Welcome to Viceroys Stuart Simms: ‘Having been always into sports, including rowing which I took quite seriously for about 15 years, I took a well earned break from competition when my lovely 3 daughters came along in quick succession. Now they are at an age where their running and swimming is getting close to being better than mine I thought I had better take up a new sport and show them what their old dad is capable of (?)… I have always run reasonably well and enjoyed mountain biking so triathlon seamed a natural step. I have been training on and off for a couple of years and fancied training with a club to get more structure as well as have more fun! So fso good, the Sunday rides have been brilliant and shown me what cycling in a group is really like – awesome:-) 2016 is about building a base fitness / strength that will enable me to compete more seriously next year, Viceroys feels a perfect club in which to do both.’

and Kirsty Kothakota: ‘Hello fellow Viceroys!

‘I am a newbie Viceroy and very much a novice triathlete.

I live close to Bushy Park in Teddington and love running there and I am now looking forward to trying cycling and lake swimming too.  (Thanks for the beautiful bike, Mel) I’ve done a couple of baby distance triathlons before but nothing recently.  I will be doing the free triathlon at Walton Excel in the morning – so should perhaps head to bed now before an early start!

I am a Mum of two fun but exhausting boys (1 and 3) and am actually really looking forward to having a bit of time back for myself – both for the training sessions and the great social side of the club that I have heard about ;-)’

John Mackey says:

‘Hi All

I have lived in Hersham/Weybridge area since 1983. Actually joined VTC cycling last year, but due to family and work commitments only managed a couple of Sunday morning rides. I use my bike to commute to work all year round, but only started entering sportive events over the last couple of years, participated in RideLondon-Surrey 100 for last 2 years. Before cycling I played football in the Middlesex County league until my mid-thirties, at which time knees and calf muscles decided to give up! One unusual football club tradition was entering the Tanners Hatch 30 mile Marathon each year, being a Cartographer by profession I enjoyed the semi-orienteering challenge but not the route which always seemed to include either Box or Leith Hill at around the 17 mile mark!

Looking forward to getting out on more weekend club rides this year.’

And welcome to Dawson Hardiman too:

Having spent 20 years as a not quite good enough hockey player, it turned out my knees weren’t quite good enough either, so I thought I thought I’d try and be not quite good enough at something else. 

I completed a couple of Olympic distance tri’s before moving onto Long course, and have now done The Outlaw, Challenge Weymouth, and IM Austria, with IM Lanzarote, Challenge Roth and IM Weymouth 70.3 coming this year.  

Working away half the time (oil and gas) means a lot of training on my own, so if there are any non Monday-Friday types looking for a training partner when I’m off,  I’m your man. 

Made my first club ride last week, which was good to be part of and to meet some members. The club looks to have a good mix of training committed social types, and made me feel welcome from the off. Looking forward to plenty more training sessions through the course of the summer. ‘

Welcome to VTC Jasmin: ‘After many years in the pool playing and competing in water polo and surf life-saving, I’ve decided to try my hand at something a little different. Since moving to the UK I’ve rekindled a love for running but the challenge of three successive disciplines seemed appealing (!), and a challenge finding the time to train with two young children and a husband who is a keen sportsman himself. We moved to Weybridge a year and a half ago and Viceroys has proved to be the perfect fit – both local and great company.’

Welcome to VTC Paul Hoad:’

Back in 2012 I suffered a slipped disc in my lower lumber of which left me with a bulging disc. This

WBMTH06

took best part of a year to heal and during this time my Doctor had told me that I should stop doing so much running as the impact on my lower discs was making matters a lot worse.

He advised me that cycling would be much more beneficial as its very low impact and it concentrates on the those muscles in the lower back region. I’m not sure how much of this I believed at the time but I had to do something to keep in shape. I have always enjoyed cycling and had done my fair share of Mountain bike racing back in the day so I was keen to get back in the saddle. I was introduced to Viceroys by a fellow member Ian Hope who suggested I come along for a ride and see what I thought.

Having met quite a few of the other club members I now feel really welcome and have really enjoyed getting out for the Sunday rides as much as I can.

Living in Weybridge means meeting at Walton is ideal and so far all the routes we have been out on have been interesting and fun but most of all I have felt safe with the other riders. I hope to continue riding at the weekends and now the longer evenings are here perhaps get out on the odd mid week ride too. I am riding the Black Rat sportive on Sunday 22 May 2016 & the Prudential 100 31^st July I have also signed up to ride the New Forest 100 Sportive on Saturday 24th September 2016 hopefully I will get the opportunity to ride a couple more too this year.

Viceroys has been a really enjoyable club to be a part of and I look forward to many more enjoyable fun rides to come.’

A gloriously sunny day greeted those who rolled into Oxshott for the start of this 86km or 153km event run by SWRC. The 11 strong Viceroys group had a 15 minute puncture stop (Theo the unfortunate one this time just before Staple Lane) and we also had a fairly long stop at the 36 mile mark for coffee and cake (actual moving time was around 3h 30 mins ). While the majority completed the shorter route, a few hard core (Keith Russell, Dan Ellis, Carl Fisher, Lance Kesson) took on the long route.

Pete Kelsey recounts his race experience:

The May Flyer is a well-drilled local event, with chip timing, pre and post-ride snacks as well as a good food stop and simple but effective road markings (as well as Garmin maps for those that like tech).

I am lower than low tech, so no bleeping Garmin map or Di2 for me, as I hate mechanical issues.

Originally I planned on doing the challenge distance of 153 km but that looked like taking up most of Sunday and getting me in the doghouse, again,  so I switched to the shorter route with instructions from my coach Jay McStay of:  ‘go hard on the short course, the training effect is better than a long slower ride’

At the start I met up with Dimi Nicolaides, who Jay also coaches, and off we went. By Cobham I could already feel and hear a brake pad rubbing, and it was getting worse. My limited mechanical skills were called upon to stop & straighten my lop-sided rear calliper and open it out fully. As I said, low tech solutions suit me, besides I have a front brake.

In Sportives a fast time can be dependent on getting in a good group of riders to ‘thru and off’ and share the load. We messed that up and realised early on we were riding as a ‘two’. Size wise Dimi & I are not well matched, with Dimi being a powerful rouleur, and me a little mountain goat. I scuttled up Staples and then waited for him to catch up after descending Coombe, but now we were in his territory of flats and rolling hills. Having agreed minute on and minute off to share the load, I was delighted to see Dimi’s counting skills were on a par with my mechanical skills, as he regularly did 2 minutes of hard pulls. Those big V8 thumpers were Yeoman-esque, and I was pushed to keep on his wheel.  My less impressive power outputs didn’t seem to make as much headway, but we were going nicely as long as we didn’t bonk.

We passed the food stop (without stopping) and were now the lead riders, but as we figured bigger groups would be going faster we kept up the pace, with simple but effective ‘car up’, ‘car back’ or ‘hole’ shouts from whoever was up front. The May Flyer route is beautiful, proper Surrey countryside with stunning homes and Sunday drivers gingerly emerging in their polished E types and Astons. The well planned and clearly marked course rolls really well up lots of testing little risers round towards Shere, and then Coombe looms up ahead.

By now Dimi’s counting skills were starting to hit home, and Coombe meant we backed it off a bit to stay as a two. I then pulled us down Green Dene into Horsley before we were again taking turns. By Cobham Dimi was tucked in and hanging on, but to be fair he had worked harder on the flats & rollers, so I now shuffled us along as fast as we could go, and in no time we were  home 1^st and 2^nd, with him crossing the line closer behind me than he started, and edging me by 4 seconds! To be fair, he earned it, as it was his speed on the flats and rollers that made the difference.

What is great is that the next group back were all Viceroys, and all hitting Gold times, with Kim Bainbridge ‘chicking’ everyone below 3rd for 1^st lady and 4^th overall. In all 15 Viceroys taking part is a strong showing, and having now ridden the May Flyer for the first time I can see why it is so popular, a lovely route, well signed, great facilities and easy to get to. Perhaps more of us should do it in 2017!

Viceroys times:

Peter Kelsey 2:51:45 Gold (2^nd overall/1^st in AG)

Kim Bainbridge 3:03:58 Gold (1^st Lady)

Steve Hobson 3:04:01 Gold (5^th overall 2^nd in AG)

John Kellett 3:05:17 Gold (6^th overall 2^nd in AG)

Bijan Tahan 3:29:42 (25^th overall/6^th in AG)

John Mackey 3:52:18 Silver (94^th overall 27^th in AG)

Lyndsay Fitzgerald 4:09:08 (135^th overall 3^rd in AG)

Steve Metcalfe 4:09:13 (136^th overall 17^th in AG)

Lisa Price 4:10:07 Bronze (142^nd overall 9^th in AG)

Tegwynne Goldthorpe 4:10:13 Silver (144^th overall 7^th in AG)

David Barry 4:10:18 (145^th overall 44^th in AG)

Geoff Read    04:09:36     (140^th overall   43rd in AG)

Nick Christian 4:10:57 (148^th overall 46^th in AG)

Kristie Higgins 4:11:01 (150^th overall 6^th in AG)

Theodore Petronikolos 4:11:35 Bronze (152^nd overall 41^st in AG)

Lilly Morgado 4:12:51 (157^th overall 7^th in AG)

LONG ROUTE:

Keith Russell  5h 56m Gold (74^th  in AG)

Dan Ellis 5:56:31 Silver (73rd overall / 8th in AG)

Carl Fisher           7:16:55 (60^th AG and 129 overall)

Lance Kesson 6:40:05 Bronze (99th overall / 44th in AG)

Well done everyone!

‘ My name is Becky Essex, I work in Chiswick as Head of a Centre for Children with Autism at Strand on the Green school. I played rugby for England for 8 years and recently retired after winning the World Cup. I decided to join the club as wanted to take up a new sport and a new challenge. I’ve never cycled before so am very inexperienced but enjoying it so far!’ Becky

‘Hi everyone . I am the second Viceroys Richard Jones to join the club, the older, balder slower version !!!

My family and I moved to Weybridge 9 years ago and in that time I have realised how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful area.I joined Elmbridge Runners when I decided to prepare for my first marathon and stuck to just running until I became incapacitated during a charity football match. My physio suggested I got a bike to help with rehabilitation and most of my cycling has been commuting home from the City. A triathlon seemed like the next natural step but seeing that I couldn’t swim one length at the Xcel without been completely out of breath I decided to take some swimming lessons…

I hope joining Viceroys will enable me to improve sufficiently to achieve my goal of completing my first triathlon this year and to meet and make some new friends along the way.’ Richard

Tim Gray opened his season on Sunday at the English National Standard Distance Championships/ITU World Championship Qualification event held at Grafham Water. It had been planned to take place at nearby St Neots but due to a water logged running course, the race venue was changed – in Tim’s view though, the Grafham race course was actually better.

 ‘As a season opener, the stakes couldn’t really have been higher with both National honours and World Championship selection up for grabs. Preparation had been good over the winter so along with the inevitable pre-race butterflies, I was super keen to see how fast I could go! 

On a beautiful spring morning we slipped into the icy waters of Grafham and paddled out to the start line (it was proper cold!). I started in the second wave and after the usual ‘washing machine’ got into some clear water and started catching the stragglers from the earlier start. The course was a simple square layout but with the bright sunshine and splashing water, it was actually quite tough to sight the large red buoys. However, managed to catch a few fast feet and drafted my way around in a reasonable 23.37. It was a welcome relief to get out of the water and into T1 and see a lot of bikes still there! Grabbed the bike and was on my way – warming up all the time. Continue reading →

The highlight of this race for me was the weather condition which meant we had choppy waters, some wind, heavy rain throughout, jellyfish and very wet course. Temperature was not cold so no need for extra layers on the bike.

The swim went relatively well given the conditions, my lack of swimming abilities and that it was my first OW swim of the year. Apart from a kick in the teeth and getting stung on my face, hand and foot, I was pleased to get out of the water in 36mn. They did a new style rolling start based on predicted time and only 6/8 people starting at the same time every 5 seconds. That made it less chaotic and more friendly.

Transition is slow with a ‘long’ run from the beach and more running through the 3000+ bikes racked. The bike course is fantastic, even in the rain and wind. I’m a fair weather cyclist and still loved the bike leg and particularly the technical downhill. I just felt good, climbed well and managed to gain 720 places. Legs were starting to be soar but no cramps yet! Continue reading →

Viceroys Andrew Moody and Yann Unmbricht travelled to Mallorca this weekend for the Ironman 70.3, Andrew reports: ‘A journey man’s report. While Yann was holding the fort at the front I was bringing up the rear learning lessons all the way!

The irony was that I booked this thinking I would have fine weather and a good first race to develop the rest of the season as one of the journey men of the club…I aspire to AG leader board…however like most enjoy other aspects of life and family which prevents me from total dedication!

The race can be summed up: Swim. Moist with Jelly fish stings and a little swell (Shepperton ain’t no ocean!!) Bike…more moisture rather more a monsoon and wind….more wind…needed more watts….slow up hill…fast down (thanks Kevin Argent and Mr Yeoman for the switch back tips most useful) …training would help on hills…..Run…damp and a little moist…pace well off cold sapped energy…crossed line a happy chappy even so! Learning: weather plays a crucial part in any journey…but completed in 7.30….way off my best but a good kick up the back side for the next 2! Placed a glorious 367 in AG….I like to think of Yann and I as book ends!!!

However, NEVER SHOWED WEAKNESS and the new tri suit looked awesome (photos to follow) Best MOODSTER (Viceroys Journey Man Triathlete)’

‘It was nice to finally get a triathlon under my belt for the first time in 9 months. The swim was a total disaster (no change there). Training in the pool had been going really well with some excellent coaching, but as soon as the words ‘race’ and ‘swim’ are put together, I lose all ability at forward, efficient, fast (or even not too slow) momentum. Anyway, I got out of the pool without drowning or killing anyone else with my flailing arms. With a T1 of 42secs I was running out onto the road for my usual flying mount… Bump went my bum on the saddle and bump went my saddle, pointing straight towards the road! Ah well, nothing to do but get on with it. Still not as bad as Andy Holgate using a picnic blanket when his seat post snapped mid race – Can’t swim, Can’t bike Can’t run – (well worth a read).

21.5km and 37 painful minutes riding in a semi tuck semi standing position later and it was back via the deadzone and into T2 with a tight back and hamstring. 45 seconds switching footwear etc and it was out onto the run. I knew it wasn’t going to be fast with the pain in my back but I loosened up as the run progressed ending up with a 21.14, well short of the time I had hoped for and seen in training.

I finished in 1.09.22 and 8^th in AG which is really pleasing all things considered. It was also great to catch up with fellow Viceroys Matt and Suzi Storr and Pam Winstanleyfisher and well done to Moira winning her AG!’

As raced and reported by Mick Tumilty