Despite the awful forecast, the unpredictable Cornish weather produced a sunny morning with the wind only at its worst on the downhill section past Macdonalds.
Sean Childs produced an outstanding ride to romp away with an early win, with the first Cornish rider being the evergreen Gary Fouracres. Paul Friday was desperately unlucky to puncture for the second year running, in exactly the same spot as last year, riding the last 2 miles on a flat rear tyre. There was some tough competition around the 55-56 minute mark, with every second counting. There were eye-catching performances from Drummond Masterton (thank goodness the new twins are going to be slowing him down soon!), John Fazakerley, and Damian Ayling (I do not believe he has been in bed all week with flu - resting up more like). PZW scooped 1st and 3rd Vets prizes with Tony Farnell and John Payne respectively.
It was good to see the winter training group benefitting from a solid training block, with Mark Hooper, Andrew Smith and Matt Cummins producing impressive rides.
PZW pocketed most of the Cornish Cup awards - Paul Friday was 1st overall, Sandy Gourley 4th overall, Pete Blackshaw 1st Vet 50, Tony Farnell 1st Vet 60, Caroline Chesterfield 1st Woman, Pete Jory was one of only 2 riders to complete all 9 races, and PZW won the team award with Paul friday, Sandy Gourley and Tony Farnell.
Next open Cornish TT is the Camel Valley 10 on Saturday 20th March - get your entry in soon.[Tony Farnell]

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A bright sunny day but with stiff headwind on the outbound leg. No suprises at the winning team, but still a very impressive time from Sean Childs and Mark Bird. In fact RN&RMCA teams took 3 of the first 4 places. Tris and John very happy with 6th place once a composite team had been taken out of the equation. We just hoped that the rest of our clubmates were enjoying themselves as much in Sunny Spain.
[Johyn Fazakerley]

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Challenging conditions apparently. Outstanding ride and pb by Shane Williams and pb for Damian Ayling. I am told that PZW also won the team prize and John Fazakerley took 3rd Vet prize. Perhaps someone would send me a report.[

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PZW mustered 5 riders for some fast and furious racing on a mild, but breezy Merryfield Airfield. Ed Joslin stormed into the points with a comfortable top 10 placing from a large field of riders in the 4th cat race. Graham Bewick also finished in the main bunch in his first ever crit race - an outstanding performance. Pendle Hill made positive progress, only being tailed off on the last lap.
Gail Aspden, just back from a stage race in Malta, looked as though she would take the women\'s race, opening the sprint in a bunch finish. But she possibly went a little too soon, being overtaken by 3 or 4 riders just before the line.
In the 3rd Cat race, Tony Farnell missed the early break of 7 riders, and had to be content with contesting the bunch sprint. [Tony Farnell]

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Undeterred by an early start and a strong south westerly wind, more than 30 riders were to be found assembling their bikes in the car park of Roche Victory Hall. It was a good day for PZW, taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd, with Damian Ayling taking a few more seconds from his PB, his second PB of the season. But at least we know about his secret training now - pig wrestling and bacon butties, although I hasten to add that the pig was in no way connected to the bacon butties. We obviously need to part exchange the PZW club rollers for a pig. With about 50 members, that means we can each have 1 week with the pig at home.
Thanks to Ivor, Jill and the other Camel Valley helpers who organised and officiated at the race.[Tony Farnell]

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Dry weather and only a slight breeze greeted the 62 starters who made the journey to Victoria for the S100/10. As usual PZW put out a healthy number of riders.
By the time the first riders had set off the breeze had increased. The full affect was only noticed on the long slog to the finish.
This did not stop four of the top ten slots being taken by PZW riders. Shane Williams has again proved he is a force to be reckoned with this season by getting another PB. The Shane Williams and Paul Friday duel is in full swing with one second separating the two of them. Damian Ayling also managed to get a PB and get under 23 minutes.
Sandy Gourley, Drummond Masterton and John Payne also finished strongly.
PZW managed to yet again take the team prize thanks to Shane Williams/Paul Friday/Caroline Chesterfield. [Damian Ayling]

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Alarm bleeped at 5.00am. Breakfast of fruit, porridge and tea. Energy drinks prepared. Kit packed and food already done night before. Drove round to Mark's house at 5.40am. Listened to fantastic dawn chorus while he made up his drinks. Collected Ricci from Falmouth mansion at 5.55am. Empty roads to Carland Cross to pick up Pete Jory at 6.10am. Gloriously quiet roads and motorway all the way to Taunton. Arrived Yeovilton 08.45. Time for second breakfast - honey sandwiches and black coffee.
Signed on, warmed up. 10.00am Mark started his race E/1/2/3 cats, 4 laps, full field of 80 riders, 60 miles, lots of Premier Calender stars, including Chris Opie and Pendragon team. 10.45am Ricci, Pete and me started our race 3/4 cats, 3 laps, full field of 80 riders, and 45 miles.
In the E/1/2/3 race, breakaway group including Chris Opie, caught by main bunch halfway round last lap, but after fantastic lead-out by Yanto Barker, Chris sprinted to another win. Fine ride by Mark to finish in the bunch - was that Gary Chambers he outsprinted?
3/4 race stayed together until final time up the hill, when remains of bunch split into two, lead group of about 15 and chase group of about 20. Ricci and me in second group, but active to the end. Pete finished his first ever road race, so beating many who dropped out.
Met up with Chris to celebrate with a coffee at Exeter Services on way home. Great day out, challenging racing, fantastic camararderie, and well worth the drive. Thanks guys.[Tony Farnell]

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Only three Wheelers made the trip, together with a whole bunch of One & All riders from Cornwall. We were rewarded with a fine sunny day and some fast and furious racing.
First up was Ed Joslin in the 4th Cat race. There looked to be 50-60 riders assembled on the start line, and Ed was prominent throughout. Luckily he managed to avoid the crash early in the last lap, with Mark Hooper lucky to escape with a few bruises, while one rider was seriously injured. It all came down to a bunch sprint, with most of the field still there. Positioning off the last bend was crucial, and Ed could not repeat his 5th place of 2 weeks previously, but still managed a respectable position in the top 20.
There was a smaller field than usual in the Womans race, and Gail Aspden performed strongly as usual. Another bunch finish saw a fine win for One & All 17 year old Rhiannon Smallwood, after some fine attacks from team mate Fiona Telfer-Brunton had softened the field up. Gail was then off up to Windsor for the National Series RR the following day.
In the 3rd Cat race, the Cornish contingent of Richard Pascoe, Darren Manser and Tony Farnell decided that we were going to take turns in attacking, to try to break things up. We all managed to get off the front at different stages of the race, but as with all the attacks, there always seemed to be a fresh pair of legs among the 50-60 riders to chase the break down. Darren had the best attack of the day, out in front on his own for nearly a whole lap of the 3 miles circuit. Finally it all came down to the sprint. I was well positioned all the way round the last lap, but then allowed myself to be swamped just before the final bend. Richard got a good lead out from Jason Flooks into the last bend, but ran out of legs in the final straight. Darren was understandably tired from his earlier effort. So the Cornish lads had to be satisfied with having raced aggressively and successfully executed their game plan.
All the other races also finished in bunch sprints, an indication of how difficult it is to get away on the flat Ilton circuit.[Tony Farnell]

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E/1/2 Race.

This was dominated by Gary Chambers and Chris Lobb who broke away early and stormed off together working very well together. The rest of the riders spent their time working as a group to try to bring them back but never succeded so later settled down to contest the minor placings. At the end Gary Chambers outsprinted Chris Lobb for the win.

1st Gary Chambers.
2nd Chris Lobb.
3rd Adam Bright.
5th Rich Edmond
12th Ricci Pascoe, who rode despite having just finished the 3/4 race.


3/4/J Race.

This was the biggest field we have ever had for the 3/4 race, very good attendance. At last some really positive racing in a SW crit! Right from the start, the hammer was down and the bunch was soon strung out with gaps soon appearing. Only a couple of laps into the race and a lead group of about 8 riders, including Mark Haynes, were away, They were chased by a second bunch of 5 riders, policed by Paul Friday and Tony Farnell. The rest of the field were scattered around the circuit.
Mark Haynes and Richard Pascoe tried to get away before the end, but were chased down and Darren Manser proved to be the strongest in the sprint for 1st place.
The second group splintered in the final laps as Paul Friday jumped away and time trialled to the finish.

1st Darren Manser,
2nd Chris Murphy.
3rd Ricci Pascoe.
4thMark Haynes.
5th Richard Hudson,
6th Seif Tomkinson.
7th Joe Williams.
8th Brennan Tomkinson.
9th Sebastion Finch.
10th Tom Cann.


Womans Race.

This was a first for us with six women on the start line. I hope it becomes a regular feature. Fiona Telfer-Brunton and Meike Bos initially rode away from the field, then Fiona rode away from Meike, and that was that. Louise Fretwell of PZW rode well for 3rd place.

1st Fiona Telfer-Brunton.
2nd Meike Bos
3rd Louise Fretwell.
4th Lisa Binmore.
5th Tracy Hooper
6th Kate Horam.


Youth.

The PZW Crits were the 2nd round of the South West Youth series and we had a good turn out for them.

U16\'s.

This was domianted by Sebastion Baylis the Series leader in his yellow jersey. He certainly lived up to that yellow jersey attacking on the first lap with Jack Plummer who he soon dropped and the just kept going in a very smooth style to the finish line. Jack Plummer kept chasing but steadily lost ground. The rest of the field worked very well together going through and off showing that they already had had some good coaching.

1st Sebastion Baylis.
2nd Jack Plummer.
3rd Joel Kelly
4th Jonny Cooper.
5th Tom Green.
6th James Trott.
7th Will Kelly
8th Stan Thompson.


U12\'s

(If someone emails me a report I will add it.)

1st Alex Ford.
2nd Matthew Binmac
3rd Olly Cooper
[Matt Southam]

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In the hour before the start, the rain clouds blew away, the sun came out, and the roads started drying out. Moreover, the wind was favourable on the long leg from the start down to Crowntown, and the rest of the course seemed fairly sheltered. Several competitors posted PBs on the day for this course – the good conditions or better winter training?
PZW had a successful evening, with Shane Williams maintaining his big improvement this season in 2nd place, Paul Friday 3rd, Sandy Gourley 6th, Tony Farnell 1st Vet, John Fazakerley 3rd Vet, and 1st Team (Shane Williams, Paul Friday and Tony Farnell).
Thank you to all the timekeepers, marshals and helpers who enabled the race to go ahead successfully.
[Tony Farnell]

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Windy and cold, but thankfully the rain held off. Some good times at the sharp end. Best PZW was Sandy Gourley in 7th. Tony Farnell was 1st Vet. PZW won first team prize - Sandy Gourley, Tony Farnell and Tristan Harris. Caroline Chesterfield was presented with cup for winning 2009 South West Womens BAR (Best All Rounder).
John Fazakerley was penalised 1 minute for a late start, and Mark King managed to finish after puncturing just after the turn. As he is the only PZW not to get I mention so far, I should say that Damian Ayling might have received a useful tip-off about a safe robbery in the Penzance area - source not revealed of course![Tony Farnell]

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A rather cool night with a good tail wind on the return leg. Sandy Gourley had an excellent ride, but missed 1st place by 5 seconds.[Mike Tonkin]

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There was little wind and the rain held off until most riders had finished. Good ride by Damian for 1st place and James for 3rd place. Well done to Luke, who knocked about 2 minutes from his PB on this course, and also to junior Jake Alderman of One & All who broke into the top 10.
Thank you very much Sandy Gourley and the other helpers for organising the race.[Tony Farnell]

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Lovely day, not requiring thermals made a pleasant change, bit of a headwind on the outward leg slowed most of us down, not Shane though, who stormed to a very impressive win, sadly no team prize otherwise Shane, Paul and Damian would have scooped it.[John Fazakerley]

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Surprisingly no other entries from PZW or One and All, so left clear blue Cornish sky with Garland Cross windmills spinning madly and drove up alone to threatening clouds but little wind. The clouds quickly cleared and and the sun was soon warming the tyres ready for the first race of the season on this fast course.
I thought it was a good evening, so was a little disappointed not to do a '21', but couldn't have missed it by a narrower margin and had to console myself with the vets prize. Steve Sage had a great ride to beat 21 minutes and St Austell star Gary Fouracres took 3rd place. The cakes were as tasty and tempting as usual and it was good to catch up with cycling friends, before driving back into the Cornish sunset.[Tony Farnell]

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A good breeze blew in the faces of the competitors on the start line this Thursday, making for some slower than usual times, Shane Williams did what we are starting to expect and scored a very convincing win, Chris Lobbs time was also impressive being achieved on a standard road bike (well, quite a nice one as it happens.)
Good to note that over half the field was made up of Penzance Wheelers.
Many thanks to John Garwell and Lloyd for marshalling and to Graham Lobb for pushing off and helping with timing.[John Fazakerley]

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A nice warm evening and only a hint of a breeze. St Austell Wheelers presented us with yet another course variation - basically 2 laps of Victoria and Innes Downs interchanges, east on new A30 and west on old A30, with start and finish on old A30 between the 2 interchanges, and HQ at Lanivet.
Surprisingly there were only 4 PZW riders on the start sheet - I hope you are not all saving youself for the crit tomorrow night! Gary Fouracres won convincingly, but PZW picked up 2nd woman, Caroline Chesterfield, 3rd man and 1st Vet, Tony Farnell, and 6th man, John Fazakerley. [Tony Farnell]

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The morning looked ideal early on, however a brisk Westerly wind soon picked up making the outward leg from Roche a bit of a slog, even more so on susequent laps on the uphill section from Innis Downs past the Roche junction, however every cloud has one, and on this occasion the silver lining was that the return legs from Indian Queens were a delight. (relatively speaking). The Navy team was out in force as it was their championship event, Sean Childs won convincingly in a slightly slower time from last year, although unlike last year he hadn't done a 100 the day before.
Caroline Chesterfield rode well to be 2nd lady behind Emily Adkin from Okehampton, who is becoming a real force to be reckoned with. Paul achieved a very respectable time just outside the chockys, whilst I missed out on a sub 2hr this year, hey ho.[John Fazakerley]

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The luxury team bus from Cornwall contained four elite Cornish riders, four bikes, sixteen wheels, gallons of energy drink and mountains of race grub. We managed to prevent Mark scoffing a beefburger at Cullompton Services and arrived at Long Sutton just as the day was warming up.
Having ridden this race twice before, I felt fairly relaxed, just one long drag and one short sharp climb on the 5 miles lap, which had to be repeated ten times, warm sunshine, blue sky, no wind and a full field of 80 riders.
So, you can understand, the start was a bit of a shock when we were exceeding 30 mph in the neutralised zone, and it was eyeballs out the first time up the drag (still in the neutralised zone!!!), then grovelling along the flat bit, screaming down the descent, sprinting up the little hill, and gasping through the bends back to the end of the lap!
Surely things would ease up now? No chance! So it went on, lap after lap. It was a struggle to get anywhere near the front. As soon as you thought you'd reached a reasonable position in the peloton, you suddenly looked over your shoulder and found that you were hanging on at the back yet again. It is a good job that Team Cornwall had decided to ride conservatively in the early stages of the race - it was the only option!
By the start of lap 9 the whole peloton was still together, and I had forgotton what it was like to be anywhere near the front of a race. The Camel Valley 50 TT did not look too horrifying as an alternative after all.
Then the unthinkable happened. Abandoning my usual ploy of moving up through the field on the bendy bit of the course before the drag, I stayed at the back. Big mistake! Halfway up the drag the dreaded gap started to open up in front of me. There were nothing left in the antique legs with which to respond. By the time we reached the top, the bunch was 50 metres in front. I did not know whether to feel relieved or frustrated when I suddenly felt the back of the bike becoming a bit bouncy - a slow puncture!
I decided to risk it and ride round the rest of the lap,and soon came upon the scene of a the crash which took Ricci Pascoe out of the race. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt. Then I had to stop to borrow a track pump from a spectator to revive my tyre and continue to the end of the lap.
Now a spectator, it was good to see Rich Edmond come through at the bell in a lead group of four, and Mark Haynes still in the much reduced peloton of about 15 riders, after a second crash, roughly 20 seconds behind. By the finish Rich had paid for his aggressive riding, and had to be content to roll over the line at the back of the bunch, but Mark came through strongly for 10th place.
It was a rather tired team bus of Cornish bunnies on the journey home. This time Mark managed to get his teeth into a burger at Exeter Services. On the positive side, the tan lines were improved - eat your heart out Pendle! [Tony Farnell]

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A fine sunny evening, with some fast times and close tussles. Good to see some women and juniors riding, with a particularly fine performance by SW GHS winner Jake Alderman.
We had to disqualify one competitor for clear infringement of the drafting rule. For newcomers to the time trialling scene, the relevant rule clearly states - competitors must ride completely alone and not ride in company or take shelter (commonly known as drafting) from other riders or vehicles. The onus of avoiding drafting is with the overtaken rider, who should drop back at least 30 metres.
Thanks to Pendle Hill for organising, Matt Southam for time keeping, and Shane Williams and Tony Farnell for marshalling. Next PZW time trial at Leedstown is on Thursday 8th July.[

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Lovely warm morning, with a westerly breeze that made the outward leg to Indian Queens quite hard, especially the first time through from the start at Innes Downs, but the return leg up the drag really fast.
With Paul Friday a non-starter, still recovering from his recent crash, it was left to Sandy Gourley to spearhead the PZW team. His 5th place was a fine effort, not far behind the leaders. Behind him, John Fazakerley and Damian Ayling pulverised their PBs, Caroline Chesterfield rode well to take 2nd Womens prize, Pete Blackshaw seems to be honing his form nicely, and comfortably beat the hour, Tony Farnell did a course PB and took the Vets prize, Louise Fretwell managed a fine 1-08 in her first 25, on a standard road bike, after a nail-bitingly close battle with Sam Kelly of RNRMCA based at Culdrose.
PZW ex-international runner Mark King locked horns with another ex-international runner-turned-cyclist Dave Francis. James Trott, son of John, 13 years old, was not far off the hour, with a 1-01-12! Ex-PZ Wheelers Jeff Houghton and Pete Jory excelled - Jeff finished 4th and Pete broke the hour for the first time, following a PB 10 the previous week.
So, back here again in 2 weeks for the Camel Valley 25. Have you entered yet?[Tony Farnell]

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The Praze Carnival meant that we had to use the alternative, harder, course, starting on the outskirts of Hayle, climbing a couple of miles to the normal start, and finishing uphill at the entrance to Clowance.
Good ride by Chris Opie on his road bike to take the win. Just goes to show, time trialling is all in the mind Chris.
Thanks to Mark Haynes and his Dad for organising, Matt Southam for timekeeping, and Gary James, James Varah and Maurice Jackson for marshalling. Next Leedstown TT is on Thursday 29th July. Gail Aspden is organising. Helpers are required - contact Gail asap.[Tony Farnell]

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A warm morning with a bit of a breeze, rather similar to the St Austell Wheelers race of two weeks ago, saw a start list of 74 riders. A quick look at the names revealed that it was going to be a battle to get into the top 20, with most of the big hitters in the SW present.
In the end, Wendy beat us all again, showing that she is in good form after a recent shoulder operation. For PZW, Damian Ayling produced yet another PB this year, gradually closing on the leaders, as also did Tristan Harris, his first time under the hour for 25 miles. It was great to see Paul Friday back on his bike and racing after his recent crash at Ilton during a crit race. PZW took the team prize thanks to Paul Friday, Damian Ayling and Tony Farnell, who also won the vets prize.[Tony Farnell]

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The 33 riders who signed on were rewarded by a fine evening for time trialling with a favourable breeze gently behind them on the long opening stretch from the start to the first turn at Sithney School.
Performances that caught the eye proliferated. Eighteen year old Luke Pye of PZW rode to an impressive 24-57 on a standard road bike. One & All juniors Duncan Heywood and Michael Hooper both broke the 30 minutes barrier and were rewarded by 20th and 22nd places respectively. Sam Kelly was first woman and 17th overall in her debut on this course, despite being held up by a lorry in Leedstown. Pete Jory continued his dramatic improvement this year, cracking 25 minutes for 5th place. All he needs is his passport, and he will be able to race abroad! In the tale of the mechanical problems, Maurice Jackson survived to record a respetable time, but unfortunately Sandy Gourley found that riding on a ski slope saddle was not a good idea.
For the host club, James Varah claimed an impressive 7th place and Gary James showed that he had recovered from recent pasty problems for a very respectable 8th. Congratulations also to Chris Pascoe, who hit a new PB with 26-25 for 11th place.
Many thanks to Gail Aspden for organising the race, to Mike Tonkin for timekeeping, and to Richard Goulden and John Fazakerley for marshalling the turns. As agreed at the last PZW AGM, the next race will be on Thursday 12th August, organised by Jon Pullen, and will be a retro race, restricted to standard road bikes. So, put away your aero bars, disk wheels and pointy helmets and see what time trialling used to be like. [Tony Farnell]

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The drizzle started just as the last 10 riders set off, but luckily everyone had finished before the real rain set in. Not much wind in the shelter of the Ladock Valley, so it was quite a fast day on this course.
First and second were a family affair, with Wendy taking the honours in front of Ian, but I think that Ian has started to close the gap a bit. For PZW, Louise Fretwell rode well, using aero bars for the first time in a race, and scooped 2nd Women prize. Paul Friday is obviously not quite back to top speed following his crash earlier this summer, but will be honing his form for the 4-up TTT later this month. Tony Farnell managed to boost his beer fund by taking the Vets prize. I cannot remember a recent TT with so few PZW riders - must be the holidays.
Thanks to Ian North and the St Austell gang for organising the race and providing the usual homemade feast afterwards.[Tony Farnell]

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Sunny evening, but a blustery wind which seemed to die off as the race progressed. An astounding 46 riders signed on. Most riders who rode the same course the previous Sunday seemed to be about 20 seconds slower.
Wendy thrashed us all again, but a fine ride from Sandy Gourley, only 5 seconds behind her, and in front of all the team time trial merchants. Ride of the night must be Jake Alderman with a 23-17 - not bad for a 14 year old, or is it 15 now Jake? You cannot come out training with us any more as you are starting to overtake us.
It was good to see Graham Lobb back on his bike racing again after his nasty encounter with a transit van a few weeks ago. Finally, could Mark King be in line for the Hammer Award this year - forgotten cycling shoes meant a ride in trainers![Tony Farnell]

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Alarm at 3.45am, met John Fazakerley at Carland Cross at 4.45am, clear dark sky, fantastic moon, blue sky and glorious sunrise in South Devon, and bonus of no wind.
Julius Jennings felled by a fox on way to start, so unable to ride. Conditions not red hot fast, but who is complaining.
Fast start, average 30mph for first 5 miles to bottom of monster hill, average still 26+mph at top, 35+mph down other side, average 27mph at turn, back over monster hill, just reaching top when whoosh whoosh, my minute man overtakes me, who the f--k is he (???), built like incredible hulk, legs like tree trunks, concentrate Tony, average speed 26.7mph at top, could still be on for a PB, 40mph descent, pedalling like mad in 53x11 but incredible hulk going away from me and he is free-wheeling(!!!), then a slog up the drag to finish for average speed of 26.9mph. Best time this year, but 42 seconds short of PB.
Incredible hulk turns out to be Lubos Orbornik, Polish rider in his first 25 TT !!! Looks like we had all better get used to spelling his name. Back to Bissoe for tuna and sweetcorn sandwich. Bliss.
[Tony Farnell]

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The Athletes-Road-Bike-Only race was a great success, with 37 riders taking part, although I cannot for the life of me think why anyone would want to ride a time trail on a road bike - it was purgatory, fighting the bike all the way round, thinking how much faster you would be doing it on your TT bike.
Gary Chamber did a great ride to win, and was only 3 seconds behind Wendy, who was on her TT bike. That is a lot closer than any of the SW TT riders have managed so far this year. Outstanding rides also from youngsters Jake Alderman and Luke Pye for 2nd and 3red places. Best of the rest was Damian Ayling of the host club, who showed that he had not spent the whole of his hoilday in France drinking wine and eating croisants.
Many thanks to Jon Pullen for organising this innovative race, to Chris Jose for starting, and the 2 marshalls at the turns. Sorry I could not spot who you were as I was wallowing in the slipstream of Wendy and Ian as they shot past me with the afterburners on. The final Thursday evening race is on 26th August, and is the PZW circuit TT champs for 2010. Riders from other clubs are welcome as usual.
Finally, when I arrived home I found an email waiting for me which read as follows:

Returning in the dusk from a birthday meal with my Father I was appalled to find a number of your members as we passed through Leedstown riding their cycles.
This I would like to say I have no problem with, however should they not have had some form of lights and or be wearing Hi-Viz clothing.
In fact the only lighting the riders had was a very small reflector on the rear.
Now my question would be as a car driver who would have been responsible had there been an accident.
As a 'professional' organisation should you not be promoting cycle safety?

I think this is a valid point, and have replied, noting that riders may have been caught out by the noticealy shorter evening than 2 weeks ago, and the heavy cloud cover. [Tony Farnell]

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At 6.30am all was calm and sunny, but as the race started the wind and clouds appeared and it proved to be a difficult day for most of the riders.
Under the circumstances, the winning time of Simon Edney was nothing short of outstanding. For PZW, John Fazakerley rode strongly and just missed out on a sub 2 hour performance, Louise Fretwell battled around to complete her first 50 in a respectable time, Tony Farnell won the SW Vets Champs, and PZW were 2nd in the team competition. [Tony Farnell]

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Quite a nice evening up the Ladock Valley, with a breeze blowing us up to the turn, and a staggering 56 riders for the last mid-week club race for 2010 on this course.
PZW turned out 2 teams for some practice for the big one on Sunday, and a sprinkling of individuals. Both teams seemed to gell together well. In the A Team, of Paul Friday, Shane Williams, Tony Farnell and Sandy Gourley were within reach of the 21 minutes mark, with Paul and Sandy doing some monster turns on the front and Shane holding up well despite having moved house this week.
The B Team of Damian Ayling, John Fazakerley and Tristan Harris (Drummond Masterton was on parental duties) also combined well, with Damian being particularly strong, just hitting 22 minutes mark.
Chris Pascoe seems to be peaking at the right time and was pleased with his PB on this course.
Thank you to Ivor and the Camel Valley team for the race organisation.[Tony Farnell]

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At 4.00am I staggered out of bed in the darkness and 12 hours later at 4.00pm I was standing on a terrace overlooking Porthleven Harbour quaffing red wine and eating canapes - what happened in between? The best time trial of the year, of course!
This year 2 PZW teams and 2 One and All teams (where were all the other Cornish teams?)met up on the field outside the Rockbeare Village Hall after a bleary-eyed drive up the empty motorways through Cornwall and Devon. The adrenalin was soon well and truly pumping as warm-up activities were interspersed with puncture repairs. Everyone managed to get their teams to the start on time - no mean feat when you have to think about three other riders as well as yourself. But this is what makes team time trialing so fascinating, as well as on-the-hoof tactical decisions to cater for individual riders strengths and weaknesses during the race.
Once again PZW proved to be the best team in Cornwall with the greatest depth of TT talent in the south west. The A Team of Paul Friday, Sandy Gourley, Shane Williams and Tony Farnell duplicated last years 2nd place with a fine 54m 18s, with Paul and Sandy doing monster turns on the front, and Shane nursing us up the final climb. Breathing down our necks were the real stars of the PZW B Team, Damian Ayling, John Fazakerley, Tristan Harris and Drummond Masterton, storming into 3rd place with 55m 27s. Reliable sources inform me that Damian was an animal when he got on the front.
The One and All Mens team of Mark Hooper, Phil Walker, Andy Smith and Chris Lobb were well inside the top 10, a creditable performance considering it was their debut in this race. The One and All Womens team of Melissa Kemp, Sandie Sly, Fiona Telfer-Brunton and Sam Kelly, looked a lot more cohesive than many of the mens teams, finishing in a very respectable time and being one of only 2 clubs in the SW able to raise a female quartet.
Then it was tea and cakes at the prize giving, followed by coffee and cakes sitting in the sun at Exeter Services, and finally to Porthleven. [Tony Farnell]

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There was a rather depleted field for the last Thursday evening race of the season. the absentees were no doubt deterred by the rain that I drove through on the way from Falmouth. However, those hardy riders that did sign on were rewarded with a dry ride, albeit in chilly and breezy conditions.
A good win for John Fazakerley, and outstanding rides by young James Trott for 3rd place and Duncan Heywood for 10th - both are still Juveniles. Also congratulations to Charlotte Hurst, who beat her Dad by 5 seconds.
Many thanks to Pendle Hill for stepping in and organising the race, Damian Ayling and Jason May for marshalling, and all the riders who have supported the race series throughout the summer.[Tony Farnell]

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A great evening for PZW with 5 riders in the top 7 places. Scintillating ride by Sandy Gourley to win the race in a fast time and PB on this course. Great ride too for Shane Williams in 3rd place, closely followed by Paul Friday in 4th. Not surprising that we are the top TTing team in Cornwall again this year. As far as the prizes were concerned, Sandy was first overall, Damian 1st= Vet 40, Pete Blackshaw 1st Vet 50, and Tony Farnell 1st Vet 60 - almost a clean sweep.
I was absolutely gutted to be beaten by 1 second by those young upstarts Damian Ayling and Mark Hooper, both recording PBs on this course. Where is the respect lads? Elsewhere, it was great to see such a large field of riders, particularly the high numbers of juniors and women taking part.
Well done One and All for organising such a successful race and particular thanks to all those who helped out on the day, especially Ian North, who gave up his ride to assist with the timekeeping.[Tony Farnell]

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