of the marshalls shouted 1st lady at me - which is always good for morale, so I whacked it into the big chainring, thats the one you shouldnt be using at the moment, and flew all the way back to the run transition. Brilliant. Now, bearing in mind Ive run once in the past month, the run was bound to hurt me. Uphill, downhill, off road, up again and I was flying down towards the finish contemplating a sweet victory, when the marshalls made me (and everyone) do an extra dog leg. 'Bugger' as Big Jim would say. This was just enough to make my legs start to go wobbly - and I dared to look over my shoulder as I came into the finishing straight with 400m to go. 'B*****ks' as Kelly would say. Id been chased down for 2 minutes on the run by ex World Duathlon Champion Fional Lothian. I shook her tiny elf like hand as she cruised past me in the way that only a 7 stone runner can, and beat me by 6 seconds. I didnt realise there was another waif like gazelle closing in on me, but beat her in any case - Diana MacPherson a South African Elite long distance triathlete who is married to a Scot and stays in Edinburgh. Ive never been under 19 minutes for a 5k, and today I clocked 20.27 - in fact Ive never been under 20 in a triathlon, so was chuffed to bits. These runner types clocked 18.27, and 19.27 - and I had the 3rd fastest female run split. I also had the quickest swim and 3rd quickest bike (but we're talking seconds here and I didnt have tri-bars, remember) Overall times were 1.10.33, 1.10.39, 1.10.48 and think Vicky was 4th @ about 3minutes. No, Im not taking up triathlons instead of cycling, I just like to go and annoy the triathletes from time to time!!

well Paul, my legs jellied at the idea of getting up at 5.45 am on a Saturday morning (the time of your recent posting), let alone being awake enough to think about renfrew bunch routes! That said, I quite like the idea of smaller loops that you can hang onto for as long as possible without getting dropped somewhere like Port Glasgow and being left to ride back through 'nedville' alone. secondly (with ref to Iain's posting) the north side roads generally have even worse surfaces and a fair bit more traffic so I'd rule that out for bunch riding....

dude, get back in your box, you just stepped outta line!!!

I should be there...can people bring a spare top for me as I only have my skinsuit (and it might be cold!!) If theres any spare club training tops still for sale I'll bring my cheque book along too. thanks K

Never taken a bike with Ryanair, but SleazyJet charged me £15 last week for a bike really well packed in a bag, and said it would have been free in a box.. read the smallprint on the website!!!

I can do Wednesday (this week) morning - say 10am. meet you outside the building as usual? let me know if this suits KvdT

I should be okay to attend in the evening - what time are you talking about? I dont have Good Friday off work if its a daytime thing.........unless you can arrange for my workplace to be 'out of action' on Friday(!!!) cheers Kelly

......they're all 'at it'.......... hands up anyone who is surprised....

mens 10 - 20-35 mens 25 - 52-23 mixed 10 - 19-49 mixed 25 - 52-53 all quite do-able but I dont have a tandem anyway! However if there's a 'stoker' spot going begging and the 'pilot' isnt outta control then count me in......

Hi there I learned about the club via the Glasgow triathlon club (being invited to do the JWCC time trials last year). Moved to Glasgow a year ago and was told by various people that I shouldnt join a bike club as they can be a bit sexist and cliquey and there arent many girls who actually race. Luckily I proved them wrong and eventually joined a non-sexist, all inclusive club with one of the top girls in the UK to learn from!! So, a year on, Im a bike club member but still clueless about a few things: what courses are where, and what organisations I need to join in order to race... Can I just join the BCF? Is it exactly the same as joining the SCU? What is the difference between Gold membership and Silver membership? How strict are organisers about adhering to closing dates? (I keep hearing about people phoning the night before to enter time trials). How can anyone ever break the Scottish tandem TT records when there dont appear to be any tandem races in the handbook?? Sorry about all the questions - didnt realise how many things I wanted to know until I started splurging...hope I at least answered your questions... Cheers Kells