| Welcome to the South Western Road Club. We are a friendly cycling club based in South West London with a membership of over 100 cyclists. The active heart of the club is our Saturday club ride with a rotating three monthly list of the planned destinations, which take in the roads and lanes of Surrey, Sussex and Kent. There are also midweek rides and in the summer months an evening ride (chain gang) prior to our weekly Tuesday club night held in the Chessington area. You are welcome to try us out on a club ride or a visit to our club night. Use this site to find out more about us and some of the things that we do in the Club. The SWRC Blog can be found here ..... The Saturday Club Runs list updated to end September 2008 here....... STOP PRESS..... SWRC in this week's Cycling Weekly -"Club In Focus" page 83 Issue 24/7/08. |
If you can't find the information about the club you require please use this link to email our Club Secretary. 
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SWRC L'Etape de Tour 2008 - Sixth Time Lucky! Read club member Graham Collins notes at his joy of completing the 2008 L'Etape . I have a poor history in riding L’etape over the years. My first in 2001, Tarbes – Luz Ardiden over 145kms, involved struggling over the col d’Aspin and then the col de Tourmalet from the La Mongie side. I was still in time over the Tourmalet but abandoned on the descent due to freezing extremities and general exhaustion. I had high hopes for my second foray in 2002 with another shorter stage of 145kms from Aimes to Cluses. The tour operator mis-judged the timing of the coach transfer from the hotel to the start. We were caught in a traffic jam at 6.30 in the morning and were I missed the ride in 2003 but my next attempt in 2004 from Limoges to St. Flour began with a logistical headache: I stored my bike at the B&B near Limoges, drove the car to St. Flour and returned to Limoges on three separate local trains: The next day I covered 178kms of the route and abandoned at the summit of the Col de Nabonne, so exhausted that I couldn’t face the descent. More here..... Colin Parkinson wins 100 TT on 13/7/08 Colin was scratch man for last Sunday's North Middx & Herts CA 100 mile TT and lived up to his fast man tag winning the event in 3.51.11. Read Colin's thoughts on his first TT win in an Open event since 1982. When you are the fastest rider in the field the 'last man' the 'scratch man' if you will, as I was on Sunday in the North Middlesex & Hertfordshire It's not so simple when you are the favourite, there is a weight of expectation and dealing with this pressure is usually what marks out a good rider from a great rider. Thankfully I am only in this position occasionally, I am usually aiming to beat this or that rider and when I do I know I have done a good ride. Riders who win all the time will say that they expect to win but underneath being a winner is more of a mental battle than a physical one and in sport we prepare our self for the latter and its the rider who has the greatest need or the more experience that is better prepared in the former department and gets the elusive win. More here.....
Saturday Club Rides - New C group
We now run “C Group” Saturday rides in order to provide an opportunity for club members and new riders to join a ride at a more modest pace and distance than generally undertaken by the A and B Groups. Start is at 0930 at Cobham car park, as for the other groups, allowing people to choose their ride on the day. However, note that the C Group always starts from Cobham and does not change to a Betchworth start on the first Saturday of each month. Distance will generally be 30-40 miles at a pace that keeps everyone together and avoids the steeper hills. A tea stop is also scheduled for each ride to keep energy levels up! The club runs list shows the destination, so all you have to do is turn up at the start. We want members to spread the word once they have tried the ride and it will become the ride of choice for those looking for a more relaxed outing. Come and give it a try! .
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SWRC New Winter Kit Order Manufacturing samples of the winter kit will be available for you to try at the club on the 2 & 9 September. You are strongly advised to try out the size ranges before ordering. For example winter jackets are apparently cut large and so you will need to order a size smaller than for the summer top. Orders with cheques need to be with Simon Neave by Friday 12 September as he intends to ensure we have it for the start of winter. Order form can be found here...... La Marmotte 2008 Cyclo Sportive Five SWRC members entered this year's La Marmotte. It’s a 174km / 110mile sportive that starts in Bourg d’ Oisans and goes over some of the most famous climbs in the Alps. The first 95miles is a clockwise loop over the Col du Glandon, Col de Telegraph and the big one, the Col du Galibier, before finishing up the Alpe d’Huez. With around 6000 riders from all over Europe competing, it makes this one of the most treasured events to take part in. Paul Alderson writes.... After hearing about La Marmotte a few years ago, and its rating as the toughest one day event for amateur cyclists I'd been keen to give it a go. With Trevor's fantastic organising, before I knew it I was entered and the date was okayed by my (always) very accommodating wife. By the time the big weekend arrived, I'd completed over 7700km's of training and racing - my longest training ride being a 224km solo to Bognor Regis and back into a fierce headwind - the distance wasn't going to be my downfall. But with only the Surrey Hills as my training hills, the big mountains were an I bought a Planet-X bike, dura-ace equipped and with deep section carbon wheel, very light AND it had a compact chainring - which I would usually turn my nose up at, but for the mountains I had seen many times on the telly during the tour and after seeing pros riding them during the Giro this year, I thought it was probably a very good idea. Our trip out to Vizelle was spent almost entirely driving in the rain,(which didn't help to settle any nerves), and although a long trip, Alan's continuous chatting and his podcast collection kept me well awake, added to this the banter between Tango Lima and Mike Papa, meant that we arrived feeling pretty good. Also go to the SWRC blog and read Mark Packman, Trevor Lenthall, Alan Parkinson and Sabin Gaztelua Marmotte event blogs. SWRC MEMBER TO REPRESENT GB AT WORLD CHAMPS Club member Ann Marshall has successfully qualified to represent Great Britian at the 2008 ITU Duathlon World Championships to be held in Rimini on the 27 & 28 September. The qualifying event was held on the 4th April near Swindon on a cold exposed windy and sloping airfield. Ann’s achievement is even more noteworthy as this was her first duathlon event. The event consists of a 10k run / 40k bike ride / 5k run. She did not of course just turn up and take part but put in some heavy training in Ann in her new GB kit. Ann writes ….. I wasn't nervous because I was too busy being concerned about what to wear – I get so hot running and so cold on bike – consequently my transitions were disastrous as I fumbled with gloves, gillet etc, but fortunately I managed to come 4th in my age group (old bird category) and claimed a place in Rimini! Hopefully the Adriatic weather will be kind at the end of September and I've checked out the course – it's up and down the promenade so no hills there... things are looking up! SWRC GETS STAR BILLING IN CYCLING WEEKLY The SWRC's May Flyer Cyclo-sportive event has receive an excellent four page spread in Cycling Weekly dated 29 May 2008. The writer Ian Munnery, a member of Addiscombe CC, writes in fulsome praise of the route and our organisation of the event. The fact that Ian received no special treatment from us, he just entered and rode the event reflects well on all the club members who gave up their time to help with the event. With his encouraging words next year's event should sell out fast.
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Sponsored
by Evans Cycles  © South Western Road Club, 2006 |
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forced to assemble the bikes by the roadside and go eyeballs-out to the start where we arrived twenty minutes late. To make matters worse my derailleur had been damaged in the melee and I abandoned after 2kms into the event. High hopes dashed! 
CA '100' you would expect to win wouldn't you? The extra pressure of expectation on 'the win' is different from that when you are going for a personal best, there is a steady build up of pressure from the time you get a start sheet and your name leaps out 'favourite'. Other riders will say in their mind "If I beat him I will have done a good ride" You put pressure on yourself to do a good ride when you think you can do a PB, but the pressure is yours to control and is used to psyche yourself up for the event, of course the feeling of doing a good ride or even a PB is only experienced in the event as you push yourself to the finish and get the time you want but If your ride does not materialise there is always another event. 
unknown factor. My weight, due to all my time trailing, and trying not to snack too much, was 5kg less than the start of the year, so that should be a help in the mountains. Also, after riding my De Rosa almost into the ground over the last 8 years,and it having always had a problem with downhills, (I've experienced quite a few speed wobbles on it over the years, so I wasn't feeling exactly confident about descending the Galibier on that bike.), an investment in a new bike was in order. 
beforehand.
South Western Road Club hold a programme of time trialling events (racing against the clock) throughout the season from March to September. The programme includes a series of evening events open to club members , including a hill climb and a series of inter-club events held jointly with Epsom CC. ...