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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Sun 25 March 2012 : Entries are now open for the Kilotogo Cheshire Cat Sportive 2012, if you fancy a long day out. Not only do you get the privilege of riding up Mow Cop next year, you can climb Gun Hill as well !
Tues 17 April 2012 : Evening 10s series commences at Rainford & will run every Tuesday until 14 August.
Sat 28 April 2012 : Leigh Premier Open 10 mile time trial - can everyone please keep the date clear for marshalling/helping please.
Sat 7 July 2012 : Here is a real tough Sportive - check out the Bowland Badass Sportive - start your training early !
Sun 26 Aug 2012 : Wild Wales Challenge - as usual, a completely different route to last year. You know you want to do it again !

22/1/12 FIRST WIN OF THE YEAR
The club's first win of 2012 came courtesy of running shoes rather than racing wheels.
Mark Tickle won yesterday's Anglesey 28 mile off road ultra marathon in a time of 3hrs 39mins, taking over 25 minutes off the time he clocked in the same event last year. The win was Mark's first in the prestigious Endurance Life Coastal Trail Series.
The following day a rapidly ageing member (Bill) completed the Helsby Half Marathon for the eighth time. Sadly, the time of 1h 50m, was over 30min slower than the times of around 30 years ago, but the pain was the same !
17/1/12 A BABY DAUGHTER FOR ROB
It's great to commence 2012 with a real bit of good news !
Rob Aston's wife, Eleanor, last night gave birth to a beautiful baby daughter.
The new arrival, Iris Ann, weighed in at 7lb 9oz & is doing well.


Congratulations to Rob, Eleanor & Iris Ann (above) from all members of Leigh Premier.

1/12/11 ANNUAL BUFFET & PRIZE PRESENTATION
The club celebrated one of its most succesful years of cycling, at the annual buffet and prize presentation, held at the Miner's Welfare at Gin Pit Village.
Simon Bridge was again the club's most prolific winner this year, collecting five of the main prizes. Simon took the 10 & 25 mile, Vets BAR & SPOCO titles.
Simon also demonstrated his all round racing ability by winning the Road Race championship for the third successive year. In a remarkable year, Simon set a new club record at 50 miles (1h 45m 04s), & also won TLI National championships at Road Race, Criterium & time trial.
Mark Turnbull made quite a sensational return to time trialling winning the 50 mile, 100 mile, 12 hour and Senior Best all rounder titles. Also setting new club records at 100 miles (4-00-18) & 12 hours (269mls). Mark's 12 hour ride in the National Championship also placed him in 7th place.
Mark Tickle rounded off a succesful season, taking the hill climb title & the "Most Improved rider" competition.
The keenly contested 10 mile points championship, based on a series of eighteen Tuesday evening events throughout the season, was won by Colin Reynolds for the second consecutive year. He was pushed all the way by Mike Neary, with Jon Payne in third.
Chris Sackfield received an award as 1st Under 10 boy in the North West Cyclo Cross series.
To mark the outstanding achievements by Simon & Mark, the club made a special presentation of an engraved tankard to both riders.

30/10/11 NATIONAL HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP
Mark Tickle was our only rider in the National Hill Climb Championship this year, finishing in a time of 15m 50.4s for 81st place in a full field of 150 riders. Today's event was held on the 4.4ml climb of Long Hill near Buxton.

24/10/11 HILL CLIMBS & CYCLO CROSS
It was another busy weekend for Martin Sackfield & son Chris, taking part in the NWCCA Cyclo Cross at Barnoldswick. Martin & Chris have taken part in six events of the North West Cyclo Cross Association 2011 series. Martin is currently placed 18th in the overall points table for Seniors & Chris is currently in 7th place overall in the Under 12s.
Full details of their results are on the results page.
...
Chris Sackfield in Cyclo Cross action !

At the same time Mark Tickle was taking part in the Matlock CC two stage hill climb. Mark finished 10th in the morning event on Bank Road, 17th in the afternoon on Riber, to place him 12th overall.
Again full details of the results are on our results page.

13/10/11 CLUB ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Officials were elected for the coming year.
Chairman - Vacant
Secretary - Martin Sackfield
Treasurer - Margaret Sackfield
BCF Sec - Nathan Turnbull
Time Trials Sec - Bill Fairhurst
Committee members - Richard Jervis, Mike Neary, Colin Reynolds
Organiser of Open 10 TT for 2012 - Bill Fairhurst (April 28 2012)
Organiser for club dinner 2012 - Martin Sackfield
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
Members agreed in principle to provide marshalls/helpers for the possible joint promotion of a NW TLI Road Race. Simon Bridge will co-ordinate.
Members asked to note Sat 28 April 2012 is the Open 10 mile time trial & to please make themselves available to marshall.
A number of positive suggestions made around encouraging new members out on club runs. Richard Jervis to formulate ideas

11/10/11 MARK WINS CLUB HILL CLIMB CHAMPS, & 4th IN HSWC HILL CLIMB
Mark Tickle continued his succesful hill climbing season, finishing just two seconds off a podium place, in fourth place in the Huddersfield Star Wheelers Hill Climb. The event was held on the Jackson Bridge course, and was also the nominated event for this year's club hill climb championship.
Check out the You Tube video of the event.
Photo courtesy of Flaming Photography

21/9/11 HAT TRICK OF NATIONAL TITLES FOR SIMON
Simon Bridge made it a hat trick of TLI National Championships, by winning the time trial championship in a course record time. Simon finished just 7 seconds clear of his training partner Scott Burns (Manchester Whs) in a time of 21-45s. The previous course record had been set by current Irish Junior TT and RR Champion, Ryan Mullan in 22:00.
The following day Simon joined forces with Scott Burns to win the City RC (Hull) RC 2up 10 mile time trial from a top class field.
.......
Photos from the National Champs courtesy of Ed Rollason Photography

12/9/11 SIMON - DOUBLE NATIONAL CHAMPION !
At the end of a season of great results, Simon Bridge won the TLI National Criterium championships (A cat) on the Hetton-le-Hole circuit on Saturday. 3 riders got away (all A cat riders) and worked well putting a minute and half into the bunch. Simon took the sprint comfortably.
The following day, Simon also won the TLI National Road Race Championships on the Stamfordham circuit (same circuit as the BCF champs). The A & B cat riders were also joined by the Juniors and Espoirs making up a very large and competitive bunch. 3 Juniors went from the gun and after a number of attacks the Yorkshire Velo rider who had placed 3rd in the previous day's Crit managed to get away on his own. Simon attacked on the first ascent of the Ryals, and took another Junior and Espoir away. They picked up the Yorkshire Velo rider on the way to closing a 3 minute gap to the leading trio just before the 2nd ascent of the Ryals. The 2nd climb put Simon in trouble as the juniors tried to sort out their race. Luckily one of the juniors also got distanced and the two of them worked hard to get back on on the fast decent after the climb. The finishing circuit was a bit of an unknown quantity for the non locals, so no one was too keen to go for a long one. The group of 7 stayed together to the finish which was on a medium climb. The other A cat rider ended up having to lead out the sprint, so Simon had him easily, and also managed to hold off the Juniors and Espoir to take the overall race win as well by half a wheel.
In a good weekend of Results Andy Chalmers rounded off his triathlon season, finishing in 9th place from 862 starters & win his age group in the Tatton Park Triathlon

5/9/11 A GOOD FEW DAYS - RESULTS
A second for Simon Bridge in the Stretford Wheelers 25, a 4th for Mark Tickle in the opening hill climb of the season & a PB for Richard Jervis in the mid-week 10 - see the Results page.
Also, hats off to Richard, James, Martin & Alan on completing the Wild Wales Challenge last weekend, despite various mishaps i.e. Running out of fuel on the way there, late start, getting lost & a snapped chain !!!

22/8/11 YET ANOTHER CLUB RECORD !
It's hard to keep up with all this record breaking ! Simon Bridge has improved his own club 50 mile record in the BDCA 50m time trial, recording 1h 45m 04s. Simon found it a tough ride out to the turn, where at that point his average was 26mph.He then found that coming back, 54x12 is not a big enough gear on that A50/9 course with a tailwind. However he still managed the last 10 miles sub 20 minutes.
In last Sunday's Macclesfield Whrs J.F. Parkinson Memorial TLI Road Race over 55miles. Simon finished 4th in 40-50's age group race. He managed to break away at some point on every lap of the Siddington circuit but could not get the right group together. At the finish, a very messy stop start bunch sprint won by Andy Tinsley from Paul Bethel.

20/8/11 MARK TURNBULL 9th IN NATIONAL 12 HOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS
The results keep coming ! Mark Turnbull finished a brilliant 9th in the National 12 Hour Championships last Sunday in Shropshire. Mark also set a new club 12 hour record, covering 254.99 miles.

17/8/11 CLUB 10 MILE POINTS COMPETITION
The final evening club 10 of the year is now completed - always a bad sign - summer's nearly over !
Congratulations to Colin Reynolds for winning the competuition for the second consecutive year, mainly due to a string of PBs towards the end of the season. Colin also competesd in 17 of the 18 events. Special mention also to John Payne who only started racing in June, but finished in the bronze medal position. Check out the final table.

15/8/11 MARK's PBs & YEAR'S FASTEST FOR SIMON
Mark Tickle recorded a new 25 mile PB in Saturday's Lyme RC 25 on the J5/8 at Stone, recording 55-21. The time now puts Mark sixth on the club all time list for 25 miles.
Earlier in the week Mark had recorded another PB, but this time running in the Altrincham 5km road race, recording 16m 40s.
Later in the day on Saturday, further down the A50, club 25 mile record holder Simon Bridge rode the Derby Mercury RC 25 on the A25/11. Simon recorded his, & the clubs season's fastest with 52m 37s.

12/8/11 CLUB 10m POINTS COMPETITION
One event to go & the top of the table is still not decided. It is "going to go right to the wire" !
All to play for in the competition for first, second & third places.

1/8/11 CHESHIRE RC 50
Simon Bridge chalked up another win at weekend , taking first place in the Cheshire Roads Club 50 mile time trial. Simon's time on the sporting Cheshire course was 1-50-26. Mark Tickle also rode, clocking 2-6-59, despite losing 3 minutes with a detour off course.

26/7/11 WARRINGTON RC 25
Simon Bridge finished in second place in Saturday's Warrington RC 25 in a time of 54m 51s. The winner & only rider to beat Simon was Sky professional Ian Stannard, making a rare TT appearance & recording a startling 50m 36s. Mark Tickle also returned to the J2/9 course following his triathlon & etape adventures, just missing the hour in 1h 0m 34s.

18/7/11 RON SPENCER
Ron Spencer of Warrington RC (& Ron Spencer Cycles), passed away suddenly on 7 July of a heart attack. Ron was obviously known to many club members & I have passed on our deepest sympathies from Leigh Premier to his family.

18/7/11 CLUB 50 MILE CHAMPS
Another great result by Mark Turnbull & Simon Bridge as they took the first two places in this years club 50 mile championship, held as part of the M&DTTA 50. Mark finished in second place in the actual event with a time of 1-50-13, with Simon 4th in 1-52-49. Full result on our Results page.

11/7/11 MARK's ETAPE - WHAT A STORY !!
Mark Tickle completed the the "Etape de tour" today in 5h 23m after a most incident packed ride. The course took the riders over three big cols - the Telegraph, Galibier before finishing on top of Alp D'Huez. Mark suffered a blow out descending from the Galibier, fortunately finishing on the grass at the side of the road rather than something much harder. The repaired tyre still had a bulge, and finally blew again 10km later. Mark the had to run 7km into Bourg D'Oisans in his bare feet ! From there, he borrowed girl friend Sara's bike to complete the climb of Alp D'Huez, hardly able to sit in the saddle all the way up. Mark is looking forward to climbing the Ventoux later in the week as a wind down !! Carl Johnson also completed the event in 5-51.

11/7/11 CLUB 100 MILE RECORD
Mark Turnbull set a new club 100 mile record yesterday in the M & DTTA 100 mile time trial on the J4/11. Mark's time of 4h 0m 18s beat the previous record set by Dave Burgess in 1976 by over four minutes. He was just a tantalising 18 secs from beating the four hour barrier. Mark finished in second place in the actual event, which was also our 100 mile club championship for 2011. Mark, of course won the club championship, with Mike Neary in his first 100, taking second place in 4h 41m 48s. The ride also placed Mike in the veterans prizes.

29/6/11 TRI TIME
Mark Tickle finished in 10th place from 390 competitors in the "Day in the Lakes" Triathon. The gruelling event, which is the Half Ironman distance, included a swim in Ullswater & climbs around the Kirkstone Pass & Shap on the bike. Mark is now away for two weeks in the Alps which will include riding the "Etape" and climbing the Ventoux on his last day.
At the same time, Andy Chalmers has just returned from competing in the European Triathlon Championships in Pontevedra, Spain. Andy has been well short of swimming & cycling training in recent weeks as a result of his minor op (see News below). He was relieved to be able to compete, & finished 22nd in his age group.

21/6/11 MORE WINS, MORE RECORDS...
I've had a problem with this page for a few weeks which means that there is some catching up to do on some superb results.
SIMON BRIDGE has kept the wins coming with another TLI Road Race win.
SIMON then followed that with a superb 1-47-48 in the Manchester Wheelers 50 at Stone. In the same event NATHAN TURNBULL recorded a big pb of 1-52-36 & MARTIN SACKFIELD recorded 2-10-54 to set a new club team 50 mile record.
SIMON BRIDGE & NATHAN TURNBULL then took part in the Wills Wheelers 2up 10 mile time trial, finishing in second place, just one second behind the winners.
MARK TICKLE took part in his first triathlon, following his win in the Rivington duathlon. Mark tottered out of the River Dee, after the swim (his weakest discipline), feeling as though his legs were still in the water ! He then continued to plough through the field on the bike & the run, to finish in a suoperb 11th place overall from 267 competitors.
SIMON BRIDGE, NATHAN TURNBULL & MARK TURNBULL combined forces in the Manchester Wheelers 3 up 50km time trial, to win the event for the second consecutive year.
RICHARD MAUGHAN been competing in the "CDNW Science in Sport Criterium series" recording a win & two second places. Richard is currently joint leader of the 3,4,J series and has also now gained his second cat licence.
Last Saturday things got even better, with four riders taking part in the Janus RC 25. SIMON BRIDGE & MARK TURNBULL finished first & second in the event, both recording 54 minute rides. They also finished first & second in this years club championship, as this was our nominated event. MARTIN SACKFIELD finished third in the club champs with a 1-4, & the trio also took the team prize in the overall event. COLIN REYNOLDS also recorded a PB.
For more details & further results go to our Results page.

29/5/11 THE WINS KEEP ON COMING !!
Congratulations to Mark Tickle, who scored his first Duathlon win in the Ian Hesketh Memorial Duathlon at Rivington yesterday.
Mark finished overall 1st from a field of 71 riders in a time of 1h 19m 22s for the 5k run/22k cycle/5k run. Mark was in second place after the first run, but was fastest by a minute on the bike leg, to ensure staying in front on the final run. Check out the full result. Don't forget that Mark is looking for sponsorship for his "marathon targets" for this year (see the details further down this page).

28/5/11 "CYCLING BEFORE LYCRA" WEBSITE
Cycling Before Lycra is a charming little website, with pictures & tales from a time when cyclists were real hardriders !Check out the second picture down on the "Pass storming" page, & compare it with the pic on our Grand day out in the Lakes gallery page !

19/5/11 ANDY HOSPITALISED
Andy Chalmers has been out of circulation for a few weeks, as he has been hospitalised for an operation on an abscess. He is now back "on the mend" & hoping to be back in time to compete in the GB Age Group team for the "European Triathlon Championships" in Spain in late June. I'm sure everyone wishes him a speedy return.

18/5/11 ANOTHER ROAD RACE WIN
Simon Bridge notched up another road race win in the TLI Cheshire Series No 3 Road Race (age 40-49) on the Lower Withington Circuit.

Pic shows Simon winning the Lower Withington Road Race on 10 May(pic thanks to "Ed Rollason Photography")
Simon followed this with a second place in the TLI Omnipex Bio-Racer Grand Prix, a 68 mile event on the Winsford circuit. Simon was edged out by a tyres width in a photo finish to Graham Sumner.
A group of five got away towards end of the first of seven laps. All worked well but never gained more than 1 min on the bunch, therefore it was full on all day. Sumner attacked on the last climb before the finish, and Simon was the only one with the legs to respond. They worked together for last 3 miles then finished with an uphill sprint. They were side by side for the last 100m, but Sumner's lunge just got him to the line first. Simon also found that he had picked up a slow puncture to his rear tub somewhere, which was slowly flatting. Another couple of miles and he would have been out of it!!

18/5/11 CLUB 10 CHAMPIONSHIP
The club 10 mile championsip on 17 May, also went unsurprisingly to Simon Bridge, though he was pushed all the way by Mark Turnbull. On a decent night at Rainford, Simon, Mark with Nathan Turnbull set a new club team record 1h 4m 19s, taking three seconds off the old record set in 1992. Check out the full result. The club 25 mile championship is to be held as part of the Janus RC event on 18 June - get your entry off in good time (details in CTT handbook).

5/5/11 SPONSORING MARK TICKLE
Mark is tackling a double challenge in the next couple of months & is looking for sponsorship for Macmillan Nurses. He is riding this years "Etape de tour" (Tour de France stage) which takes in 3 major climbs in the Alps. You can check out the route, profile etc at www.etape.org.uk . He will also be taking part in the long course weekend based in Wales on 3,4,5 June 2011 as a bit of additional training for the Etape. This involves a 3.8km swim, 112m cycle sportive and then a full running marathon all in one weekend - I feel tired after typing it ! Please check out Mark's on line sponsorship page .

3/5/11 SIMON BRIDGE WINS MANCHESTER & DIST TTA 25m CHAMPS
There is no slowing Simon at the moment. On the 23 April, Simon won the Manchester & District TTA 25 mile championship for 2011 on the J2/9. Simon's winning time of 54m 17s was half a minute quicker than second placed rider, Alf Hilton of Congleton CC. Just three days later Simon went on to win the TLI Cheshire Series road race (40-50 age group) on the Lower Withington Circuit.
26/4/11 GOOD NEWS !
Some good news that doesn't involve racing - though requires considerable effort ! Kate Lamb, who came out with us on club runs a number of times towards the end of last year, has given birth to a little boy. Ivan Thomas Lamb was born 19/4/11 at 8:55pm, weighing 7lb 10oz. Kate (with her husband, Marcus) is now secretary of Bolton Hot Wheels. She is looking forward to getting back out on the bike & hopes to see us again later in the year.

20/4/11 CLUB OPEN 10
The club held their annual open 10 mile time trial on the D10/1 course at Rainford last Saturday 16 April.
We had a "home winner" for the first time, with Simon Bridge taking 1st place overall in 21m 09s. He was supported by Nathan Turnbull in 7th place in 22m 07s & Mark Tickle in 16th with 22-53.
A big thanks to Andy Chalmers for organising & all members who turned out to help & marshall. However, this year's lack of volunteers to marshall means that there is some doubt as to whether will go ahead next year.

11/4/11 SIMON'S SECOND PLACE IN THE CIRCUIT OF THE DALES
Simon Bridge has picked up from where he finished last year, with some great early season form. Simon took second place in the classic "Circuit of the Dales" 50 mile Mountain Time Trial around Ingleton & Hawes. The only rider to beat Simon was Andy Wilkinson (Port Sunlight Whs), who has been the best long distance time triallist in the country over last ten years. Nathan Turnbull also scored a top ten place, finishing ninth.
Catch up with all Simon & Nathan's early season RR & TT results on our Results page.

13/3/11 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP DATES FOR 2011

3/4/11 OULTON PARK DUATHLON
Mark Tickle maintained his early season fitness, mixing his running with the bike in the annual Oulton Park Duathlon.In a class field, Mark finished in 7th place overall in a time of 1h 49m 53s, for the standard distance event. In the shorter distance event Andy Chalmers finished in 8th place overall (2nd in age category), in a time of 1h 13m 24s .

30/3/11 CHESHIRE CAT SPORTIVE 27 MARCH
Getting some miles in for the new season, Andy Chalmers completed the Cheshire Cat Sportive 100 mile route in 6h 8m 56s, after overcoming a bad spell between 50-60 miles. Andy finished 280th out of over 1000 starters.

27/3/11 NON PEDALLING RESULT
Doesn't seem to be any results on the bike at the moment, but Mark Tickle continues his good "run" of running results. Mark finished the Wilmslow Half Marathon in a time of 1-18-06, which placed him 70th in a field of 4,000 runners. Injuries permitting Mark will be taking part in the Malaga Half Marathon in a couple of weeks.

7/3/11 RACING SEASON KICKS OFF !
The club's 2011 racing season got underway on Saturday, in the North Lancs TTA 10 mile time trial at Garstang. Mike Neary, Martin Sackfield, Colin Reynolds & Richard Jervis took part - see Results page. Mike & Richard rode out & back - 105 miles round trip following Richard's Garmin !! I think it may well now be on Ebay !!

7/3/11 MARK KEEPS ON RUNNING
Mark Tickle continued his succesful running exploits yesterday, competing in the "Cloud Nine Fell Race" at Bosley.
Mark finished 13th from 420 starters in 1h 0m 31s.

20/2/11 MANCHESTER TRI TRAINING DUATHLON 6 FEB
Mark Tickle finished fastest rider, with Andy Chalmers second, in the first event of the Manchester Tri Series at Cranage (Full result NOW on results page)

23/1/11 MARK ON THE MARATHON TRAIL AGAIN
Mark Tickle continued his long distance running exploits, taking part in last Saturday's gruelling 27.5 mile "off road" marathon on Anglesey. Mark completed the course in a time of 4mhr 05m 45s, in 8th place from over a 100 starters. In order to bring his knees back to life, Mark took his bike with him & enjoyed a ride the following day !!
Check out the details - the event is part of the Endurance Life Trail Series

23/1/11 10 MILE POINTS COMPETITION 2011
The Tuesday evening 10 mile points competition at Rainford "kicks off" on 19 April (see details in "Dates for your diary" above). Averages (from fastest 4 rides 2010), PBs (from 2010) & multipliers have been calculated and are shown in the table below.

19/1/11 CYCLO CROSS RESULT
The first result for 2011 is in ! Chris Sackfield finished 13th in the "Under 12" section of the "NW Cyclo Cross League" & also took the award for the first "Under 10 rider". Photo shows Chris (No 25) in cyclo cross action at Sutton, St Helens. A chip off the old block !

10/1/11 A "MILESTONE" FOR THE CLUB WEBSITE - OUR 100,000th VISITOR
The website reached another small "milestone" on the 4 January 2011 when we had our 100,000th visitor to the sitein its six years of existance. We have also received visits from 110 different countries during this time. In December we had our first visit from someone in Greenland !! - maybe they were checking to see if it was warmer over there !!
Check out the website stats page for a full breakdown

15/12/10 ANNUAL BUFFET & PRIZE PRESENTATION
The club celebrated another succesful year of cycling, at the annual buffet and prize presentation, held at the Miner's Welfare at Gin Pit Village.
Simon Bridge was again the club's most prolific winner this year, collecting five of the main prizes. Simon took the 10 mile, 50 mile & SPOCO titles, as well as collecting the "Most Improved Rider" award.
Simon also demonstrated his all round racing ability by winning the Road Race championship for the second successive year.
In a remarkable year, Simon also set new club records at 25 miles (50m 48s) and 50 miles (1h 46m 16s)
Nathan Turnbull, who has won his share of championships in recent years, again took his first share of the prizes, winning the 25 mile championship & the 100 mile championship. Nathan also set another new club record at 30 miles.
The shortest event on the championship calender, the hill climb, was won for the first time by new member Chris Loxley.
The "Veterans Best All Rounder" competition based on a riders times against an age related standard over 10, 25 & 50 miles, was won by Bill Fairhurst.
The keenly contested 10 mile points championship, based on a series of fifteen Tuesday evening events throughout the season, was won by Colin Reynolds. He was pushed all the way by Mark Tickle, with Andy Chalmers in third.

15/12/10 MARK'S STILL RUNNING
Mark Tickle continued his long distance running exploits, taking part in a gruelling 27.8 mile off road marathon on the Gower Penninsula in South Wales. Mark completed the course in a time of 4mhr 46m 10s, in 9th place from over a 100 starters. The pain was reported as being off the "Richter Scale" !! Check out the details - the event is part of the Endurance Life Trail Series

17/10/10 MARK'S AMSTERDAM MARATHON
At the same time as the hill climb was taking place, Mark Tickle was enjoying the delights of Amsterdam. Not the usual delights, but nevertheless exhausting ! Mark was competing in his first full marathon, completing the distance in a superb 2hrs 54mins.

15/10/10 CLUB ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Officials were elected for the coming year.
Chairman - Vacant
Secretary/Treasurer - Martin Sackfield
BCF Sec - Nathan Turnbull
Time Trials Sec - Bill Fairhurst
Committee members - Kevin Cook, Mike Neary, Colin Reynolds
Organiser of Open 10 TT for 2011 - Andy Chalmers (Sat 16 April 2011)
Organiser for club dinner 2011 - Martin Sackfield
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
A disappointing turn out !
(1) The chairman's position was left unfilled.
(2) Club clothing will continue to be subsidised for 2010/11. The subsidy will be reviewed again at next year's AGM.
(3) A club family membership of £15 to be introduced, to include 2 adults & any children under 16 years of age.
(Proposed Bill F., Seconded Martin S., carried)
(4) The club has been asked if it can provide marshalls to assist in the running of the Prescot Eagle/Phoenix CC 10 mile time trials on Tuesday evenings. It was agreed that members taking part in the series would "take a turn" marshalling on a prepared rota. The rota would be supplemented by other members who were willing to assist.
The rota for the season will be drawn up before the start of the series. The onus will be on anyone unable to fulfill their turn on the rota to find a substitute to take their place.

11/10/10 JOHHNY HELMS MEMORIAL TIME TRIAL
Club members turned out to marshall & to spectate at yesterday's "Johnny Helms Memorial" Gentleman's 2up Time Trial promoted by Warrington RC.
The event was blessed with probably the last real summer's day of the year, with club riders from all over the North West turning out in numbers. There were numerous stars taking part including former world champions, Tour de France stage winner & milk Race winners. Stars included Graham O'Bree, Yvonne Mcgregor, Barry Hoban, Les West & Colin Lewis.

7/10/10 SIMON BRIDGE WINS TLI NATIONAL TIME TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Simon Bridge completed his most succesful season ever, by winning a National Champions jersey in the TLI National Time Trial Championship on a course based on Lower Withington. Simon won the 40-45 Age Category with a time of 22m 27s for the sporting 10 mile course. Simon also finished 2nd overall in the event behind the current National Junior 10 mile Competition Record Holder Ryan Mullan who recorded 22-00.

21/8/10 WINNING TEAM IN MANCHESTER WHS 3up TTT
The Leigh Premier team of Mark & Nathan Turnbull & Simon Bridge were impressive winners of the Manchester Wheelers 50km Team Time Trial. The trio recorded a near 30mph ride completing the 50k in 1h-5m-01s, to win by nearly two minutes.

Powering through - Simon, Nath & Mark on their winning ride.

19/8/10 CLUB 10 POINTS COMPETITION "GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE" AGAIN !
The club 10 mile points competition was decided in the final event of the series, with Colin Reynolds proving a worthy winner, after a season long battle with Mark Tickle.
Colin confirmed that his new investment in a Ridley Time Trial bike was worth while, recording his fifth personal best in the twelve events he has ridden.

16/8/10 SIMON BRIDGE SECOND IN TLI NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE
Simon Bridge yesterday finished second in the Under 40s category of the TLI National Championship Road Race promoted by Airedale Olympic.
Simon improved one place on last years third place result. Check out the excellent photos on the CyclingImages website to see how close he was at the finish.
The result capped a good weekend, as Simon, together with Nathan Turnbull & Andy Chalmers, won the team prize in the Seamons CC 25, the previous day on the J2/9.

26/7/10 CLUB 25 MILE RECORD GOES AGAIN !
A new club 25 mile recordhas been set for the second time in a month (see this page News 28/6) by
Simon Bridge in a time of 50m 48s.
Simon took nearly two minutes off his previous time, set on the same course , in Saturday's Derby Mercury event on the A25/11 at Uttoxeter. Simon finished 7th in the event behind the winner Andy Bason who recorded 49-07.
It looks as though the "bar has now been raised" for the first Leigh rider inside 50 minutes ! Sadly, I can remember when the bar was at 60mins !! (Bill)

26/7/10 CHESHIRE PEAKS & PLAINS 100ml SPORTIVE
On Sunday, John Galimore, Simon Lowndes, Ken Dodd, Rob Aston & Graham Voss all took part in the second running of the "Cheshire Plains & Peaks Sportive", starting in Warrington for the St Rocco's Hospice.
They managed to cruise around the plains & survive the peaks, each with a story to tell at the finish !

28/6/10 NEW CLUB 25 MILE RECORD FOR SIMON BRIDGE
Simon Bridge set a new club 25 mile record on Saturday in the Derby Mercury 25 mile time trial on the A25/11 course near Uttoxeter. Simon recorded 52m 40s to take over a minute off the previous record set by Paul Feeney in 1993. Simon was placed overall 10th in the event behind winner , multi National Championship medallist, Matt Botrill who recorded 48-54.
Not satisfied with that result as a weekend's work, Simon went on to finish third in the in the 55mile Lyme RC TLI RR on the Swynnerton circuit the following day. Simon was 5sec down on the leading two at the line, winning the sprint for 3rd & 4th after the break split to pieces due to the attacks on the last lap.
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Simon in time trial mode (left) & leading the Lyme RC Road Race on Sunday (right).

31/5/10 NORTHERN WHEEL MAGAZINE
The latest Northern Wheel Magazine is now available at Geoff Smiths, with the usual club section. Sadly this may well be the last edition of the mag, as editor Graham Trunks has been suffering ill health & is having to relinquish the job after producing it for "umpteen years". He is hoping someone will come forward to take over.

24/5/10 CONGRATULATIONS TO ...
Andy Chalmers qualified for the Age Group European Triathlon Championships to be held in Athlone, Republic of Ireland on 3 July. Hopefully, he will have better weather than he did in the World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver.

13/5/10 MALLORCA LEFT TO RECOVER FROM LEIGH PREMIER VISIT !
The club's first cycling week in Mallorca was declared a success by the riders taking part , with the general concensus being "roll on next year" !
Highlight of the week was the final 70 mile day, with 6300ft of climbing, including the "killer climb" of La Colobra.
The low point was definitely the unprecedented storm on the Monday which saw 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. The continuous torrential rain, thunder, lightning & gales reeked havoc across the island with widespread flooding & road damage. Worse still, it cost a day and a half's riding !
Rides also included another mountain trip up Sa Batalla & the Lluc Monastry, the lighthouse on the Formentera Penninsula and inland to the old town of Sineu.
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"This cycling is hard work !"- relaxing at Sa Batalla summit............Not so relaxing - The climb of La Calobra........

19/4/10 MARK "UNDER THE HOUR"
Mark Tickle has joined the growing list of twenty Leigh riders to have beaten the hour for 25 miles.
Mark did it the hard way, recording 59-53 on the "sporting" J2/9 in Saturday's Manchester & District TTA event.

15/3/10 CLUB RUN RIDERS PUTTING ON THEIR BLUE SUEDE CYCLING SHOES !
Club run riders were "All shook up" about the first time visit to the Elvis cafe stop at Tarvin, which proved an instant hit. There may have been a few "Suspicious minds" as we threaded our way through the lanes around Alvanley, but were soon "Way Down" to Tarvin, & it was "Burning love" at first sight as soon as we arrived !!
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26/2/09 YORKSHIRE DALES RIDE
Unfortunately, for various reasons there were no takers for the ride in the Yorkshire Dales, whilst I was staying up at Hawes. The day we had planned turned out to be a beautiful "blue sky" day, though very cold & icy early on.
In the afternoon, I decided to try & do a circuit from Hawes, returning over Buttertubs Pass.
The climb out of Askrigg on the way out had a 1 in 4, followed by three 1 in 6 stretches on it. I struggled to the top at over 1600ft, with snow either side of the road slowly closing in ! Three bikies came over the other way & shouted that the north facing descent (they had just come up) was icy. I therefore decided to turn back (to be honest I was bolloxed anyway !!) & never got over Buttertubs. - Bill

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The climb out of Askrigg..........................................Time to turn back !!


5/2/10 ANDY & MARK IN THE SUN
The only two club members to benefit from January training were Andy Chalmers and Mark Tickle, who had the foresight to book a week's holiday at Club La Santa in Lanzarote with the Manchester Tri Club.
Andy used his time to work on all three disciplines in preparation for World Championship trials in May, where he hopes to qualify again for a age group place in the GB team.
Mileater Mark meanwhile concentrated mainly on the bike covering 380 miles in the week which included 25k feet of climbing.
They both rode the 100 mile Lanzarote Iron Man triathlon course, but didn't really feelup to running a marathon when they got back ! Maybe next year ?
Andy took part in a Club La Santa duathlon the following day – phew !

28/11/09 CLUB ANNUAL PRIZE PRESENTATION
The club celebrated another succesful year of cycling, at the annual buffet and prize presentation, held at the Miner's Welfare at Gin Pit Village.
The club welcomed special guests for the evening, Dan Guillemette, a long time club member now living back in Guernsey, who made the long journey, to present the prizes.

Simon Bridge was the club's most prolific winner this year, collecting four of the main prizes. Simon's superb run of form enabled him to take a hat trick of short distance time trial trophies, by winning the 10 mile, 50 mile and the SPOCO (Sporting Couses) time trial championships.
Simon also demonstrated his all round racing ability by winning the Road Race championship for the first time since 1998.
Nathan Turnbull, who has dominated the championships in recent years, again took his first share of the prizes, winning the 25 mile championship & the gruelling 12 hour championship. Nathan covered 241 miles at his first, and, in his own words, possibly his last try at the event.
The shortest event on the championship calender, the hill climb, was won for the first time by Mark Tickle, with Mark Turnbull and his brother Nathan, making up the one, two, three on the fearsome 1 in 4 climb of "The Rake" at Ramsbottom.
Mark Tickle also displayed his promising abilities throughout the season, and was rewarded by winning the "Bateson Trophy" for the Most Improved Rider.
The other long distance championship, the 100 mile event, was won by Martin Sackfield. Martin also won the club "Best All Rounder" competition based on average speed for a 25, 50 & 100 mile time trial.
The "Veterans Best All Rounder" competition based on a riders times against an age related standard over 10, 25 & 50 miles, was won by Bill Fairhurst, with Martin Sackfield in second place.
The keenly contested 10 mile points championship, based on a series of fifteen Tuesday evening events throughout the season, was won by first year rider, Rob Aston . He was pushed all the way by another first year rider, Colin Reynolds, with last year's winner Andy Chalmers in third.

12/10/09 CLUB HILL CLIMB CHAMPS ON "THE RAKE"
A new name will be added to the club hill climb trophy this year after a hard fought three way battle in the Lancashire RC event on the infamous "Rake".
The final result saw less than six seconds separating all three riders.
Winner was Mark Tickle in 3m 03.9s, from Mark Turnbull with 3m 05.2s and brother Nathan in 3m 09.6s. The three riders also finished 16th, 18th & 19th in the event.
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Thanks to sportsunday.co.uk for the pics.

23/3/09 CLUB RUN IN THE LAKES
The club run up in the Lake District on Sunday 15 March was a real success.We had 8 members turn out for a 72 mile ride, in good weather, over three big Lakeland passes, with a total of 2070m (6800ft) of climbing for the day. The ride took us over the Kirkstone Pass (up "the struggle" from Ambleside), Whinlatter Pass & the Honister Pass.
The eight mountaineers were Gareth, Carl, John, Martin S, Bill, Mark, Kevin & Martin C.

Check out the new photo gallery of the ride which is on the website.

& DON'T FORGET

1/8/05 TOM SACKFIELD
For the second time in just a few months, I have to pass on sad news on the website.
Tom Sackfield, a founder member, sadly passed away on Thursday 11 August in Bolton Hospital, aged 61. The funeral was held at the Howe Bridge Crem on Fri 19 August.
On behalf of everyone at the club, sincere condolences to Martin and all his family.

30/4/05 NEIL GERRARD
Neil Gerrard sadly passed away on Saturday 30 April.
Neil was a founder member of the club, & those of you associated with Leigh Premier for a number of years will know that few people have done more to support the club since its formation in 1964. The funeral was held on Friday 6 May 1330 at St Richards Church in Mayfield Street Atherton. It was attended by many cyclists, including club members past and present.

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