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GROUPSMidlandsWelcome to the Midlands micro site. You can access Group specific information through this page. Currently the site has Group Officials, Group Events in the calendar, and Results for Group events. Group Lunch and Prize PresentationSunday 25th. January saw a total of 67 get together for their annual event which, once again, was ably organised by Greta Spiers with the Kings Court Hotel near Alcester serving an excellent meal.
Our Guest Speaker this year was Brian Newton accompanied by Arja who graciously presented the trophies later in the day. Brian, who had a serious accident riding in a time trial last May, spoke about his injuries, his treatment and his continuing rehabilitation with a deft mixture of honesty and good humour which drew much laughter from the audience. He spoke also of the many messages he had received over the months which helped him during the early days and told us of his new claim to fame - while being conveyed from Swindon to Frenchay Hospital near Bristol the authorities actually closed the M4 motorway and provided two police cars as escort complete with “blues and two’s”. How cool is that? That everyone was pleased to see him up on his feet again was evidenced in the huge round of applause at the end of his speech. The Echelon/VTTA Midlands Points Series awards were presented by Tim Wood – the Age Group winners being Neil Coventry, Phil Brown, Tony Taylor and John Dixson. The full list of winners has appeared in our Group magazine but it was pleasing to see Peter Rose getting some pocket money and also the only lady to qualify, Debbie Sheridan, with a commendable series of rides. The main awards ceremony was conducted by Recorder, Les Lowe, with the main trophy winners, David Gostelow and Keith Gelder, on parade to receive their trophies. It was interesting to note that although some riders collected more than one trophy, the spread of awards over the Group area was quite wide. As with the Points Series, a full list of winners is in the Winter edition of the magazine and sincere congratulations are due to all winners of the Points Series, Standard medals/plaques and the Group trophies. Who ended the day with the biggest smile? Our Lunch organizer, Greta, who won the cuddly Teddy Bear in the Raffle – Ah! Bless!! Alan Colburn
echelon-cycles.co.uk/VTTA Midlands Points Series 2008The final result of th echelon-cycles.co.uk/VTTA Midlands Points Series is now here... Group Lunch and Prize PresentationPlans are well in hand for the Annual Get Together ably organized by Greta Spiers - January 25th is the date and the venue is the Kings Court Hotel near Alcester. Get there for 12.00 hr so that you’ve got time for a quick drink before we sit down at 12.30hr. The Good News is that we had confirmed Hughie Porter as our Guest Speaker….the Bad News is that he now finds that he can’t make it. However the Good News is that Brian Newton of Team Echelon has kindly agreed to step in and let us know some of his training secrets (He doesn’t need to tell us how to disappear in to ditches - we can do that sort of thing on our own!!) Brian has had a varied career as far as cycling is concerned but now finds that he prefers the shorter distances and he’s certainly proved successful. Earlier this year he set a new Age Record for Ten Miles in 21.12 and on the track he won a bronze medal in the UCI World Masters 2000m Pursuit. These times are quite remarkable considering he’s only 69 years young - he should be really quick when he grows up. Arja will be on hand to make sure Brian doesn’t talk for longer than two hours and is not averse to setting records herself - a PB for Ten miles of 22.30 and three years ago a Silver medal in the UCI World TT Championships and for good measure this year set a new UCI European Ladies Masters for 2000m. Apart from the usual range of fine trophies to be handed over we will also have the Age Group prizes for the Echelon Cycles/VTTA Midlands Points Series which will be presented by the very handsome and intelligent Tim Wood of Echelon. (That might just clinch the sponsorship for another year!!) The Kings Court always does us proud and I’m really looking forward to seeing old and new friends - isn’t it strange to see what we look like without the Lycra and the pointy hats? There will be a booking form for the Lunch in this issue of the “Standard Times” so rush a cheque to Barry Keen - NOW!
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Members and Guests were welcomed by our Treasurer, Barry Keen, who outlined the support and encouragement tendered by the “other halves” towards their dedicated and committed partners. Judging by some of the amused expressions on the ladies faces other phrases might have been used to describe this attitude but everyone enjoyed Barry’s true-to-life remarks. The main sponsor of the Midlands Points Series, Echelon Cycles of Pershore, was represented by proprietor Tim Wood and his wife Emily who also brought along a few examples of time trialling equipment which certainly created a lot of interest.
The award of the Wooden Spoon was handled expertly by Tony Taylor, our former Press Secretary, who delighted the assembly with a convoluted but extremely funny review of possible recipients before deciding that the lucky fellow was Rob Meredith of the Walsall RCC. There were whispers that Tony’s tale benefited from some slight embellishment but………why let facts get in the way of a good story?
Congratulations to all the prize winners, and good luck for next season.