Ramsay

Paul, I can make Saturday. If you are planning 8am at Howwood, how about I meet you at 07:45 at the Loch? Cheers, Ramsay

Not going to be able to make it guys. Sorry. Have a good one.

Paul, I might be keen! Got a million things to do at the moment, most of which involve going to building yards on Saturday morning. You thinking of the transmitter route? Will post tomorrow/Friday if I can make it. Cheers R

Colin, Can't fully commit until tomorrow, but I'm keen for either option. WIll post about lunchtime tomorrow to confirm. Cheers, Ramsay

Well done Jim. Have read the race reports and it sounds like hard work. Must try one of these two day races. Maybe next year! Cheers R

Entries are now being taken for Perth United's Eddy Morgan road race on the 11th July via entrycentral. http://www.entrycentral.com/index.php?raceID=100594 29 of 80 places had gone at lunchtime today.

Sorry guys, I'm away with work again! Have a good one. R

Stuart, That is fantastic. Well done. Good luck in the job hunt and hope you enjoy being back on the bike. Cheers, Ramsay

Congrats Jim. An even better ride than last week. Very definitely in a league of your own and a very worthy Club 10TT Champion! Thanks Jan for timekeeping again. As always, much appreciated. I will do my turn on the Georgetown in the next couple of weeks. Finally, I hope Greg is ok after falling on his way to the West Ferry. I hope nothing is broken or too serious. R

Well, in general that was a great day out. One of the groups had a bit of a pile up before Strachur, but thankfully no-one was seriously injured. By the sound of it, it was just one of those things. Anyway, there were 16 in the longer group once we all met at either the club or the Erskine Bridge. Apart from briefly dropping Ian McG coming into Arrochar (he dropped his chain and nobody noticed he was missing! Sorry Ian!), we all stuck together until the Rest. There was talk of riding up at a steady tempo in the group, but the climb was barely 100m from the side of Loch Long when a certain Mr McDonald broke clear, so not wanting to feel left out, myself and David T joined him. After that it was about 20mins of sweat, snot etc until we regrouped in the sun at the top. The ride from the top down to Strachur was lovely. Roads were good, company was great and the sun was out! Luckily as we got to the tea house there were several empty tables, because by the time everyone else arrived it was standing room for a bit. Good grub though. Paul and David T left fairly sharply, as Paul had to get back, then followed by Johnny, Willie and Steven. About 20mins later myself, Bill, Ian McG, Darryl, Aileen & Dennis, Richard, David, Allan(?), Martin, Chung and I think one other (sorry for forgetting who else was there ) left for the ride to the ferry. We went the direct route over to Hunter's Quay and got the ferry (with Willie, Johnny & Steven) back to Gourock. We then all rode through Gourock before splitting into smaller groups at Greenock, where myeslf, Martin, David & Darryl headed up the Whin!!!!! We said goodbye to Martin at the Quarriers turn and then after Phil's Folly we said goodbye to Darryl, leaving myself and David to ride back to Glengarnock and then up to Beith for me. 116 miles (well, 115.88) for the day and thankfully no sign of sunburn. Thanks to all for the great company. I hope everyone made it home without further incident. Until the next time!!

Good effort Jim. Sounds like another very hard day on the bike, with a quality field. Cheers, R

Is there a cafe stop?

Yep, thanks for timekeeping Jan. Much appreciated. Great ride Jim. A clear level above the rest of us!

Grant - Yes, I'm planning to take the shortest route from Strachur to Dunoon, or my day will end up way over 100miles! Did speak to Mary about the route options for you guys tonight, but I don't really know these road well enough, so I'll leave for you guys to sort out. I think the longer group should be in Strachur about 12-12:30 though (all going well). James - Sounds good. Think Ian McGinty was planning to meet at the bridge at 9am. Cheers R

Sorry, gave my spare one to Kenny MacD last year! (eh, Mirage, not Record!) R P.S. - Agree with you about rather walking!

I asked and wasn't allowed. But other schemes may be different. I'd just give the scheme people a call and see what they say.

I have looked at the routes. The longer route is about 60miles to Strachur, so realistically 3.5-4hours. Which means I would suggest we leave the club house at about 08:30, to be in Strachur for about 12-12:30 ish. Let me know how that suits those planning to do this route. If the other group (based on Grants post) is getting the 10am ferry, you may be at Strachur a bit before us, as it is about 20 ish miles from Dunoon the direct way. Not sure whether hingin around for us over there is better, or getting a slightly later ferry? There are of course two or three routes to Strachur from Dunoon, ranging from about 20 miles, to 25niles to 30ish miles (not sure which way you were planning Grant?) I assume we can get a bit of lunch at the Strachur tea room and then all come back to Dunoon to the ferry. I will then be planning on cycling back to Beith from Gourock. Grant - Elaine is on call all weekend, so can't come out to play! On the bright side, though, it does mean that I can be out all weekend!!!

Right, looks like Sunday (23rd) is a goer! It's a shame that a few more can't make it, but not everyone can always make every weekend.. It sounds like there will be two groups going, a longer route and a shorter route (no fast or slow!). At the moment the shorter route sounds like Jan, Willie, Mary and Grant, with the longer route Myself, Ian McG, Martin, Paul and David. Darryl, Ian M and James have said they are keen, but not have commited to either route yet. The internet connection I have at the moment is too slow to have a look at maps etc, but I'll log back on later and suggest a few times, so we can make sure the two groups do actually meet up! Initial thought is the long group meet at the club house no later than 9am, which should have us in Strachur for about lunchtime ish.. Cheers, R

All, A few of us were talking about the possibility of having a big day out for as many club members as possible (all in JWCC club colours of course ). The idea would be to have a few groups of differing abilities and head out on various routes, then converge somewhere for a bite of lunch, a chat and a social ride home together. In terms of routes, I thought about the "long route" being the Dunoon route (over the Rest) and meeting somewhere Dunoon direction (don't really know the area, but I'm sure there plenty of places to meet). This route could be in the region of 90 miles from the club house, but there are loads of options to do some great shorter routes around there if the ferry is used both ways. I am available to do either day next weekend (22nd/23rd) but then not available again until 24th/25th July. What do people think? (Good idea? Good route? Good dates?) Cheers, Ramsay

David, I'll be on the track at 08:30 (halfway between Kilbirnie and Lochwinnoch) and head towards Lochwinnoch and just meet you somewhere on the track, then we can turn and head down to Dalry. I'll PM you my mobile. Cheers Ramsay

I'm heading out for a few hills on Sunday if anyone fancies joining me. Probably leaving Beith around 08:30 and heading to Dalry, then over the Fairlie Moor, on to Largs and up the Brisbane Glen, down to Greenock and up the Whin. Finally back over the Kilmacolm to Lochwinnich road and up phil's folly and then home to Beith (maybe via Howood for a last hill). I think it's about 50 - 60miles. Not intending to stop for tea and cakes (but could be convinced). Cheers, Ramsay

I see that PMcD is on the start list and Jim is on the reserves. Hope Jim gets to ride, especially after missing last week. Good luck to you both.

Gateside is by far the best course at the moment. Peesweep is really rough. I'm away with work this week and the next , so won't make the first two APRs! Have fun. R

A bit of a mixed day for the JWCC at the 4 lap British Eagle. The race started at a fairly high pace and after chasing down a few attempted breaks, we got to the main hill where David was unfortunately shelled out the back. He did then continue all the way to the end (45miles+), so good effort. Paul and I held on for the next few laps, before both getting shelled out the back on the second wee climb. I just managed to get back on to the bunch, but it was game over for Paul. On the final lap I lost touch with the bunch again on the same wee climb and although they got 100m+ on me, I decided to give everything to get back on and actually managed it. WIth only 5 miles to go, I worked my way to the front and going into the last corner I was about 10th-15th with only 350m to go. Unfortunately my earlier effort gave me really bad cramp as I tried to sprint, so I sat up to coast over the line. About 100m to go there was a big crash in the bunch, so a few of us stopped to help the guys on the ground (don't think any serious damage to anyone, but at least one smashed carbon wheel). Anyway, myself, Martin Coopland (Falkirk) and Jamie Kennedy (Couriers) did get back on after seeing the guys were ok and coasted across the line. Credited with 36th and David 44th. All in all a hard shift, but good spin on a nice course. Cheers, Ramsay

David, You are right, no Jim on the start list!! Very strong looking field of 80 riders though (apart from Jim!) . See you there. R