Saturday 26th May. ’Kent Ride’.
Due to the distance involved and the fact there will be some hills, this ride is suitable for the more experienced cyclists.
Ride Leader: David. Contact on: 07803662340.
Meet at Tilbury Landing Stage 10.00am.
We will cross over to Gravesend and cycle off-road for the first few miles to lower Higham before heading northwards passing through Cooling and Lower Halstow before reaching the Thames estuary at Allhallows on sea. Heading inland again we will make our way via Upnor to Rochester and back to Gravesend. This will be an all day ride of about 50 miles at a gentle pace of 8-10 miles per hour. There will be time for a few refreshment/comfort breaks along the route.

Saturday 16th June. Regents Canal & Central London.
This ride is suitable for moderate to experienced cyclists.
Ride Leaders: Bob & Jon. Contact on: 07778533633 or 07845928596
Meet at Grays Station 10.00am. Travel by train to Limehouse.
The ride will include cycle paths adjoining the canals and some roads. Riders must be able to cope with busy roads/cycle paths. The terrain being mostly flat with good surfaces means that all bikes are suitable for this ride. The distance is about 20/25 miles at a pace of 7-9 miles per hour.  It will be an all-day ride with a couple of refreshment/comfort breaks. The ride will include the areas of Camden Lock, Regents Park, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, The Mall and the Thames Embankment.

All of these events can also be found in the Event Calendar.

Please ensure that you are familiar with the recreation ride rules, before taking part.

This year the race is a Premier Calendar (National A) category and there will be some very talented elite and professional riders and teams competing. I can confirm that it is a very enjoyable experience and it raises the profile of our club by putting on this race. In the five years the race has been running it has become a very prestigious event. The entry list this year has most of the top riders in the country racing. If you don’t follow road racing, to put it into context it is like having Man Utd play Chelsea on the local pitch. To hold the event, we need marshalls from the club. OK, so you have to give up a Sunday afternoon – but it is for a very good cause, helps the club and this year the race will be televised.

I have attached the flyer so you can look at it and please visit the website (which will have more information as we get nearer the date) at:

www.dengiemarshestour.com

YOUR CLUB NEEDS YOU… …PLEASE VOLUNTEER

Training will be given (and it really isn’t very difficult to do)

MALDON DENGIE TOUR

The HELL of the EAST

Location: Orsett Churches Centre

The Club Membership Subscription is due on 1st January.
Please can you ensure that your subs get to me as soon as possible.

Please remember to bring payment or your cheque book to the first club meeting of the year at Orsett Churches
Centre.

Subscriptions are:

Individual          £ 20
Family               £ 30
Second Claim   £ 15

We are a small club with an urgent need to process club funds when they are due.
Please help by being prompt with membership subscriptions.

Noel Edwards
General Secretary

Ben Lamb showing club colours

Chapeau to l’Aigneau

Gateway Cycling are proud to congratulate Ben Lamb on his attainment of a contract for the coming year with Wilier / Live2Ride based in Frome, Somerset. Ben has been a member of Gateway Cycling for less than three years and has risen from having little knowledge of road  racing to his first major step on the way to a professional cycle racing career.

Led by former Olympian Ben Luckwell the Wilier / Live2Ride team are excited to announce its expansion to eleven riders with the signing of six new riders which include current Junior National Champion Dan Pearson to assist with building on the team’s success in 2011. All of the riders will be racing on the prestigious Italian Wilier Cento 1, equipped with a Campagnolo 11 speed Super Record Groupset, Fulcrum Racing Zero Wheels and Schwalbe Tyres. The team kit is provided by Kalas Sportswear, Met Helmets and Sunwise sun glasses. The stated aim for the team throughout 2012 is to compete in the top UK Road Races and Criteriums. The riders are excited and optimistic at success throughout the season and are looking forward to kicking the season off with The Perfs Pedal Race in February and Severn Bridge Road Race in March.

More information at:

http://www.wilierbikes.co.uk/wp-wilier/?cat=4

Out with the old and in with the new…

If you are a club member you will need to register to the site to be able to use all the functionality available.
You can register by either using the Register link in the ‘Log In’  box to the right of this message or by following this link.
If you are eager to go register then please make sure you come back and read the rest of this article after!

 This website has been been built to enable us to share our news and events with each other and the wider community.  And it NEEDS YOUR HELP!

We want your Gateway Cycling stories:

• taken part or going to take part in a cycling event?
• want to share some Gateway Cycling News?
• Photos or Video you want to share?
• Organising a race?

Anything that club members and especially non-club members would be interested in.

Our new home will let us tell the world what we are all about.  It doesn’t have to be a major event.  If you think last Sunday’s group ride is worth writing an article about we’ll publish it.  If you have photos or maps to add to it then all the better!

This is not only going to be a website about the club, the content will be written and managed by the club members.  There are two types of article on this site.  Pages and Posts.  Pages are for our static information, like who we are and how to contact us.  Posts are our news items, which we give focus to on our homepage.  The more often we add Post items the more interesting our site will become and the more visitors we will get. This will lead to more interest in becoming club members.

If you want to write a news article then let me know and we’ll give you the access to do this and any help or guidance you need.

Working with this kind of website will be new to many of you and likewise is also new to the admins.  We’ll be working together to make this website easier to use.  If you find a problem or want to suggest an improvement then please let us know at webmaster@gatewaycycling.org.uk.

I think the conditions were different for Russell since he started some time before everyone else to set a benchmark. It is a well known fact that the density of air is much greater before 10am than after.

Thanks guys for taking part, thanks to Chris Edwards for organising it and thanks to the weather for being just right.

Little Warley Hill Climb Results

You can find more images for this event on the flickr photo sharing website.

From there we rode along the bumpy off road cycle lane up to Lower Higham before heading northwards to the bird sanctuary near Cliffe.
We had a short stop to admire the views over the Thames estuary before cycling to Cliffe  with another short stop to look around this picturesque village.
Retuning to Lower Higham. where we decided to return to Gravesend via a different route. It was not too long before we were enjoying much needed refreshments at a cafe along the riverside promenade in Gravesend before taking the ferry back to Tilbury.

All told it was a ride of just under 20 miles at an average pace of 9mph.

Brixton Beastway

Round 1 of the Brixton Cycles Beastway MTB Series took place on May 18th. Paul Champness and David Francis took part in the event at Hog Hill’s Redbridge Cycle Centre.

This event takes place every other week from May 18th – July 27th.

Visit their site for more detail and results.

Canvey Island Cyclists

The recreation group had their first ride for the 2011 season around Canvey Island on Saturday 16th April.
The group met at Benfleet Station Car park and rode a circular, mostly ‘off road’ route around the sea wall. The total distance covered was approx. 12/14 miles.
It was a fine sunny spring morning, there was a high tide and the 12 participants enjoyed fine views of Hadleigh Downs and the Thames Estuary.
A stop was made on Canvey Seafront where the group were able to soak up the early spring sunshine and enjoy the refreshments.
On the return journey to Benfleet Station a visit was also made to the newly opened RSPB bird sanctuary at West Canvey Marsh.