22 December 2009 The link at the end of this article has the details of a cyclosportive event that Jeremy Humphries is helping to organise on May 16th next year. It is based at Backwell School, and will tour North Somerset and the Mendips. There are two routes, 100km and 100 miles. www.blackratcycle.co.uk

20 December 2009 Holiday in France Update on the story below, the dates are 27th August to 4th September inclusive. The holiday page has been updated to reflect the changes.

19 December 2009 Home again Nick Armstrong is home again now following his operation in Bristol. The op went well but it will be a few weeks before he knows if it was sucessful. Plus a few more weeks off the bike.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all, and here's to a warm, dry 2010 with lots of cycling miles.

16 December 2009 Holiday in France Roddy Payne is hoping to take a bunch of riders through France in early September next year. He has already put a lot of thought into the route and the costs. A full outline can be seen on the holiday page. See below too.

Club Clothing. We are going to have a Club Night on Monday 11 January at the Sports Club in Yeovil, from 8pm. The new supplier for our club clothing is going to bring along samples of all the garments in all the sizes, so everyone can have a look at the quality and decide what size they need. We will then place an order for delivery in March. This will also be an opportunity to talk to Roddy about his French holiday plans.

10 December 2009 Olympic cycling champion Bradley Wiggins joins Team Sky Team Sky have signed three-time Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins for the forthcoming road cycling season. Wiggins has left American team Garmin with a year left on his contract to join the team led by British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford. The 29-year-old finished fourth in this year's Tour de France, the joint-best ever finish by a British rider. "This team wants to be the biggest, the best and the most admired team in the world," said Wiggins. "It's the first British ProTour team and to be part of that from the start is going to be something quite special.

29 November 2009 The Winners This years Champions received their trophies at the Annual Buffet. Some retained their trophies whilst others found a new home for 2009. A full list with times will be on the Records page soon until then here is a group shot...

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From left to right Anthony Morris, Christine Vince, Ian Smith, Gregory Morris, Shaun Walsh, Hugo Baldacchino and Dave Driver

23 November 2009 The Club Buffet Is this Friday, the Sports Club opens at 7:30 and food will be served about 8pm. If you haven't booked your place call David on 01963 440291, or if you would like to come along and not eat we will still be pleased to see you there, just turn up.

8 November 2009 The Club Buffet We are going for the same format as last year, an evening buffet. It will be on Friday 27 November at the Sports Club in Yeovil (Johnson Park), starting around 7:30pm.
The buffet will be followed by the prizegiving and there should be some new faces amongst the recipients this year. It is our one social event of the year so let's see plenty of you out this year. It will be in the main hall of the sports club, not the lounge. If you have not already returned the form from the Pedaller please do so by the 17 November – if you have lost the form here is another. Buffet Form
Return of trophies If you were awarded one of the club trophies last year please can you arrange to return it to Garry Mitchener as soon as possible – 01935 428258. Likewise if you think that you have won a trophy this year can you let Mike Northcott have the details, preferably with a copy of the results sheet(s) if you have them.

10 October 2009 Invitation to Dinner – Urgent Request TheTVCRA are holding their Annual Dinner and Prizegiving this Tuesday at the Wyndham Arms in Ilton from 19:30 - This is the end of season bash (similar format as the 4up night without the riding the bike bit) £6.50 a head, pay on the night. Barry Carter is organising the event and would like to know who is coming as soon as possible. You can contact him on 07885 768830 this weekend, or 01308 868884 on Monday. Should be a good night and it would be great to have some YCC riders there too.

6 October 2009 Invitation to Dinner The Frome and District Wheelers will be holding their Annual Dinner and Prize Presentation evening on Saturday 7th November at ‘the mill at rode’, (just off the A36 at the Woolverton junction). The Guest of Honour will be Eddie Adkins, 1970s National Champion. We would like to extend the invitation to attend, to your Club, whose representatives will be most welcome.Tickets are available now and cost £18 for a four-course meal. Please make cheques payable to ‘Frome and District Wheelers’ and send the cheque along with your name and address and the number of tickets you need, to the organiser. Please state whether a vegetarian meal or a specific dietary requirement needs to be catered for.

Organiser: Mrs Ceri Lambdin, 57 Lydiard Way, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 0UW. Tel: 01225 761026
Email: fromeanddistrictwheelers@hotmail.co.uk

4 October 2009 Hill Climb An excellent turn out for the annual race up High Ham with twenty riders competing from a variety of clubs. Anthony Morris was the highest placed Yeovil rider (3:20.3) whilst Rob Edgell (Somer Valley CC) was the fastest overall with a time of 3:07.5. Full results.

The Club Buffet. We are going for the same format as last year, an evening buffet. It will be on Friday 27 November at the Sports Club in Yeovil (Johnson Park), starting around 7:30pm. The next issue of the newsletter, which will be posted in the next two weeks, will have full details and a booking form.

	Riders in start order for the Annual Yeovil CC Hill Climb at High Ham Click on the image for a bigger version

3 October 2009 You tube If you surf on over to YouTube and type in 'yeovil cycling club' you will now find some video footage of the Open 10 and some of the Sunday morning club runs courtesy of Anthony and his bike mounted video camera!

28 September 2009 Open 10 First of all thanks to all the helpers, to Paul, Andy and Dennis for timekeeping, to all the Yeovil CC members: Derek, Bob, Mike, Rick, Stuart and Arthur, for marshalling, Phil for the pushing off and Jane for running the tea stall. It was a glorious afternoon and the riders had warm sun and light winds for their 10 mile thrash up and down the A303. Greg Sandy came within a few seconds of the course record, which stands at 19:55 – set by Clive Brooks back in the 1990s – a remarkable ride as it was done on a borrowed bike that was too small for him. Mechanical problems on the way to the start resulted in Greg doing a quick swap onto Kelvin Price's machine and arriving at the start with just seconds to spare. Greg finished with a time of 20:08 with David Kiddell (Cavalier CC) in second at 20:44, Barry Holley (VC Walcott) in third with a time of 21:21 and Kelvin Price doing 21:24 on his own bike!!

Top Yeovil finisher was Mike Loader, finalling getting close to his usual form, with a time of 22:02. He was hotly followed by Chris Martin (22:09) and Shaun Walsh at :22:32. Dave Driver won the Vets Standard prize with a plus of 8:39 in a time of 23:21, whilst Alex Walsh did 23:32, Andy Gaylard 24:17, John Clemit 24:21 and Doug Ward 26:07.

Somerset RC took the team prize with three finishers in the top six. Sebastian Bayliss (1st Chard Wheelers), on his first TT, won the Junior prize and Louise Berman (...a3crg/PBScience/SIS) was the fastest Woman.

Results will be sent out in the next few days, or you can download a copy from the following link, YCC Open 10 Results.

22 September 2009 Evening TT Series Results from last Thursday, the final round of the evening series.

Thank you to everyone that has helped to make this another successful season, to all those that have marshalled, pushed-off and acted as timekeeper. A special thank you to the regular team of Derek, Garry and Mike Northcott without their help we would not have any events at all.

Congratulations to Hugo, winner of the Points Cup this year. Final count is on the results page.

Don’t forget the final event of the year the hill climb at High Ham on Sunday 4 October.

19 September 2009 Evening TT Series Results will follow as soon as i have dealt with all the Open 10 bits.

Open 10. The start sheets have been sent out by email today, the posted ones will also be sent today. You can download a pdf version on the following link, start sheet. (For the 'eagle eyed' there was an error on the email start sheet, two number 5s and no fifteen, oops and the times too, this file is correct).

13 September Annual General Meeting A reminder that the AGM will be held tomorrow evening (Monday) at the sports club, start time 20:00 hours.

Evening TT Series Congratulations to Alex and Shaun for a new course record for a tandem (and the only tandem pairing so far). Results

Nick Armstrong is in Yeovil Hospital following a crash whilst out on his bike on Friday. He is making good progress but is expected to remain in for a couple of days. We wish him a speedy recovery, there is no news on the Time frame!

3 September 2009 Evening TT Series It is good to know the old grey cells are still working, I have now checked through the handicap times and they were 'as advertised'. Congratulations to Christine on winning the handicap. It was a close fought battle especially for second place, with Greg beating Daniel by just one second! Results

3 September 2009 Evening TT Series The traffic lights have just gone. The event will run this evening weather permitting.

2 September 2009 Evening TT Series There are traffic lights on the Yeovilton course near Ilchester today (Wednesday), if they are still there tomorrow we will have to cancel the evening TT. I will try and find out if they are likely to be there and will post a note on the website tomorrow, before 4pm.

28 August 2009 Evening TT Series Despite the windy conditions and the poor light we had yet another good turn out for the evening TT and yet more new faces! Just three more to go now before the end of the season and then the Open 10 on Saturday 26 September. We are without Derek for two weeks so we will need an extra helper please, in addition to a pusher-off, either to act as start timekeeper or to marshall at the turn. If you can help please let me know (David on 01963 440291) or we will have to volunteer someone on the night. It is the 5 handicap next week, a list of qualifying riders and their handicap times are below, so if you are not participating please consider helping. If the night is dull we strongly recommend the use of a rear flashing red light, if we deem it unsafe to ride without one we may well not allow unlit riders to start. Results

23 August 2009 Exmoor Bike Marathon Saturday 5th September 2009 (previously known as the South West Randonnee). This year’s ride has had a total re vamp, with a new starting venue at Porlock and a choice of 5 routes. So whether people are just starting out in off road cycling and want to try a short route of 12.5kms, or for the real enthusiast and technical riders we have a very challenging 100km route. Contact details: bhf.org.uk/exmoor email: westevents@bhf.org.uk tel: 08001693672.

CHEDDAR CYCLOSPORTIVE 2009 On Sunday 20th September 2009 a 60km,100km and 160km ride. Start and finish in Cheddar at Broadway Acres. Feed stops on each rout.e Entrance includes electronic timing tags, parking, insurance, medical cover. Entry Fee £23.00. To enter or for more information please visit www.cheddarcyclestore.co.uk

BATH 100 OR 50 MILE CIRCULAR BIKE RIDE The Anthony Nolan Trust is looking for riders to sign up now and to get into gear to help to save lives from Leukaemia by taking part in their forthcoming big bike ride which starts and finishes in Bath. The Wessex Bike Ride - 100 or 50 miles event, which has been running successfully for 15 years starting and finishing in Salisbury, is now taking place from the Ralph Allen School, Claverton Down Road, Bath on Sunday 13th September. Both routes head south past the Lions of Longleat. The 50 mile route passes the Westbury White Horse while the 100 mile route continues along the beautiful Wylye Valley passing Salisbury Cathedral, before turning north to skirt Salisbury Plain and on through the Vale of Pewsey before tackling the legendary Brassknocker Hill, whereupon a hero’s welcome awaits at the finish line. If you would like to ride to save a life please telephone:- 0845 460 1342 to register or apply on-line at www.bike-events.com We look forward to you joining us on this superb bike ride.

23 August 2009 Evening TT Series It was nice to see a few familiar faces returning to join us for the evening series. I hear a rumour the Alex is going to sponsor Andy to have a holiday every other week (check out the results this week)! Results

11 August 2009 Evening TT Series Well done to Ian Smith who came close to his PB, despite doing a 5k run the night before, to win the club handicap. He was eighteen seconds ahead of Ed Gibbs and last year’s defending champion Ricky Gibbs.

Next week is the last 10 of the season, we then move onto the for remaining 5s. Start time is 6:45 for the next couple of weeks. Results

11 August 2009 Evening TT Series This Thursday will be the Club Handicap 10, weather permitting of course. The evening is still open to all other riders. Yeovil members who have a minimum of three 10 times from this year (in which case their two best times from last year will be used) are given an average based on their five best rides. The table below shows those that I think qualify and their average times, then the handicap time which will be deducted from their actual time on the night. The rider with the quickest time after the deduction will be the winner of the trophy. If you think I have missed you off the list please let me know or bring along evidence of your times and I will work out the handicap. David Notley, 01963 440291.

8 August 2009 Evening TT Series August did not bring us the dry float nights we were hoping for, instead here are the results for the damp and dismal Thursday TT. Results.

31 July 2009 Evening TT Series Tom Alliban cracked the 22 minute barrier this week. Mike Northcott has acted as our turn marshal for virtually every event this year, we wish him well as he goes for an operation on his leg this week and extend our thanks to him for his support. We hope to see you up and about soon Mike. If anyone else is able to help at the evening TTs for the next few weeks it would be greatly appreciated. Results

28 July 2009 Evening TT Series A little late but here are the results from the 2-up TT last week. Results.

16 July 2009 New start time for the 1st Chard wheelers summer circuits at Merryfield airfield, on Sunday 26 July. Ilton- 0930 youth ABCDE. 1030 Reg C+. Get there in plenty of time as all riders/spectators have to show there racing licence or sign in at the security gate before they are allowed onto the airfield. Contact Rex Facey on 01460 61478 or email-rexfacey@aol.com for more details.

12 July 2009 Evening TT Series Not the most inspiring of nights but good for the handicap times! Well done Chris another excellent ride. Well done too to the first time ‘testers’ from Yeovilton who all put in some respectable times considering the breezy conditions. Results

6 July 2009 Andy Pugsley. Good news Andy is out of hospital and back on his bike! He even went out and rode the stretch of road on which he had his accident. He thanks everyone for their good wishes and will be back in the UK in a couple of weeks. He will be working back in the UK too as his Italian contract came to an end whilst he was in hospital (not as a result of his hospitalisation). He hopes to join the Sunday Club runs when he returns.

Update, just in from Andy...

Open 25 minor amendment to the results, the Vets winner was Tom Ryan, the link below has been amended.

5 July 2009 Evening TT Series A night of equals and a new name at the head of the list, well done Chris all this rivalry is obviously pushing the times down. It was good to see Phil Whaites back on his bike again, and making the most of his enforced rest period! The 2-up TT which was cancelled earlier in the year will now be held on 23 July. Results.

Open 25 by Mike Loader. Thanks to all the helpers, to Paul Arayan, Dennis Davis and Derek Todd for timekeeping, to all the Yeovil CC members: David Notley, Mark Johnson, Michael Ives, Nick Young, Ian Smith, Ricky Gibbs and Stuart Wroot for marshalling, and to Carol for food and drinks.

Prize Winners were:

Full results list in Word format can be downloaded on the following link. Open25 Results.

30 June 2009 Evening TT Series It usually works, I go away on holiday and the float evening arrives. Although it was touch and go whether this would be another cancelled 10. A shower before the start and after the finish, lightning and thunder rolling around -(Glastonbury Festival weather?) - but the course was fairly dry. The times for some riders made them pleased that we went ahead. Results.

TVCRA 4-up. From Andy Crocker. Thank you to all the helpers who made the event such a success and to the Wyndham Arms for hosting us. Please pass results onto you members. TVCRA TTT Results

18 June 2009 Evening TT Series The first of our ‘Come and Try It’ events attracted some new riders, shame it didn’t attract some good weather too. The cold wind made it hard going out, although there was the added attraction of the live music from the military band to accompany the riders. Results

16 June 2009 For Sale Contact Stuart Wroot on 01935 434026 or 07788914798 for any of the following items. Click on the image for an enlarged view.

ORBEA 47cm sloping (equivalent to approx 50cm horizontal) top tube made from Columbus “Starship” Aluminium tubing fitted with Deda Newton bars and stem, Shimano Dura Ace 7800 10 speed groupset and Mavic Ksyrium SL Sprint wheels fitted with Continental competition Tubulars. Weight approx 16 lbs. Either Time impact or Look pedals available. £1,600

Pair of Askium Race Clincher wheels, black, brand new. £100

Pair of Ksyrium SL  Clincher wheels, brand new never used, fitted with new Continental “Force” and “Attack” “chilli” compound tyres. Can be supplied with either Shimano or Campagnolo Cassette carrier. £300

John Andrews Memorial Road Race Congratulations to Jon Wynn (Northover Vets) on winning the race today. Jon and Graeme Lackford (Pendragon-Kalas) led for most of the second half of the race. A number of breakaway groups formed during the race to try and catch the two leaders but none succeeded. However the bunch timed the catch almost to perfection, cutting the lead to just 30 seconds as they started the last lap. By the time they reached the final turn onto the finishing climb the two leaders were just 200m ahead of the pack. On the sprint to the line Jon managed to stay away whilst Graeme was just pipped on the line for second place by Hugh Wilson (Forza Cycles) both just three seconds behind Jon.

The unofficial results are:

Chard Wheers 10 on the U30 Hugo had his revenge on Saturday night, beating Rick Johnston, he was also the leading rider in the winning YCC Team.

Evening TT Series That was rather drastic action just to avoid pushing off on Thursday Mr Loader, but we were pleased to see you up on your feet after Saturdays crash. Rick Johnston finally got the better of Hugo whilst Andy Gaylard continues to improve each week. Results

8 June Oxley Sherborne Sprint Triathlon will be held at Oxley Sports Centre, Sherborne on 30 August 2009. organised by Wessex Wizards Triathlon Club & Oxley Sports. Swim waves start from 08:00, Distances: 40m pool swim, 30km bike, 8KM run. There is a limit of 250 competitors, if you are interested you can find more details at www.wessexwizards.com/Race. There is also a poster for the event, click on the following link, poster.

Come and Try It event. The first of our two CATI time trials will take place on Thursday 18th June on our 5 course. All new riders are free to enter and we would like to promote the event to as wide an audience as possible. There will be some posters available on Thursday evening, (or you can download one here, poster) please can you put one up at your work, local school or sports centre/gym.

6 June John Andrews Memorial Road race. We have seventy three riders entered for the event next Sunday. The HQ is Long Sutton village hall and the race starts at 10:00am. Full details can be found on the attached start sheet. If you are able to help Garry would be pleased to hear from you, contact him on 01935 428258.

Evening TT Series Glad to say there were no incidents this week. Another great turn out and yet more junior riders. Scott Jenkins and Chester Neal, both local riders, joined us and each put up a good time of 15:40 and 15:48 respectively. Results

4 June JUNE AUDAX RIDES There are still places left on Arthur Vince’s Audax rides this month. The 102km Daisy Chain is on Sunday 21st June; the 304km Somerset Moors event is on Saturday 27th June.  The Daisy Chain uses the same route as the February Primrose Path, cancelled this year because of snow and ice; it starts from Corscombe at 9am. The Somerset Moors ride starts from East Coker at 6am. Both rides are hilly, with 1955m and 4500m of climbing respectively and can well be described as “scenic”, but the lower speed limits are 12.5km/hr (Daisy Chain) and 14.3km/hr (Somerset Moors) so it’s not necessary to be super-fit to finish inside the time limit. A 15 year-old successfully rode the long event last year.  More details can be found in the calendar on the Audax UK website, www.audax.uk.net, or ring Arthur on 01935 863429.

2 June French Cycle Challenge from David Ulrich. I am trying to find 2 keen cyclists to make a team of 4 for a charity cycle ride through France in September, full details of which can be found on the following link,
http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/involved/cyclechallenge. If you are interested please could you contact David Ulrich on 01935 891855 or email david.ulrich@hotmail.co.uk.

31 May Update on Andy Pugsley, from his brother in Italy. "Andy is ok although he has had a lot of work done with more to do. A few more details about the crash have emerged. Most importantly he wasn’t left by the driver, who did get help and an ambulance etc. Not sure how the hit and run story had come about, but in this case it appears the car driver did everything right. It sounds like Andy was on a descent and the car driver had stopped for directions. Andy went straight into the back of him so whether he was round a corner or just didn’t see him I don’t know. The police are involved so an official story is yet to come out.

Injuries are pretty nasty. So far they have put a titanium plate across his nose, 2 in his jaw and 1 in his hip. His eye socket is still damaged, his soft palette is damaged (meaning he still has a tracheotomy in) and his knee is broken in 2 places. They have had to slow down a bit over the last couple of days as he now has a chest infection.

Thanks to all the club members who have emailed me for their kind comments which I will make sure Andy gets."

TVCRA 4-up Team Time Trial The entry form for the Ilton event is now available. Entry Form. I will print some out and bring them to the evening TT on Thursday, so get your teams sorted, or at least think about the riders you know that are doing similar times to yourself and we will try and get the teams together on Thursday.

29 May Evening TT Series The start was delayed and the start and finish adjusted to allow the event to take place after Phil Whaites was unfortunately hit by a passing driver. Phil was taken to hospital and the police attended.

The accident took place in Podimore, in the section of road just before the start area. Phil and his bike were on the grass verge, he had a stone in his cleat and had put the bike down on the grass, leant forward to sort his shoes and the passing driver was so close that she hit his head with the wing mirror. Phil was concussed for about an hour, was in Casualty for three hours where he had a CT scan. He has a broken collar bone, stitches in his head and will be off work for a couple of weeks. We all wish you a speedy recovery Phil. Thank goodness for cycle helmets!

Results

22 May Evening TT Series Another really good turn out, with some new and some familiar faces joining us for the first time this year. Welcome to Daniel Bowditch who joins our growing ranks of young riders and to some ‘not so young riders’, Arthur and Christine Vince, and Ricky Gibbs back after surgery on his knee. Good to see you all again. Results.

19 May Update on Andy Pugsley Thanks to Mike Northcott for the following: Andy has serious facial injuries which require him to be on ventilator, and he is being kept sedated although he is conscious enough to know what is going on around him. There may be leg injuries, but it is thought that other than the face, there are no other serious head injuries. It is also thought he will need some surgery before he can be repatriated, and his recovery will be a long one. AgustaWestland have organised transport and accommodation for his bother who is now out there with him.The circumstances of his accident are not clear, as the police will not comment until they have interviewed Andy, which is not yet possible. However, they say they have interviewed the driver and some other witnesses.

18 May Andy Pugsley We have just had the following news from James, Andys nephew. " I don’t know if you have heard yet, but Andy was in an accident in Italy yesterday and is now in intensive care. We don’t know the full details yet but he was found on the side of the road with face and head injuries. He was out on the bike and looks like he got hit by a car which promptly drove off and left him. He is going to have surgery over the next couple of days once he is stable. Westlands are now making arrangements to bring him home but it’s early days yet so we’ll see how it goes. He always cycles in club colors over there so I know he would want you to be kept informed".

Andy was our club time trial secretary for several years, and only stepped down when he was posted to Italy about three years ago. He keeps in touch with the club and often comes out to the club run if he is back in the UK. As soon as we have more news it will be posted here. I am sure you will all join me in wishing Andy a speedy recovery.

15 May Evening TT Series The wet weather that had seemed set in for the day did clear in time for us to have a five, the rain soaked A303 was just too wet for the planned two-up (which will now be held at a later date). Results

14 May Evening TT Series 17:00hrs. The rain has eased considerably, but it is very unlikely the 10 course will be in a suitable state to use. We will run a 5 if the conditions are still safe when the event is due to start, whether it is a solo or still the two-up will again depend on the conditions. Start is at 7:15 tonight.

13 May Evening TT Series The weather forecast for tomorrow evening is for a very wet night. It will certainly mean the 10 is cancelled and if the rain is as heavy as they predict the alternative of a five will be off too.

Good luck to Roddy Payne, who starts the London-Paris ride on Thursday. Hope the weather is a bit kinder to you Roddy.

9 May Evening TT Series Not quite what we hoped for with the arrival of May.  Cold, wet and windy is not what was ordered, combined with the new gritted road surface the times took a tumble this week, but still a good turn out. We are pleased to see yet another young rider, Daniel Martin, also twelve, and an putting up an excellent time for his first ride in the unpleasant conditions. That is three 12 year olds now, the contest for the Juvenile BAR is certainly going to be interesting this year. Results.

7 May The wheel debate continues... Here are some thoughts on the rear wheel tests carried out (I'm not convinced the test was really meaningful). I have seen quoted that a really good set of aero wheels can save about 1 to 1.5 minutes (60 to 90 seconds) over a 25 mile time trial compared to a standard 32 spoke shallow rim. If you say a 25 mile TT takes an hour (60mins). The maximum advantage is (90/60=) 1.5 seconds per min of riding.
Now (point 1) the test didn't include a standard 32 spoke shallow rim wheel. So in this case we might say the best set of wheels should be say 45 seconds faster than the worst.
I also believe that only the rear wheel was changed and a constant front was used. Now according to what I've read the front wheel is more critical than the rear for an aero advantage. This makes sense, as it’s the first thing that meets and disturbs the air. The rear wheel will help but is always going to be in significantly more turbulent air after it's been past the front wheel, frame, rider's legs and chain set. Given all this we might assume the rear wheel only contributes to a quarter of the speed gains compared to a set (point 2).
Put this together and the 1.5s/min advantage gets divided by 2 for point 1 and then divided by 4 for point 2.
Now [(1.5/2)/4=]0.19s/min.

Now the test was only carried out over 1min 18secs (1.3 mins) so at best you would be trying to measure a difference of around (1.3 x 0.19=) 0.25 seconds so the test was probably not capable of distinguishing between these small gains.

The power put into a bikes system by the rider on a level road is transferred into:
(a) Kinetic energy (Speed of bike and person)
(b) Rotational energy of moving part (Wheels and chain set etc)
(c) Overcoming Drag - Energy is lost as heat (Rider and bike moving through the air)
(d) Overcoming Frictional losses in the bike - Energy is lost as heat (tyres on tarmac, losses in bearing, chain etc)

Now in a roll down test you start with a certain amount of potential energy, which is converted into (a) and (b) and lost as heat due to (c) and (d) as you roll down the hill. To start with (slow speed) (c) will be small and the others will have more of an impact so maybe for the first part of the roll down test your not really even testing aerodynamics.

Now (b) will be probably be higher for a disc or heavier wheel as it's based on the mass of the rotational object and how far this mass is from the centre of rotation. So this may be significant in a short test because more energy will be stored spinning up the heavier wheel and this will reduce the acceleration of the bike initially compared to a lighter wheel skewing the test results.

Finally all that said - The drag force increases with velocity (speed) squared. That means if you double your speed the Drag increases by a factor of 4! ?
Drag Force = 0.5 x drag coefficient x density of air x velocity squared x frontal area of person and bike. ?
Now power (Watts) = work done per second ?
Work done = Force x distance ?
So Power needed to overcome drag = drag force x distance travelled per second. ?
Now distance travelled per second = velocity (speed) ?
This implies the Power to Overcome drag = 0.5 x drag coefficient x density of air x velocity cubed x frontal area of person and bike.

Because velocity is cubed, if you double your speed you need (2x2x2=) 8 times the power!!

Putting some numbers in:
Drag coefficient for aero tuck ~ 0.6 (A bit guessy!)
Density of air ~ 1.2kg/m3
Frontal Area of person and bike ~ 0.5m. (Educated(ish) guess!)

This means:
At 10mph (4.5m/s) - Power from rider to overcome drag ~ 16 watts
At 15mph (6.7m/s) - Power from rider to overcome drag ~ 54 watts?
At 20mph (8.9m/s) - Power from rider to overcome drag ~ 130 watts
At 25mph (11.1m/s) - Power from rider to overcome drag ~ 246 watts?
At 30mph (13.4m/s) - Power from rider to overcome drag ~ 433 watts !!!!?

Now at 30mph get super aero and reduce your drag coefficient from 0.6 to 0.55.
Now power to overcome drag ~ 397 watts (a saving of 36 watts)

So as you go faster even small gains in aero dynamics really matter. If I was as fast as you Shaun, I’d use a disc wheel! P.S. I hope my physics is right! Comments welcome. Cheers, Ed.

5 May Evening TT Series The resurfacing appears to be complete and the majority of the gravel has been cleared. There is a small amount of grit in the gutter but the roads should be suitable for the event on Thursday. It would seem prudent not to ride your best set of tubs though!

4 May He of the superior wheels Shaun, I seem to remember some stats from the Hed website that suggested that there is a greater aero benefit from disc wheels over spoked wheels when the wind is coming from an angle. I guess this is bourne out from your research as there was not much difference with no wind at all. Maybe try it again when the wind is coming towards you from an angle? I'm impressed with your dedication. I'm not sure my new wheel makes that much difference (although the old wheel was in the process of falling apart last season which couldn't have helped) - I think losing 4 kg and doing more miles over the winter has helped more. See you Thursday ... if the course isn't buried in gravel. Hugo.

Update on the gravel: The road has been resurfaced from the A303 to the Yeovilton village turn, most of it has had the tarmac and grit applied and they were busy sweeping up the loose gravel as I drove through at 6pm tonight. I will post another update tomorrow.

3 May Wheel world tests by Shaum Walsh Having noticed the advantage Hugo has been getting recently from his superior wheel set I decided to do a slightly dodgy test of the wheels I use myself. I have a HED ProAm Disc, a HED TriSpoke and a Shimano Ultegra 32 mm. rim with 16 spokes, all rear wheels and all about 8 years old and in good order. On a morning with very little wind, in fact not noticeable, I drove out to Druly hill near Bruton marked the start and finish place and Carol followed me down each time to eliminate any passing traffic. All other things were equal in each test, the same tyres and tyre pressures were used, skin suite and aero helmet, I tried to take the same tucked position. I started on the slope near the top and rolled down to a point where the speed was not diminishing very much. I used my own stopwatch, which has always proved to be accurate. I started after ten seconds and stopped it when I reached the mark. Not very accurate I will admit but for the moment bear with me. The wheels weighed, complete with tyres, tubes and cassettes.

Now, given the fact that when I pressed the button, point 4 of a second would have been impossible to judge, I consider that all three wheels performed the same, even the Disc which being heavier, one might think would have the edge. I’m thinking this was a very short test and would be interested if anyone has done anything to test wheels on a longer hill. My thoughts are that the lightest wheel would be best going up hill. I know which I shall be using on the hilly courses from now on.

Any further thoughts? email webmaster@yeovilcc.com

1 May Evening TT Series The dark and threatening clouds yesterday meant the 10 was changed to a 5 to ensure the riders safety. There are notices on the 5 course to indicate that the road will be resurfaced next week, Tuesday 4 May. If it is done in the same way as our local roads the course is likely to be covered in deep grit! A note will be posted on the website next Thursday afternoon with an update. Results

25 April Evening TT Series Another good turn out for the first 10 of the season and good to see yet more new riders joining the event and a few familiar faces out for the first time. Results

19 April Open 10 A good ride from Greg Sandy and the Somerset RC Team took both first place and the Team prize. Greg did a 20:41 and combined with Andy Winterbottom and Kelvin Price had a team time of 64:51. Our best placed rider was Mike Loader on a 21:52, followed by Hugo on a 23:01, Dave Driver on 23:45, which won him the veterans standard prize with a plus of 8:00. Chris Martin recovering from his knee operation did a 23:57 and Andy Gaylard clocked a new PB of 24:51. Thanks to all the team of helpers, you know who you are! Open 10 Results.

16 April Evening TT Series Another stunning turn out of 36 competitors and some cracking rides tonight. Doug Dewey sets a new course record of 10:31. Andy Gaylard continues to improve with yet another PB. Our juniors also improved with Jacob Newbury putting in a great improvement of nearly two minutes whilst Greg Morris knocked off 40 seconds. With only three minutes covering the majority of the field it is certainly getting very competitve. Thanks to all the helpers and a reminder that it is a 10 next week, same start time 6:45. Results.

10 April Open 10 The start sheets for the Open 10 on Saturday 18th April have now been sent out by e-mail. The printed sheets will go in the post, 2nd class, tomorrow. You can download a copy by clicking on the following link, YCC Open 10. We have a field of 55 riders with Mike Loader, Chris Martin, Hugo Baldacchino, Dave Driver and Andy Gaylard competing for YCC. Start time is 15:00 and if you can help with the marshalling David would be delighted to hear from you, 01963 440291.

9 April Evening TT Series It felt more like winter than April, and to add insult to injury we were locked out of the HQ! It was great to see yet another junior taking part, well done Jacob an excellent time for your first TT. Despite the weather we still had sixteen brave souls willing to compete, the honours went to Liam Roberts this week and no surprise the new course record is still intact. Results.

8 April 2009 Merryfield The season has now started at Merryfield and there are plans to introduce some racing for the younger riders soon. The training sessions for juniors, run at the circuit, will commence on 5th May and run from 7 to 8pm. Every four weeks there will be an omnium for those that want to participate and have shown sufficient bike handling skills. For pass details please contact Garry on 01935 428258.

3 April 2009 What a start! With a fantastic field of 34 riders the evening TT series started this week, and the course record was smashed by Doug Dewey with an impressive 10:37. Full results are in the attached results sheet (Word format), 2 April.

New Short Sleeve Road vests have now arrived. So we have stock of all sizes again.

30 March 2009 Missing Something? There were two items of YCC clothing left at the HQ after the road races on Sunday. If they are yours give me a ring on 01963 440291. There was a lot of speculation as to what the rider wore, or not, on the way home!

Ham Hill and Pittards Trophy Road Races. We could not have asked for a much better day, despite a cool start the wind was light, the sun shone and we had two excellent races. The overall positions were as follows, a small cahnge to the Pittards from the results that were announced on the day...

Nick Armstrong congratulates Oliver Beckingsale – Giant – on winning the Ham Hill Road Race

Both races saw plenty of attacking riding, the Ham Hill splintered into several groups on the first lap and the pressure stayed on all the way through the race with the winner completeing the 60 miles in 2:13:56. The Pittards also say its fair share of breaks but none manged to stay away for long. It finished in the traditional bunch sprint with only a few bikes lengths coveringh the first ten riders.

The whole team deserves a large pat on the back. The Commissaires particularly commented on the excellent marshalling, so well down everyone, your efforts are appreciated. Our thanks to must go to the Welsh Escort Group too for the provision of the motorcycle marshals, they really are brilliant. A mention for our first aiders who were once again called into action, there was one incident per race, fortunately neither was serious with cuts, bruises and battered egos being the order of the day.

Garry Mitchener and Nick Armstrong with Peter Johnston winner of the Pittards Trophy Race

20 March 2009 Road Races The start sheets for the two road races have gone in the post today, alternatively you can download a start sheet by clicking on the link, Pittards and Ham Hill. We have a full field plus reserves for the Pittards Trophy Race and over sixty riders in the Ham Hill. There will a prime prize for each race this year, which will be on the last lap of the race, probably on Coppitts Hill, a good place to watch if you are not already helping. There is a very strong field for the Ham Hill this year with a good proportion of Elite riders and some strong teams, it should be a cracking race.

10 March 2009 Coming soon. It is not long now until both th evening time trials and the TVCRA race training sessions at Ilton start. The TTs commence on Thursday 2 April, 18:45 start. The Ilton rides start on Tuesday 7 April. Mark Plummer is our TVCRA rep and you need to get your passes from him. The cost for this year is £15. To ride in either of these your Yeovil CC membership must be paid up for 2009, so if you have not renewed your membership please speak to Mike Loader as soon as possible. Mike can be contacted on 01935 410790, or send your cheque to 3 Poppy Close, Brympton, Yeovil, BA22 8US. Mark Plummer can be contacted on 01935 824556.

Coaching Sessions. Cycling Coaching Course - Level One – at Huish Episcopi Sports Centre Saturday 7th March 8.30- 5.30 and Saturday 4th April 8.30-5.30. The qualification will introduce principles of safe, ethical and effective management and coaching of cycling sessions. The certificate qualifies you to independently prepare for, deliver and review pre-prepared coaching sessions to groups of adults or children. The course covers all of the basics of cycle coaching and qualifies coaches to deliver British Cycling Go-Ride Gears 1 and 2 activities. For more details see this BC page.

Please print off and fill out the cycling course application form, and send with a check payable to Somerset County Council for £97.50 pounds to: C Priestley, Leisure Services, Hestercombe Gardens , Cheddon Fitzpaine, Taunton Somerset, TA2 8LG.

Notes for filling out the application form: Return s soon as possible, it should have been sent in in early February. Tick the silver insurance, if you do not already have it. Please leave blank any financial questions. Somerset Leisure Service will fund 50% of the course (so please send a cheque payable to Somerset County Council £97.5 instead of the full price of £195). A prerequisite of the course is to hold an appointed first aider qualification. Please contact Charlie Priestley, Project Assistant, Somerset Leisure Services on 01823 410225 for more details.

The club will refund the cost of the course provided the coaching qualification is used to support the clubs activities.

4 March 2009 Support a good cause. Roddy Payne is doing the London to Paris bike ride in aid of children with autism, his fund raising target is £1500.00 and he is currently stuck on £690. Roddy says "In this current economic climate I full understand that sponsoring people and making donations to charities becomes something that we have to think hard about which charity and how much shall I give. Having been through my address book if everyone sponsored me for £10.00 I would reach my target no problem, so I would like to be so bold as to ask you to sponsor me online by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/roddypayne1. Also if you would like to keep track of how I am doing you can read my blog by visiting, http://roddypayne.blogspot.com/ And finally if you are not aware of how autism affects peoples lives you can visit http://www.nas.org.uk/"

1 March 2009 Wheels etc If you have been patiently waiting for the update on the other bits we have been given by Dawn White here they are at last... All the wheels are 700c unless stated otherwise and all have screw on cassettes, 7 speed if they are shown on the wheel. They all run true but some are in better condition than others. I am fairly certain Tony used Shimano components. Again free to a good home, or you can make a charitable donation in memory of Tony White.

	Mavic MA2 Argent Rims on Maillard Hubs
	Mavic Open 4CD rims on unknown hubs (but look good qualitry).
	Wolber Profil 18 rims radially spoked onto Mavic hub. Small wheel, 650. Tub.
	Mavic G40 rims on Soidel hubs. 7 speed block.
	Mavic Open SUP on 105 hub. 7 speed block
	Disc Wheel, 7 speed block.
	CycleOps fluid turbo trainer. Needs a good clean! Already taken!
	Aero Helmet. Ignore the red strap that is not part of the helmet. Basic aero shell with no ANSI rating.
	Leather saddle. No makers name visible any more.

If you are interested give me a call on 01963 440291 or 07525 900718, David.

New Cafe. The club run, all seventeen of us, tried out the new cafe in Langport on Sunday. The Old Wharf cafe is next to the river on the Curry Rivel side of the town. Nice cakes and coffee, warm and welcoming and open on a Sunday! Should be really nice in the summer sat outside by the river.

17 February 2009 Planet X Old Skool Series? Thanks to Dawn White we have a selection of the late Tony White's bike bits, free to anyone that can give them a home. There are four frames, a selection of wheels and sundry other bits. A full list and pics will follow as soon as I have time. The frames will end up on the skip next week if no-one is interested, so act quickly if you want one. There are all approx. the same size, Tony was about six feet tall and the frames measure about 60cm from bottom bracket to top tube (centre to centre). They are in need of some attention.

If you are interested give me a call on 01963 440291 or 07525900718, David.

30 January 2009 ICE ALERT We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory. If we were involved in an accident or were taken ill, the emergency services would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call.  Hence the 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign. The concept is simple, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person, or persons, who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency). The idea was thought up by a paramedic to enable Service personnel and hospital Staff to quickly contact the right person by simply dialling the number you have stored as 'ICE'. For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. Sounds like a good idea, so go and do it now!

14 January 2009 Planning Ahead The Calendar page has now been updated with all of the 2009 events in both the West DC and South West (Time Trials and Road Races). So if you have actually manged to get some training done whilst we have endured these sub-zero temperatures you can now start planning your season. The new CTT Handbook is available, order online at the CTT website, which contains all the information you need to enter time trials. The BC site has the early season road races listed.

Club Coaching As part of British Cycling's Go-Ride initiative we would like to ask if there are any members who would be interested in coaching young riders (around 8 - 14 year olds) in any cycling discipline. BC will provide any necessary support to help the Club to become Clubmark Accredited.
Further information can be found on www.britishcycling.org.uk and follow the Go Ride and Young People link in the left hand panel. If anyone is interested then please either contact Garry Mitchener on 01935 428258 or one of the committee members.

4 January 2009 Champions Night Are any Club members going to the Cycling Time Trials ‘Champions Night’ next Saturday. If so might there be an opportunity to cut costs with a bit of car sharing? David Hutchins will be going so if anyone wants to share with him he would be more than happy to reduce emission costs! Interested? Contact David on david@hutchins.co.uk.

A new energy drink for cyclists 'Bikefood' is being launched in Spring 2009. As an introductory launch offer, and for a limited period of time, they are offering you a 20% discount. Register at the following link, www.mybikefood.com/cluboffer, before 14th February 2009 amd it should be available for you to purchase during March 2009.

Old news has now been moved to an Archive. If you want to check on an old item click on one of the inks below:

The Pedaller is the Club Newsletter and is published every three months, January, April, July and October, you can download copies of the latest issues below. If you would like to submit something for inclusion in the Pedaller then please send me an e-mail or if you prefer write to David Notley, Oakley, Church Road, Sparkford, Yeovil BA22 7JN.