Tour Of Cornwall 2013
I would like to take this opportunity in thanking the following for their support in making the 2nd TOC a huge success:
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Phil Wilkins, Andy Parr, Marcus Walker & Cath, Dave Spencer, Graeme Cummings
(Specialized Concept Chester) Malc Giles, Roger Squire & Mandy, Phil Cooper, Andy Hill, Tim & Chloe (support car + spares & feed) - A group, Debbie Cracknell (Support car + spares & feed) - B group
Riders from Newquay Cycling Club
Racheal Tyers
Mel King
Riders from
Tri-Logic Team
Tony Rowell
Neil Eddy
Paul Reeve
Jason Lloyd King
Dave Cracknell
Alison Galloway
Mhairi Saville
'Princess' Linda Garbett
We all had an extremely good 3 days of excellent weather which just made all the difference with the routes and enabled the riders to enjoy the beautiful views that were planned.
Saturday was the the first big day with a near 80 mile jaunt down the south coast to St Ives. Split into 2 groups with Tony Rowell from Tri-Logic taking the 'B' on a slightly easier rolling route and myself taking the 'A' group on the severe hilly route. With no incidents to report, everyone was riding superbly, with the B group sticking together all the way to St Ives for the cafe stop, while the A group were digging deep to climb the very steep coastal climbs that seem to come one after the other. Andy Parr (muncher) was giving it beans every time the road went up, showing some impressive early season condition! Roger Squire, Phil Cooper (E cat vet) & Andy Hill were all showing true grit to battle over the climbs and stay in contact...well done to them!
After a short but welcome refreshment break it was time to return to Newquay. The A group had whittled down to 8 riders with several dropping back to the B group to save energy for the next two day's hard rides.
The plan on the return leg was to have a 'training race' segment over the last 5 miles into Newquay, with a finish flag waiting for the winners at the picturesque ganal estuary. Well, with the wind picking up and the last few hills taking it's toll, both groups split into two's & three's, scattered over many minutes. Roger Squire won the B group prize, with Phil Cooper and Andy Hill providing the most exciting sprint (short video to follow...)! Andy Parr won the A group prize after breaking away with Dave Spencer (Spenno) working well together until the 'big dipper' climb where he clipped off for a solo finish!
To show how hard it was Phil Wilkins (one of the best ex pro riders on the UK circuit) was cocooned in his duvet groaning to himself trying to ease the pain away!
*Congrats must go to the ladies, who showed some impressive fitness to complete the long ride*
The evening was spent having relaxing meal and a few drinks at Wetherspoons...just the ticket!
Sunday was another tough day, albeit slightly shorter at 70 miles. This time the route took us up the north coast to a cafe stop in Post Issac (a little fishing village where the Doc Martin series is filmed) and once again split into two groups with the B group taking the shorter and less hilly route whilst the A group started the hills straight away following the coastal road.
Today the wind was playing a huge factor in the progress of the riders with a cold strong easterly hampering any sort of speed, but hey, determination prevailed and everyone arrived at the cafe, only to find it was at the bottom of a 3 mile steep climb, which after lunch, was not a nice prospect to climb out of!
Beautiful location as you can see >
The return to Newquay was going to be a rapid one with the wind behind us all the way. With 5 left in the A group and the B group still holding strong with the rest, it was a case to see if the A's could catch up with the B's before arriving back at Newquay?
Once on the A39 heading back to Wadebridge the A's were lined out averaging 45-48kph under the two-up impetus of Andy Parr and Dave Spencer, whilst the B's were splitting under the driving of Graeme Cummings (yes, brother of Stephen of BMC Pro Tour team) who was showing some top form on his newly acquired
Specialized Venge bike.
Just after Wadebridge the A's started to split just in sight of a neat formation of the Tri-Logic riders, with Andy Parr once again powering away on his own to eventually catch firstly our kid Malc Giles who was on a very good day, then eventually catching and teaming up the Greame to form a duo all the way back to Newquay, leaving myself clinging onto Spenno with Marcus Walker and Phil Wilkins taking a short breather behind the remnant's of the B group before taking off in pursuit.
Top ride had by all, with once again the sunny weather just adding to the enjoyment!
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Tony leading the B group with Phil & Marcus catching a ride
Andy & Graeme forge ahead towards Newquay
Dave Spenno on the chase with Nick & Malc
Monday, once again we were blessed with another stunning day, dry with blue skies, albeit very windy!
After a hearty breakfast we decided to set off on this last day's riding all together...well I say all together, Phil Cooper and Andy Hill, missed the departure and ended up riding the 25 miles to the Eden Project as a 2 up! In my defence the group did leave 15 minutes late, but in reality, I should have done a head count...let's put the blame on a equal footing!
What was meant to be an easy last day leisure ride, turned out to be just as tough as the previous days, with the strong headwind making the progress painfully slow and the last long drag over the disused clay pits was brutal causing the group to split into fragments with everyone just about turning over the pedals!
With a nice downhill to the cafe everyone eventually arrived, looking like they had just rode 50 miles instead of 25, but with the knowledge it was going to be a flyer back, smiles were still abundant. Not so Phil and Andy, they battled all the way together and arrived shortly after us, which, give credit when credit is due, was a superb effort!
We delayed the return to give Phil and Andy time to have a coffee and snack, which also allowed the rest to have a look around this famous landmark in Cornwall.
The initial start out from the cafe was very hard, especially after sitting down for an hour, the steep climbs made the legs hurt, but once over, it was 'pedal to the metal', the gears were rolling nicely and everyone was enjoying the tailwind push home!
The planned 4 mile team time-trial was a cancelled as most were too tired and just wanted to return to the hotel. Only one rider decided to have-a-go...yep, that man Any Parr decided to go solo and this time kick his own ass!
Back at the hotel and before everyone shot off home we (Poco Loco Cycling) had a small prize presentation for the riders who did well in the 'training segments' and generally over the 3 days of very tough riding. The following riders received their prizes from Graeme Cummings of the
Specialized Concept Store who kindly donated the products:
Andy Parr - A group segment winner + overall
Roger Squire - B group segment winner
Alison Galloway - B group
'Princess' Linda Garbett - B group
Graeme Cummings - B group segment winner
Phil Cooper & Andy Hill - for their impressive 25 mile 2-up on day 3.
Thank you once again to everyone who supported the 2013 Tour of Cornwall and making it a success. See you next time....
For more photos and some short video clips please follow this link: Tour of Cornwall 2013
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