GFC
GEOFF FRANC IS CYCLES Agents f or : PEUGEOT + RALEIGH + FALCON+ HOLDSWORTH+ GAZELLE Cycles & Fr amesets 531 butted f r a mes & f o rks xrom £125 Stove Enamelli ng with 7 day s ervice Full range o f Touring Bags & Carriers a l way s in s t oc k Wheels expert ly built to your specific ation Cycle Clothing repairs inc luding Chamois Seat repl acemen t Cy cle repa irs speedily carrie d out - no job t oo large or small :Why not vis it us, try p u r coffee & ins pect our extensiv e stock 1, Netherha ll Road Doncaste r DNl 2PH. TEL : (0302) 21568.
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AR R/V EE CONTENTS Ed i torial .. .. ... . . .. ... 1 Info ..... .. . ........ ... 2 Foreign Even ts Bureau .. 4 AAA Upd ate . . ..... . .. . .. 5 Pies . . . .. . .... . . .... . .. 6 Adrift . .. ... ..... . . . . . . 7 Pies .. . . . .. . ........ .. 10 PBP . . . ... . . .. . . .. . .. .. 11
Nur.ibe r 19 Novembe r 1987 Annual General ~eeting .. 1 3-24 PBP Aperiti f .. ... . . . . . . . . . . 25 Pies . .. .. .. . . . .. .•.. • ••••• .27 The Ride .. .. . ..... . . . . · · · ·· 28 Pies . . . . . . . . . ... .... . . . . . .. 31 The Li ving Dead .... ... . . ... 32 Triers Triumph ... .. . . . . . .. . 35
Having spent the last eight hours of the PBP wishing it.we:e over, I, and raany others, spent the subsequ ent ~onths wishing i t wasn ' t . Well , we can all relive the event in these pages to a nd there a r e photos too - I hope you f ind it as enjoyab le r e ad a s it was to put togethe r. Bot h Bernard Mawson and Dave Wbitney , en r oute t o Paris the l ong way round , rode local club r andonne es and, being the e ntrants from the f u rthe st dista n ce , were p resented with magnific ent trophies . ¼"here do the French Clubs ge tre!these thin 6 s from? There must be a lesson for us somewhe AUK It wasn't all happenin g ov er the wate r though ; once again 24 Hour Time rider s took top honou rs in t h e Mersey Roads Club for us. Trial, and Frank Hur.iford was the r e t o record it ride F liss ~ot e v e r y one g ave their a l l on the PBP - a ft er this a nd 100 Beard came home and took the Women ' s Tr i ke 12 Hour mile records . The event had its casualti es , howeve r , amongst whom was David , for . whom we can only ho p e for a miracle to repair his Ostler nerve ' optic
! ~on' i have ;u~l AUK r ecords fo r th i s W ~ aim~ or Individu al Ch amp ion ships . If
year so please p u t in you 're a male with 3 p o ints or over, o r a female with 62 points or ov 1
s ~~:~:i;: !~~:i;;;~ ~~:~~~~ ;;:;! :~;;~s ~oc~~~~a ~~ :a~~~~: ;::~~~;~ SPECIALI ST IN CUSTOM CYCLE FRAMES TRICYCLES - TANDEMS - BICYCLES - TANDEM TRICYCLES BUILT FOR RACI NG OR TOURING REYNOLDS 753 approved ANY MAKE OF FRAME REPA I RED MODERNISED REFURBISHED RECTIFIE D 7JF Albert Street, Chester ton , Newcast le-under- Lyme, S taff s ST5 Tel: (0782) 561966 All enq uiries i ndividual l y deal t with by Sole Proprieto r GEORGE LONGSTAFF T.ENG. (C.E.I.)
· · Don ' t forget your AGl1 (bookin f Arr ivee ~r contact me a~ a matter of urgen cy - 0~02o~: 6~~oiuly a~d the variou s . . r eunions througho ut the win t ails are o n page 2. The annual reports ; ~~ • Aa~ei: booking ~e a6enda are i n your cen tre f . pages. The meet i ng should b memb ers as the AUK Regulati ons will be und: od_inte r7st ta ond all some of t h es e iscuss i on r affect our events. We 'l l be c los e r to horn • t h e January edition with a Liter a r y Audax f r o m Thomas Hare in your 1 986 Cal endar ofd~ country and t h at Hard Boi l ed.. Also r evets de Randonn eur Mond i aux CLOS l!IG DATE FOR THE NEXT ISSUE I S DECEMBER 1st . Co
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t Arrivee .. Produced by AUK .. Printed by Tradepr int Cranworth , Sheffield . 1
IN·FO . . INFO .. INFO. .
' & 1 OOk RANDONNEES - 60« .. lSth TANNERS HATCH h Hostel Polesden Lac y, Darking. OCTOBE_R T' ~~ers Hatch Yout ' G.Peddie, a EUNION & DINNER . . PRESENTATION OF PBP J ANUARY 16th .. HAT~g~sAGE R MEDALS TO RIDERS """"' .. I."\ ATTENDING SALISBURY . . -\ ·'"T 1':ENU .. J . e '\ Soup or Fruit uic . ;a.;;: ~--.,_~~ ~ . • Choice of:Hungaria n Goulash, Moussaka , Breaded Por k Steak, Leek Croustarde . Choice of:Trifle, ~ Hocha Fudge Pudding . ·fl Foll owed by: c.ints and . ' ~ ·~ ~ tea or coffee . ~ :c_:;. .. Approximat ely f:5:50. ~ F---<-_.· Bring your own wine · · ld Bookings to Mary Outram, 3 The Gre 7n, Nort h Anston, She f f ie . Please state choice of menu. Overnigh~ s : £~.40! £2.60, £~.20 . Hopefull y the PBP VIDEO will have_arri ved in time for this event. Don' t forget to bring photos & slides - please let Mar y know if you requir e a proj ec tor & screen .
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FEBRUARY 27th .. PBP VETERANS & FRIENDS ANNUAL DINNER .. SALISBURY :· (Mick's Henagerie) .. £6.00 for a six course meal; please state if vegetarian a lte rnative required. Breakfast £1. 60 . Overnights £3.40, £2 . 60 , £2.20. Licenced premis e s . . buy o r take you r own liquid refreshme nts. Among the entertainm ent envisaged is showing of 198 7 PBP VIDEO & presentatio n of cups & medals. Organise your own ride on Sunday as mi ne host will probably be incapable! Bookings as soon as possib le (or you may be disappoin ted).•• Mi ck Latimer , Salisbury Youth Hoste l, Milford Hill House, Milford Hill , Sa l is bury SPl 2QW. J A!WARY 3rd .. GOODBYE CHRISTMAS PUDDING . . 100 KILOMETERS . . Don't forget the fi rst AUK event of the year . . starting 10.00 !rom Doncaster then visiting Rosie's at Saundby, the La ughton ~ore st , the Dog & Gun at West Butterwic k and finishing a t the encap Centre, Doncaster. En tries £1, unwaged 50p to the Ed. ITWhRF0LK & . SUFFOLK EVENTS 1988 from J a qui De nny ande 60 O wi b11 be b ac k to · s a. weekend in July so Strawb errie · backcrt oeamthe ack R d on the menu• N , o Alison this year so you wi· 11 b e leg shorter. e Lodge for the night l eg, I have made the first There 'll be a 100k ' all sun on the b on tne Sunday go ing to Southwold so you can gett in •· on at s i·each a nd peer down the coast to see how they are 6 A zewe 1 B ... 200k on Sunday 2" th 1 . . ,·,1.l denhall CC ' Da~r ~ugust is run in conjuncti on with the 5 e nd .. free camping, Y~~~e Ral~y over the Ba nk Holiday lo ng weekg cooking at reas o n ab le prices , very 2
exciting grass track racing, a biathalon , you name it they've got it . The or~aniser is John Freiyer, Grimble Cottage, The Street, Chedburgh , 0 Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP29 4UH. Ask the Newark Castle Club how g ood a weekend it isl The 300k in September will be from my home , as before fl oor space available but I must know how many cars t o expect . Also a 100k on that date , chance to look a t the Broads. Mea l i ncluded i n the entry fee. PHOTOGRAPHS WANTED Have you any pho t ographs (mon ochr ome , prints or c olour slides) suitable for re productio n in cycling magazines and other pub lications ? · Chris Davies, o ur Press Off icer, is a nxious to build up a collectio n of pictures illustrat ing AUK events to accompany his reports and says there is a good chance of payment for any photo published . If you've got some photos for him please identify the people pictured, as far as possible, and tell him where and when i t was taken, plus any other interesti ng features abou t them. You' ll find his a ddress on page 24. SATURDAY OR SUNDAY from Chris Davies Which is the better day for Randonnee s up to 300k? Many members seem to find it ·just as easy travellin g to the starting area by cycle! car o r train ~n a Fri~ay night as t he y do on a Saturday as evidenc d by ent ie s rece ived for existing Saturday events 7 to return home (or ride another and there 7 is more time brevet!) on Sunday. This ·choice of day is some th ing organise rs might think about when planning next year's programm e. CLOTH BADGES AND MEDALS from Keith Benton Would PBP riders wanting PBP Cloth Badges write to Bernard Mawson adddress on pag e 24, by January 1st with their o rders (each cloth ' b age, any number, El . 25 + SAE). The tot~l order will be sent to the manufact urers in Januar ~~ce ~hi~ order has gone it is unlikely that a further one ~ill Newrn~e:i ecau;e of the high cost of producing small quantitie s are bein!nsr~ dume~al bad~es for L~M events and Brevet s Populai; es P ce and SKe t c he s will be o n display at the AGM HANDBOOK AHD THE CLUB HISTORY . The Committee headed b R Handbook now. 'urgently Y ~ydHaswe 1_l a:e putti~g together an AUK memories, or diaries nee e a:e J ot tings from members with long it doesn't go in the•H~~d~ lub ~i st ory . Everythin g is useful, if Please send material to Pe~~~ ~idc~~ be prdedserved in our Archives . Kei th Benton would lik . ri g e, a re ss on page 2 4. meda ls used by the Cl~ t o receive sketches or photos of past various AUK dies withuthso t haft he can check t he exist~nc e of the e manu act urers . Dear Editor On behalf of all th W"l l like to express ouro~~an~ s ~~den CC rid~:s on the PBP I would Bernard Mawson Noels· John Bro oteing, Bry Ferguson AUK Support Te;m wh tim~ s~n, and all the o ther members of during the event Tho en e o u r needs (and our tender knees)t he · ey were marvello us. Ray Kelly (Willesde n CC) 3
AAA UPDATE
FOREIGN EVENTS BUREAU
from Simon Jones
ilEVIEW OF 1987 With the PARIS-BREST-PARIS it has been a busy year for many. On one occasion three riders of great repute did not even have time to take their bikes with them to France. The PBP continues to attract an increasing number of AUK riders, many riding for the second or third time. Barry Parslow has now ridden it so many times (five) that I do not believe he needed his glasses this time the road was so familiar. Despite the autumnal weather our success rate was phenominal and would have been even higher if a snake h?d not decided to get so friendly with Maureen Chaney. There were a number of other noteworthy exploits elsewhere. Kei th Barker made another late rush on the FLECHES DE FRANCE to beat a number of close contenders and become the first British rider to complete all 20 Fleches. Considering he only enquired abou t these rides in February last year, it is no mean achievement. Now you can start again in the other direction Keith! Once again that mad duo of Mark Brooking and Barry Parslow were breaking new ground (and new equipment). Setting out b y tandem from TRIESTE the y rode 1180k over 40 cols (71,000 feet of gradient) across the Alps to Thonon on Lake Geneva. This was part of the RANDONNEE ALPINE LEMANS-ADRIATIQUE (they did part one from the Cote d'Azur to Thonen last year). Mark puts the route in category B "hard but very impressive". After a quick cup of tea they knocked off the BREVET du CHABLAIS in the Savoy Alps, a mere 350k but with 28,000 feet of gradient, fo l lowed by the CINQ MONTS SAVOYARDS, and finally a one day outing with some 700 other riders in the BCMF CIRCUIT DES COLS GAPENCAIS. (By this time they had also rebuilt the tandem) The FLECHE VELOCIO was as popular as ever. Alan Sturk once again organised one of the teams. With Easter later this year the weather was even hotter than usual and the lunch with ACP near Sault lasted even longer than usual. This event remains for many one of the very best foreign trips. Alan is already organising for next year at MIRA.~AS (on the edge of the Rhone delta). If you want to join a team then write to Alan (17 Summerland Close, Llandough, Glam CF6 lQA) or myself. I have entry forms for those wa nting to make up their own teams . ilemember Easter is earlier this year, April 3rd. Itineries need to be submitted to Paris by the end of January, and the full entry by the beg i.ning of March. THE ACP TROPHY CEREMONY will be held in Paris on Sunday 20th December at 14.00. Any PBP rider may attend. Not only will the medal~ a~d cups for the PBP be presented, but Keith Barker has been invited to receive his special plaque for the Fleches de France. AUK hope to send a party over. The Committee are enqui 7ing with ACP whether any individual riders have won troph 7es (~part fr~m the PEP medals which everyone who completed t?e r:de will receive). Any winners will be notified; we feel ~~ey aeserve th 7 opp~rtunity to collect their trophies in person. Pe anyone 7lse is thinking of 5 oing over they should contact ter Aldridbe or myself. Those not attending will have their medals collected for them. 4 Bonne route!
from Francis Cooke
1987 has seen a steady increase in the number of Auks collecting AAA points - there are now about 100 taking part, or approximately 10% of the total membership. A small handful have now actuall y completed their Audax UK Altitude Award, but to have done so in two seasons or less suggests to me an unhealthy tendency towards masochism, coupled with money to burn and/or an enviable amount of spare time(!!) Keith Barker has already broken DP's record for the quickest AAA, from first to last his events spanned less than 10 months!** Meanwhile, back in the real world, those of you who, like me, have only got a few of the 12 points required so far, take heart for a new season stretches ahead and the events list is growing all the time. Look after your cards, and don't forget to take them along to the counting events! In all, the final events list for '87 numbered no less than 23 events, including a remarkable 6 counting the 'full' 2 points and one notorious 3 point epic - although out of the 8 hardnuts who survived the worst that the Lake District could dish out, only one was an Exhausted Auk able to claim his points . Look out for new ultra-hilly events marked in the calendar next year - I hear rumours of one or two more 'Super Grimpeur' type events in the planning stage - and I hope to have a list of 'counters' for 1988 ready by around mid-February, and available on application. Happy Grimping to all Exhausted Auks. **A claim has just come in from Peter Coulson of 17½ AAA points in under 6 months - Ed.
AUK JERSEYS, (acrylic, colours red/white/blue), two back pockets reflective strip down seam between pockets and AUDAX UK lettering on the back: Short sleeve ..... £11.00 Long sleeve ... .. . £12.00 Arm Warmers .. . . . . £ 1.50 Plus post & packing £1.00
Winter training caps, red/blue £2.00 Plus post and packing 4Sp.
Cash with order please. Margaret Hopper, Rosedene, Hadley End, Yoxall, Burton on Trent DE13 8PF. Telephone• (0543) 472349.
What were six Randonneurs doina outside a Ladies Lingerie Shop in Broadway at 09.00 with a mega tin of Nivea on the WCW? Answers on the back of a postcard to: Spot the Pervie Competition, Zone, c/o Editor.
OVERLEAF .. FLECHE VELOCIO . . April 1987 .. Simon Jones & Peter Crump managing a drop in both oceans? BREVET CYl1RU .. May 1987 .. Barry Parslow & Hark Brooking descending the Wye Valley.
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MA N AD RIF T OR THE SEQUEL TO MAtl OVERBOARD
Lt
fr om S imon Jone s
As Alan Sturk Mick Latimer and Killer Ingham head e d off into the west I lo~ked forlornl y at the bo ttom brac~et wh~ch h a d just s u ffe red a h e rnia. I t was 16 .45 o n Goo d Friday in Fr ance . My i mmedia te though t was to abandon the Flec h e Velocio get a hotel , a nd somehow reach Provence i n th e next few days., My bik e seems to aq u i re a life of it s own when we 0 to Fr ance . 6 This usually manifes ts itself i n the form of a breakdow n. seemed t o be a bit far to jog Fortun ately , this g enerally with a bike and panniers .) Yes, takes place within h ailin g it woul d still be open. No, the distance of a bike shop where last bus has gone. I could r ing instant se rv ice i s ne a r ly for a t axi , Mons ieur ? Done. An a lways a vailable . This time instant s ur ge of hope. It was we seemed to be not only " e n 17.10. In five minutes t he tax i panne " b u t the trip looked in was speeding down the RN84, the danger of being down the pan. driver silent but seeing the francs click up before his e yes . I soon discover ed that Poncin is not renowned f or its choice At 17.25 we ar rived outside the of bike shops. There was a bike shop in Amerieu en Bugey. sho p wh ich so l d bikes but It was s till o pen. In my haste their l ine in lawnmowe rs was I nearly left the panniers be tter . The little old lady . behi n d. Yes tlonsieu r, wha t c a n behind the counter picked up I do? I explaine d, or rather the pho n e but it seemed her pointed a nd mimed , the problem mechanic was not prepared to to the very pleasan t Madame be distur bed fo r the rest of behind the counte r. Well, yes, the weekend. Pe rhaps Mo nsieur we can repair that, no problem . could t ry the garage at the Could Monsieu r come back in the top of the street? morning? We ll, Madame, its lik e this, I'm doing the Fleche Here the young mechanic was Velocio and . .. Just a moment keen to show his resource ful Monsieu r , I 'll speak to the ness a nd quickly disappea red mechani c. into the workshop to find a spanner which migh t fit someThe bike disappea red into the thin6 in the o ffending area. back room . I glanced anxiousl y Afte r several fruit l ess trips through the doorway. The he gave up, rather shamefac ed. mec hanic already had the bike By now I had begun to recover up on a stand and was gutting f rom the shock of what had the bottom bracket. Forty happened . I app r oached the minutes later he reappear ed receptio nist doing her nails. Did they have a "Pages Jaunes?" without a word with the bike as She and the mechanic looked at good as new. He had gone before I could thank him. Madame gave each other and then throu g h me a detailed examina tion of the director y without the offendin g bits . After many convic tio n until someone whom thanks, a nd loaded up again, I I s u spected to be the "patron" appeared . Non, Mon sieur, there set off once more, 280 francs the lighter ( 100 francs for the is no bike shop here . The nearest is at Amberieu . That's taxi and 180 francs for p arts and labour). I could not really 18 ki l ometers from h ere. (It complain . 7
With morale mor e than restored I quickly got into a good rhythm a nd began to h ave high h opes of catching the o the rs by midnight. I met up with a team from Cha t eauThierr y heading fo r Aix-enProvence . Progress was rapid on the carpet-like road surface . At Loyot t es I met up with Marc LeGuilcher' s team of Peter Crump , Bob Hoof and Le n Gurnet . Len was thoroughly enjoy ing his first ride in France. They l ooked ve r y relaxed without any luggage which was in their fleet of team suppor t cars frantically zooming up and down the r oad . This was expl ained when, afte r two kilometers, it turned out they h ad taken a wrong turning and we rapidly sa id goodbye as they d id their U-turn.
with a re s trained quarter litre of rouge and plenty of water. !_felt well set up for the night but it was already 22 .00 . T~e re would be no meeting up with the others till dawn now. ! _reached the secret control at Givers, a cross the Rhone just after midnight and was w~lcomed by the ACP controllers . Alan had obviously told them of my problems and my card was endorsed "incident mecanique" .
They t o ld me the others had estimated_! would be a h ?ut l½ h ours behind them and it seemed this was exactly so. I set off even more determined to r ide through without stopping for slee p . Conditions were ideal. It was a warm clear night wit h a good moon . There was no cold Mistral blowing as in 1982. There was plenty of i nterest on At Co l ombier there was no news the far side of the Rhone with of the ot hers as I go t my card the moving lights of the stamped at the only cafe in traffic on the autoroute and the village. Pressing on to the trains on the main line . reach the N6 east of Lyon, I Occasionall y the deafening stopped at the fi r st cla tter of goods trains on the line next to the road jolted me re s taurant I found i n St. out of any drows ine ss . Laurent de Mure. Having ordered, I sett led down a nd In one vil lage a n old van the n suddenly had a nas ty pulled int o the curb ahead of thought. Was there some rule me. An Italian couple were for the Fleche that you mu st retra ce to the poin t where you e nquiring the way to Nice. Well, you follow t his r oad for abou t left the route - ie Poncin or 200 kilometers unt i l you reach 56 ki lometers back? I got out t h e sea, then you turn left . the map and calcula ted the Our conversatio n was i nterrup ted differe n ce between the tea m's by the quiet arrival of one of official r oute and my own to t he ACP roving controllers , a be 12 kilometers . l i ttl e s u spicious of what might b e happenin g. He quickly took I was jolted ou t of this mental arithetic by the waiter over so I could get on my way. inviting me to help myself Feeling the n eed for sleep, I from the table of hors h ad t wo short stops to stre t c h d ' oevres. All matters of conscience were forgotten as I my legs. Sti ll, my "night glasses" were very effective loaded a plate with seven and I did not begin to suffer varieties of co ld meat , e ggs mayonnaise, tomatoes, beetroo t until afte r d awn . To stay awake I tried to sing a t the top of coleslaw , fennel, gherkin , my voice and g rip the h andle b ars olives, potato and carrots . tightly . There was at l east one This was followed by fish, h a lf hour period I could not boiled potatoes a nd h a ricots recall. verts. Cheese, followed by mousse a u chocolat finished Then, quite suddenly, the s l eepthings off, al l washed down 8
iness lifted. It was 07.00. My pace picked up rapidly and by 8.20 I reac hed Rochmaure. Here, in a cafe , were the LeGuilcher team again . They had seen Alan a nd Mick who had left a short while ago. They would be waiting for me at Pont St. Esprit unt il 10.00. After a quick coffee we all set off . It was 08.30. I had l½ hours to do 45 kilome ters a nd was feelin g pretty good by now so soon went off the front, which I was also ob liged to do since I was n ot in their team . The country was becoming a lot more rolling as the Rho ne v a lley opened o ut. J ust in time I remembered to collect the stamp at the 23rd hour mark which cost ten minute s by the time the b a rman had found a s tamp. The kilometer posts went by one by one as 10.00 approached. The tr affic built up a~ I got ne a rer Pont St. Esp rit and I had to take to ~earing along the dotted line in the _c e ntre of the road. The town sign flashed by and I fl 7 w into the dusty, crowded mai n square . It was 09.56 . I _was immediate ly hailed by Mick and Alan who proceede d to ply me with giant strawberri and . orange s. Th ey were very es relieved to see me as K"ll had g f i er h one o f the front some ours 7arlier a nd had not be seen since th d en team o f f , u s re ucing t he our to only two . So at the 11th h the 23rd h our, or rather had the _o~r, we once again qualify minimum number to did the f~n:ltiam. ~eunited we to finish our F!w kilometers Bollene With 37 ec~e at was Still one ~ kilometers . I af ter a very t~ilometer short calculation T~red bit of • going wrong . br · e~ I remembered 1 the previous n7e Y way b ac k to retra ce Al~g~t and having I could put . in all, I felt in my card at the 9
c oncentratio n next day with a clear conscience . The next few day s were a cycling paradise of touring amidst the blossom of Provence and the spectacula r scenery of the Cevennes and the Gorges du Tarn . After a gastronomi c lunch with ACP l as ting four hours, I found Tom Simpson's memorial near the s ummit of Mont Ventoux. This time it wa s not completely covered in snow. Five weeks later I wa s to see his grave in the village cemetery at Harworth on Bernard Mawson's 400. My bike, meanwhile, was keeping a low profile ... until the next trip abroad .
Some of the_vast crowd of 10.00 start 7 rs waiting in the compound opp~site the Alain Mimoun Stade Paris .
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Photos by Francis Cooke.
Breakfast at th C . o n the second d :y arha~x Control A gathering of Engr~;h r~~ Paris. their helpers. ri ers and
PBP SOME REMINISCENCES fror.i roving contro ller , Noel Simpso n i , ~ : 9.30arr, iJIGeo ca~t urnin g; the AU:< ~:onora ry Treasu local bylaw (Cefen se de passer centre le ;nur), rer cont 7aven~s a evacua ting !:us bladde r before settin g off. Is he t~e man he claims to be? Come to the AUK Reunio ns to find out; AUK is buying the video.
re11e.n e hospit al: after months of trainin g, qualif of the most advers e weathe r condit ions, and layingying in some 'out not incons iderab le sums of r.ioney, David Osler comes off his bike soon after leavin g Paris. Smilin g throug h his facial injuri es, and surrou nded by attent ive and attrac tive nurses concer n is for .. . the safety of his bike - since , his only intact from Paris. (He has writte n to say that recove red , damage d eye is not likely to be restor ed but thatthe sight in his he is back on his bike . ) Tuesda y & Wednes day On the road, enlive ned by the repart ee of travel ling compa nion, Sarah, her wits honed by Alan Waters . Carhai x Bry Ferg uson using his Spanis h to explai n to countr y, retire d from the event, why we could a native of that not immed iately and person ally drive him back to Paris . Mauree n Chaney , carrie d into the Red Cross unit with a badly swolle n ankle. Dismo unting to seek relief the roadsi de, she was bitten by an anglop hobe adder but rode at on medica l attent ion. Discha rging hersel f agains to Brest for t advice , she return ed the 90k to Carhai x where furthe r treatm husban d & wife holdin g hands behind the screen ent was given, swelli ng to subsid e (Ehl). French heads shaken s waitin g for the when she rode off again . But she was forced to in disbe lief give up 80k later at Tinten iac, in great pain . Anyone who can endure that can sit throug h an AUK AGM. Back at Carhai x Riders giving up throug h cold and exhau stion, seekin g the dor~it ories, and being direct ed to them up eight flight s of stairs . Follow ing the progre ss of riders on compu ter printouts, the contro ls being so linked . The English man with ,a sore bum, arrivin g at each ~essag e ~ritte n in French , inscrib ed by some kind contro l with a interp reter, My bum is on fire. Please massag e it." (Shade s of Monty Pytho n's Anglo- Hunga rian dictio nary?) _Nev Holga te, forced to retire with knee troubl e - but does he take ~o his _bed? No, he helps Bernar d Mawson in the AUK suppo rt car dispen sing bonhom ie and cycle spares (kindl y suppli ed, sale or return by Geoff Franci s). N~ck and Andy as~ed by specta tors why they trikes - "Becau se bikes are too easy" . Shakin g their heads in ride disbe lief, the onlook ers retire to a bistro exclaim ing "The Englis h are mad b~t we love them". Nick & Andy set off with the vedett es (16.00 riders ) and hardly slept - their halluc inatio ns, if printe d, would lead to charge s of pornog raphy. 11
Fougeres lephoni ng to arrange hotel accomo dation Jolly ~ady co~croi i!~ ~: along the rou~e, ~or exhaust ed riders . in Paris and 1.n_v ug) Parsons , enterin g in a handing Gerald (never gives dp llet (I) with the words t~ance, Get me some over his wel~-s~ ocke wa food - anything Villaine s of an injured Norweg ian with no other Linguist :ic probl~msc1.·ng with a Frenc h doctor, through a Norweg ian communi. languag e, . carider and yours tru 1 y the Ang 1 o- Frenc h akina Aust:ri.an spe o with limit:ed German. int:erpre cer Belleme Forei n Events Secreta ry snorin~ in unison with his °':1r Honorary agunani mity they rarely achieve on the road. Wi.lles?e n grhou~r' compani on with mountin g problem s, asking for a Chr1.sc1.ne, c el. ' leg over . :~g~~ri can hospita lized in one town, bike at anothe r, belongi ngs elsewhe re (somehow all were rec?ver ed). His compan ion, lost for ntually found asleep in the gutter 300 yards from the ours'ol,evehis hconcr . t a near.b y bike careful ly 1eant agai.ns. wa 11 . The John Brooking peramb ulat?ry pantech nican - dispens ary for sick men and machine s, much in use. Lase La_E. Driving towards Paris, the reve:se d trike propell ed by a Scandin avian, tocally enclose d in a plastic shell (was there an engine in its dark interio r?). Watching in horror as the one-arm ed Frenchm an, . riding at an of 20° co the vehicle , came off on gravel. Bruised and dazed angle he asked: "Combien de kilomet res?" "45" . "Combie n d 'heures And !-le remount ed, asking us to follow for a mile or two ?"in "3". case he fell again . The marvello us police escortin g tired riders to Rueil, holding up traffic at busy main r oad crossin gs. Finish ~ i n our eyes as the one-arm ed rider arrived . Also the !iorwegi an father who had propel led his handica pped 1215 kilomet ers, his hands and feet strappe d to the tandem. son
~ OrieATIK rider arriving refresh ed but a day late . Exhaus ted, as he approach ed
Paris , he opened a gate and fell asleep in a parked car, . to wake. at dawn in the grounds of an e legant chateau . .. furtive retrieva l of bike and exit.
Gleaning s from Les Randonn eurs Mondiau x Dinner - Friday Night: Bob Leperte l reported that followi ng the immedi ate post-mo on the 1987 PBP, the rate of "abando ns" was 20% because of rtem adverse weather conditio ns. Normall y the rate is 9 . 5%. He ~?v:sed organis ers in countri es enjoyin g favoura ble climati c con. 1.t1.on~ <not Britain I) to plan hillier routes and reduce the ~ax~mumhti.me fo: complet ion in PBP years. t~e ~~~s!~/ I!d~cte d ~hat, with the increas ing partici pation from Finland De , ountri.e s (France , GB, Spain, Norway , Sweden , interes~ be~~=r~h USA! Canada, Austra lia, Belgium ) and the necessar y to rest 0 ".'11 in other parts of the world, it may be in under 36 hou net PB entry to those who have comple ted a 600k J rs. ean Paul Muzelle c th L elected LRM Pres·d' e RM Repres entativ e from Sweden , was 1 ent for the ensuing four years.
12
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of AUDAX UNITED KINGDOM will be he ld at P.ARTINGTON YOUTH HOSTEL on SATURDAY, 28th NOVEMBER at 14.30 . AGENDA 1. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN: John Richards on is proposed by Keith Benton a nd seconded by Sheila Sir.ipson . No other nominati ons have been r eceived . 2 . MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 1986 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 3. MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 1987 EMERGENCY GENERAL MEETING 4. r.ATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES 5. REPORTS FROM OFFICERS (a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
Membersh ip Secretar y Foreign Events Secretar y Magazine Editor Treasure r Secretar y
These report s are publishe d in Arrivee. The Officers concerne d will be pleased to give further informat ion if required . The level of s ubscript ions for 1988 will be consider ed under the report from the Treasure r. 6. ELECTION OF OFFICERS (a) Secretar y (b) Treasure r (c) Foreign Events Secretar y (d) Magazine Editor (e) Press Officer (f) LRM/ACP Correspo ndant All these Officers are unoppose d and are willing to continue in office. 7. CONSTITUTION: To consider the Constitu tion proposed by the Committe e as publishe d in Arrivee. ~ 8. ELECTION OF OFFICERS: If the revised Constitu tion is ~greed, the followin g officers will be required : (a) UK Events Secretar y (b) Brevets Validati on Secretar y (c) Brevets Secretar y The Committe e propose that the members who have carried out these respons ibilities since August 1987 s hould remain in office. However, as members were not able to ma ke nominati ons in the usual way nominati ons will be accepted from the floor . ' Please note that the Press Officer will become the Media Publicit y Officer. 9 . VENUE FOR 1988 AGM 10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
MINUTES of EXTRAORD I NARY GENERAL MEETING OF AUDAX UNITED KINGDOM held at EYAH YOUTH HOSTEL on SATURDAY, 8th AUGUST at 14.00 The meeting was opened by Simon Jones who welcomed members and explaine d that th e meeting would be in two parts (1) the election of new officers (2) the consider ation of amendmen ts to the Constitu tion . 1 • ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN : There being no other nominati ons John Richards on was unanimou s ly elected and t ook the Chair. He formally weicomed members. 13
ARY· Pe ter Aldri dge was proposed by Mick Lat imer, NORARY SECRET . d
John Nicholas and Steve Nicholas fo r a 11 t h e wor k t hey had undertaken for AUK .
and duly elec te · 2 ELECTION OF RO• • · d d by Noel Simpson, SENTATION OF ACCOUNTS : Keith Benton
secon e SURER AND PRE d 1 1 d HONO!!ARY TR£A d d by Dave Beard and u Ye ecte. J. ELECTION O~ F~l!city Beard and sec~n ed by the Outgoing Treas urer for the was proposedb nee sheet had been pro ~~:7 and c opies were cir cula ted at t he ACCO!NfS: Aseat:mber 1986 t o 20 th J ul y that.the account s appeared to be period 1st ~hairman informed members d to obt a in t he account books, cheque ceeting. The d, the Treasurer was requeste h finance s of the club from the 10 . complete an rel at ing to t e f d 11 other documen ts h b k account had not been rozen on books an Taeasurer Steve Nicho las . T eh aCnmmitt ee had been inquorate, and it Prev1ous r ' N · ho las as t e o •gnation of Steve i c . dia tely The Treasurer asked members the res1ed that this s hould be donedimmei any .queries with him before the
(v) Noel Simpson propose d a vote of thanks t o J ohn Richardson for taking the Chair at the meeti ng .
i
agre . t of accounts an ra se to read the stat emen the accounts . when he would r e-present orted that s he h a d a l is t of assets be longing to the
REPORTS FROM OFFICERS As at the time of the Annual Gene ral Meeti ng for the period 1983 to 1986, 1987 as at the 8th of October.
;,.as
""" , nu•1
ASSETS: Sheila Simpson rep items had been returned by the previ ous Secretary, ~ u t as yet non of the k d to writ e to J ohn Nicholas requesting John Nicholas . The Secr etar y was as~ to the cl ub. Har r y Kimberley informed the handing over of a l l ite~ b:lonf ~~er from J ohn Nicholas offering to the members that he had receive a e f £180 After discussion, it was agreed . Pur chase the compu t e r for the amount o f r e placing the computer, i t s h ou ld be . v iew of the cost o with 1 b unanimous ly t hat in the appropriate so f tware and cu retained for use by t he c lub, toge t hr e
records. tion of the item "LRM levies". Sheila 1 Doris Broadh ur s t a sked for an f exp anah rider on each event ri dd en was 25P o f Simpson s=a ted t haAtCPth:n!e~~e ;:m::~der had, i n the past been paid i n to AUK which !Op went to h b done this year'. The Secretary's levy funds but this appeared not to ave een l if this with John Nicholas . • d N 1 Simpson agreed to c a r y was also queried an oe h ibilities of ACP, LRM, and ~ike Jones asked for cla r ifica tion on t e respons AlJJ( in connec tion with events . 4.
iJISCUSSION OF A POSSIBLE NEW AUK CONSTITUTION
1~84
791
BIT
1985 950
1986 1018
1987 102 1
66
86
114
111
121
?
15
22
28
21
18
22
32
37
1983
Total including : Family members (reduced r a t e) Free members* Life members* Lapsed (rejoined this year)
?
11
25
2~
New members
?
277
262
249
236
(incl uding those those s ubs cover the foll owing year)
?
54
62
35
10
208
226
219
258
Non renewals
*
Free membership allocated bu t in some cases payment was subsequent ly made.
FOREIGN EVENTS SECRETARY
5. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Th e qu est i on d of Press (i) Appoin tment of Press Secretary : bers Secretary that Chriswas Davies raised by Harry Kimberl ey and the Chairman i nforme me~ 1 but more had been elected as Pr ess Secretary severa l years prev ous dy' "Parry recen tl y the wor k had been done by John Nicholas. The pseu onimto him but a Westwood" under which John wrote, was not considered personai i an official ng itn and Chris pseudonym ' for use by any aut hor i se d mem be r of the club writ bli capacity. Members expr essed conce rn at the rec ent l ack of pu C he Davies was asked if he would take this work on aga in . After acce~t ~:~g Weekl y, ag reed to wri t e to various publica tions including Cycletouring, ye and Bicycle Times t o inform them of the change of AUK Officers . (ii) Event Admini s tr ation until next AGM: The following members have ki nd iy agreed to carry out t he duties of organising a nd validating events a nd these ·•er e agr eed:1 nd Detail s of dis t ance, start 6 intermediate times , s t arting place , c ontro 9 a inte r med iate distances - Noe l Simpson . Brevet ca rd inners - Francis Cooke. Brevet card s - Bry Ferguson. Va lidation a rrangement s , medals & payment for events - Be rnard Mawson. ( iii) I 3 twas proposed by Mick Latimer and unanimou s 1 Y agree d • to extend ·r work vo t e of thanks to Simon J ones and Noel and Sheila Simpson for all thei es during the las t few months on behalf of AUK. It was agreed tha t their exp~~~b i ncurred in travelling to France in this connection should be me t out of fund s.
r
(iv) The Chai r man asked that the Secret a r y s hould writ e letters of thanks t o 14
from Ray Haswell
MEMBERSHIP FIGURES FOR THE PERIOD 1983 to 1987
Simon Jones
I . As at October, 74 enqui ries were dealt with by the Foreign Events Bureau .
This compares with 90 last year. This dro p may be due to many people putting their efforts into the PBP instead of other foreign events. 2 . Those riding events abroad continue t o increase in number . More and more ar e reporting back and providing the FEB with muc h valuable i nformation for future reference.
3. I report on particular events of 1987 in the November Arrivee . 4 . The new system of e nt ry fees fo r the Fleches de France being collected by me on behalf of ACP and forwarded t o the Treasurer for two six mon th l y payments appears t o be worki ng satisfactorily . This is to a void extor tionate French bank charges . 5. Inventory: - The FEB holds the following for members reference:(a) Les 100 Plus Belles Randonnees du Cyclotourisme (b) Atlas des Cols des Alpes (c) Atlas des Cols des Pyrenees (d) At l as des Cols du Massif Centra l (e) Various Michelin (and national) maps. 6 . The AUK contingen t had an official support vehicle for the first time, due to members efforts . This had to be arranged at the last moment. At the time e ntries had to be· sent , it was difficult to provide · any pr oper assistance or information to those wanting accommodation. The Committee will need to consider these aspects for 1991 . 7. I shal l be pleased to stand again this year . If reelected I intend to s tand down next yea r . I thi nk a fresh a pproach will be a good idea after five years. 15
Sheila Simpson been very fully recorded i n Arrivee, With MAGAZINE EDITOR tivities of the year ha:er of pages, t he April edition reaching the I. The a"ent increase in the num :ed the weight for the 13p postage.
ft r this we exc a subsequ rovide a magazine which keeps member s in t ouch maximum at 36 - a e
2 The primary aim has been t~t~ events, and which encourages part icipation in
ith eac h other, up to date w~ome and abroad. However, thanks to the efforts news, and s t eady s upply of ;ong distance cycle rides at th~ calendar, events d b i ncreas i ng numbers of . stic members' y are now being supplemente of our enthus1a 5 f ull-length article , 1 t rs and comments which are so necessary to give our
the photos , sketches,d etf~ect the life of the club.
magazine its style an
re
the cost of each members four copies of Arrivee this year to J. I calculat;oxima tely £1 . 40. That is £1.36 for printing and posting t o the
have be::r:p~ho receive the magazine plus addit~onal charges for stationar y been included as sep&rate items in this years accounts~ The 90D mem which have not figure is calculated from:
Printing & Postage costs - Advertising Revenue Membership
£1522.28 - £132.00 1021 Co actual fact an additional lOp is borne by the paying members due to the :ree membership and also the necessity to print extra copies of the magazine :o cope with the changing membership. , . Arrivee, I discovered at the PBP this year, is the only regularly produced magazine of its type and as such is read with interest by overseas clubs we have a wider audience than is immediately obvious . 5. I s hall be happy to stand as Editor again this year and there are plans to
produce your Calendar in more detailed form, however, we s hall soon reach the
limit of any improvements I can make and I am on the lookout amongst the contributors for someone with more artistic talents than myself who would make a more professional future Editor.
6. Thanks to all our readers and contributors and our printer, Tradeprint, where Rita i s always ready with advice . Also, of course, Ray Haswell and Bry Fe rgus on without whom the mammouth task of distribution would be impossible. TREASURER
Keith Benton
I . I was e l ected to the Treasurership of AUK on 8th August 1987. The previous
Trea s ure r prepared accounts to 31st July 1987 and these were presented to the EGM on 8th August 1987.
2 I have audited these accounts and whilst I am satisfied that they are · correc tly drawn up, it is impossible to say whether or not they disclose the true position of AUK at 31st July 1987. 3 · lt seems likely that there is another bank account through which cheques payable t o AUK have been presen ted . Details of t h is account were not and st ill are not known or made available to the Treasurer . 4 No adjuS t ment is made for stock in hand for badges and medals. Transfer of s t0 ck will shortly be made and adjustments will be made to the 198B t e
h
accounts .
5
· The ACP levy in a PBP year is 1 . 90FF. In a non PBP year it is lFF · h 6 . A schedule of the ass e ts is shown overleaf together with a note oft e held. are they which by pers on or Company 7. It i s understood that additions have been made to t he computer but these have not been authorised from AUK funds and their cost is not known. 16
s. The Credit Lyonnais account was a personal account . Arrangements are being made to open a Club account. 9. r recommend (a) that membership subscription s remain at current levels for 1988. (b) that the cost of badges be st a ndardis ed for 1988 at £1 . 35 . AUDAX UK INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR YEAR ENDED 3 1st AUGUST 1987 EXPENDITURE
~
1987
1986
4 22 . 96 331.82 155 . 8 7 1052.49 297 . 91 71.90 22.60 413. 33 1522.28 1383 176.26 114 Officers' Travel 57 . 50 Committee Meeting expenses 44.32 Engraving levy 237.25 205 Secretary's 50.00 50 Enrolme nt levy 43 Bank charges 77 Insurances 102 . 61 5 Audit fee ACP/AUK meeting 174. 5 5 Northern Reunio n 16. 40 Equipment (misc/stamps ) 40.79 96 Other misc. 2.66 Foreign Events ( 86+87) 98.22 EGM Expenses 40.84 368 Depreciation 410 . 81 415 Surplus for year 836.76 6288 6580.13 485 453 194 1794 231 74 300
Postage Stationary Telephone Medals (Note 5) Cloth Badges (Note 5) Affiliations ACP Fees 1986 ACP Fees 1987 (Note 7) Magazine & Postage
198 7
1986 3051 81 163 1887 258 764 84
3133.65 73.85 132.00 Magaz ine Meda l s ( No te 5 ) 1994.20 Clot h Badge s (Note 5) 240 . 00 Event levie s 86 160.30 87 740 . 28 Misc 1.25 Bank Interest 104 . 60 S u bscri ptio ns Do nations
6288
6580. 13
848 1787 145 52
147
Equipment (Notes 8&9) 461. 00 Bank deposit 31 25.28 current 161.83 Ly onnais(lO) Cheques 2 5. 75 3212 . 86 Unpresented Debtors: J .Nicholas 11.23 S.Nicholas 52.66 63 . 89
2979
3837.75
BALANCE SHEET AT 31st AUGUST 1987 1986 2259 415 305
2979
Balance brought forward Surplus as above
Creditors - Officials: 276.95 BT --22.:..QQ
2674.04 836 . 76 3510 . 80 326 . 95
3837.75
SCHEDULE OF ASSETS AT 31st JULY 1987 (Values to nearest £) Cost ~ Additional Expenditure Total Value at (pre mziJ 1984 / 85 1985 / 86 1986 / 87 lieoreciatio3 Augus t 1987 Computer (Note 9) 345 518 Typewriter(no 1) 190 173 150 (no 2) 319 " 40 199 Metal type 120 28 152 24 49 Metal Dies (10) 3 :~ 47 499 90 98 150 Lythoprinter 71 140 17 10
Held by J.Nicholas R. Craig J . Nicholas J . Nicholas
REV Gomm
Sheffield
cw
I
Peter Aldridge . John and Steve Nicholas, respectively Secretary and Treasurer of f 0 1987 ~ tJ_ie r':'51gnations ...,.,J.d like to place on record the thanks of the Camd.ttee and ITBlilers 1 that John and Steve have put into the Chili. I would also wish Jam a All< since its inceptioof. for all the ""rk and ef ort . speedy return to full health. for a club secretary. in his annual report, to rE!Vl.ew the events of the past . was PBP year and there year irdication of the club's progress. This It is traditl~ year and give _...,_ rodsarethis event in weather that was far frCJD good. Details of this ride are f 2463 b . "'u e ...re 125 aeibers revets were awarded, . Cl1Iis Davies' excellent report 1.Il Cycling Weekly. A total o . decrease fran last year (ED - this is an estimate frCJD Treasurer's Report + 399 since Bemaid CCIIIIEOCed validation, sare events yet to CCJDe in, also Br""';'ts Populai~e, Arra., Percanmt 6 Iliagonal results) . Yoo will see frCJD the Merbership Secretary s 1:l"port tnat oor ae:bershi soo,s roly a slight rise over last year, largely because of the high proportion of did not ch:,ose to renew their IIBlbership. This is disappointing and will be aeii,ers investigated if the trend continues. Foll~ the resignations of John and Steve Nicholas, an Elrergency General Meeting was held on 8th August. Forty-eigllt nenbers attenied and a further fifteen sent apologies. Arrangeirents were .-ace for the adi:!ini.straticr. of the Club tmtil the i'GI. I was elected as Secretary, Keith Benton as Treasurer and Noel Si.Iipson as ACP/lRM Representative. Arrange:nents were also made for the registratico, administration and validation of brevets.
AUDAX UNITED KINGDOM .• CONSTITUTION .. Draft/October 1987
ECRETARY
!1":::..~tial J'.,
I. The title of the association shall be Audax United Kingdom (referred to as AU~). 2. AUK shall be a non-profit- making organisation.
3. The purpose of AUK shall be to promote long-distance cycling in the United Kingdom and the fellowship of cyclists throughout the world. 4. Membership of AUK shall be open to any cyclist r egard less of club or other affiliation who is imbued with the spirit of long-distance cycling and is a person of goodwill. 5 . AUK shall associat~ with Les Randonneurs Mondiaux and represent that body in the UK.
6 . AUK shall affiliate to the Cyclists' Touring Club, the British Cycling Federation and the Sports Council. 7. The Patron of AUK shall be the Rt. Hon. Sir Hubert Opperman OBE GCSJ .
8. AUK shall have the following honorary officials:-
!) 2) 3) 4)
Since r beca:,e Club Secretary, a mriler of uerbers have expressed their coocem about the ft:i.cticn that has been a feature of recent NY,s, and that, sadly, has also been apparent in sare of the letters in Arrivee. I think a major factor has been the genuir.e desire of a substantial !xxiy of IEii:ers to clari.."y sare of t.1-Je areas of confusion that existed within Audax, for exaJl>le, the p(>ii.tion of t.'le l.Z·l Corres;xnlant - is he a club noon.nee or an indepeooent appointr.E!t? We have ha:l co:,_"usi.cz: at lt'.lis a.er the Clinutes of ireetings, about -what was or was not agreed; 0\/l!r the Coostitutioo, with uerbers quoting frCJD different versions, and over the duties and respa,sibilities of the Club's officers.
Yrur Caoni.ttee will, therefore, be sulmi.tting for your consideration at the ftGi a revised Coost:l.tution which will clarify the duties and responsibilities of the L~ Correspomant and the Club's officers, and IIBke it clear that the Correspomant is an Audax U< nardnee and subject to amuaJ. election in the normal way. As to the minutes, the minutes of the 1987 NY. will be ioclu:led in the January issue of Arrivee and I will also ensure that the reports of Camd.ttee Meetings are s:imilarly published. Can I eqx,asise that it is yoor ~ to question your Club officers and to ensure that we carry tbrough the agreed policies of the Club and cmply with the Constitution. The Ccomi.ttee are also ""rking on the preparation of a Handbook for neooers, and publicity material for prospective 1!Blilers. It is essential that the Chili's rules and regulations, both in relation to rur ac&ninistration and oor events, are widely available and understood, and that the 1eleals and achieveients of ALllax II( are publicised. In the ,-ks folla.ing the publication of my appointnelt in Cycling Weekly, I received over forty requests for information fran prospective ueroers, and I believe that there is a large potential =ce ?f namers if '-" can "get oor act together" and present Audax U< in a positive and attractive mmner. We IIIJSt attract new ueroers, but equally we oust ensure t hat our standards are rraintained. ~rur present Camxi.ttee are dedicated to ALllax UK. We care frCJD as far apart as Yorkshire and rse~ and '."': tnaet:ings are amicable and businesslike. I am confident that Audax UK will thrive and P asper• 1t is a great club with great ideals.
I.et us look to the future with confid ence. By playing a positive part in the decisions, activities and even ment that Awax off:sof the Club, '-" can continue to enjoy the friendship and sense of achieve-and encourage other cyclists to extend their horizons and join us•
18
5)
6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11 j
Secretary Treasurer Membership Secretary U1< Events Secretary Brevet Secretary Validation Secretary Foreign Events Secretary Magazine Editor Press Secretary LRM/ACP Correspondant Chair.Jan
Election to one of the above posts shall not preclude election to any other. 9 . The honorary officials of AUK shall be elected annually at a General Meeting of AUK members. They shall form the Committee of AUK . 10. The Committee shall be responsible for the day to day running of AUl< 6 for promoting the growth of AUl< and shall act in accordance with the AUl< Regulations governing its conduct. 11. The duties of the honorary officials shall be as set out in the AUK Reg~lations . The Committee may delegate any of the duties of an honorary official and shall do so in the event of his incapacity or resignation unless the Committee becomes inquorate when the remaining officials shall call a Special General Meeting. l2 . Honorary officials and designated members with delegated duties shall ~e entitled to be reimbursed from AUK funds for expenses reasonably incurred in carrying out their duties. 13 · A Special General Meeting shall be called if the Committee receive such ~ reque st i n writing signed by 50 members or 5% of the membership whichever is the greater number. 14 • The regulations for events shall be those of AUK.
!
5 • ~his Constitution may only be amended by members of AUK at a General eeting. Voting shall be by ballot and 66% of members present and voting must be in favour .
AUDAX UNITED KINGDOM •. REGULATIONS •. Draft October 1987 REGULATIONS CONCERNillG ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS 1 • The Annual General 11eeting shall be held on the last Saturday of November unless determined otherwise by the Committee. 19
shall only use the Chairman's vote members presen t and voting. The Chairman in the event of a tie.
2 . A General Meeting may be called by the Committee in the event of an emergency.
3. For an AGM all motions and nominations for the election of honorary
22. The Committee
officials shall be made in writing to the Secretary at least 42 days (six weeks) prior to the AGM signed by the proposers and seconders.
REgulations. REGULATIONS CONCERNING OFFICIALS' DUTIES
4. For any other General Meeting nominations for election of honorary officials may be made to the Secretary at any tim~ prior to the opening of the meeting in writing signed by the proposers and seconders.
shall c o ordinate the work of the Committee, act as_
23. Th~ Secreta;yTro hies, publici se AUK, liaise with other associati?ns, custodian of AU .~ f Committee and General l1eetings • i keep the Minutes e and give notice o
5. At leas t 14 days notice in writing of any General or Annual General Meetin g shall be given to a ll_ AUK members togetjier wil:hc•the agenda, details
g arran . receive nominations for elections and mot ons. of all meetings, of Treas urer shall take charge of AUK funds, prepare_a statement 24 · The f or the ACM1 , arrange for such accounts to be audited by an accounts
of all mo tions and no minations received a~~, in the case ~Of an AGM, Minutes
of the last AGM and any intervening General -Mee·tings, i:he, Statement of Accounts and Officials' Reports . The financial year shal-1 end on August 31s t. 6. Only AUK members shall be eligible to attend and vote at a General Meeting. 7. Members may introduce amendments to motions during a General Meeting. Where no nomination for election is received by the due time and there is a vacancy nominations for that vacancy may be received from the floor . 8. All motions, amendments and e lections shall be carried by a simple majority of members present and voting unless otherwise stated in the
Constitution. Voting shall be by ballot if the Chairman sees fit. 9. The Annual Subscription shall be sanctioned at each AGM and be due on 1st January following the AGM.
shall undertake for AUK third party insurance _to cover all organised under the name of AUK and subJect to AUK
riders during any event
independ~nt auditor and keep an inventory of AUK property. "
,.T arrange forward memb ers hi P fees to the Treasurer, keep a list of d AUK members, AUK b the production and distribution of membership cards, an
11. The l evy for AUK Permanent s, Arrows and Brevets Populaires shall b e sanction e d at each AGM and shall be an amount t o cover production a nd distribution of brevet cards and an AUK levy.
REGuLATIOtiS CONCERNING MEMBERSHIP (NB a 13b is appended at end + 14b) 12. New membe r s shall pay an initial enh a n ced s ubscription t o inc lude the member s hip fee and cos t of t r acksuit b a d ge . Any me mbe r not ha ving rejoined by 31st March in any year will be deemed to have resigned.
13. New members who join after 30th September shall be cons idered as fully paid membe r s for the whole of the ens uing year . Laps ed members are n ot e l igi bl e for this concession but are otherwise trea t e d as n ew members.
27. The Brevet Secretary shall be res p o n sib le for and shall arrange the d esign, production and distribution of AUK brevet cards.
28. The Validation Secretary shall be responsible for the collation and validation of AUK brevets. He shall keep records of all AUK events and s h a ll forward r e cords of UK BRM events t o ACP for Intern.a t i onal va l idat ion . He s hall b e responsible f or the sale and distribution of AUK meda ls and s hall c ollect from organisers and forward to Treasurer all levies from events. He
shall prepare the list of Super Randonneurs for publication in Arrivee and st a atement of riders'and clubs' Championship Points for the AGM . 29. nd The Foreign Ev e nts Sec r e tary shall liaise with overseas clubs to gather
of
16 . The quorum for a mee t i ng sha ll be five members .
18. Officia l s s h a ll have a t l east 14 d ays notice of a meeting together with an agenda .
19. Officials shall notify the Secretary whether or not they are willing t o continue in their positio ns at least 6 weeks prior to an ACM. 20. Each o ffi cial s hall present an annual report to a n AGM . 21. All committee r esolut ion s s h al l be d e c ided by a simpl e majority of those 20
Editor
Permanents, Diagonals and Arrows and receive any complaints from riders & organisers and put them before the Committee.
15. Any AUK member may s tand for e lectio n to the AUK Committee with the exc eption of the UK Events Secretary who s hall a l so be a proven organiser of
17. There s hall be a t least four meetings a year unless the Committee agree otherwise.
to the Arrivee
for publication in Arrivee. lie shall check and refer for approval proposed
a
REGULATIONS CONCERNING COMMITTEE ¥..EETINGS
mem er-
26. The UK Events Secretary shall oversee the conduct of all ev~n~s in_the UK run under the name of AUK and under AUK Regulations. He shall liaise with o rganisers to produce a Calendar of AUK events. He shall forward the UK Calendar of BRM events to the LRM/ACP Correspondant for publication in the
14. All AUK members shall have the benefits of third party insurance taken out by AUK whil% riding events run under the name of AUK and subject to AUK Regulations.
BRM events. Proposers and Seconders must also be AUK memb~rs.
~romote
s hip. He shall not refuse membership without first referring any such a pplication to the Committee.
I ntern a tional Calendar a nd the AUK Calendar of even t s 10. The levy for the Brevet de Randonneur Mondiaux events in the UK shall be sanctioned at each AGM and shall be the amount due to Audax Club Paris ien, an amount to cover production and distribution of brevet cards, and an AUK levy.
.
he Membership Secretary shall receive applications for AUK membership,
publish i nformation about foreign events, assist AUK members wishing to
~ide such events with information and support of all kinds
r:~~~~~ 6fch
and liaise
member~d and retain books and maps for such r;ference .
and keep
30. The Mag:~! ~~sE~itden ~broad by AUK _members _for cal~ula tion of AUK Championshi p s . int eres t
t O AK
ors a l l coll a ~e i nf?rmat :on, articles
and correspond ance
AUK magazine Arrivee U me mbers and publish with . the . AUK Ca lenda r ' in the h . this, . all AUK b, ' arrange t e printing and distribution of Arrivee t o 31
mem ers in at leas t
four issues a year.
· The Press Secretary shall liaise with the media t o publicise the a ctivi t i e s of AUK o n a regular b a sis . l2. The ACP /LRM Corres d h l . . ludax Club P a risien pon ants a l liaise with L~s Rando nneurs Mondiaux & •ublication, assist' ~eceive _and forward the ~K list of BRM events to ACP for •n beha lf of AUK. t e Committ ee o n translation, and attend the LRM r e union 13. Th e Chairman s h a ll be '.f Votes. He shall be the responsible for the conduct of ballots and counting ,hall not hav e a vote sole arbiter in the event of a d·i sputed b a llot. He iave a casting vote. at any meetings unless the r e is a t ie when h e shall
21
REGULATIONS CONCERNING EVENTS the Events secretary before 1st November the previous 34 • Events submitted t\ew organisers) will be accepted as Brevets de Randonneur year (15th October ford d they comply with these regulations. MondiaUX events, provi e . . re orted later, or under the minimum Randonneur Mondiaux 3~ - Suitable event~ \e accepted as Brev~t Populaire events and "will be run distance of 200k, . 11 (except that the minimum average Sl)eed for events' u under these regulations P to d t kph) with the exception o f events d etailed in 36-Jg 150k may be reduce O 10 hour rides for teams of between 3 and 5 machines to a • be 24 · 36 · Arrows · · wi t h their own route . d ds hat 11 . ation Teams shall provide t h e organiser 10 specifie es • • • d h 11 b and control details. Maximum and minimum spee s s a e wi t hin BRM speeds. , Permanents shall be events which may be ridden at any predetermine d time. 37 Where their maximum and minimum speeds are those of BRM events they- shall be of Randonneur standard. Where lesser speeds are allowed they shall be of Tourist standard . 38. Diagonals shall be permanent coast to coast rides with standards at Randonneur or Tourist levels as for Permanents . Riders shall provide the organiser with their own route and control details. 39. Regulations for Tourist events may be specified by the organiser and submitted to the Events Secretary for approval by the Couunittee. 40. Events of Randonneur standard which climb 5,000 feet in each 100k may be designated Grimpeur. Likewise where the climb is 7,500 feet the . event may be designated Super Grimpeur. 41. Every AUK event must be advertised in the club magazine, Arrivee , in time for members to enter that event. Randonneur Mondiaux events must appear in the International and AUK Calendars. 42. Any person may take part in events under AUK regulations, with the 'exception that minors must have parental authorisation and persons under 16 years of age may not ride events over 600k. 43. Any kind of machine my be ridden - cycle, tricycle, tandem, etc. - provided that it is propelled solely by human muscular effort . 44. Machines may be inspected at the start of an event and any failing to conform to Road Traffic legislation will be exculded. For night rides efficient lighting muSt be carried. Full mudguards must be fitted, though tricycles need have front mudguards only. 45 · All events shall have minimum and maximum time allowances and riders shall be checked through a system of controls which have predetermined opening and closing ~imes as published in the brevet cards. The time allowances for BRM eve~ts are ased on a maximum speed of 30kph and a minimum speed of 15kph for all controls except the finish of the 200k and 400k where there is a slight increase in maximum _ kph:-time and events over 600k where the lower mean speed is ameliorated to 13 3 Max Min Max Min Max Min 14hrs 6hrs 40mins 300k: 20hrs lOhrs 400k: .27hrs 13hrs 20mins 40hrs 20hrs 1,000k: 75hrs 33hrs 20mins 1, 200k : 90hrs 40hrs Organisers may reduce the maximum speed .for the whole or part of an event. 46. Routes should be int t standard distance Wh ereS ing. They may be over distance but not under the of 4 minutes pe k.il ere over distance extra time shall be allowed at the rate r ometer maximum speed (for BPs und at minimum spee d and 2 minutes per kilometer a· t . per kilometer) Rid er ZOOk the ;minimum speed allowance may be 6 minuttc S · toers must retrace j i must keep t O thea ll otted route and should they leave 1· t and may stop fo f don the route. Riders are responsible for their own feeding r oo and rest at any place along the route. 22 200k: 600k:
. d controls should be arranged so as to prevent short-cutting . Where short 4 7 • Fare ixe possible organisers must · h may be move d cuts provide secret contro 1s, wh1c . from place to place during an event. Controls should average up to 50k apart for events up to 300k and up ·to 80k apart for longer events. _ A rider arriving early at a control must . not have his b~eveth~ard s!gn~d d 48 il the official opening time. A rider arriving late may ave 1s car signe , unt . bi' s ride and submit a written explanation with his card at the finish continue , the Validation Secretary may then award the brevet if he considers the explanation reasonable. B et cards shall be issued at the start of an event . It is the 49 · re~b "l "ty of the rider to ensure the safe-keeping of his card and that it is 1 responsi • • · roperly 1filled in at each control with: passing time, control stamp, and ~ he p t ller's initials. The brevet card is the sole means of proof that a ride has con · · f rom been rocompleted. If any of the control detai. 1s ar~ mis:ing a ri· d er '_s c~rd he may submit a written explanation at the finish_with his card - t~e Validation Secretary may then award the brevet if he considers the explanation reasonable. 50. At the finish the rider must ensure that all h~s details are filled ~no~ the brevet card and then sign the card. The card will be sent to the Validation Secretary for ratification and registration , the brevet number appended, and the card returned to the rider . Failure to hand in the card will result in nonratifi ca tion of the brevet, as may handing in an incomplete card. 51 . Participants may ride singly or in groups and may "bit and bit" or pace each other. Any accompanying vehicles must not pace riders or contact them between controls except in the case of accident or emergency. Riders must not wear or carry any ostentatious commercial advertising. 52. Participants who _infringe AUK Regulations or behave in a manner likely to bring ·an event into disrepute may be excluded from the event and not have their ride validated . 53. AUK and its organising agencies will be responsible only for the provision of time checks at controls and confirmation that a participant has completed a cycle ride along a predetermined route. All participants must have third party insurance cover. Events organised by Cyclists' Touring Club Sections or District Associations have this cover . For other events all non-AUK/CTC /British Cycling Federation members must pay an extra 50p to admit them to temporary AUK membership. The period of membership will be the time actually taken to complete the event. Entry forms must indicate when this additional fee is required. 54. Entry to an event may only be made on the official entry form or an exact copy or photostat thereof. Entrants must state their full name, address and, where applicable, their club and CTC DA and AUK membership number . Entries should be accompanied by: a stamped self-addresse d envelope for the return of the brevet card, the entry fee (plus 50p for uninsured riders), the signature of the parent or guardian for minors; and should reach the organiser by the specified closing date for entries. Failure to comply with any of the above may result in non-acceptan ce of the entry. Entry fees are not refundable. REGULATIONS CONCERNING AWARDS 55. Successful riders in an event shall be entitled to buy the appropriate medal at the current price. Medals will be sent post free if paid for at the finish of the event and the brevet card is so marked. 56. Riders completing the 200, 300, 400, and 600k at Randonneur standard in the same season shall be entitled to buy the Super Randonneur medal and/or date pendant (NB for any distance a single higher distance may substitute for a lower diS t ance). Applications should be sent to the Validation Secretary with the current fee, brevet numbers of qualifying events ridden, and a strong stamped self addressed envelope. 57 • Riders who complete in a four year period at Randonneur standard: an End to 23 _j
End or Paris-Brest- Paris, a 200 , 300, 400 , 600 and l,OOOk ride, an Arrow , plus ot her events at Randonneur s tandard t o a total of 5 ,000k, shall be eligible to purchase the Brevet 5,000 meda l at the current price. Application should be made as f or the Super Randonneur medal . 58 . Certain hilly event s shall be de s ignated Audax Altitud e Award qualifying even t s and s hall carry points as· indicated on the scale: Climb (meters per ki l ome ter ) 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 20+ Distance (kilometers) 100+ 150+ 200+ 250+ 300+ 400+ 600+
½ ½
l½ 2 3
3
l
l½ 2 2½
¼ ½
l 2 3
¼ l
l½ 2½
½ l 2
I
l
l½
I¼
I¼
2
3
4
4
4
Ride rs ammassing a total of 12 points shall be entitled to purchase the AAA badge: Riders must regi s ter for the AAA in advance of t heir r ides with:Francis Cooke, 33 Hawk Green Road, Marple, Cheshire SK6 7HR , and produce their AAA cards at the finish of all qualifying events for endorsement by the f i nish controller. 59. AUK members members shall be eligible for awards of overseas clubs by virtue of BRM events ridden at home and overseas and special event s of over seas clubs. REGULATIONS CONCERNING CHAMPIONSHIPS 60. AUK members shall acrue points at the rate of l point for every lOOk ridden i n AUK events of 200k a nd over at Randonneur standard, and in BRM events ridden abroad , the Paris-Brest-Paris and Fleche Velocio . These points shall count towards the competitions organ ised by AUK . It is the res ponsibility of riders to inform the f or ei~n Even,s Sec . of points gained in overs eas events. 61. Onwards •. THERE HAS NOT BEEN TIME TO RESEARCH CHAMPIONSHIPS FULLY - THIS CAN PROBABLY BEST BE DONE AT THE AGM. . ED. 13 ( b) Free Life Membership shall be granted to members of state r etir ement age who have bee n fully paid up membe r s or family membe r s f or the preceeding five years. 14 (b) Members shall be provided with a copy of the current AUK Handbook.
.... ........ ..... .. . ... . ... ..... .... ... . ... .. .. .. ..... .. ....... ... ..... ·· ····· ·· AUK COMMITTEE.. Elected Officials ., SECRETARY: Peter Aldrid ge, Jesmond , Farmhill, STROUD , Gl os. TREASURER : Kei th Benton, 127 Greenshaw Drive , Wiggington, YORK Y03 SGT . MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY ; Ray Haswell , 22B King ' s Ave. , Lower Parkstone, POOLE. FOREIGN EVENTS SECRETARY: Simon Jones , 6 Beacon Court, Southcote Rd . , READING , EDITOR: Shei l a Simpson , Meadowview Cot tage, Far Bank Lane , Fishlake DN7 5LW. Coo pted Officials . . PRESS SECRETARY: Chris Davies , Magnolia House , 27C East St. , HAVANT, Hants. EVENTS SECRETARY/CORRESPONDANT : Noel Simpson , address as a bove. DELEGATES BREVET CARD DESIGN: Francis Cooke, ·33 Hawk Green Rd, , MARPLE, Cheshire' !ELD BREVET CARD PRINTING & DISTRIBUTION: Bry Ferguson , 8 1A Fent onville St, SHEFF . VALIDATION & RECORDS: Bernard Mawson, 64 Arklow Rd. , Intake, DONCASTER , 24
PBP APERI TIF from Dave Whi t ney A fo rtnight ' s ho liday in the French Alps with my family , prior to the PBP gave me the opp?r t u ni~y t o tr y one of those foreign Randonnee events for t~e first time . This was the 120k Rand Franco-Ita lienne starting from Briancon . Simon J _onnee the details and a letter beforehand to t he O . ?nes supp!ied t hat I could enter on the line . rganiser confirmed ?n the day , with a scorcher in p r os pect, I cyc l ed up to the start in the local Pare des Sports with slight tre "d · what wa s i·n s t ore . w·it h it . bein~ . pi ation wondering a nomudgua d O local c yc lo -s portifs burn me r event would t he off on the first hill ? the Col d'E c h e 11 e . Wondered why apart fr om me and one other guy' No such prob lems . You cou l d everybody else was carrying on , sign on and start any time down the valley . Easy climb between 08.00 and 09.00, all then past an unattended Fre;ch very leisurely . Paid my 25 FF, customs post. Starting the cpllected route details and descent I f o und out wha t " card , and off I went. nong o u d ronne " meant .. . like no Monsieur Reffay, t he road,- I have seen better farm o rganiser, mentioned some tracKs. It was like rid i ~hing about th e Col d ' Echelle a dry riv er bed . ng over i nto ItalX being " nongoudronne ', whatever that Hands _on brakes and backside in meant , and I didn ' t need t th: a7r I ginger ly b e gan t he go over it . Well you don ' to hairpin descent pra yino that come a ll this way to miss out ~very thi ng would hold t o~ether ~ Col do you ? I was g oing up 0 it. suppose the r oughstuff boys · would call this dead easy but 19m~ HPs were not the ideal ~iimbed out of Briancon and equipment. en turned off up 'd va ll e a si e sma l lyg 1 passed a number of When the dust cleared f r om the passed :oups a nd then was cars coming up,and I could drag in turn as I sto d ~y eyes from a point three feet i~c;:~: i~h g ~yto~r aphs ?f in front o f my wheel, the sce n er impressive scenery was superb . The tarmac cl imb {~ ~~ew~~ then a steady r eappeared af t e r 4k and then it 30k out at thirst con t rol , was a swoop straight past the va lley ;t e head of the customs post and into 2015 tarmac ended . m where the Bardonneccia.
~h!
Food and d • in t hee trink was inc luded down andnt~~kfee s? I settled was riding h stocK of who two mudguar~ ~t . ?nly one o r sets ever s, tr iple c hainflas h clo{~~ere; pl e nty of a nd the l 'kin g , Loo k pedal s be a bout ~Oe. There seemed to riding th to 40 people e event. A f a st b Valley descent befo ack down t h e re turning off for 25
I re-d~rected my cyc l i ng companion and he then followed my wheel on the downhill run to Oul x . What should hav e been a superb freewheel t urned o ut to be a ~on- stop pedal against a h eadwind . He c a l led me back wh I overshot a tur ning and then en followed my wheel again up the iall:y to Cesana , I think he was talian as he did not understand my French but then not many French people do either . .
The big climb of the day began at Cesan a up to the Col de Sestr ieres (2O33m). I stopped for a drink; he went on. This was a r eal hot, sweaty (sorry l adies) cl imb, in the middle of t he day, with very little shade. The final hairpin even tu al ly arrived and then the wel come s econd , and final, control . Food and drink on board, a r e s t , and then the descent bac k to Cesana with another hea dwind . This wasn't fair; I was goi ng in the opposite direction t o the last one. All that remaine d then was the las t fi n a l climb of the day up the Co l de Montgenevre ( 1850m l along the main road back into France. Straight past the li ne s of t raffic and through both customs pos ts without stoppin g a nd a superb fast desce n t into Briancon. After a s h ower at the f ini sh ( soap and towel supplied free) I was asked to stop for the presentations. Much to my surprise and slight embarrassment I received a cup for the rider from the furthest distance. A sunny day, sup er b scenery, 12O k and 23OOm of as ce nt i n 7 hours, plus a cup, made for an exceptio nal day to remember. Surely there is room for this t ype of non-standard distance event within o ur Audax Calendar (no doubt minus the sunny weather), particularly in non-PBP years. Rides say that take in s p e cific points of interest a nd do no t have to wa nde r all over the place or include dog-legs to make up a sta ndard distance. Food for thought? By the way, t here is also a permanent in this area of 374k taking in some of the big Cols - Galibier, l'Idozard a nd I have p assed details on to Simon. 26
SOME MEMORIES FROM Dave Pountney \vnen he and Simon Chalkl ey walked into the d o rm at Passay College saw Zone Hastings and a few â&#x20AC;˘ others a nd r ealised they were b~llete d ~ith the O4.OO starters. mind you it wa s quiet after they l eft ! Standing a r ound ( ! ) in Tinteniac Loo he heard a plaintiff English voice calling "l et me out I'm locked in." It was Lawrie' Harrison. Dave wonders if anyone let him out ? ! And just a note on Audax chivalry . Trikies Nick Stead and Andy Dade who started with the Vedettes caught up with an American couple on t a ndem during the third night. The y were right o n their time limit, the woman was near exhaustion and the captain was having trouble navigatin g because of thick fog. The Trikies promptly s l owed and s hepherded them all the way to the next contr o l.
First woma n trikie to complete the PBP, Fl iss Beard, on the road with Ron Sa nt hanging on behind taking the photo.
Every ride r s dream - the massage parlour. Photo by Bry Ferguson.
THE RIDE ! ST TO COMPLETE THE EVENT - Fliss Beard FROM TRE FIRST LADY TRICYCL . he PBP eve r since She ila re t urned full of I've w~nted_to,ri deA~ tha t time I thought any~ne who could ride enthusiasm in 83 ¡ . g was superhuman. I JUSt managed to 100 ~iles withou; 8;t~~~~~ by r i ding the wettest, windiest th qualify for e . . ble and sent i n the PBP entr y f orm windsor-Chester i magin~ as I do need sl ee p eve ry night . chocs ing the 04. 00 star with Jim and Mar y Outram and camped on cook. 01:1r car advancfv~r Par i sien site - which we eventually the official Au ax u found with the aid of a I arrived after 6 hours as the police e scort! mai n bunch was l e aving and _ s topped 20 minutes for a b~g T:ie bike check was from 13 .30 breakfast - coffee and croissant t~ l7.30 on che Sunday and my then continued to Villaines time was 14. 30. I t wa s super (233k ) where I met Wally Wright. to see everyone, new and We chatted over omlettes and familiar faces . Br y Ferguson cakes and set off together. gave my t r ike a very thor ough check _ I had dynamo and battery lights . After collect- I couldn't keep with him and soon dis covered why, when he ing br eve t car d , super appeared over the hill - two randonneur medal , route shee t , dis broken spokes, the wheel wouldn't p3p bottle , and hat , and go round. An Americ an came to my making sure we knew exac tl y rescue, releasing the brakes to where the star t was , we went get me to the next control. back to the camps ite f or evening meal and bed at 21. 30 . Alone again, the wind quite strong, thre e French men caugh~ At 23 .00 , I woke wi th ra i n me and we arrived at Fougeres in bouncing on t he car avan r oof . the late afternoon (323k) . John I ran out and f e t ched my Broo~ing informed me tha t there saddleba 6 of f t he t rike. I t was a me chanic and he got my looked like another we t start wheel sorted out while I had a and at 02.00 it was r ai ning good meal - 5 francs f or 2 spokes, still . Dave took me up to t he very good I thought . start i n t he car and at 03 .15 it stopped , thank goodne ss . Only SOk to the next control , Tintiniac and this i s one of th e I've never seen so many flattest parts of the ride. It cyclists, 1500 se t off at 04 .00 . Tandems , tandem trikes, was still windy so I elec ted t o ride alone only ' cos I couldn't and trikes set off fir s t, ke ep with the groups_that pa~sed. after the pol ice e scort. The tandems soon dropped me and I I arrived at 21 . 30, JUSt as it rode alone fo r I lk before the was oetting dark. This was the f irst bike bunch caught up worst control not much food , so then hung on but it was nerve I only stopped' 15 minutes and set ¡n rackin6 rac ing through the off with some Americans includi g lanes out of Paris in the dark. the Mother & Daughter 24 hour Champions on tandem . Belleme (162k) is the firs t control. Talk about a 100 mile This night leg seeraed to go on road race! Cars had a job to forever . I was doing my us'-,lal get pas t in either direction. falling asleep (possibl e on trike)
\le
28
36! P.e finished in 44 hours an American professiona l rider .
so promised myself a bed at Loudeac _ if e ver I got there ! I di d . At 02.00 and booked a bed and a n 05. 00 cal 1. I slept well and af~er a go?d wash met Wal l y Wright again. After br eakfast I felt OK apart from the legs . A . massa 6 e might he l p - it did, and I set off at 05 . 30 fee l ing much better .
Ca r haix (690k) a t 17.00 . Bernard Mawso n was there with the Audax UK suppor t car so I got new batter ies and c l ean clothes . Also saw Noel with the ACP contro l car . I had a quick snack and con ti nued with my French friends . They were sleeping at Loudeac and I wanted to do one more leg so we par ted compa ny there .
Out of Loudeac I took the wrong turning , missing the arrow in the dark , but only went 3k of f course. I didn't see another rider on this leg (75k) but it was a lovel y morning and the wind wasn't strong at this stage . Arrived at Carhaix (521k) at 09.00 and , a fter two coffees and gateaux, set off on the last leg t o Br est 80k away .
I was please to meet Mark , my Irish frie nd f rom the WindsorChester. He said I could r ide the night l eg with him. It was a real l y cle a r ni ght , not cold , and st i ll some back wind . Tin t i n iac at 02 . 00 , s hattered. We booked beds which i ncluded a s hower, so I had one before I fell into bed - no towel so I used my T- shirt , should I throw i t away? No , it may come in handy!
The wind was increasing a nd my mas sage was wearing off , it seemed it be uphill all the way - the wo r st being the Roe Trevezel, it was so steep and ex posed I cou ld have crawled faster . 40k from Brest I caught a Frenchman and we rode toge t her into Brest . He sa i d his name was Rat t ae , what he didn't say was how ma ny moun tains t here were go ing in to Brest. Up , up , up , I t hought we would never ar r ive. But we did , at 13 . 30 to a s uper ch icken me al . I did enjoy it but couldn ' t rest - I must use the back wind.
I set of f , alone agai n , feel ing the need to get going slowly . The though t of another massage at Fougeres was t he onl y th i ng that kept me goi ng. Her e, after coffee and c r o i ssant , the masseuse was r e a ll y good - she gave my knees t he f ull treatment.
Fee l i ng much better , and glad to s peak Engli s h , I set out from here with Mar k and Ron Sant. This leg was 90k s o we t hought we ' d have a hal f way s top and found a s upe r b cake shop which pr ovided s he l t er from the f irst s t orm. Mark and I set off , not realising Ron wasn't wi th u s , and con t i nue d i nto the rain tha t go t he avie r so by Vil l a ine s we wer e WET and col d (980k , 12 .00 ) .
We l e f t Brest at 14 . 30 . Ra t tae wan t e d to stop for provis i ons a f t er 20k so I sa i d "bye " and cont inue d wi th t he wind and a gr oup of Fr e nch tha t had c augh t me. It was love l y rid i ng out of Bre st seeing familia r fac e s from the 10.00 sta rt r i ding in.
I we n t t o t he l oo a nd put on my T-shirt-cum- t owe l , a ll the d i r ty c l o the s f rom the day be fo re, but wa s s till cold . We reass emb led i n t he can te en, Ma:-k , Ron, and mys e lf, trying t o cheer our se lves up. I h ad a big meal and we se t off, pl a s t i c bags in our s hoes
Bac k t o Roe Tre ve z e l (660k) ~he contro l car pa s sed us a nd l~forme d us t hat the l e ader ~e ~hed 04. 00 start was c oming. a made 12 hours on me in 29
The heavens opened as we walked in and the storm lasted half a hour~ just long enough for an meal and MASSAGE!
and newspaper under our waterproofs. It stopped raining but we eling rough and were a 11 fe • Th took it steady at first. e sun came out and we started to get going but the _meal objected and I was sick every Sk until we reached Belleme (l052k) . It was wonderful to arrive· here. I went and had a good wash and a massage but didn't want much food. Mark had a massage and he was saddle sore - they saw to that as well!
80k to go, we set off in a b i~ bunch of 30 and the pace was b brisk . I started to recognise places and was sure we were nearly there when I saw a sign "Paris 45k". ~t was the longest part of the ride. We arrived at the finish at 02.00 with a police escort . I couldn't believe I had arrived in 70½ hours with no saddle sores ~listers, or other ai lment;, Just sore knees. I would recommend anyone who enjoys distance cycling to try the next PBP in 1991. I hope to be there.
Whether it was that we only had 100k to go, or the massage, we made great time from here to Nogent (1137k) .
***************** AND HERE'S THE TOPICAL TOPOGRAPHICAL GRAPHIC 1.'E DAREN' T SHOW YOU BEFORE THE EVE~T - THE PBP (I still swear it was flat in '83 - ED )
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30
Peter Ford HE EYES OF THE LIVING DEAD AND SEEN THROUGH T . ha gnome-like appearance turned round A chirpy little chap wit ant queue at Villaines la Juhel control to face me in the rest~ur on the way back _to P~ri~- look like my Grandad - and he's dead!" "God I" he exclaimed Y~ in the mirror. The face staring back at °te â&#x20AC;˘n the Phantom of the Opera. ExpressionAfter the meal I O ec~entuated by black bags underneath, me was like that less pale blue eyes, a looked back at me out of a The new wheel was locked in place ghastly white face. I loo~ed and I was on my way again. 100 years old . Noel was right I could have bee~ his Grandad. The weather worsened as the day The Paris-Brest is no went on and the headwind became ordinary event. stronger, not to mention the rain. Towards midnight I arri ved form fine in I started off at Villaines where there was a wi th the leading group at good variet y of ex 7ellent f~od 10.00 . 20k from Paris there but there was no time to enJoy was a bang like a pistol shot it. Onward .ever onward with our from my front tyre. "Herde!" eyes on the clock was the pa ttern shouted the bloke behind me throughout the event. as he nearly crashed into my rear wheel . I came to a halt Through the night and into the with my tyre and inner in second day. Towards evening the shreds and watched the rain s topped and the sun came hundreds whizzing by in a out. We were through Tinteniac coloured blurr. and Loudeac, heading for Brest , a s the sun went down. I Maybe someone is carrying a recognised a few AUK people who d spare tyre I thought, trying started at 10.00 on their way to attract some attention . back to Paris. I never cease to "Alright?" a British cyclo be amazed how they gain s o much shouted as he passed. "No l " time - its almost as if t hey've I shouted back but he shot b y done some of the ride on the with a smile on his face as back of a lorry. "Ah well I" I if I'd said "Yes - alright! " thought "the tortoise wil 1 Couldn't blame him - his catch s~me of these hares before Paris -Br est was at stake . Paris." A French girl with a bike The meal I had booked in adva~cd suddenly appeared next to me. for Brest was beautifully coo e I t was as if she had sprung and well presented but I ~as s~o up from a trap door in the pavement. "What's the problem? " tired I couldn't move my Ja~s t eat. The food stuck in my t ioa she asked. "I ' m out of it through lack of saliva. All look at my wheel" I replied. 1 d wanted to do was sleep. I _cra~ e Without hesitation she took to my bed and the last thing her front wheel out and remember was talking to an shouted "Quick , take your 1 official about the 40 fr a ncs wheel out and fix mine in." before p d owed for my 3 hours 1 ee I keeled over like a t orpedoe ship . Out like a light!
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At 03.00 I staggered out to _my bike, positioned myself onfi;iing and pedalled out of _Bre st de I like one of the living dea h r emembe red someone sayi~g t 1t previous eve ning that since
A nice big group steami ng along .. and your Ed in pain on the Roe du Trevezel. Photos by Francis. 32
was a r ed s ky , t he fo ll owing day would be beau t i ful . Red sky at nigh t , shepherds' de l ight. It didn't f ollow thi s time . Dawn broke some where behind t he se mass i ve blac k c l oud s - bu t not f or us. Abou t 08 . 00 a l l hell broke loos e and sheets of rain were smas he d into our f ace s by a wi nd that h a d changed at the turn a nd wa s dead ahead ag a in . The bronze Frenchme n on t heir supe r light bike s s l owed r i ght down at this stage. Be i ng a Nor ther ner , and u s e d t o t hi s kind of thing , I put my he ad down and belted int o it . I wa s s o wet I couldn 't ge t any we tte r - I had nothing t o los e now a nd I passe d everybody on the r oad . I t was a welcome change. Usual ly everbody passes me . As dar kness fe ll on We dne sday even i ng we r ode i n t o Fouge res under the a ncient , fl ood li t cas t le. If OQ ly t pere h ad been time to explor e thi s beau t i f ul town ! On the Par i sBres t s i ght s e e ing , even brie~ l y, i s out of t he ques t i on. I h ad thought I'd be ab l e to take some pho t os but managed to take only 3 a t t he begin ing . My advis e to f uture PBPs - don't take your c amera - t here' s h a r dly time to b l ow your no se ! Fouge r es was withou t doub t t he be st c ontrol and I don 't mean j u s t the g i{ l who mas s aged my ach i ng l egs I t was here , a fter a ve r y good me al, that Noel adv ised me to c~rr y on t o Vi l l a ine s since t ere wer e sti ll a few hours of day l ight l eft . t h e eve ning was warm and gen t l e and a s darkness f ell 0 the undul ating lands cape 0 Br e t agne, litt l e gr oups of pe~pre we re wa i ting t o :~dco~e u s with ho t coffee at t ~i~ht refreshme n t s , all girl ~i r ~xpe ns e. A litt l e a out 6 or 7 stood by
1
a lantern on the r oadside calling ~o the little groups of cycles , Vous :7oulez du cafe , messieurs? " H7r voice s~ill e 7hoes in my mi~d. Its littl e i nc i de nts like this that still remain crystal cle a r in the memory long after the raza- ma - taz of t he big event has died down . After a grue ll ing ride to Vil l aines I crashed onto a bed of straw along with hundreds of o t her exhausted bodies. I just had t i me to wr i te a hurr ied note with time of waking on i t and tie it to my ankle before t he s leep hammer hit me. Two hours later someone woke me and it was only with a superhuman effort that I managed to restart my run- down physical and mental machinery. Dawn broke on the fina l day and as I r e ached Belleme I felt relieve d that I was withi n reach of home. The queue f or breakfast wa s mass ive so I found a l i ttle bou l anger in the v il lage and c r ammed a couple of vanilla slice s i nto my mou th as I could feel the dreaded BONK coming on fast . They stayed it off! I remember thinking at Nogent, the last control before Paris, t hat all I wanted to do now was fini sh as soon as I could . There wa s a good meal advert i sed at 40 fra ncs (repas comple t) but I decided to press on with chocola t e s tuffe d into my vest pocket s and a bottle of milk . The road to Paris wound round and about and the hill s seemed very steep, of~en a~ains t,,the t ire some headwi nd . Hello , I . thought, "thos e di a~olical or ganis ers have decided to punish us on the last few kilometers . " The real reason, I found out later , was that you can 't br !ng 3 , 000 cyclists back into Pa:is along t he main Boulev~rds with the mi ll ions of motorists. At Malmais on the crowd lined the s ide s -0 f t he road under a wet , 33
Tfl / £ {l $ T{l /
-rey sky. "Bravo" ~hey as :nouted. I'd done it· 1 w home. . 1 M daughter and the gir ~he'd lent me her wheel were at the control. My daughter threw her arms round my neck. "Well done Dad!" She whispered in my ear. A 5reat flood of emotion came over me and 1 burst into tears. It was a while before I could stop. That was the relief I needed - after the tears I felt much better. The PBP is not just a physical thing.
.~,!!-
~e ~ r l who'd len, me her wheel - said that it would take a week for my body to return to normal working. She was. right. She also said that I would want to do the PBP again. She was wrong on that count. I could never push myself physically and mentally that far ever again. But what a magnificent experience. All those cyclos from all over the world united in a single cause of friendship and goodwill. The leaders of this war-torn world could learn something from Audaxl
**************************************************************** PBP
Three thousand cyclists Assemble in the dark. Pop down to see the sea at Brest? " 'Blimey, that's a lark!" The rain came down, the road was wet, Many slipped and fell. Others turned their wheels for home, "I've had it"; "What the hell!" A day has passed, night falls again, The wind blows from the west. The effort tells, a cry is heard "I'll never get to Brest." Some cheerful faces now are seen, For some have seen the sea. It can't be true; but sure it is, For one of them is MEI The wind now helps, but dark returns, More problems come to test. Will there be time to eat, or sleep? When will my body rest? A third day dawns, I cycle on, Torrential rain now falls . "Forget the rain"; "Forget the pain" A faint voice louder calls. The third night is the worst of all, I'm cold, and wet, and slow. But wait and make a final check 160k to go. The final day is just a dream, As ~laces ~ome and go. Paris still seems far away The pace is oh so slow. ' h Now _c ose who wait are cheering, ~tetI ~ries ring in my brain An~ ,. . one I" and "Bon Courage, Monsieur I" Will you come again?" 34
PBP No. 414 7
THE ~ERSEY ROADS CLUB 24 HOUR ROAD RIDE 1987 from Frank Mumford Although lacking the cachet of National Championships on this occasion, the Mersey 24 attracted 37 entries, enticed by the best prize list in the business, amo~nting to £375 p l us trophies, the lowest entry fee at £4, and feeding /medical attention/ stewarding /organisation generally acclaimed. Plus, to AUK riders the allure of a compact, countryside course without drag-strips.' There was also a 38th starter, uncaring Fate, who was to put the chief timekeeper in hospital known, but hardliners Gurnee and and blow away one third of Holgate sported bar-bags. Few the field, including those r i ders carried lights, op t ing tipped for premier honours. instead for the guar~nteed pickup at 127 miles. What of the field? Two-thirds we re veterans,honed by From the gun, tr iathlete Tony experience, impassively Flavell took the lead, and wisecontemplating the pleasure acres shook their heads of the pain to come. Sixteen predic ting his early demise as were AUK members, eager to last year when a complete novice. get their teeth into the The 100 mile check showed him courses at the feeding leading Eric Millington, with stations, as well as the Akoslovsky and Williams falling miles; and we'll follow t heir behind . fortunes, ignoring the other Times were: FI°avell 4 . 40 : riders except the leading Mil ling ton 4.44: Akoslovsky 4 . 49: contenders, Williams of the Williams 4 .52: Berwick 5.00: promoting club whose first Haswell 5 .00: Cook 5. 01: E.Jones ride of 456 mile s netted 4th 5.06: Major 5 .) 0: Houle 5.12: place in the 1986 National Hoof 5.13: Fordham 5.15: Championships, and Akoslovsky Hopper ( trike) 5.20: Holgate who when named Howard won the 5.30: Gurnee 5.37: Reaney 6.00 : 1974 Catford 24. Co~er (trike ) estimated 6 . 24. At the 2pm start on 25th July, At Frees, Lynton Threadgolds the 35 starters were seen to bestride 28 different marques; feeding stat io~ immobilise~ some riders, lolling back munching the only repeats being while the unforgiving minutes Lo~gstaff (4 including 2 fled, until they were k indly but trikes), Raleigh (3) and firmly sent on to pursue other, Walvale (2); most as usual nonstop riders making time wh ile being multi-geared irons ' the l ight lasted . Temperature c~nceding nothi ng comfortdropped rapidly during the night wise to the distance. No lowfreezing those riders insufficprofiles or Sturmeys showed, ient ly armoured, and causing a nd the special prize for iastest on f ixed went begging. sickness from which causes Comer , Wenty men (no ladies entered ) Hoof, E.Jones, Williams and Millinoton eventually retired, s~orted cyclo-computers and five c ye 1 ometers, and many ' while Akoslovsky succumbed to knee trouble. Meanwhile, Flavell tad two bottles. Pockets no was "doing a Carline" with ~nger bulged with grub as Haswell and Berwick moving up, t e excellent cuisine at ignoring the comforts of Geoff :~ee~ and Hodne t feeding Manson's Hodnet feeding station. frations, supplemented by e~uent musettes, had become 35
The 12 hour mileages set the pattern for the finish, except for Millington and E. Jones: Flavell 232 . 94 : Haswell 228 . 53 : Millington ¡ 227.03: Berwick 224.93: Hajor 214.54: E.Jones 214.13: Hopper(trike) 207 . 93: Cook 207.40 : Moult 205.21: Fordham 198.47: Gurnet 196.19 : Holgate 194.24 : Reaney 182.64 . Meanwhile, chief timekee~er and super randonneur Chris Salter had ridden to focal HQ Ternhill for time-checks . On returning to Frees about 1.30 am , with good lig~ts, he was run down from behind by a motorist who claimed he wobbled . At Shrewsbury Infirmary, he was found to have a fractured skull and abrasions, being detained for a few days. At time of writing , the Police have not decided on their action, while RTTC insurance does not cover written-off bikes. This jeopardised the whole event, but fortunately, previous timekeeper Eric Matthews, a spectator as suffering from radiation treatment, had earlier synchronised his own watches, and gallantly took over Chris ' responsibilit ies, saving the situation. During the grisl y da~m hours, the riders plodded around the basic circuit and various detours, with CB links between control foci enabling men to be excused from critical " legs" when in danger of becoming isolated due to the "slows". Red Indians believe that evil spirits after their souls can not back-track, and thus can be foiled by retracing; if this applies to 24 hour men, those heroes covering all the course should have a good chance of reaching Nirvana! The final grind against the wind to the finishing circuit of 17 miles was very hard but
the enthusiastic gallery lining the route boosted the riders spirits, and weary legs were galvanised by entreaties for a final effort and a passing shower. Flavell, recorded two circuit laps of 56 minutes and ran out of time with 442.52 miles. Runner-up Haswell ' s hopes were blighted by a circuit puncture increasing his lap time to 1 hour 10 minutes . North Road CC's Chairman, Roy Cook, aged 55, astounded the cognoscenti with a third lap of 58 minutes and a personal best of 394 miles, a year after heart surgery . George Berwick led the ¡ Edinburgh RC to a hat-trick of team victories and won the Whinnerah trophy for the best ride on VTTA agerelated standard, with Cook second. Throughout the event, intelligence flashed to the results computer was assessed, enabling predicted and provisional results to be posted on the results board, keeping the crowd speculating to the end. Of the 15 AUK starters, 11 finished and altogether our riders had a field-day , winning 4 of the 5 fastest time prizes, as in 1986. Flavell ' s performance although comparatively modest by today' s standards, signified the emergence of a new star from whom much greater mileages can be expected. Haswell recorded a personal best, and Berwick rode to form . Major, an absolute novice, rode superbly, as did Cook. Hopper was some 10 miles below his best, while Fordham, Moult, Holgate and Gurnet, all lacking in distance racing experience, must improve. Reaney, the oldest rider at 69, has done better (375 miles in 1986) but still beat his age standard by 27 miles. Heartiest congrats are due to all for beating the conditions, and remember, in 1988 the Mersey Roads Club hosts the VTTA Championship! Eric Milli~gton had hard luck this year but will no doubt defend his 1986 VTTA win! 36
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