No time trial machines or equipment spotted, apart from Andy Ellis's aero seat post, but thankfully he was only marshalling. Timekeeper Terry astounded us with his sartorial elegance. Phil and Mel declined to start, not even tempted by the offer of a free ride! One tandem and nine individuals took starter's orders on a chilly, overcast morning with the seasonal greasy roads.

Young upstarts Steve and James were lucky to scrape first and second place in front of old gits Tony and Dave and trainee old git Stuart, on his nobbly tyred cyclo-cross stead. Layton was obviously house-lagged, John and Jane had mechanicals, Tristan was amazing on no training, and Ben made an outstanding debut. To try to impose himself for the new season, Paul decided to drive around the course. Lucky he did, because Mike came a cropper on the double bends after Nancegollan and needed a lift to the finish. Thankfully he was able to ride home afterwards.

The Muddy One

It had to come at sometime and it came with a splosh at Escot House near Exeter. There was mud and grass and moisture everywhere, I rated a co-efficient of friction that was slippier than ice so followed Adrain Clodes lead and deflated my tyres until they were running at 20psi, it was only 2 months ago that I was racing on 140. The course was laid out on the rolling grasslands of an expansive country pile so we donned our tweed skinsuits and fitted right in.

I was under pressure to perform from the Cornish entries having spent some serious dough on ebay and purchased a pre-owned Ridley (the Colnago of cross) so I edged to the front at the start to try and get the jump as Jonathan and I were expecting Richard to romp away at the front with all his pasture land experience gained on fathers farm but it didn't work and on the 1st climb Rich came flying by me. He was followed by Jon who pulled alongside then dismounted and walked moaning about lack of grip, whats grip got to do with cross racing? Luckily I was able to sneak past Rich on the next lap before he gave me breathing space by rolling a tub at the furthest point from the pits.

The number of crossers was swelled by one by the appearance of Richard Edmonds for this the 5th round of the south west championship.

The course was based at a very posh public school in North Devon that somehow managed to have a co-efficient of friction of zero throughout, as we were either riding on damp grass or leaf litter. Rich and I took this in our stride and waved the fast boys including Jonathan Dominguez good bye at the start and proceeded to see who could fall off the most in 1hr and 1 lap. Rich managed the most spectacular by falling upside down into a bush on what I think is referred to as a gnarly descent (translated into unridable if you have any fear of pain.

We followed each other round at about 25metre gap all race, only exchanging places when we crashed and finished together because I bribed Rich to wait for me at the end or pay petrol money. How do the fast guys do it, they find grip everywhere maybe studded tyres and why do we all wear skinsuits when we are doing 3mph.

Jonathan finished 6th senior and Rich 10th. The cyclelogic old git got 2nd vet again and is sneaking up the rankings, more by luck than skill. Sad to report that Richard and I got beat by a girl on a mtb, well chivalry isn't dead.

Scott Dominguez won the under 10s again. Steve sign him up quick before Menspants Wheezers get a sniff. [Stuart Pickering 6/11/06]

Look you nancy boys, forget all that club run touring shite and get a cyclo-cross bike.

Round 4 at Wadebridge was a very wet, muddy and therefore slippery course of approx 1km per lap. The course, included a 20 metre drop off a cliff, several off camber descents and nasty climbs that were made worse by the earlier kids races ripping up the surface. All of this is bad enough for an unfit tester (even with a 34 x 25 gear) but add to this the lung bursting race pace (people actually train for this) and the fact that it was dark for 50% of the course, we were promised flood lighting but this failed before our race so all the technical stuff where you were likely to crash and die was performed in pitch black. Oh very ring tighteningly exciting when you cant actually see the floor that you are riding on.

Why just ride in the rain with the fairies, has-beens and neverwas's on a Sunday when you can have the rain plus mud, grass and total darkness. Anyone who as seen me ride off-road knows that I am even worse than on-road, I struggle to understand the physics of cornering when you have absolutely sod all grip and heading for the woods. So come have a go and get some scars. Remember - "chicks dig scars".

Jon Dominguez and I rode round for top 3 placings in our age categories with adult words being exchanged when he came round to lap me only to be pushed of course into the tapes by a dodgy straight arm blocking tactic. Scott Dominguez (8) winning the under 12 race.

PS. I'm not going to mention my 1st cyclo-cross race cos I had to have a 5min rest after 30mins of racing and I got beat by a girl. [Stuart Pickering 23/10/06]

THE TURN OUT ON SUNDAY 1st OCT FOR THE HILLCLIMB WAS THIN ON THE GROUND.DUE TO THE WET & WINDY SATURDAY NIGHT. THANKS TO PHIL WALKER & STEVE LAMPIER FOR RUNNING EVENT. ALL TIMES WERE FAST THANKS TO A STRONG TAIL WIND ! ! [Mike Tonkin 8/10/06]

The rescheduled Mid Devon CC 25 happened for numbers 1 & 2 then the heavens opened and we all wimped out en masse due to unsafe conditions on A38 (no-one really wished to end the season by being anally probed by the front bumper of a myopic Sunday driver). I think they actually called it a null and void but not sure.

The season is now over, hurrah. Bring on the beer drinking season.

In summary good results for many Cornish road racers and I think almost everyone did at least one PB in TTs. Well done all.

www.cyclelogic.co.uk will be running a 2 up 25 mile TTT event on Sunday 3rd of Sept 2007 and we will be hoping, if not press-ganging, as many of the West Cornwall elite riders to ride, start training now.probed by the front bumper of a myopic Sunday driver). I think they actually called it a null and void but not sure.[Stuart Pickering 2/10/06]

Stuart and I set off at the early hour of 6am. First stop was to pick Jason up at Tuckingmill then on again. However I had to go and wake Jason up as he had overslept due to being out on the lash till 2 am that morning. Running late now to meet Jon, Stuart pressed on up the bypass and caught up with Jon around Zelah. Quick stop to let Jason swap cars then on again. The time trial itself was well organisied by CS Dynamo and well supported. The cyclelogic team rode well for what little training we had done together and finished 5th of 19 teams all together (captain Stu dragged us round just under the hour in 59-43, a time which was a WHOPPING 1 minute 17 quicker than the PZW team. Not bad for our fragile egos!! Team cyclelogic therefore are the top testing team in West Cornwall having given the PZW team an ASS WHOOPING!!! [Andy Ellis 3/09/06]

On behalf of PZW, I can't tell you how gutted we were to be narrowly beaten by the cyclelogic rabble. Stuart's tactics of fear and intimidation and all the expert training and racing they've been receiving from PZW obviously paid off. In fairness to PZW I should point out that Rich had even more to drink than Jason the night before, 8 pints was what he could remember. [Tony Farnell 5/09/06]

Another damp and overcast evening but little wind. Cyclelogic and PZW were using race as training for the CS Dynamo 4-up team TT this coming Sunday. PZW ended up with only half of a team - Mark had apparently strained some muscles taking rubble to the dump, a story that sounds so unlikely that it must be true, and Phil turned up with full aero kit, but no cycling shoes. Rich and I were most dissappointed that he didn't ride in bare feet. We took the first half very steadily as we didn't want to dent Cyclelogic's fragile ego. Ed had another fine ride, and has definitely moved up the PZW pecking order. Mike made a reappearance after a long absence, and Dave and Steve resumed individual combat. [25/08/06]

A blustery wind greeted the 20 riders who turned up to sample the new format team time trial promoted by Ian Scott and Truro CC. A combination of 2-up, 3-up, 4-up and individuals lined up to tussle with the wind on the S18 course. The final times reflect the difficulty of the condidtions and the various states of dissarray to be observed out on the course. Gary did a very good job of towing me around as he builds up for the Welsh 12 hour race in September. Paul, Jeff and Phil combined well to be the only other team to beat the hour. Steve is finding out that Dave is having his best season for a few years. [21/08/06]

Fine sunny morning in south Devon, but but a nasty north wind made it a difficult day. I can't remember ever riding in a SW TT with 90 riders before! Where have they all suddenly come from? Despite the weather conditions, 29 riders broke the hour and Stuart managed a PB. Ed put in a valiant performance after his recent crash, but Dave got a red mist in front of his eyes and went off course.[16/08/06]

Fine, but breezy evening. Final PZW club race of the season. Usual suspects performing, usual wimps wimping out. Good to see Jon Pullen out competing again. Matthew's starting to look more like a racing cyclist. Thanks to organiser/marshall Mark, timekeeper Matt and marshall Terry.[11/08/06]

Hot and humid. Thrashed by holidaying Nik. PZW won the team race again(!!!) and cleaned up the top two vets prizes. Fine time by Dave. [7/08/06]

PBs for Andy and Ed. Stuart and Tony miss out on a good evening. [27/07/06]

Impressive time by Stuart on this sporting course. Well done Dave, the only Wheeler supporting our club champs.. [20/07/06]

Perfect morning, blue sky, sunshine, calm, rising temperature, good competition. Sensational PB for Ed, hacking about 10 minutes from his previous best and gaining a very respectable 18th place. He was still going strong at the end, as I found to my cost. Having caught and passed him about 2 miles from the finish, he re-passed me jus before the finish and left me for dead! Excellent ride also for Culdrose-based Gary Drew, who knocked 7 minutes from his PB. [20/07/06]

Warm humid overcast evening with little wind. Stuart shrugs of the responsibility of population explosion at Carnhell Green for a fine win, Phil only a couple of seconds from yet another PB, Ed continues to improve with a PB, and Lloyd records a good time with retro TT equipment. It's good to see so many Wheelers getting fitter and doing a few races. [13/07/06]

Roads drying in blustery wind after overnight rain. Wendy didn't thrash us by quite as much as usual. PZW won the team race!!! First time I can remember this happening. PB for Ed and yet another PB for Phil. [10/07/06]

No report forthcoming yet, but from what I've heard - Mark 2nd to Marcin yet again, Layton sprints to 4th, Rich breaks spoke near end - needs some new kit, and Stuart riding aggressively. [23/06/06]

Lovely sunny calm evening, loads of hills, plenty of long fast stretches, PZW responded to the challenge while fainter hearts wimped out. Gary Fouracres back on top again with an impressive ride and course record, and PZW roadies well to the fore, recovering well from the previous weekend's stage race. Thanks to John Trott and his team for the efficient organisation and impressive pasties. [16/06/06]

Mark rode really consistently and well again. Some sterling team work by PZW and www,cyclelogic.co.uk in support, especially Layton in long 2-man break on final stage. Stuart demonstrated that vets status has not dulled his sprinting legs. [11/06/06]

Fine sunny morning, with only the slightest hint of a breeze if you were looking for an excuse for not doing a fast time. Highlights included 2nd Vets prize for Dave Henderson, first time under the hour for Paul Friday, and Sunday morning in bed for Stuart Pickering and lots of PZW riders who should have been riding in the club championships.[5/06/06]

Fine sunny evening, with a chilly breeze sneaking up in unexpected places. A podium clean sweep by the Cyclelogic boys, another course record for Steve, who's off back to France next week, thank goodness, Stuart and Andy started a minute apart and finished 59 seconds apart, Matthew made an impressive racing debut, and Tony Rowell made yet another comeback. Many thanks to Phil for the organisation, Matt for timekeeping, and Steve and Rich for marshalling. Don't forget, it's a condition of taking part in these races that you volunteer to help at at least one of them. Next race Thursday 13th July - organiser Stuart Pickering.[2/06/06]

Sunny warm evening, but somehow not very fast. Steve runs Greg Sandy very close, Wendy puts nearly all of us in our places, Stuart's big spending buys him 2 seconds. Thanks to Okehampton for the efficient organisation, novel way of allocating prizes and usual wonderful array of home baked cakes. Thanks to Steve for talking non-stop all the way there and back; no need for radio or cd's. [11/06/06]

Sunny but chilly morning with a swirling wind - typical S6 weather!. Julius wins easily, despite a puncture. Simon gets his revenge on me for Thursday evening. Some tired legs from yesterday's PZW crit. General consensus seemed to be that it was a bit of a slog this morning. Many thanks to Camel Valley for their usual efficient organisation [30/05/06]

A home win for PZW with Mark Haynes out sprinting Stuart Pickering , Cyclelogic,in 1-43-43 with Mark Barlow , Camel Valley, who had been dropped three laps before coming third eleven secs behind.These three had broken away from the main group before half way and settled down to work well taking two minutes.Behind them came Adrian Sluman, Plymouth Corinthians,who had broken away on his own to secure 4th place.The rest of the field mainly stayed together until the sprint at the end. Matt Southam [29/05/06]

The delights of a S4/25, on the resurfaced A38. Gloomy evening, bit chilly, bit of drizzle, bit of wind, but didn't seem to slow Julius down much! Traffic jam on the way home![30/05/06]

Sunday dawned windy and wet for the SW Divisional RR Champs at Leedstown, with standing water in places on the circuit. Just as the organisers had decided to go ahead, but with the course reduced from 81 miles to 54 miles, the clouds were swept away and the sun started to dry the roads. PZW were represented by Mark Haynes, Layton Wilkes and Tony Farnell. www.yclelogic.co.uk lined up with Stuart Pickering and Andy Ellis. A very open race ended in Mark sprinting for 5th/6th place, but having to be content with 10th, best PZW placing for a number of years. Many thanks to PZW members, Matt Southam, Len Pascoe and John Pullen, for the considerable amount of work they did on the day helping with the organisation. Thanks also to the other helpers from various other clubs, without whom the race would not have been possible.

What more could you ask for? A fine sunny day, no wind, warm but not too hot, passing the foot of Brent Tor with its ancient church on every lap, fine views of Dartmoor to the east, and sweeping views over Cornwall to the west - I suppose I should have been concentrating more on the race.

Fine warm(ish) morning. Good racing, apart from one or two traffic delays and some cow problems. Many thanks to Mike for organising, George for time keeping, Andy for pushing off, and the two marshalls. [13/05/06]

Mist cleared, sun came out, 10 Wheelers turned up, plus another 28 riders from other clubs, well organised by Truro CC, cut-throat competition - what more could you ask for? To beat Stuart perhaps? Sorry Dave (Henderson), didn't manage to get your time - let me know and I'll put it in. Next PZW championships TT Sunday 4th June 8.00am S18/25 - organiser Ivor Edmonds, Camel Valley - this is an Open race, so you need to enter in advance, by 21st May to be on the safe side. [11/05/06]

Bit of a gloomy evening, with an annoying breeze, but road works cleared although road a bit rough. Impressive time by Steve, Paul managed to pip Mark, good comebacks by Jeff and Beth, Mike and Dave battling around and Rhys making amends for past sins (could TTing become a regular thing, Rhys?). Hope our three guests enjoyed themselves. A big thanks to Matt for timekeeping, Mike for his advice, and Andy and Ed for marshalling. Don't forget, it's a condition of taking part in these races that you volunteer to help at at least one of them. Next race Thursday 1st June - organiser Mark Haynes.[5/05/06]

Bright and sunny morning with a fresh (chilly) crosswind. Some fast times recorded with only a few seconds in it at the sharp end. Club photographer for the day, Mark Haynes, resting after his exertions at the Devon 2-Day RR, doing his best to distract us at the start.

Congratulations to Stuart who's finally 'come out' as a tester - full time trial regalia including low profile bike and the ultimate pointy helmet. Don't worry though Stuart, despite crossing over to other other side you'll still be welcome on Sunday morning rides.

Some strong performances by other Wheelers. Paul, fresh from a fast time on the S4 on Saturday, and Phil continue to improve. Dave Henderson looking perky for the start of the season. Steve Lampier non-competitively turned in an impressive 21-06 from an early start - all that coaching he's been getting from PZW is obviously paying off.

Finally, where were you other Wheelers? A local race, well organised as usual by Camel Valley, only light traffic at this time in the morning on a bank holiday, good training opportunity or chance to rattle your rival's cages. We need to support our local races. [1/5/06]

For those of you who don't know, Mark Haynes put together an outstanding series of road races over Easter. Following on from his success in the Davidstow RR (report below), he managed even better performances in April. Starting with the Pittards RR in Somerset (3rd), then the PZW Crit at Portreath (2nd) and finally the Tom Hawkins RR in Devon (3rd), all without the benefit of a strong team. Well done Mark.[30/4/06]

The rather gloomy evening didn't seem to deter the elite cyclist who assembled for the first PZW championships of the year. Thankfully there was little wind and the competition was fierce. Thanks go to Kernow CC for organising the race. Incidentally, their Tuesday evening TTs are on Perranporth (not Portreath) Airfield - they deserve our support.

The results confirmed what we all suspected - Mark's winter training with the terrible twins Lampier and Opie have left him in fine form, despite the handicap of a training week with Phil and Lloyd! So, congratulations to Mark on defending his title. The battle for the other places was pretty tight. Paul scored a fine 3rd place and is improving all the time, especially after starring in Cycling Weekly recently. Also I can't ever remember seeing Phil as fit as he is at the moment - 4th place, and he wasn't even using his disk wheel!

Good also to see a few Cyclelogic and PZW 2nd claim members strutting their stuff. Andy seems to be shaping up strongly now that he hasn't got any tonsils. More worringly, there's a rumour that Stuart is investing in some serious TT gear - will it include a disk wheel and pointy helmet, or is that still beyond the pale?[30/4/06]

A sunny and mild Saturday afternoon with a strong SW wind blowing up the Ladock Valley. Eight PZ Wheelers and one cyclelogic.co.uk took up the challenge. The following points must be noted: in addition to a week's warm-weather training, Phil Walker has bought an aero front wheel and disk back wheel, Mark Haynes had been training over the course in the week, Tony Farnell has bought an aero helmet, Paul Friday saved money towards DIY projects by entering on the day, Richard Edmond claimed recent drinking exploits had restricted his training, and Andy Ellis went training in the morning.

As for the race itself, some fast times were recorded, everyone seemed to be pleased, the sound of a disk wheel is definitely worth 30 seconds, and the cakes were good. Good to see so many PZ Wheelers there - more than I can ever remember at an Open..

Thanks to Camel Valley again for organising the race so efficiently. Don't forget to support their Open '10' TT on the S18/10R on bank holiday Monday 1st May - new course, starting from Camborne West.[2/4/06]

PZ Wheelers, Cornwall's premier road racing club, were well represented by Mark Haynes, Steve O'Rourke, Phil Walker, Layton Wilkes and Tony Farnell, with Paul Friday representing Cornwall and Devon Police. It was a bright and sunny morning, with a bitterly cold wind sweeping in from the east. The 60 miles course consisted of 9 laps of an exposed and undulating circuit.

At the end of the first lap, on the long drag up through the finish, the winning break of 5 riders went away. Mark, fresh from his training week in sunny Spain, was alert enough to spot it, and that was the last that the main bunch saw of them. As usual, there were too many faint hearts for a serious chase

Unfortunately for Mark, he was outnumbered by Mid-Devon riders, who gave him a bit of a working over on the last lap, but he held on for a fine 4th place.

Steve, Layton and Tony survived in the bunch until the final uphill sprint, if you could call it that, all finishing in the top half of the field. A tough race to open the season. Many thanks to Ivor Edmonds and Camel Valley for putting on such a well-organised race and enjoyable race. Oh! The cakes afterwards were superb![20/3/06]

PZ Wheelers were prominent yet again at the third and final Springtime Pursuit of 2006. For a full race report and photos go to the British Cycling web site, where you can also find an excellent photo of Rich Edmonds finishing 4th in the first race.

The weather dictated the race tactics with a wind-driven speed-fest in one direction and a work-shy dawdle in the other direction on each of the four laps. That is apart from PZW's Paul Friday and his doughty companions from the first group. They worked together well and stayed away until finally caught by the big-hitters on the last lap.

Among these chasers was PZW's Rich Edmond, who was the first person from the main bunch brave enough to make a sustained jump off the front into the headwind.

Paul, on his debut road racing season, did really well to hang on to 6th place and Rich was rewarded with 7th. Combined with his 4th and 5th places in the previous two races, this gave Rich an excellent overall placing of 5th in the series. Fantastic early season form. Other Wheelers Mark, Phil, Tony and Steve survived in the main bunch with Steve looking strong on his road race debut, until he had the bad luck to be obstructed and delayed by a last lap crash.[27/2/06]

Dear fellow paid up PZW members and some of you that haven't paid yet.

Left Cornwall in bright sunshine, on arrival at Whimple it was lashing it down, it was good to see the big Cornish contingent of Richard 'I ain't done anymiles honest' Edmonds and Stuart 'oh shit I've done less than Richard' Pickering. The rest of the PZW, I think the term is lightweights, prefering to sponsor the Ken Robertson Get Well Fund rather than get their pretty race bikes wet and muddy.

Richard must have had sex with Andy Parker and he must have performed cos he blagged his way into the 3rd gruppo whereas the middle aged fat and unfit git from Cycle-Logic had to ride with the stratch group, oh bugger. I waved Richs group bye-bye and waited for the stratch start. Bloody Hell, it was quick from the off and we caught Rich after 3/4 of a lap, the soft lads probably were waiting for a free ride. The race came together at 1.5 laps and the fun began, both Rich and I in the 1st break of the day which contained all the hitters and us 2 but we got caught after 1/2 lap, by this time I was getting proper puffed out. The decisive break went at the start of the final lap and again I waved Rich good-bye as he rode off into the distance with the break, I gotta stop giving him a head start.

Richard finished a well deserved 5th (better poach him off to Cycle-Logic quick) and Pickering no where, does anyone know were I can buy one of those turbo thingys.

Come on fellow PZWers the season is only 2 races old and some of you have a 100% DNS record already.

PS. As anyone noticed that in the new photos of Tom he is carrying on the age old PZW tradition of sitting in, we need to get GPS to find the front.[Stuart Pickering 20/2/06]