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also great classics riders. I recommend switching The ‘15’ will be held on G15/93 on Saturday 13 th
the computer on to watch these top road June and is organised by Sussex CA.
professionals showing their fantastic bike handling
The ‘50’ will be held on G50/90 on Sunday 14 th
skills.
June and is organised by East Sussex CA.
Hopefully, I will be fully active again in time for the The ‘100’ will be held on G100/861 on Sunday 9 th
next report, which will include my rehabilitation visits August and is organised by East Sussex CA.
to Holland and Mallorca.
The first ‘25’will be held on G25/93 on Sunday 16 th
August and is organised by Bec CC.
SURREY & SUSSEX The 12 hour will be held on Q12 on 6 th September
Jon Fairclough
and is organised by Kent CA.
Welcome to new members
The second ‘25’ will be held on G25/89 on Sunday
A welcome to three new members: Mark Cain 20 th September and is organised by Surrey/Sussex
(Army CU), Andy Critchlow (Norwood Paragon) and VTTA. This event will incorporate the VTTA
Bill Houghton (Unity CC). At 88, Bill must be one of national Strevens Memorial Trophy for first on
our oldest, if not the oldest, joiner. He said “I know standard.
it's a bit late to join but I was speaking to Alf Engers Strava Group news
earlier and he suggested I rejoin. I was a member a
long time ago, but I will get out when the weather is The Strava Group is called “VTTA Surrey Sussex”
kinder than it is right now.” and has 22 members. I compiled a leaderboard for
2019 showing the Strava stats of total distance,
Annual Lunch
total time, elevation gain, and average speed. The
The VTTA Surrey/Sussex Group annual prize-giving top two on distance and time were Peter Baker
lunch was held on Sunday, 2nd February 2020. (20,194 miles and 1323 hours) and Stephen Moore
Thirty-six people attended the event in The (9,584 miles and 577 hours). Peter Baker
Normandy Centre in Horsham. Rachael Elliott, the (1,110,591 ft) and Chris Lord (353,478 ft) were the
VTTA National Secretary, was our guest speaker top two on elevation gain. Mike O’Gorman (19.92
and handed out the 2019 awards. Congratulations mph) and Robert Charles (19.31 mph) were the top
to all who received them. two on average speed. If you want to join, just send
me an email or get onto Strava, find the group and
Rachael gave an inspiring speech about her career
as a time triallist, both on solo bike before her ask to join. It’s a fun way of seeing what other S/S
stroke, and afterwards on a tandem. Those who members are doing on the bike.
heard it could only admire the determination and Notes on a small island
fortitude she has shown after that life-changing One of our members, Paul Jackson, set a new
event. Keith Wilkinson, our group chairman, national age record of 485.21 miles at the 24 hour
thanked everyone for attending and noted the National Championships last July. He lives in
passing of Horry Hemsley in November. He was Guernsey, so I wondered how he trained for long
our BAR champion in 1999.
distance events living on a small island. This was
Surrey/Sussex Open Events his answer: “Guernsey is only 23 square miles in
area and the road all the way around the island is
Some dates for your diaries. Go to the CTT website
to enter. All these events have VTTA 25 miles long, so training does get very repetitive!
Surrey/Sussex awards. The east coast is where the two main towns on the
island are located so I tend to avoid those areas
The '10' will be held on G10/87 on Saturday 18 th and stick to the western side of the island where it’s
April and is organised by Surrey/Sussex VTTA. particularly flat. The stretch of road I use is the
The ‘30’ will be held on G30/88 on Sunday 31 st May coast road and runs the whole length of that side of
and is organised by Lewes Wanderers CC. the island which is pretty much exactly 10 miles
long. There are some amazing beaches along
there and it can be glorious on a sunny day. The

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