Velothon Wales is one of the largest Sportifs in the UK with around 12000 cyclists enjoying traffic free roads in five Local Authority areas. The riders set off from Cardiff  on a 140Km (87m) route, taking in the views of Newport, Usk, the Brecon Beacons, Pontypool, Newbridge and Caerphilly before finishing in Cardiff Civic Centre.

 The first group of five Acme Club members left the city centre at 7:15, an early start for Jason Dodd, Kerry Lewis, Mark Nichols, Jeff Matthews and Chris Thomas.  Each starting pen contained over 500 riders and it gave everyone the sensation of riding a road race.  When our call came it was along the castle wall into Castle Street for the start in St Mary’s Street.  Very quickly the younger legs of Jason, Mark and Kerry moved away from Jeff and Chris but there was plenty of company on the route with riders from all over Wales and England riding shoulder to shoulder. 

Once out of Newport the route took to the beautiful Monmouthshire countryside and its up and down roads were packed with cyclists.  Just before the feed stop in Usk the riders encountered one of the forecast showers, not too heavy but is lasted for a while.

At the Usk stop Chris and Jeff caught up with Kerry and Mark but Jason had decided to plough on alone, hoping to ride through the poor weather.  Despite being vigilant for other Club members there was no sign of Tommy Doherty and Cae Lovatt who had predicted they would pass the first group just after Newport, with a start time of 8:30 and an extra hour in bed. Tommy and Cae rode together and may have passed the others at the Usk stop on their way to a very respectable finishing time.

The showers passed over and the clouds began to break up, but the improved weather could not encourage Jeff and Chris to take the Tumble challenge and they took a left turn to reach Pontypool by a less arduous route.

From Pontypool it was “all downhill” to Caerphilly before the next real uphill over Caerphilly Mountain. Kerry and Mark were hindered on their way but a torrential downpour in Pontypool.  After a mixture of walking and riding Chris and Jeff reached the feed station on top of Caerphilly Mountain and were soon joined by Mark and Kerry, who had managed to ride up all the way.  After a couple of bananas the four sped down the mountain into Cardiff and after a quick chat to Robert Davies on Special Constable duties it was into the city centre for a foursome photograph crossing the line.

Velothon Wales is one of the largest Sportifs in the UK with around 12000 cyclists enjoying traffic free roads in five Local Authority areas. The riders set off from Cardiff  on a 140Km (87m) route, taking in the views of Newport, Usk, the Brecon Beacons, Pontypool, Newbridge and Caerphilly before finishing in Cardiff Civic Centre.

 The first group of five Acme Club members left the city centre at 7:15, an early start for Jason Dodd, Kerry Lewis, Mark Nichols, Jeff Matthews and Chris Thomas.  Each starting pen contained over 500 riders and it gave everyone the sensation of riding a road race.  When our call came it was along the castle wall into Castle Street for the start in St Mary’s Street.  Very quickly the younger legs of Jason, Mark and Kerry moved away from Jeff and Chris but there was plenty of company on the route with riders from all over Wales and England riding shoulder to shoulder. 

Once out of Newport the route took to the beautiful Monmouthshire countryside and its up and down roads were packed with cyclists.  Just before the feed stop in Usk the riders encountered one of the forecast showers, not too heavy but is lasted for a while.

At the Usk stop Chris and Jeff caught up with Kerry and Mark but Jason had decided to plough on alone, hoping to ride through the poor weather.  Despite being vigilant for other Club members there was no sign of Tommy Doherty and Cae Lovatt who had predicted they would pass the first group just after Newport, with a start time of 8:30 and an extra hour in bed. Tommy and Cae rode together and may have passed the others at the Usk stop on their way to a very respectable finishing time.

The showers passed over and the clouds began to break up, but the improved weather could not encourage Jeff and Chris to take the Tumble challenge and they took a left turn to reach Pontypool by a less arduous route.

From Pontypool it was “all downhill” to Caerphilly before the next real uphill over Caerphilly Mountain. Kerry and Mark were hindered on their way but a torrential downpour in Pontypool.  After a mixture of walking and riding Chris and Jeff reached the feed station on top of Caerphilly Mountain and were soon joined by Mark and Kerry, who had managed to ride up all the way.  After a couple of bananas the four sped down the mountain into Cardiff and after a quick chat to Robert Davies on Special Constable duties it was into the city centre for a foursome photograph crossing the line.

Everyone enjoyed the experience of riding traffic free roads, but there are mixed feeling about registering for next year.

Everyone enjoyed the experience of riding traffic free roads, but there are mixed feeling about registering for next year.

My entry to the Wales Velothon was booked for me as one of my Christmas presents – a lovely Surprise??   Yes, I was excited and a little nervous.  But as the month of April came I was panicking a bit. I wondered how Emma how decided what wave to put me in. Reply was, “I guessed and figured you would do it in under 5hrs”.  No pressure on then!!!

My good friend, and Acme member, Cae  Lovatt had also entered as he and Emma  talked about the event previous season. The training was stepped up and thanks to our good Club members who organised and ran the Hilly Fondo all was kicked off in the rain, but a lovely day and great company.

Thankfully I avoided any major injuries or accidents and entered into a few more sportifs which built me up to what I thought would be a great event. To be honest I wasn’t disappointed, the build up, the set up and then the atmosphere on the morning, it was so we’ll organised and marshals were so helpful, myself and good friend Cae were seen off by Emma at 8:20 an hour after a few of our more “Senior Club members” who challenged us to a faster time and be back in “spoons” for dinner at 2:30.  It was fingers crossed and off we went.

It was a beautiful morning in the capital and indeed it was beautiful the whole way around, great support from the locals got a little shower of rain at the bottom of Tumble but nothing serious. The Tumble itself was tough, the hardest part was making room for myself so I could keep a nice steady cadence and good rhythm.  Nice feeling going over the top and the large crowd cheered each and every rider up.  A quick look around and there my wee man Cae coming over the summit fresh as a daisy.  A fast decent down allowed time to recover before the legs got another burning,

We all have cycled up the Caerphilly mountain, from various angles, but after an 80mile ride it just felt like a bigger climb than I remembered.  Anyway it was head down and full concentration, and with a little push from my club friend Simon, we we’re at the top in no time!!  Enjoyed the atmosphere and chance to refill water bottle use the loos etc, A good day was coming to a end but not before a classic Welsh finish, great support from the locals and the crowd at the finish line.  A memory I won’t forget, look forward to next year already.

 PS,  Yes we met the “Senior Club ” members, but it was later than 2:30 lads.

After the WCA Championships, next up for Club members on the following Sunday was the CC Blaenau Gwent 25 on the R25/7a in Raglan. Although the temperature was warming up there were a few spots of rain at the start for some riders. Ross Morgan decided to ride without his Garmin in order to try to improve his pacing during a race.  Knowing the course, he could use his experience from other rides.  This seemed to work out well for him as he posted a 57:57.

Simon Kinsey enjoyed the best racing weather of the year with conditions improving during the race.  The weather helped Simon improve his previous ride by 1m34s to finish with a creditable 1:01:10. Simon knew the up hill start here and to ensure he did not go into the red in the first half mile he warmed up before the event.

Jeff Rees posted a time of 1:02:17

The second round of the Celtic Series was organised by RealTeam on the R10/17 course in Abergavenny.  This Thursday evening event took place on what was the hottest racing day of the year so far and while there was head wind on the return ride a good group of Acme members enjoyed the conditions.

Simon Kinsey is almost taking up residency on this course but was not happy with his 24:30 after what he describes as his poor pacing of the distance.  He is looking for a better effort when he rides the VTTA 10 next week on this course.

While his legs were still aching from his efforts in the CC Blaenau Gwent 25 the previous Sunday Ross Morgan still managed to post a 22:29 and set a new PB by 32s, finishing 32^nd out of 76.

Nadine Cannon’s PB didn’t materialise in the hot windless evening conditions but she still managed her best time on this course posting a 24:35 after riding 8 miles from the HQ to the start.  Neale Lewis highlighted the same issue as Nadine suggesting riders allow about 30 minutes from HQ to start.  Nevertheless he enjoyed this event and saw it as a good training ride. Neale posted a 23:28, not bad for a training ride.

Two members returned to the R10/17 course in Raglan for the VTTA 10 on Saturday 14^th May. Simon Kinsey was planning to improve his pacing on a warm day with a slight headwind on the outward ride.  His time of 24:26 showed an improvement of 4 secs on the previous Thursday and left him a little happier.  Simon intends putting in some long training rides and a few Club events before the Bynea 10.

Ross Morgan found the ride hard graft and was cold at the start but the temperature rose for him during the ride.  The tail wind home enabled Ross to post another PB 22:17.  To finish off the day Ross enjoyed some quiet sunbathing.

Saturday 15^th saw a return to Hirwaun for a group of Acme members, competing in the SportzMad 25 on the R25/3H Course.  Ross Morgan pushed against a headwind out but again used the return tail wind to finish in 55:58. He is now taking a well earned two weeks off from racing.  Chris Woolley is using these events to get some long distance training in, by riding to and from events.  That’s dedication for you.  It seemed to work for him as he posted a season PB of  55:57 on a dry day that “wasn’t blowing a gale”.  Nadine Cannon was still hoping to go under the hour with a comfortable temperature and cool breeze.  Unfortunately she just missed out this time by only 25secs. But still came in as 3^rd Lady.  Nadine intends competing in plenty of Club events before her next race.

Acme Wheelers still have members competing in Road Races, on Sunday 22^nd Dean Cummings was in action at the LVRC National C/D in Malvern.  While Dean enjoyed the sunny weather, on the day the course route was changed because of road works and Worcester’s “rolling” road included two climbs of 17%.  Dean was disappointed not to achieve his goal of finishing in the bunch.  The very demanding course had attracted some of the top Vets in the country and included some rough roads.  Dean, unfortunately packed in after 40 miles of a 55 mile course and is hoping for better things in the President’s Road Race.

Thursday 26^th May saw Ross Morgan make his debut in road racing in the President’s Road Race.  This 40 miler took place in the Resolven area.  The weather was good during the evening and Ross held his position in the first group until seven riders fell in front of him and he lost contact. Though Dean did note that he finished strongly and the experience will have been good for him for future rides.  Dean’s luck was still not in.  During what was a poorly controlled neutralized zone some Vets sneaked off with the first group.  This left Dean having to time trial for an hour to bridge the gap.  He paid for this effort later in the race and packed in during the last lap.

Back to Time Trialing on Saturday as all roads led to Bynea for the 10m TT. This was the 3^rd Round of the Celtic Challenge.  As ever Simon Kinsey was on the start line on the R10/4 course in Llandovery.  Simon was hoping to continue with his steady improvement in past weeks. The 10 am start meant that temperatures were rising during the ride with a slight head wind after the turn.  The “dead turn” was difficult at race speed which meant that this course is not one for PB but makes a pleasant change from racing on dual carriageways.  Simon posted a 26:05.   Also riding the event was Jeff Rees who was looking to better his last year’s time by 30 seconds.  Jeff was very disappointed with his effort of 25:57 which was 33secs. slower than last year.  Although it was a tough course on a “slow” surface Jeff also enjoyed the ride off the dual carriageways. After a couple of Club 10’s Simon takes a Club Team to the Giant CC 10 on the U7B course in the Bristol area, where he will be joined by Jeff Rees and Ross Morgan  The team have high hopes of bringing home the

Today I got in my car and typed in the post code for the Blaenau Gwent 25 TT HQ, NP15 2EN, not realising where it was.   When I arrived at the HQ it brought back a flood of memories from the mid 90’s when I was a youngster going to cycling events with my grandfather.

 I remember the place as a kid, but not the name, now I know it is the Old Church Hall Raglan. A lot has changed since then. That is where the Raglan 50 was held and I remember there use to be a big event on that day and Grandpa “Nev” use to take the Acme rollers along and let people have a go.

 I also remember going on the bouncy castle and watching 3 men drinking a pint of beans and a bean bath. They were the fun old days for some of the boys and girls. Unfortunately the ground that I once had fun on and memories of is now a car park (touch of Max Boyce there)  but the school is still there.   I shall always treasure those memories. Good times. 

Many Club members will remember New Yeo for his enthusiasm in everything he did.  Thanks for that Ross

Also I think it was 1995 or 4

The CARTEN100  is a 100+ mile ride from Cardiff to Tenby, over what the organisers describe as “fairly benign” roads.  This year the ride started outside City Hall and finished in Tudor Square before the riders went on to the harbour to collect their finishers T-shirts and eat their free pasta meal.

Acme member Tommy Doherty joined around 2000 riders and was delighted with the beautiful Welsh weather of light cloud, sunshine and an easterly wind at his back. Typical cycling day in Wales.  The Carten100 is known to be a tough ride so Tommy’s priority was to finish safely and was looking for a time of around 6h 30m.

Tommy’s ride did not go exactly to plan when he hit a post alongside a cycle path, fortunately his bike was not damaged but Tommy felt the bump.  His advice for anyone thinking of entering next year is to prepare thoroughly, both physically and mentally.  He found the feed stations less well stocked than he would have expected and was glad he carried his own supply of gels.

While the last 30 miles were “rolling” with some sharp kicks, Tommy still managed to finish in the top 30 with a time of 5h 49m and thoroughly enjoyed his day.  Well done you.

Before Tommy takes on the Wales Velothon he will enjoy a well earned rest back in his native Ireland.  Will the weather be as good as it is in Wales!!