jez

Poole man takes Sotonia Open 25, May 18th 2013

It was was you were in the Sotonia CC 25 held on the P128 course west of Southampton, with Poole based James Gilfillan (Velo Refined) claiming his second win in the event to follow up his 2012 success.

Despite a poor weather forecast earlier in the week, the day dawn overcast but dry with only a slight westerly breeze and with the sun coming our once the event had started it was a pleasant Spring day for the small but quality field. The course uses a circuit which is covered there times taking in a variety of both single and dual carriage way roads, which were fairly quiet on this Saturday morning. Despite the good weather, some riders described the conditions as 'sticky' with no real help in any direction.

Gilfillan's winning time was a little slower than last yearâ??s 53.52, coming home in 54.25 this time. Second placed Andy Bryson (Peter Hansford Racing Team) enjoyed better luck than 2012 when he had mechanical trouble and this time finished in an impressive 55.16, with Simon Berogna (Velo Club St Raphael) making up the top three in 56.27.

First veteran was a previous winner and regular supporter of the event, Ray Hughes (Clarence Wheelers CC) who this time finished fourth in 56.54, whilst the first lady home was the promoting club's Jenny Hill who improved over two and half minutes to record 1.06.29.

However, possibly the biggest star of the day was Sotonia CCs Phil Connell who got up especially early to go out and sign the course (no small undertaking!) and still had enough energy to take 1.24 off his personal best, posting a fine 1.02.42. What a fine example to all!

by jez

2012 Newsletter

Chairman’s Chatter

As I sit here at the end of December basking in double figure temperatures it is a far cry from last year when the mercury plummeted and icy roads kept the bike indoors! 2011 has been another fantastic year for the club but this is all about the future, what is in store for 2012? The first thing to note is that due to the popularity of the forum and social networking in general the newsletter is now only going to be produced twice yearly, winter and summer. Sotonia has embraced new technology this last year and we now have a presence on Twitter (@SotoniaCC) and on You Tube where our resident video fiend Julian Gee uploads his videos, although his music taste is sometimes dubious!

With the club now attracting in excess of 200 members the administration of membership with the handling of cheques and cash and updating membership lists is immense and so the club now has an online subs payment system to try and reduce this burden. Hopefully most of you are aware of this and have used it, as I have with, and found it simple to use and saves time in not having to write a cheque and then find a committee member to hand it in to etc.

There are changes to the events Sotonia are organising this year. Last summer became very congested with club time trials, open time trials and road races putting pressure on club members to volunteer as without volunteers these events would not be able to run. This year we are running 4 less club time trials to reduce the number of events over the summer. The successful Heath Road Races will return this summer with another 3 race series. A major change is in the hill climb as the traditional end of season event will this year be run as an open (usual fee for members so don’t worry!) with an extra hill climb earlier in the season turning it into a two race event. This way people can test how their fitness has evolved over the season.

With changing lifestyles it has been recognised that Sundays are not always convenient to do a club run and so the Saturday club run is being introduced from January. The exact format of these has yet to be finalised and will probably evolve as time goes on but for now the main point is that these will start from the usual meeting place at 10:30 on Saturday mornings.

In the relatively short time that I have taken a keen interest in cycling this coming year has to be the one I have looked forward to the most. With the Olympics happening in our own country with a host of British stars vying for gold medals, the strongest British presence in the pro-peloton for years with Team Sky being an obvious focal point. The upcoming classics and grand tours could be a very fruitful time for British cyclists. With Cavendish having a green jersey to defend in the Tour De France and Brad Wiggins going for GC it will be interesting to see how Sky manage the team and how the peloton will react to the demise of HTC-Highroad and the legendary train for Cavendish.

On the club front it is hoped to repeat the auction of last year depending on availability of the main hall at the clubroom. So get out into the garage and get together all those bits and pieces which you no longer have any need for and make a few quid selling them to those that have a need (or just like to hoard!).
In short 2012 should be a bumper year for cycling so I hope to see you all out over the coming months,

Happy cycling,

Darren Strickland

2011 trophy winners

Taking home the silverware are:

Men’s best all rounder – Stuart Martingale (26.057mph)

Junior best all rounder – Cameron Taylor (21.736mph)

Fastest 25m TT – Andy Bryson (53.06)

Fastest 50m TT – Stuart Martingale (1.56.23)

Fastest 100m TT – Stuart Martingale (4.00.12) So close!

12 hour TT – Nick Wisby and John Radford (203.92 miles)

Fastest first year 25m TT – Phil Connell (1.04.28)

Ivor Blake handicap 25m TT – Jon Dudley (54.47)

Walsh Junior 10 winner – Cameron Taylor (26.10)

Corbin Club Person of the Year (chosen by the membership) – Penny Cossburn

Keats vets best all rounder – Alan Sharpen (+48.08)

Marriner championship 10 winner – Andy Bryson (21.45)

Keatley club 25m TT champion – Andy Bryson (55.51)

Vets on standard 25m TT champion – Alan Sharpen (+10.09)

Road race champion – Wendy Knowlton

Keeping it in the family Cyclo cross champion – David Belcher

Men’s points champion – Ollie Hitchings

Ladies points champion – Wendy Knowlton

Ladies 25m TT champion – Wendy Knowlton (1.12.08)

Ladies championship 10m TT winner – Wendy Knowlton (28.20)

Brickwood vets on standard 10m TT winner – Norman Harvey (+5.02)

Drinkwater cup for most points in South DC – Andy Bryson

by jez