Would all officers and contributors please note that the deadline for the Autumn Gazette is September 16th.  The date is set so that we can get the Autumn Gazette out to members before the TA AGM.  We would welcome articles, information, photographs and reports in advance of that deadline.  We realise that some regional annual general meetings are scheduled after September 16th.  If the regional secretaries let us know we will do our best to add late information to their reports, but advance notice of any perceived problem would be helpful.
Roger Alma, Editor

Geoff Booker notched up his fourth win in the Criterium League grass track event at Mildenhall taking an unassailable lead into the final event at Warwick with 49 points out of a possible 50. Roger Akers second place in the event reinforced his second place in the lead as did Martin Badham in third. The full result is on the 2008 results page.

Fergus Muir, our Eastern Captain reports that Barry Charlton, Lyme RC, missed Competition Record by 3 seconds in the East Anglian VTTA 25 today (Saturday) recording a superb 55:02 on the E2/25 Newmarket by-pass course. Other riders were over 30 seconds behind recent best rides, so it is only a matter of time Barry.

Due to possible road resurfacing and road closures on the day of this event, I have had to change the course from Q25/8 (Chilham) to Q25/20 Harrietsham, with the start time still 08.00hrs. This event is a Tricyclists' Time Trial League event. The SE AGM will still be at The Halfway House, Challock, after the event, as originally planned. Mark Vowells

Results of events in the South West and the South East on 10th August have been added to 2008 Results .
Briefly Adrian Hills had a lonely ride as the only competitor, you can't get a purer time trial than that.
Andrew Nye rode his second consecutive 12 hr to win in windy Kent with Peter Holland not far behind.

Entries are invited for the 10 and 25 mile Championship, details as follows:

Sept 12-14 Fri – Sun Spelling Weekend at Axe and Compass, Wolvey.
Food available all weekend.
Friday - Camping in field at back of Axe and Compass no charge only donation for charity.

Saturday – Morning short Clubrun to local garden centre for 11’s. Afternoon Jenny Noad ‘10’ followed by Midland AGM. Evening get together with meal in the ‘Axe’.
First rider off: 15:01
Entry Fee: £6.00 (£12.00 tandems) to Greta Spiers.

Sunday – Stan Spelling ‘25’
First Rider off: 09:01
Entry Fee: £6.00 (£12.00 tandems) to Greta Spiers
followed by Prize presentation then on to Warwick.

Entries close for both events 2nd September 2008 but the earlier the better, please!

Sept 14 Sun Warwick Criterium – 4.30pm
This year unfortunately the criterium is on the same day as the Spelling 25 but will not start until 4.30pm so we will have plenty of time to get to Warwick after the event.

The Course K41/25 (click for an aerial view)

The course is 2.14 laps of a 11.68mile circuit, as follows:
Start on B4114 0.25 mile southwest of junction with A5 (Smockington) in line with field gate on left opposite western end of layby on right. Proceed southwest to Wolvey (Axe and Compass) Island, where take first exit to follow unclassified road towards Lutterworth to island junction with A5 (Cross in Hand). Take first exit to follow A5 through Smockington to turn left onto B4114 to pass through start point to commence second circuit. Follow second circuit, as above, to pass through start point a second time and commence the third (partial) circuit to follow the unclassified road from the Wolvey (Axe and Compass) Island towards Lutterworth to Finish 0.25 miles past turning for Copston Magna in line with the first chevron bend warning sign.

Distances:	Lap 1	Lap 2	Lap 3(Partial)
Start (see above)	0.0m	11.68m	23.36
Wolvey Island	0.91m	12.59m	24.27m
Finish (see above)	1.64m	13.32m	25.00m
A5 Island	6.38m	18.06m

PLEASE NOTE – This course does not go to the motorway island – it is a circuit with all left turns

Following the re-scheduled refreshment taken at the Scandinavian Coffee House in the centre of Bury, we repaired to Hardwick Middle School for the latest round in the Trike Criterium League.
The West Suffolk Wheelers organised this event and it was a pity there was a poor showing generally. Maybe they were all watching Nicole getting her Gold Medal.
However we had a good showing of the barrow boys and girls.
The League points were settled on the 400m scratch event. Roger Akers, Geoff Booker, Ian Matthews and Martin Badham fought out the final and finished in that order. Ferg Muir, Greta Spiers and Mick Madgett went out in the heats and all score 6 points each.
In the 3 lap handicap, Mick crossed the line first followed by Ferg with Martin trying hard to catch up the last of the 100m. I believe Ian came in next with Geoff and then Greta behind, though Ian and Geoff maybe have been the other way around. I was still getting my breath back at the time.
In the Flying Start1 lap time trial, Geoff carried on flying to finish 2 minutes faster than Roger. Mick, Ian, Martin and Ferg completed the list.
Negotiations were opened with the Plomesgate CC, who hold a grass track nearby on the Saturday and we may be able to make it a two day affair next year.

Sunday 3rd August 2008 dawned with a scurrying in the car-park at Scoulton Village Hall, deep in the heart of Norfolk. Martin Badham arrived to find John Thompson preparing for his ride.
Soon Don Saunders and his merry band of helpers (early shift) arrived and the competitors started to roll in.
Six o'clock and I rolled away from the timekeeper to get the show on the road. Andrew Nye and John soon caught me, Jim Pitt was DNS with apology, as we wound through the quiet roads before joining the A11 for the next nine hours. The weather was over-cast with occasional showers, which kept the temperature down after last year.
About tea-time we left the A11 for the 5 mile ride to the circuit, riding at our best possible speed to finish at our selected time-keepers.
Back to the village hall for tea, cakes and discussion of the event befor packing up and heading home.
John was the fastest on scratch with Andrew top handicap performer. I was satisfied with exceeding my distance last year, and being within spitting distance of my vets' standard.
Unfortunately after 12 hours I didn't have a lot of spit left.
The result is on our 2008 Results page.
Photos on http://www.mphotography.co.uk/ and http://ccbreckland.fotopic.net/.

This is a plug for the West Suffolk Wheelers Grass Track on August 10, at Hardwick Middle School , Bury St Edmunds. Starts 12 noon.

Mixture of events, including trikes, and races for cyclo cross bikes, for those riders without track bikes, who want to see what its like.

Entries accepted by email, or on the line.

Signposted from Bury St Eds East junction on A14

Barry Denny barry.denny@homecall.co.uk

John Purser tells me that he would have space for tents or caravans for the Bury grass track weekend, but emphasises that people interested should give him and his wife plenty of warning - anyone interested should ring - 01787 377060. He is about 12 miles from Bury.

Peter Holland was the clear winner of the Eastern Region '25' on the "sporting" B25/17 course between Diss and Thetford. His 1:18:24 was 3:29 too good for second place Ian Mackenzie, with Martin Badham in third with 1:25:00 and his net time of 46:59 gave him the handicap award by 3:28. The full result is on our 2008 Results page. Half the field, or to put it another way, Martin and Mike Moody continued on a club run afterwards, which is reported on in the recently introduced East News page.

Nick Wood repeated his recent win in the North Eastern '25' across the Pennines in the North Western '10' with a clear win in 24:23 with Alan Shuttleworth second in 29:31 and Brian Moore third in 30:03. Brian Moore won the Cumbria Shield for the fastest on handicap with a net of 18:23, 19 seconds ahead of Nick. The full result is on the 2008 Results page. These results moved Nick up to 10th on actual and 12th on handicap in the Tricyclists Time Trial League but the top places remain unchanged.

Apologies to Ian for the delay in publishing this report.
Ilton Trike Criterium 7th June 2008

Results:
1 Geoff Booker
2 Steve Avery
3 Roger Akers
4 Jeff Jones
5 Ian Matthews
6 Greta Spiers

From notes taken:

Triangular airfield course, with two long straights and one short one. Strawbale chicane.
Open and windy.

First lap: Greta and Emma drop off, later Gawain Akers also dropped.

Leaves 5 together at front. then Ian Matthews drops off.

At around half distance (10 minutes) Steve Avery attacks. Geoff Booker chases. Roger joins up with Geoff.

Regroup (presumably); Geoff gets away on own and stays clear to finish with Steve also on own in second.

Ralph Dadswell found a new stoker from High Wycombe CC, Paul Mace and they delivered one of the fastest 10's of recent years on a tandem trike in the Antelope RT Tandem '10' on Saturday. Their 20:55 was just 5 seconds slower than Dave Keene and Barry Charlton in 2006.

The Great Britain Paralympic team for Beijing was announced on July 7th. It includes our World Champion David Stone, who, after his brilliant riding is Asse, must be one of the favourites for gold. Picture of David courtesy of Fred Homan.

This afternoon Carl Saint of the Yorkshire Road Club did 10 miles on trike in 21:02, (3 seconds faster than Glenn Longland's record ).

He was off at 15:30 in the Yorkshire Ladies CA Men's 10 on V718 near Hull

Comments from Carl to congratulations posted on a forum:-

"Thanks guys"

"Little bit more will come off once I can corner on it faster than walking pace They were all shouting at me to get a move on, at the roundabouts."

Thanks to Martin P for photos.

Geoff Booker won a closely fought Thames Valley '10' on Saturday in 25:12 by just 19 seconds from Steve Avery, with South Eastern visitor Mark Vowells third a further 20 seconds back. Mark had the consolation of winning the handicap award with a net of 24:36, 21 seconds ahead of Geoff. The full result is on the 2008 Results page.

Although Ralph Dadswell was the only rider in the National Championship '100' on Sunday, with Jim Pitt a non-starter, it should not detract from a superb ride of 4:32:54 on a difficult, windy day as everyone will testify. He was also 14th of 47 finishers. The conditions stopped 20 from starting and a further 11 from finishing!

Five tricyclists lined up to contest this event, part of the Carnival celebrations which also saw Joanna Rowsell cement her claim on the National Ladies Criterium Championship.
Competitors were Alan Shuttleworth, Adrian Hills, a bruised Ferg Muir, local bike shop owner Jack Aspden and Martin Badham. Jack had ridden his conversion 15 years earlier and had put it together specially for the race.
With the roads still warm from the ladies' wheels we were set off. The penny farthings that were supposed to be mingling with us did not appear, which was probably for the best.
Alan Shuttleworth declared his intention of holding on to his record, leaving the rest of us trailing in his wake. Adrian Hills and Martin Badham pursued until he got out of sight, and then Adrian started to drop back. Three quarters of the way around the second and last lap I became aware of shadow bearing down on me and soon Ferg Muir was breathing down my neck. Approaching the uphill finish he pulled in front but I managed to squeeze my tyre in front for the line. Results at 2008 Results.

This was held on Boroughbridge on 21st June 2008 and as befits mid-summer day the rain started at the same time as the event. Nick Wood sped round to claim the Bernard Wood trophy and The Henderson Cup for first handicap went to Frank Whitelock. Although five of us rodeout to the start in not too inclement weather we managed to squeeze machines and bodies into all sorts of corners in vehicles to splash back to the Knavesmire.
The evening persisted with plenty of rain, which gave way in the morning to high winds, making the ride back from the Minster hard going, especially fo those aboard ordinaries.
See 2008 Results

Roger Alma reports that the road race was ridden on a tough and technical circuit, ideal for tricycle racing. It was made more difficult by being run in a thunder storm! Antoine Bavay was the most aggressive rider, but his chain slipped off the block in the sprint and he freewheeled over the line, a frustrated fourth. Kristof De Plecker was an impressive winner of a brilliantly exciting race. CP2 world champion David Stone had an outstanding ride, always in contention and contesting the final sprint in front of an enthusiastic Belgian crowd.

Dave Keene retain his Time Trial crown with a clear win by 26 seconds from Kristof De Plecker, but only 9 seconds separated the next five riders!

The top 6 plus Womens and CP1 & 2 results are given in our 2008 Results page.

There is a lot more information on the World Championship site - follow these links to read more:
Full Time Trial Result
Full Road Race Result
Steve Avery & Adrian Hill's Report
David Stone's Report on the British Cycling website.

A Gallery of photographs taken by Johnny Pardoe plus a few from the Webmaster at the Bruce Kingsford 50 mile Championships won by Dave Keene is now avaiable for viewing.

Mark Vowells returned to his winning ways to take the South Eastern Region '50'. A slightly windy morning and a headwind finish took the edge off the times but his winning 2:22:10 was almost 6 minutes better than second place Chris Bramwell with Andrew Nye in third with 2:37:22. Andrew just took the handicap award with 2:21:22 net ahead of Mark and Ian Mackenzie. The full details are on our 2008 Results page.
This was also the eighth event in the season long Time Trial League. Andrew Nye increased his lead with Adrian Hills moving up to 2nd just ahead of Jim Pitt. The full details are on the Time Trial League page.

The VTTA (Kent) Tandem 30 was held on Sunday (1st June), incorporating the Invicta Trophy for the fastest pair on tandem trike.  Mark Vowells reports that the winners of Invicta Trophy were Andrew and Caroline Nye with 1-30-36.  This was their first tandem trike ride in open competition, and an excellent ride.  Unfortunately the other tandem trike pair, John Healey and Tim Wardlow were DNS, as Tim was unwell on the day.  There were no other tandem entries, so Andrew and Caroline also won the VTTA event itself. The 30 was held on Q30/12 - Lydd to Ashford and back.
 
Andrew then led the club run that followed, from Charing to Rhodes Minnis and back, a 47 mile ride that was well supported with 20 members and friends of the Region at the lunch, including eight who arrived by trike or tandem trike.

The Bruce Kingsford Memorial 50 was held again on the roads of Shropshire, and again Spring Bank Holiday weather prevailed. At least the start and the first half was dry with the added relish of a stiff South Easterly wind. By Prees Heath, Steve Avery was first on the road and he carried on to finish with second place. All the barriers that kept the rest of the field outside evens seemed to melt before Dave Keene's wheels, who finished in 2 hours 7 minutes and 35 seconds. At the other end of the field a hot tussle between Roger Alma and Martin Badham resulted in the latter claiming First Handicap by 31 seconds. Full results in the 2008 Results.
The afternoon club-run to Roden Garden Centre was rained off but Ferg valiantly rode into Shrewsbury to view the twin pumps that were being steamed at the sewerage works. He assures me that they no longer pump in anger and the real stuff goes through electric pumps. After marvelling at the engineering Ferg followed the cycle path alongside the canal to the East and returned to Astley by a nice quiet route.
Celia's catering was in great demand, A second version of chicken casserole appeared soon after the demise of the first on Saturday night. The rain stopped before Sunday evening and a blustery night dried off the tents ready for packing on Monday morning. I doubt if the riders in the Anfield 100, including our own Peter Holland, were as appreciative as some of us. Peter finished with 6:20:58 with two bikes behind him, Chapeau!
While Andrew Nye stills heads both Scratch and Handicap tables in the 2008 Tricyclists Time Trial League, the subsequent positions have been shuffled somewhat.

Ian Finch continued his domination of South Eastern Region events with a clear win in their '10' held on Saturday. Ian's 25:58 was too good for Mark Vowells, second in 27:11 with Richard Bailey completing the top three in 28:39. John Hastings took the handicap award with a personal best 31:57 - 24:27 net.

Gerry Lewis (Retired National Treasurer) had a triple bypass earlier this week (in Bordeaux) and is doing fine. Due to go to a convalescence home next Monday. John Purser may get to see him next week and can take your bunches of grapes, but they may have been crushed on the way.....

A familiar figure in Eastern tricycling events for more years than most people can remember Albert Saunders, founder member of Cycling Club Breckland, died on Monday 28th April after a long illness aged 87.
Albert enjoyed riding his tricycle and regularly attended the Eastern AGM and luncheon,as well as timing Eastern events, until a few years ago. He presided over a cycling dynasty which continues to the fourth generation.
Albert's funeral is at 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday 14th May 2008, at Earlham Crematorium in Norwich. Family flowers only, but donations if desired to East Anglia's Childrens' Hospices or Shipdham Surgery please, c/o Co-operative Funeral Services, Watton Thetford, IP25 6AH.

Our sympathies to Margaret and all the family.

Have you seen the successes achieved by our world paralympic champion David Stone in the recent Tour in Spain? There is an excellent report on the British Cycling website, under Disability News (which can be found in the list on the left-hand side of the home page.) The report is the second item of Disability News, on the Tour of Bizkaia.
www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/gbr/EventReports2008/20080504_tour_of_bizkaia.asp

This is a reminder that entries for the World Tricycle Championships on 15th June 2009.
Entries close on 12th May 2008, this Monday coming.

We have received a good number of entries, including some new paralympic riders from France, Belgium and Holland; however, we are hoping for a record field and look forward to receiving more entries by the deadline of May 13th. Entry forms and information are attached to this notice, and Andre's website www.3wielweb.be also has a good deal of interesting information.

All competitors will receive a free colour booklet setting out the history of the World Tricycle Championships!
Contact Rogeralma21@aol.com for further information.
Entries to
Roger Alma, 28 Lansdowne Gardens, Llantarnam, Cwmbran, NP44 3GB.

Telephone: 01633 861266

Entry Forms for downloading:
Microsoft Word : World Tricycle Championships Entry Form 2008.doc
Adobe PDF : World Tricycle Championships 2008.pdf

Geoff Booker continued to show the rest of the field a receding view of his broad gauge machine as he whipped it around the streets of Ixworth on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. The chasing trio, Jeff Jones, Roger Akers and Mick Madgett finished in that order after a fine piece of working together. Ian Mackenzie managed to keep in front of Ferg Muir and Ian Matthews swept up the finishing straight with Martin Badham clutching at his coat-tails. Gawain Akers and Greta Spiers completed the field on a warm day. Then it was back to the HQ for tea and cakes. Results 2008 Results and Criterium League positions have been updated. Photos of this event are on http://www.mphotography.co.uk/ and in our own Criterium 2008 Gallery courtesy of Emma Kirby.

Carl Saint continued his high speed introduction to tricycling with a clear win in the Mike Dixie Memorial '10' with 21:28, the third fastest ride ever (behind Glen Longland 21:05 and Steve Brown 21:14). On a near perfect morning on the fast V718 Course on the A63 near Hull there were records and personal bests galore. Carl's ride was an event record and Les Dawson also set a Vet's age record with a remarkable 26:55 at the age of 81! Dave Keene was runner up in 21:53 and Jenny Noad winner Nick Wood was third in 23:05. The tandem event was won by Charles McCulloch and Richard Bailey of Shorter Rochford RT in an Event and Course Record of 17:45, the Mixed Tandem event was won by Mark & Liz Johnson, also in an Event and Course Record of 19:57 and the Tandem Tricycle event was won by Jim Hopper and Andy Eagers in 21:39.

The Mike Dixie Handicap Trophy went to Andy Such of Scunthorpe RC with a net 17:28.

Andrew Nye took fourth place and increased his lead in the Tricycle League, for which this was the 6th counting event, followed by Adrian Hills and a fast closing Jim Pitt.

Thanks to Event Secretary, Martin Purser for his fine set of photos from the event.

Dave Keene was again in a class of his own when he won the Eastern Region '25' near Sleaford on Saturday in breezy conditions on a challenging course in 1:01:52. The ride was also good enough to take second handicap. Andrew Nye was another of the travelers making a long weekend of it at Peter and Gwyneth's May Day Weekend in Lincolnshire and took second place, narrowly failing to beat 'evens" in 1:15:08 and took third on handicap. Completing the top three was Jim Pitt whose 1:16:08 netted to 1:01:08 to win the handicap prize. Photos from the event can be found on Steve Foreman's www.lincsracephotos.co.uk website. The weekend continued on Sunday with an enjoyable saunter around the Lincolnshire lanes for a Pace Judging Competition, where Ferg Muir achieved the remarkable feat of riding three trikes in seventeen miles to within 3 minutes of his target time! The webmaster's family came an honourable second. On Monday four left for the North and the Mike Dixie 10's and another four went south to Ixworth for the Criterium Championship.

T. A. cycle clothing was discussed at the NEC and Jim Hopper and I were given the task of approaching manufacturers for quotations and arranging the procurement. We are currently in the process of doing this. We will only be ordering cycle tops to keep things simple. The design agreed was for crimson and gold tops featuring the TA logo and plain black shorts. A sample is shown on the left. The size of the logos is fixed and it will therefore occupy less of the jersey on larger sizes. It would be really helpful if members wishing to order any would contact me just to express an interest at present. Once we have agreed a supplier I would then contact those interested to place orders. E-mail me at trikingpursers@btinternet.com
Alison Purser