The Beacon Message Board

Lots to do tomorrow, but I'll try to get there.

I was aware of some of the debate around this change. Let's hope it has a positive impact.

Final league positions after Round 13 are as follows: Seniors /50 3 Gareth (11) Vets 50+ /62 2 Jon (12) 48 Paul (4) Vets 40+ /86 24 Steve (10) 40 Gary (8) 65 Greg T (6) 81 Doug (1) Ladies /25 2 Ruth (11) Juniors /18 6 Greg Dighton (8) Youth / 126 29 Oli Dighton (10) – U14s 14/70 82 Sam Dighton (3) –...

Final results from Sunday: Junior/ Vets/ Ladies / 85 11 Jon Rice 15 Greg Dighton 27 Steve Croggan 36 Ruth Eyles Gary Mac - DNF Youth / 53 (5 DNF) 25 Oli Dighton Juniors / 2 1 Greg Dighton Vets 40+ / 41 18 Steve Croggan Vets 50+ / 29 3 Jon Rice Ladies / 14 2 Ruth Eyles Seniors / 27 9 Gareth Scott Upd...

As Gareth said, it was a 'real' cyclocross race today with tons of mud, slippery slopes, steep climbs, tricky corners, dicey off-cambers......... I loved it! You did have a huge smile at the end, Ruth. Not everyone was quite so pleased: quite a lot of broken rear mechs. What I don'tquite understand...

Very muddy day at Baggeridge Country Park in Dudley. I decided that that discretion was the better part of valour and watched the racing before being roped in to marshal. Results will be published in a few days. In the meantime, congrats to Greg Dighton for a great ride to win the Juniors race. We t...

A little late, last Sunday's provisional cross results for the penultimate race of the season at Wolverhampton were as follows: Youth / x (results not yet published) Juniors / 7 6 Greg Dighton Vets 40+ / 51 25 Steve Croggan 31 Gary Mac Vets 50+ / 38 5 Jon Rice Ladies / 16 3 Ruth Eyles Seniors / 36 6...

Great result, Jon.

Updated results, which shows corrected placings for the 40+ riders:

Junior/Vets/Ladies / 120
30 Jon Rice
48 Ruth Eyles
50 Gary Mac
67 Steve Croggan

Vets 40+ / 48
27 Gary Mac
37 Steve Croggan

Vets 50+ / 46
7 Jon Rice

Ladies / 20
4 Ruth Eyles

Seniors / 26
11 Gareth Scott

I agree with many of the comments above. I've found that spring tension tends to be set too tight on new pedals. The other thing to check is the cleat's position on each show. Position the centre of the cleat so it sits directly under the ball of your foot, the centre of your foot is over the centre...

Provisional results from Top Barn look a little iffy (Gary Mac appears in the 40+ & 50+ results) so at the risk of them being wrong, here they are... Junior/Vets/Ladies / 120 30 Jon Rice 48 Ruth Eyles 66 Steve Croggan 110 Gary Mac Vets 40+ / 51 35 Steve Croggan 50 Gary Mac Vets 50+ / 44 7 Jon Rice L...

Sorted. There were a few queries about incorrect placings on the WMCCL message board.

I had hoped that I would be back to fitness for the New Year's Day race, but that's looking unlikely. Not been out on the bike since Shipston. OK on the rollers this morning...until I got off! Grrr.

A bit late, but last week's cross results from Tackeroo on Cannock Chase:

Youth / 46
23 Oli Dighton

Juniors / 9
6 Greg Dighton

Vets 40+ / 55
25 Gary Mac

Vets 50+ / 42
3 Jon Rice

Ladies / 14
4 Ruth Eyles

Seniors / 37
14 Gareth Scott

Very entertaining to watch. Does make me wonder why we do it, though!

Fabulous!

Provisional results from the Midland Championships. I wasn't able to go, but it must have been something to see international cyclists racing! Youth U14 / 37 11 Oli Dighton Youth U16 - not published yet ? Sam Dighton Juniors / 16 12 Greg Dighton Vets 40+ / 73 44 Steve Croggan Vets 50+ / 49 7 Jon Ric...

Tim wrote:...and helmet (circa £99 I think but cant remember brand) that will both be going on my Christmas list!

Just bought one of these Kask helmets from Red Kite. Cost a bit more, but might be a different model? I hope.

A friend of mine had this problem. Found out it was the valve stem moving in the hole.

WMCCL league positions after Round: 11 Ladies /24 3 Ruth Eyles (9 races) Youth /116 32 Oli Dighton ( 8 ) 76 Sam Dighton (3) Junior /18 10 Greg Dighton (6) Vets 40+ /86 27 Steve Croggan (9) 32 Gary Mac ( 8 ) 64 Greg Thompson (6) 80 Doug Fielding-Smith (1) - injured Vets 50+ /60 1 Jon Rice (10) 48 Pau...

Goodnight Sweetheart's in Stourport is no more. New owners took over about 4 months ago and have renamed the cafe 'Blossoms'. Same sort of fare. Colour scheme is fresher, more Giro d'Italia and Gingham

Really enjoyed reading your musings, George. But, um...rather a lot of photos of men's shaved legs :shock: I'm a little concerned about you, Greg. There are five pairs of shaved legs, and three of the five belong women. That said, I suppose it is vaguely kinky to go round a show photographing stran...

Really enjoyed reading your musings, George. But, um...rather a lot of photos of men's shaved legs

Philip Whiteman wrote: ...The walk button is useless where one way systems exist...

I found out last week that you can alternate between 'Follow Roads' and 'Draw Lines' to get round the one-way street problem. It's a bit of a faff, but it works.

Looks nice and clean. But will it be like that after the weekend??

Worth trying Wiggle (phone them if you can't find parts on their site). They provided some spares for mine.

The technology has probably improved since I last had anything stove enamelled. I recall that the powder coat could be prone to being slightly uneven, whereas the sprayed enamels gave a better finish. I'd suggest you ask to see some examples of their work to ensure that you get a finish you're after...

...CVTs use rotating and tilting balls positioned between the input and output components of a gearing system...

Made my eyes water.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5399139172_4f7f0e34f3.jpg Pedals borrowed from another bike at the moment. Tyres are £7.99 jobs, so an upgrade needed, as you say. Don't think I can stretch to upgrading to a cracking set of tubs yet! As for the rollers, they are brilliant. Even managed no handed...

Graham, I read an article last night about indoor winter training on turbo and rollers. Its conclusion was that both had value: turbo particularly for strength and speed sessions; rollers for technique, core strength and base endurance. Turbo can do the latter too. Seems that many people think of tu...

Good man, Dave. It must be catching, though. I took delivery of a Cinelli Vigorelli yesterday. It will take a front brake, so I've got that as well (according to Velodrome.org that's all you need to be street legal, as you say Albert - although I've seen a warning that the police don't always unders...

Decided to buy a new one and now have a £125 Tacx Sartori Gel something or other. Not without it's problems, but Wiggle were quick to sort them and I'm happy with my purchase.

Just need to use it a bit more!

I thought that might be the answer. It doesn't take much persuasion to get me buying stuff, though!

I bought a GIST fluid turbo trainer a few years ago from Chain Reaction Cycles. Wondering why it didn't seem to be working as well as it did, the small puddle of oil underneath was the give away. Anyone any idea where to get spares to fix the leak? Or indeed how do repair one, what sort of oil to us...