Winter - Norwood Paragon

BLAH! RACING REPORTS
Although the racing season is not here for most of us,
some hardy Paragons have already been riding in anger
to blow away those Winter cobwebs. The mountain
bikers have been busy racing in the Gorrick Spring
Series as well as the Thetford Forest Winter Series.
Hannah Reynolds rode the Thetford Forest
Enduro on 23rd January. This race featured two 12
mile laps of fast twisty singletrack around the forest.
There was a large field of entries despite the cold and
Hannah made a good start keeping up with the front
riders, capitalising on her winter road training. She
managed to stay in the top 10 finishing a respectable
8th in the end after 2 hours 51 minutes of racing. Katy
Middlehurst (Giant Racing) won the women's race.
Closer to home Jon Webb, Phil Earl and new
member Nick Ffoulkes raced at Crowthorne Woods in
the Gorrick Spring Series. Jon rode in the Expert class
putting in another strong performance against stiff
opposition to take 5th place with John Venness
(Evans) – former National Masters MTB champion –
taking the win. Nick rode in the Veteran race which
had 54 riders battling it out in the cold conditions.
Despite a poor start and riding a singlespeed MTB, he
worked his way from the back to take 11th place,
while David Nelson (W Drayton MBC) took the win.
Phil rode in the Masters race and is planning to ride
the entire Spring Series this year. Despite a few minor
collisions, mainly with other riders and getting caught
out by the slippery roots on the ‘corkscrew’ section
Phil finished mid-field in 20th place with De Laune's
James Lett in first place.
Marcus Brueton
TIME TRIAL SECRETARY
NEEDED
The 2004 AGM had by far the best attendance for
quite a few years and the meeting proceeded swiftly
with the majority of the appointments being filled with
only a little persuasion being required. However one
important job was left vacant. The club still needs a
time trial secretary: without one it will put the running
of club time trials in jeopardy.
So what does the job entail? Trying to persuade
people to ride time trials and make up the odd team in
events. Organising the evening time trial, which means
little more than sending off the police notification
forms, reminding the time keeper and keeping a record
of results for the various awards. Attending the
CDCA AGM a thrilling evening out! Arranging
marshals for the club events, this is normally one or
two people for each of the CDCA and SCCU events.
It seems a lot of work but you will get plenty of
help. You also need to be able to get to the club’s
monthly committee meetings. If you fancy putting
something back into the sport give the Chairman,
Peter Ansell a call on 020 8668 5652.
Jon Jennings an appreciation
continued from page 5
spleen removed. He always said he was living on
borrowed time so lived life to the full and during his
time as a racing member of the Paragon he did that.
After he split with Allison Butler he moved to
north London where he joined the Willesden, the
Bishops Stortford and then Team Quest clubs
unfortunately Jon never approached his previous
form.
He remained a Paragon member and attended
OPA functions. He was a real Paragonian. A leader.
An individual who went his own way and by his
enthusiasm took his comrades with him. Cycle Sport
MARSHALS REQUIRED
Two marshals are needed for the Southern Counties
Cycling Union 25 mile time trial to be held on G25/53
on 17 April. Contact Dave Adams on 020 8643 9859
for further details.
www.norwoodparagon.co.uk 6
Blah! Winter 2005