GNCC Lake APR - Balfron 18/03/2012

Traditionally the first race of the year for many and so it was for me. The APR (Australian Pursuit Race) is what we used to call back in the day a handicap event with the seeded riders having to make up ground on the groups ahead. This years event had given us in the scratch group a handicap of six minutes on the first bunch of riders, although it felt like a lot longer to me as the varying groups disappeared down the road from the lay by just East of Buchlyvie.

The pre race banter soon disappeared as, in glorious sunshine and with the tailwind start our group settled quickly into it’s work and it was quick with three Dooley’s, Paul Rennie, Martin Lonie and Greg Brown sitting together like a black clad express train followed by Peter Murdoch, Fin Young, Craig Adams and the rest of us hanging in there as the speed hit well over 55kph in places we hurtled towards the Kippen roundabout which was bedecked with more Day-Glo than a Farnesse Vini jersey. Through the turn and having negotiated the twists on the road to Thornhill the crosswind did little to deter the speed and we caught a glimpse of the group ahead, still working well together we hit the first rise into Thornhill. This threw the rhythm of our group for a while until normal service was resumed with Lonie looking strong (and far too tanned for this time of the year!) obviously benefiting from having had a warm weather training camp and regular visits to Manchester’s track league through the winter, his strength began to tell as gaps appeared as he took the front spelling through hard on the rolling roads towards Port of Menteith and the Lake which gives the event it’s name. His luck however was about to change as a loud pop from his rear wheel could only mean that a spoke had given up the ghost and stopped his progress.

The rest of us ploughed on into the headwind and slowly started to pull in the preceding riders. Up and through Port of Menteith and swiftly down to the Rob Roy Roundabout almost onto the back of the group ahead. As ever Flanders Moss didn’t disappoint, it’s always a crosswind up Flanders, always, and it always hurts. With everyone fighting for shelter in the gutter the catch was made just at the bottom of the drag and the line strung out, making progress to the front somewhat impossible. There was an inevitable lull at the top however which meant that the now forty or so strong peleton was a twitchy place to be, so it was time to move up the line. Just as well because Murdoch and Rennie plus a few others had decided it was time to stretch their legs again. A long fast line developed again including Lonie who had fought back to the pack having obviously had some superb service from the boys at Solid Rock Cycles. I had to get towards the front knowing that there would be some pain dished out and a selection on the climb through Killearn and so it turned out. Murdoch again hit the accelerator and I was glad I could slide through the bunch just about maintaining contact by the top.

The fast descent towards Balfron and the finishing circuit beckoned and I again needed to move through towards the front so in true Cancellara style (I wished) I tried to make up some ground on the descent. It was going swimmingly too, until at about 65kph I hit a huge pothole and heard the bang and hiss of a front wheel flat. Thankfully I held it upright and pulled to the side, where I awaited the Solid Rock Cycles service van out popped Mark with a replacement front but even as he ran towards me I knew the game was up, there was no way I was catching that flying group ahead on my own. Wheel in, I gave it a go until the finish line where it was time to face the fact I was going nowhere fast. So abandon I did.

Still it was a fine workout for the first race of the season and a super day’s weather to boot. Thanks to Alan and the team at the Glasgow Nightingale for another top racing day out and congratulations to Gary Maher from Ayr Roads CC who narrowly pipped Craig Adams of GJS Racing to win the sprint with Dominic Hines VC Edinburgh third.

Local Climbs

An ever growing directory of where local climbs are, what they're known as & what they're like. These are all within club run distance. Map with locations coming soon too...

1) Dukes Pass (North)
2) Dukes Pass (South)
3) Crow Road (North) Coming soon....
4) Crow Road (South) Coming soon....
5) Pipe Track (North) Coming soon....
6) Pipe Track (South) Coming soon....
7) Top of the World (Fintry) Coming soon....
8) Top of the World (Kippen) Coming soon....
9) Top of the World (Arnprior) Coming soon....
10) Carron Valley (Fintry to Reservoir) Coming soon....
11) Tak Ma Doon.. Coming soon....
12) Letter Muir.. Coming soon....
13) Braes of Greenock.. Coming soon....

1) Dukes Pass (North)
The famous climb on the North side of the Dukes Pass steps upwards from Loch Achray in the Trossachs, through the Achray Forest and finishes at it's 3rd summit, before descending towards Aberfoyle. It initally climbs steeply from 100m altitude at Loch Achray, then levels off slightly and even descends before climbing again. The gradients get steep again and after a left hand corner and you can see the climb ahead of you to the right hand side of a steep hill. Once over this and past a viewpoint towards Loch Drunkie in the east, the road descends and turs sharply to the left for the tough final kilometre. You hit one more small summit, then the final one, which has some of the steepest gradients. Those last two summits always feel like the hardest parts of the climb, in reality they probably are. As with most Scottish hills, the average gradient doesn't imply this hills hardness, but it's the steeper sections that cause the pain.
 


Length: 4km
Ave Gradient: 3.9% (includes descents)
Max Gradient: 16%
Height Gain: 155m

2) Dukes Pass (South)
An altogether different climb to the north side. This one starts in Aberfoyle and continues steeply, with barely a break until a false flat section. This initial section includes several hairpins and changing gradients, with one section as steep as 20% for a short length. The road winds past the David Marshall Lodge and through the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, until a final steep section opens up onto the false flat. This is deceptive, as it's still climbing (see profile) and then there's a final push to the top.
Length: 3.9km
Ave Gradient: 5.9%
Max Gradient: 20%
Height Gain: 231m

The 'Sir Chris': The First Look

Our latest club sponsor for 2012, Careth Ltd (a lanscaping, grounds maintenance, fencing & contract cleaning business based near Balfron) invited our chairman & secretary to a visit to the new velodrome being built in Glasgow's east end for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The facility is looking incredible already, even though there's no track in there yet, but based on Manchester, Glasgow's Chris Hoy Velodrome looks like it's going to easily surpass the facility which was built for the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002. We didn't really know what to expect, what state it would be in or how much we would see, but what we did see was incredible. The project has been huge, it fantastic to have it in Glasgow and the engineering & construction looks like it's very high spec, it looks like a world class sports venue.

When you arrive in the car park, there's a road circuit which skirts the outside, it's only 1km long and has a hairpin at each end, possibly not ideal for elite riders, but certainly will be well used by youth riders and the lower categories. Should teach vital skills and provide a permanent off road training & roacing facility, hopefully clubs and coaches will see it's value.

Approching the venue, the shear scale of the project hits you, this isn't some normal sports or liesure centre, this a major venue for Commonwealth Games, it carries it well.

 We were shown the arena, which will have a 250m banked running track, which can be lowered on hydraulics to provide a flat surface for a variety of different event, makes that a very large & very adaptable space, exactly the legacy it should be.

Moving onto the thing we were here to see, it's going to be very very good. It almost looks finished, you feel yourself imagining the track sitting in there, you can see exactly where it goes. The seating is there, wrapped in plastic, the judges box, windows looking out onto the track from a future gym, the biggest in Glasgow apparently, so you'll be able to spin-bike and get a taste for moving off something static onto the real thing. Round the walls are accoustic blocks, to ensure David Hoy's voice can be heard properly at the track league without any echo's, all still safe in plastic for now. The scale is incredible, a huge window looks out towards Celtic Park, it feels like a very light space.

May is when it's due to be handed over and the SCHÜRMANN brothers get the boards in, these guys have a fair bit of experience, click HERE to see which velodromes they've built already.

What a venue, what a future our riders are going to have, we can't wait until October, this IS the best venue we're ever going to get as cyclists.

2014 Commonwealth Games
Velodrome Info
Glasgow, London, Manchester velodrome deal.

Huge thanks to Keith at Careth for inviting us along.

Club Calendar (continually updated)

Everything that's ongoing can be accessed here for info for club members.....

• Sunday rides, 9am, usual place.

CLUB TRAINING

• Thursday 29th March, 2012 chain-gangs kick off. Blog post going up nearer the date, with what it involves, the first few weeks will likely be heavily involved in skill teaching in 'wheeling about', so you'll learn things quickly if you've not experienced these before.
• Some Saturday rides planned too, keep an eye on your email for those, will be arranged between those heading out.
• We'll be running a few club confined evening events too during the year, more info once we know the details. 
• Club track day at Meadowbank velodrome in Edinburgh, date to be confirmed.

SPORTIVES & CLUB OPEN EVENTS

• Sunday 15th April: The Scottish Bike Show Loch Lomond Sportive. LINK 
• Sunday 29th April: Club away day. Etape Caledonia trial run, all welcome, shorter routes & nice cafe’s can be found.
• Sunday 13th May: Etape Caledonia. LINK
• Saturday 19th May: Keswick Sportive LINK
• Sunday 20th May: All Day, Vortex Race Team hosts Scottish Road Race Championships in Balfron. HELP REQUIRED!! This is a bigger & better event than last year, so need to get loads of marshalls, convoy drivers,
• Thursday 14th June: Vortex Race Team hosts ‘Midsummer Mountains’ evening triple hill climb. HELP REQUIRED!!

RACING TEAM ACTIVITIES (this will grow & grow once we find out who's riding what.
*See note below for BC/TLI memberships.

• Saturday 3rd March - Eddie Soens Memorial- Aintree Racecourse. Team: Sarah G
• Sunday 18th March - Lake APR Team: TBC (BC Membership required)
• Saturday 24th March - Moniave Wild Hills Team: David P, any other takers??
• Meadowbank Track League, starting on Tuesday nights at the end of April.

 * BC/TLI Memberships, a brief explanation.

• BC (British Cycling) supply memberships & race licences to SC (Scottish Cycling), they are the body who are recognised as the official cycle racing body in the UK by the UCI, who govern international cycle sport. There's a full calendar of events HERE , use the drop downs to filter. For a large amount of these events you'll require a BC Race Silver or Race Gold membership without also having to purchase a racing licence, a Silver or Gold membership also comes with 3rd party insurance if you're on your bike, so well worth having. Details of membership HERE , put your club in as Vortex Race Team if you apply. There's also a number of packages for non racing members HERE . Ask Colin if you want any more info. Our Road Race championships will be run under BC rules.
• TLI plugs the missing gap in UK racing, they offer predominantly age related racing, but have a smaller number of races available locally. The full calendar is available HERE and membership available on the same link. Non TLI members can ride TLI events for an additional £4 surcharge normally, but preference will be given to TLI members if the event is oversubscribed.

Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome – Why all the fuss?

There are a lot of bike riders out there that are wondering what all the fuss about the velodrome is and I’m guessing that the vast majority of them are wondering why? So I’ll try and explain the reasons why I think this facility is going to be the biggest thing that will happen in Scottish Cycling ever. Yes EVER because I’ve absolutely no doubt in my mind that it will revolutionise (pardon the pun) the development of all the cyclists that ride it on a regular basis.

I never really considered the track much as a kid, growing up as I did in deepest darkest Norfolk about two hours from the nearest facility. I did however make the occasional trip to the now defunct Harlow track, I also rode the boards at Leicester and Calshot on a BCF training weekend (more about that some other time). So basically I stuck to what was available to me, the pretty standard fair of youth and junior road races, time trials and the criterium circuits which seemed to be far more plentiful than are available to kids these days. So it was back then in the days of black and white.

It seems ridiculous to me now that I only really got to know the fun that could be had on the banking until the day about three years ago when Mr Bark organised our former club’s track day at Meadowbank, suddenly it all came flooding back I’d forgotten loads but with some expert guidance I was soon up and down the boards as if I’d never been away from them. Don’t get me wrong I’m no six day rider but the experience totally re-invigorated me and planted a seed that has grown over the past couple of years through regular attendances at the Meadowbank track league.

I had never really considered the track as a possibility partly for the reasons outlined before but coming back to the sport after far too long away, the opportunity to ride on a proper velodrome was too good to be missed and after a few trips through to the capital I found it more and more satisfying and once into the groove found myself becoming more competitive. The benefit of riding the track also helped enormously with my road racing. To me there is no co-incidence that I had one of my best seasons on the road having spent time on the boards.

You only have to look at the line up of the guys on the British team in Copenhagen who took Mark Cavendish to the Rainbow jersey the majority of them came through British Cycling's track programme at Manchester and are endurance track riders. The facility in Glasgow is going to be better than Manchester, it has been designed with riders in mind by riders who have spent the vast majority of their cycling lives in velodromes. I haven't even mentioned that the British Track Squad will no doubt use this facility on a regular basis which will no doubt rub off on the youngsters coming through for the future. It is a fact that you will become a better all around bike rider from getting onto a track. I know I have and it can be done in a relatively short time with the right guidance. I urge you to get yourself and/or your kids onto the Sir Chris Hoy at the earliest opportunity and discover the purest form of bike racing there is.

Because, if a 40+ bloke in less than two years can go from virtual novice to medalling in a British Masters Championship there is hope for us all!

The year of 'The Sir Chris'

We were formed with this date in mind, 2012 was always going to be when things started to get very exciting, but things have already been on-the-up since back in early 2010 when all this Vortex chat kicked off.

The opening date for the Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow's East End is 1st October 2012,  there's a lot of work to do in between now & that date. Looks like we'll have 2 track coaches fully trained up, an event planned at the track, plus loads of riders will be accredited and ready to ride.

Meadowbank in Edinburgh is still currently Scotland's number one track, a 250m outdoor wooden track seems a mad thing to build, but just look at the champions it's produced with it's incliment weather limitations. It's also vital we keep a venue in Edinburgh, plus another vital venue is Caird Park in Dundee, it's getting resurfaced after some very hard work from some active volunteers, which is what keeps our sport (and all sports at grass roots level) going, the work behind the scenes is often a thankless but vital task. These tracks will complement 'The Sir Chris' as I head it mentioned recently, maybe that'll stick, let's make it stick. Track cycling is about to kick off big time in Scotland. The rumours of a possible indoor track in Inverness are also something to look forward to, that would be incredible if it came off.

Vortex RT has been undergoing some transformations too, we're building and expanding with a very welcome burgeoning sportive section, all of whom will obviously be provided with the opportunity to get some track craft and time on the boards of our old friend Meadowbank, before the comfy indoor velodrome opens.
There will be more on this later, along with some sponsor announcements, then it's hard work until the season opens for our racers & riders, the bid is in for the Scottish Men's & Women's Road Championships with a bigger & better plan than 2011, so we hope to run that again, we'll let you know if it's successful. Roll on 'The Sir Chris'.

Vortex RT

Scottish Road Champs 2011: Wrap-up

Oliphant (RCD Photographic)

 A week later & everything is returning back to normal (until the next event). We're all beginning to sleep properly again after what seems like a rollercoaster ride up to the event, hopefully it all pieced together on the day. From an organisers point of view, we tend to spend the day answering questions, directing people & generally sorting things to make sure everything runs smoothly, a task which if it's done correctly, nobody knows it's being done, hopefully we were successful. So we tend to lose the overview of the event that you get by being a spectator, but judging by the feedback, everybody had a good time, the riders got some support & the good number of non cycling spectators got to see racing close up, the way it should be.

Barr leads (RCD Photographic)

The people of Balfron & the surrounding area have been hugely supportive in our efforts to pull this together, we've met Daryn Piper from the community council on a number of occasions and with his help we've included the community in the event, without this enthusiasm we'd have been unable to make a route passing through a village safe for the riders, as you could see with coned off areas & volunteer marshals from the community. In return the riders put on a great show for the spectators and some local businesses benefitted from the event, there were a lot of people on that finishing straight, a great noisy crowd, exactly what we were looking for.

Womens podium (RCD Photographic)

We've got a lot of people to thank, loads of 'Friends of Vortex' came forward on the day to help out, it was really appreciated. For those non cyclists reading this, Vortex Race Team is one of many cycling clubs, we don't run events for a profit, everybody working on the event does so for a bit of grub & some petrol money, as with all but 3 or 4 majorly sponsored sports I expect this is the case with Scottish championships in most other sports, run by small teams of people, these are the people that help sport run in Scotland and everybody who helped made the event what it was. The organising team from Vortex RT were Colin Bark, Jeremy Greengrass & Tom Worthington, all contributed hugely for the last 6 months to create what we hope has been a memorable championships, we're even considering going through it all again next year and placing a bid with Scottish Cycling. We're going to get out on our bikes now!!

Where do we start, in no particular order... 

All photos courtesy of Robin Dick, RCD Photographic (see link below for more)

......the race convoy....
In the lead cars we had Robert Kennedy from Milersport Architecture (Vortex RT too) & Graeme Steen (City of Edinburgh RT), both drove all day long across the two races, a tough job and requires complete concentration ahead & in rear view mirrors.
Our commissaires control the event and direct everybody through CB's, a rolling manager & referee all rolled into one, tough jobs & as I said, everybody's a volunteer. In the womens champs we had John Davies (VC Glasgow South) & Tom Forbes (VC Astar & Ivy CC), they were driven by Martin Harris (Discovery Junior CC) & Guto Williams (East Kilbride Road Club). The mens event commissaires were Al Sutton & Kevan Sturgeon (both Elgin Cycling Club), they were driven by Stevie Hazlett (Ivy Cycling Club) & Neil McLeod (Glasgow Wheelers).
We have 2 first aid cars in each event, in each car a St Andrews Ambulance first aider is covering the race, the first aiders in the womens event were driven by Bobby Gilmour & Bobby Brown (both Glasgow Nightingale CC). In the mens we David Leese (Vortex RT) and Bobby Brown again. Not too many problems in the womens event, but a high speed puncture and crash resulted in a number of riders needing attention in the mens, one rider was airlifted to hospital as a precaution, but he's ok and is racing again this weekend in Barcelona, tough guy Stuart MacGregor.
The race service was covered in both events by the team from Solid Rock Cycles of Balmore, the shop mechanics were providing fast wheel changes and vehicles to the event, a very important job. Without this service a riders race could be over very quickly if they punctured and failed to get back into the bunch quickly.
Thanks very much to all the race convoy, you did an excellent job and we'd love you all to come back for more next year.

 Mens break (RCD Photographic)

.....marshalls......
The unsung heroes of every race, these guys stand on the corners in the howling wind & rain, to keep the riders safe, any race you're at please go and thank these people, true heroes and all of ours did a fantastic job. We had several clubs helping out on this, plus a good number of locals who did a great job, some on their first marshalling duties, we're all impressed!
We had representatives from loads of other clubs, the Ivy CC, Glasgow United CC, Glasgow Nightingale CC (big Al from Wheelcraft was photo's a lot in his own 'special' fashion), thankyou everybody for that and we hope the goody food bag helped a bit, tomoto ketchup will be in there for you next time Al, duly noted request.

......Janette Hazlett & helpers....
Yes Janette, you get your own category! The Ivy Cycling Club volunteer extraordinaire (she'll be cringing at this, but it's all true) took full control of the lap control, time gaps and keeping everybody informed about what was going on at the corner in Balfron. Essentially a judge, timekeeper and coordinator, an asset to any event, thanks Janette. Also thanks for flags, signs etc, loads of help pre-event too. Thanks also to Leigh Marshall from the Braveheart Fund who was helping Janette out at that corner. The local marshall who provided bacon rolls and tea was especially helpful, saved us a job, much appreciated.

......photo finish, NEG & Scottish Cycling .......
Bill & Sandy operate the photo finish kit all year round for Scottish Cycling, it's now become a 'must have' at any race, as before these guys are tireless volunteers who help make events run smoothly all over Scotland and sometimes down south. Hopefully putting the guys next to Doyles cafe this time made things a bit more comfortable, quite often they're stuck in the middle of nowhere, with a couple of sheep and a cow for company, hopefully we didn't scare them off.
The NEG (National Escort Group) were fantastic as usual, these guys are police trained volunteer motorcycle outriders and help keep the race safe, if you were there you wouldn't have been able to avoid their presence, we had 6 in total, they did a great job as usual. 
Scottish Cycling provided the photo finish, the NEG riders & the medals, plus the SC van with all the kit we needed and we were helped set up the finish area, thanks Mark & son. They made a wise & welcome decision (in our opinion) of awarding Vortex RT the road championships in 2011, we hope we gave it the respect it deserves.

Doyles Cafe (RCD Photographic)

......the people of Balfron & surrounding area......
We owe a huge gratitude to the following individuals & organisations for their help, every one has helped to make the events what they were.
Fundamental to it all were the people of Balfron & their community council, we couldn't have hoped to have a more supportive community to help us run the Scottish Championships.
Colin Bark visited the farms on the course before the event and we owe a huge thanks to all the farmers, they ensured that there were no livestock movements across the road on the day and offered to limit use of tractors too. Everything ran smoothly on the day and hopefully we didn't cause them too much disruption. Thanks also to Malcolm Paterson (Nightingale CC) for his help on this.
Stirling Council also helped hugely, providing banners, cones & poncho's on the day. The resurfacing work carried out by them on the course before the event allowed us to use this circuit, previously we wouldn't have run a race on it, all really appreciated.
We also really appreciate having the Provost of Stirling Fergus Wood & BBC Sport's Rhona McLeod available for the prizegivings, this really helped to make the podium presentations very special, huge thanks to both.
The people of Balfron came out in impressive numbers to cheer on the race, loads of riders have said that this is what made the day for them, so get cheered round the circuit and over the line, thanks and we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Mens Podium (RCD Photographic)

........event partners & sponsors......
There's a long list here, everybody did a splendid job and shared our vision of what we were trying to do.
Ridley Bikes of Belgium, who provide some of the worlds top quality racing bikes also provided first prize of a carbon fibre race frame to mens race winner Evan Oliphant (Endura Racing). The full range is available at Solid Rock Cycles in Balmore.
Optical Express & Adidas Eyewear, providing sports glasses & prescription sports glasses were there all day offering assistance & provided Scottish womens champion Jane Barr (Velocity44Stirling) with some Adidas eyewear.If you require prescription cycling glasses or advice, give them a call or visit the shop at 28-36 Renfield Street, Glasgow.
Keytime Blackberry Centre on Great Western Road, Glasgow, are an indpendent mobile retailer who provide a huge range of mobile phones (not just Blackberry) & contracts to businesses & the public, worth a look. They provided a Blackberry to mens silver medal winner Gary Hand (Endura/Pedalpower).
Not only providing race service, but also helping with our finish line area, Solid Rock Cycles provided a giant 'tent', unfortunately it had to be taken down in the afternoon's high winds, but provided a rain free area for the ladies podium presentation. They had some new products on show, carbon wheels from Cruise Racing Products, have a look. Solid Rock also brought out friends and family in force to support the events.
Doyles cafe on the finish line was a great & welcome addition the to day's events. We'd like to thank Jack & his team for opening on a Sunday. We noticed the athletes from the ladies race were giving special attention to the home made cakes as part of their post race recovery. Jack normally rides his bike on Sundays, but if you're on a Saturday ride, I'm sure you'd be more than welcome to use Doyles as your coffee shop.

Womens lead group (RCD Photographic)

........the riders........
All the riders gave a fantastic show of strength, power, skill & fitness to the spectators. With the circuit based format everybody got to see the riders a number of times & everybody appreciated their ability to be courteous (& smiling) immediately after crossing the finishing line in the gruelling races. Really was great to see and shows our sport in a very positive manner, a great introduction for some new cycling fans.

.........the photographers........
We've seen some stunning shots from loads of photographers, who all captured the event, we've compiled a list below, this can be added to if we've missed any. Get in touch if you want yours listed here, email here.

Robin Dick was in the action on a motorbike, driven by Scottish Cycling's Graeme Herd for some laps, see his photos of both event in the following link. Particularly interesting is the capture of Oliphants winning attack in a sequence of shots, the spectators didn't get to see this, here's your chance. RCD Photographic (all photos in this article are property of RCD Photographic)
Graeme Brown took some excellent shots, all on this link. GeeBee Images
Stuart Hall from Our Day Photos was on the road all day taking some superb action shots. All Day Photos flickr
Ian Henderson was back out taking great shots, see them here LeesLang flickr
Vortex RT flickr site has a good number of shots from various contributors. Vortex flickr

Oliphant (RCD Photographic)

Results, links & reports.
Womens Championship results by Vortex RT.
Mens Championships results by Vortex RT.
Veloresults report.
VeloUK mens report.
VeloUK womens report.
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Previous Vortex RT blog preview 2