Welcome to VC Meudon News pages

Race bike for a (tall) 7yr old wanted

Anyone got a road bike for a tall 7yr old? Or know someone who might have one?

Contact Paul on pug50@hotmail.com

Fancy a family holiday in Majorca?


VC Meudon's own “man with a van” in Majorca Steve Palmer is coming over to the UK for the Summer and wondered if any Meudoners were interested in renting his house for a period during July , August or September. 

The house has a large and small double bedroom both with double beds . A small pool and all the usual things. 

You can email Steve on stephen.palmer.mail@googlemail.com and he can send you some more details and photos. 

We have used Steve for 10yrs now to transport our bikes and he has never let us down so on that basis I think you can expect a good quality property.

Wannabe on MTV?

This is from Alicia Sadler at ETV Productions - do we have many 18-25 yr olds:

"Hello

I’m contacting you with regard to a nationwide search for MTV’s 2012 “Made”.

Here at ETV we are making a new episode of ‘Made’ for MTV and are looking for a sportsman, a sports lover particularly a competitive cycling enthusiast aged 18-25 to be the star of the reality 1 hour special TV show. Whether it’s BMX, endurance or mountain biking we want to hear from you!

If you’re not familiar with the show; the ‘Made’ experience is a journey that will take our lucky person on a journey of discovery. They will experience new ways of training and be exposed to activities that they might have never had the opportunity to do so before. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that all ‘Made’ contributors look back at and have loved every minute with no regrets. Applicants may be an enthusiastic amateur or are on the edge of becoming a pro but need a push to get to the next stage. They may have a mental block they need to overcome or have had their confidence knocked by injury. Guided by our ‘Made’ mentor and coach they’ll undergo a transformation completely tailored for them. The selected applicant will be the star of their own show for MTV international, which will broadcast to a multitude of countries around the world.

Television shows like this depend on clubs like yours to help us spread the word and encourage people to apply. It would be amazing if you could circulate the link to our webpage via an email out to your members or via your website, you may be able to tweet the link to our webpage or put it on your Facebook page. There is even a poster attached that you might be able to put on a notice board, a window, any where you see fit!

We would be incredibly grateful if you are happy to do any of the above, and possibly advise as to how we may increase our coverage. The show will be actively encouraging people to engage in sports and activities round the UK. It’s a feel good show, and a positive experience all round.

I hope you can help! Please do shout if you have any questions. Here’s the link to the webpage, via which people can apply. The deadline for applications is the 1st April 01/04/2012."

www.etvproductions.co.uk/Made2012.


Kind Regards,
Alicia

30 secs with Mr C - part 1 in a new series




With the club growing to over 100 members Cycling Weekly writer and local rider Hannah Bussey has been drafted in to introduce you to some of your fellow club members. There are now only two club rules: you have to help at one of our club race promotions per year and you have to answer Hannah's questions if she asks you.

30seconds with…….

Who are you? Colin John Stevens

AKA? MR.C. I got the nickname in error. I was in a race team with a couple of blokes called Mark and Richard. We called the team after our initials. Shortly after every one at the races kept calling me Mr C. It took me ages to work out why!

How long have you been riding bikes and how did you get into it?
This is my fourth year on the road bikes - It’s all down to my friend Gary Sheffield, he asked me to go out cycling with him once and I caught the bug.

What was life like BM (before Meudon)?
I was the British endurance kart club-mans champion 2001 - I miss them days. I’ve even raced the karting version of the Le Mans 24hr race. It was brutally hard, but so rewarding. I’ve also dabbled in Super bike track days and enduro off road - now that is a rush.

What bikes are in your stable?
My bike stable currently consists of a Specialized Tarmac SL S-works, a mountain bike, a training bike and a TT bike that a Gary has loaned me.

We all know that the best bike is your next one, what’s the dream bike?
I’ve not got a dream bike at the moment, but I would say I do like the look of the 2012 Scott Foil Premium if anyone is feeling generous.

What are your cycling achievements so far and what are your 2012 season aims?
My best achievement on the bike so far was last year’s London to Paris. I rode in group 2, every day I rode out of my skin – I was so proud of my self to finish with the group (29kph over 170km for 3 days in a row is not to be sniffed at- Ed). 2012’s focus is to get my weight down and see if I can give some of the climbers a bit of a run for their money.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
It was given to me was by my wife ‘enjoy your kids whilst they are young as life’s too short for regrets’

Do you have a cycling mantra?
Yes, it comes from my karting days - focus on the last lap. To be honest I apply this to all aspects of in life when I have to do something I’d rather not. It really works.

What’s the most played on your i-pod?
Eminem - Beautiful.

Booking now for next track day - 14th April

Calshot have just released some more slots for April and Pip Taylor is running a session on the morning of the 14th April. These have proved very popular - see Ali's report of the recent women's session - so if you're thinking of trying one but haven't yet now's the time - novices are welcome. There is usually a coach on hand to lead everyone through the process whether you have experience or not, plus they have plenty of Dolan track bikes for you to hire. It makes for a pretty exhilarating experience.

To book or find out more get in touch with Pip:
07802 260022 or peekassociates@btinternet.com

Summer series details plus new vets races

From Glyn at the Surrey League:

Goodwood Gallops Series
The Goodwood Gallops Series is back for 2012. Starting on May 1st the series will go on until August 21st. During these 17 weeks there will be nine events all on Tuesday evenings. Events are open E/1/2/3/4 riders will start at 7pm..

Dunsfold Park 4th Category Series
This popular series will be run again for 2012 at Dunsfold Park on a Friday evening. The series will run for 10 weeks starting on May 11th. All events will start at 7pm.

Vets Wednesday Evening Series
We are considering putting on a Vets only series on a Wednesday evening at Dunsfold Park. We have provisionally booked 10 dates; May 9th to July 11th all starting at 19:00. Let us know if you are interested in riding so we can guage if it is worth confirming the dates. glyn@surreyleague.co.uk

New houses - NIMBY or not?

Not in our back yard? Will 4500 new houses in Winchfield spoil riding with more local built up area and traffic or provide somewhere nice and new to live:

http://www.winchfieldactiongroup.org/

Women's track day report

VC Meudon's grande dame Keith Brooks organised a day trip to Calshot for the club's women riders (plus guests) for a track session. Here's Ali Ford's report:

"We quickly realised this day was all about embracing everything that felt wrong. Fixed wheel? Wrong. No brakes? Wronger. The gradient of that track? Wrongest of all. Which law of physics was applicable here, exactly? Not inertia, that’s for sure. Gravity wasn’t very comforting. The law of motion? Something to do with acceleration, force and mass? That had to be it. Keep pedalling and maybe – just maybe – we wouldn’t slide down. But then on a fixed wheel bike you don’t really have any option. You stop pedalling and… let’s not go there.

But thanks to a good instructor who gave us complete confidence with the basics, the rookies amongst us began to believe we could actually do this wrong-feeling thing. It helped a lot when we realised that the extremely vertical bit above the broad red band was part of the perimeter rail and we weren’t expected to ride it. Hey, anything else would be easy, then.

So, pretty soon we were all clipped in and riding - first around cones on the flat, and then on the track. For the girls who’d done it before there were team pursuit drills and sprint work, while the rest of us took turns to progress from the Cote d’Azur to higher levels of the track, egged on by whoops and shouts from the infield. Race faces kept breaking out into high octane grins that said we hadn’t had this much fun since our dads took our stabilisers off.

I still haven’t figured out how something that looks so wrong can feel so right, but it does. All of us agree we’d be up for more of it. ‘Awesome’, ‘exhilarating’ and ‘amazing’ were the words that kept coming up (oh, and ‘cold’: that velodrome is properly cold). Many thanks to Keith and to the Club for making it happen – a great experience and highly recommended."

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/calshot/track-cycling.htm