Veteran Leaguer - LVRC

the 1920’s and the new owner, whilst he was a millionaire,
could have done with being a multimillionaire, to cover the
enormous maintenance costs of the house. A fire in 1937
damaged one wing of the house and the owner decided to
sell the property, contents, land, outbuildings etc at auction.
However with war looming, there was very little confidence,
nor money to spare. The auction was a disaster, with almost
every lot failing to meet reserve. The house was eventually
sold for scrap!
With the lead stripped from the roofs it rapidly fell in to
a state of disrepair and ruin. Great Witley Church sits right
next door to the ruins of the house. Fortunately it has been
well looked after and is currently one of the finest Baroque
churches in the country. You enter through a massive door
and are immediately awestruck by the gold reliefs and ceiling
paintings. The day we visited there was a choral practice by
the choir, their fine voices beautifully complementing this
grand, Italianate interior. Well worth a visit.
Stage 4
Prior to the stage in the changing room, a guy wearing
cycling kit walked up to me and said “Hello Paddy.” I had to
do a double take. It was Martin Harris, a guy I’ve known since
the early 1980s through Leeds St Christophers CC, but moved
down to the Herefordshire region, not far from the delightfully
named England’s Gate, ten or fifteen years ago to buy and
run a farm. I’d dropped by to see him around four years ago,
having cycled over from the Cotswolds. We caught up with
news a little bit, but I was already one of the last guys left in the
changing room, he wished me luck for the race.
One lap up Clows Top, Newnham Bridge to Great Witley,
followed by two laps of the Holt Heath circuit.
This stage had more fabulous country roads, especially on
the Holt Heath circuit. The bunch set off at a cracking pace
towards Clows Top, in fact it was so cracking that I nearly
cracked! I couldn’t get dropped this early on, surely? The GC
riders were testing each other out, the number 11 guy making
a number of attacks. With a cross headwind and an uphill drag,
we were all lined out in the left hand gutter and, because I was
weak, I was hanging on the back. Thankfully I made it to the
top and, when we turned left, life got a lot easier. There was a
block headwind on the flat part of the A443. A through and
off line formed. One of the guys, Tim, who I know from racing
at Manchester velodrome, went through. It looked hard. He
only went through once. He was going a lot better than me so
I decided that I wasn’t going to put my nose in the wind.
Soon enough, the main climb started. It’s a really tough haul
in three distinct stages. I more or less got up the first part and
thought I was going ok but, as soon as the next bit started I
slipped off the back. I could see a guy in front and I tried to
set my pace to gradually haul him back. I eventually got over
the top, for the descent to Great Witley and a long main road
section to Holt Heath. I could see a guy in the far distance
and I set myself to TT mode. I got into a good rhythm but it
took what seemed like forever to make any gain. I eventually
caught him up after the next left turn. Again, some fabulous
lanes to race along in this area. We combined together quite
well and after a while caught another rider. We took it in turns
to do a decent tap on the front. I did one long fast stretch then
swung over, figuring I’d eat some energy bar whilst at the back.
We hit a tough uphill drag, I found it hard, I couldn’t breathe
well, what with being unfit and having a mouthful of food. I
slipped off the back.
On my own again I managed about another three quarters
of a lap before the C plus group caught me. They only had
about twelve guys in the group so I sat on the back so as not to
interrupt their racing. I got dropped by the group at the exact
same place as the previous lap. To be fair, the lads were going
like hell at this point, it being about four miles before the end
of the stage, riders trying to get away and get the jump on
the sprinters. Anyway, I rolled across the finish a few minutes
behind them.
Last overall in the A & Bs. Oh dear. At least I finished.
Back at HQ I thought I’d get a massage from one of the three
masseurs that the organisers had kindly arranged, donations to
the Midlands Air Ambulance to cover. I understand that they
were in training and had to clock up a certain amount of time,
“hands on” to qualify or re-qualify. I’d had a massage at the
end of stage 2 from the gentleman masseur. On that day, one
of the women was massaging a guy who had massive thighs.
He must have had a tight spot somewhere because every time
she touched a certain point, he yelped in pain. Meanwhile, I
received a wonderfully comfortable massage.
Unfortunately after stage four, my massage was with that
same woman, or should I say, the masseur from hell! (Actually
she was very nice, it’s just that she wanted to get to the real
roots of my tired muscles.) Apparently she used to work with
the national squad and was now in the process of re-qualifying
after having had a number of years off to raise her family. This
was no relaxing massage, such as I’d enjoyed the other day.
Now I could understand why that other rider felt so much
pain. I was grimacing, yelping, gasping, tensing. I knew that
the outcome would be good for me, but, by God, it hurt like
hell. I could hear in the main hall that the prize presentation
was going on, so for all the riders who were there, you now
know who was doing all the squealing outside on the massage
table!
Another superb edition of the race, my thanks to the
organisers and all the helpers and yes, even to the masseurs!
Last on GC, not a very good result but at least I finished. I
should be back next year and will hope to improve. I can’t do
any worse!
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Page 18 The Veteran Leaguer: Autumn 2011