Millennium Photos

View some of the action here and the all important results can be found courtesy of Manx Athletics.com here

MANN & PARTNERS MILLENNIUM WAY RELAY/CYCLE EVENT

Start Sheet

WE WANT YOU TO HAVE AN ENJOYABLE BUT ALSO A SAFE DAY. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY (AND PASS TO OTHERS IN YOUR TEAM).
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF POTENTIAL HAZARDS ON THE ROUTE. HERE ARE SOME PLACES WHERE YOU SHOULD TAKE EXTRA CARE

LEG 1:
· Approach to the bridge at Bloc Eary and the bridge itself - can be slippery
· Bridge between Tholt-y-will Road and Brandywell Road
ENSURE YOU HAVE ADEQUATE CLOTHING FOR THE WEATHER CONDITIONS

Leg 2:
· Track to St Lukes is treacherous in places
· Road junction at West Baldwin - cars will be driving down from first changeover point to Crosby.
· Crossing main Peel to Douglas Road at Crosby - marshaled
· Watch out for parked cars at the changeover point.
Cyclists - please note that there will be a "stop box" as you approach Crosby Crossroads. This is there for your safety. Please stop where advised by the marshal. You must touch the ground with both feet whilst the bike is stationary. This might be frustrating at the time, but the "stop box" will apply to all competitors so any time lost will be the same for everyone. Failure to obey the marshal's instructions will result in a time penalty and possible disqualification.

Leg 3:
· Special care at Garth Crossroads (crossing Douglas to Foxdale road). This is now a busy (and quite fast) road - marshaled
· Watch out for parked cars at St Marks changeover point.

Leg 4:
· Section from St Marks to Ballamodha Straight - a small bridge after horses' field (approximately 600m into the leg) is dangerous. Part of the bridge has disintegrated
· Ballamodha Straight - cars approaching at speed from behind
· Silverdale Glen - there is a fallen tree blocking the path approximately 100m -150m after the entrance to the glen. Cyclists take extra care here or you may end up in the river!
· Road crossing point when exiting Rushen Abbey - marshaled
· Road crossing when exiting Poulsam Park - busy junction/roundabout - marshaled

Kelly's Highlights

Mark Kelly again gained another mention in a recent issue of Cycling Weekly. Mark was part of a report dedicated to Britains top 10 young cyclists over the past season.

Mark Cavendish and Warren Flynn have also been pictured on the BC website and Manx Independent receiving their national title medals.

ATB Skill & Technique Sessions

The re scheduled Mountain Bike Technique and skill session will take place this Saturday (December 7 and weather permitting) at Chibannagh Plantation car park at 2pm. All children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by their parent or guardian. The session should last no more than one hour.

Be Seen

I have seen several cyclists out at night getting the miles in, most are well lit and wear reflective clothing, however a few have been seen with poorly lit rear lights and non reflective clothing. Please make sure your lights are bright, make sure you wear reflective clothing and of course wear your helmet.

For Sale

Check out the latest items for sale here

New Press Secretary Required

Only 20 people made the effort to turn up at the Cycling Association Annual General Meeting on Thursday evening, however, those who did, had a very constructive evening with many topics being sensibly discussed. Most of the positions remained as last year with the exceptions (1) Jim Cottier will be 'trained' by Les Millar to run the popular Isle of Man Bank sponsored 10 League and (2) Peter Kennaugh stood down as press secretary due to other commitments. It is hoped that someone will fill this position as it is one of the most important positions within the Association.

Canada Worlds Trip

Fancy a trip to the 2003 World Road Championships in Canada next year ?...If you do contact either Mike O'Hare or Jean Slack for more details

CA Dinner Dance

There was a good turn out for the Cycling Association bash at the Empress hotel on Saturday night where over 130 cyclists, freinds and guests enjoyed the excellent food and dancing to local band Shy Talk, shame about the bar prices though!..... pictures here

Mountain Bike Skills

The next ATB skills session takes place on Saturday November 30. Please assemble at Chibbanagh Plantation at 2pm. Helmets must be worn, spare tube required and warm clothing and drinks are recommenced. Children under 12 years must be accompanied by their parent or guardian

BSCA Calendar

Cyclists under the age of 16 may wish to view the 2003 British Schools racing calendar by clicking here

Champions!

British Cycling have recently published their Annual Report, It is pleasing to see Manx Road Club cyclists Mark Cavendish (Junior Scratch) and Warren Flynn (Circuit Series) being mentioned in the National Champion and Series winners section of the report. Mark Kelly also gets several mentions in the publication.

Cycling Association AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the Cycling Association takes place on Thursday, November 21 at the Automobile Club, Hill St, Douglas, starting at 7.30pm.

November Quiz

Click here for the November Quiz

Mountain Bike Skills

The second installment of the Mountain bike training sessions takes place this Saturday from the TT Grandstand Pit Lane at 2pm. Under 12's must be accompanied by a parent or taken to Archallagan Plantation car park by 2.45 pm to meet up with the group. Tony Varley (472757) has the details.

Dinner Dance

The Cycling Association Annual Dinner and Prize Presentation takes place at the Empress Hotel, Douglas on Saturday November 16. The Band ' Shy Talk ' will be in attendance, the Special Guest is ex professional and many times British Champion Sid Barras. Those wishing to attend should contact ' Senior Ticket Liaison Officer' Steve Shimmin (621430) with names and numbers before Wednesday November 13, if desired, request can be made regarding seating plans, i.e. who you want to or not want to sit with, whereby the 'Seating Allocation and Diplomacy Sub Committee' will endeavor to accommodate your requests!

Tickets are £22.50 for adults and £10.00 for children.

Hill Climb Championships

Scott Flynn was a worthy winner of the under 12 hill climb championships in Wales on Sunday, Scotts brother Warren competed in the under 16 event to finish in a very good sixth position. results

British Cycling Museum

Mountain Biker, Brett McLinden recently visited the British Cycling Museum in Camelford, Cornwall, The owners of the Museum, John and Sue Middleton have nothing in their museum to do with Manx cycling and would be grateful to receive anything to do with the local cycling scene. If anyone has any old style club clothing, cycle week programs, photographs etc they would like to off load, then send them to John and Sue Middleton, British Cycling Museum, The Old Station, Camelford, Cornwall, PL32 9TZ, or give them a call on 01840 212811

European Madison Champs

Mark Kelly continues with his good form to finish sixth in the European U23 Madison Championships on Sunday. Partnered with Ben Hallam, the duo rode the Amsterdam Velodrome with a game plan of gaining a lap, however, the French team had similar ideas and gained a lap over the other teams competing to claim overall victory. The lads were once again highly praised by their manager, Shane Sutton, report and results here

Stuart Slack Parishes Ride

A total of 52 cyclists entered for the Stuart Slack Parishes including 'blasts from the past' Neville Holgate, Peter Callow and Dave Williams, the latter brought his son Peter (who has had a successful season competing in Ellan Vannin colours in the U.K.)over to tow his Dad around the 85 mile route. Jean Slack and her family would like to thank all those who competed in the cold and blustery conditions and a special thanks to all those who helped organise this popular event.

Spin Sessions

Level 2 coach Elliot Baxter is introducing spin classes at the Carrefour Gym, Wellington St, Douglas. The sessions take place on Friday evenings, starting at 6pm and will consist of a warm up followed by a 40 minute spin session then some stretching for good measure. The class is limited to 20 people on a first come first served basis, so contact Elliot now on 614886

Kelly's Worlds

Mark Kelly had a brilliant ride at the World Road Race Championships, repeatedly seen on Eurosport working for designated team leader Yanto Barker (12th), Kelly was also given the fastest lap of the race when pulling back a dangerous break towards the end of the race. Boss John Herety was said to be pleased with Mark's workrate towards the team. The report from the British Cycling web site quoted 'Yanto Barker made it into the final bunch sprint and placed twelfth, an excellent ride by him and the GB team. The results of the other riders don't tell the full story though. A rider who has had a great year in the UK, Mark Kelly, fullfilled his team role by doing half a lap on the front with 2 laps to go and showed the world taking the Eurosport pictures what a world class rider he is'. Kelly was dropped during the run to the finish after swinging over for Barker to finish off, unfortunately, Yanto was caught up in the pile up during the sprint robbing the GB rider of a top 10 finish.....Kelly was later spotted having a drink with none other than David Millar, is this a clue as to where Kelly is heading next year.

Mark Kelly now competes in the European Madison Championships partnered with Ben Hallam, then Mark jets of to South Africa to take part in a 'six day' style event.

Mark had to turn down a ride with Keiran Page at the forthcoming Munich Six due to a clash with the South Africa event

 

 

 

Mountain Bike Training Ride

It was a case of girl power on Saturday afternoon for the Mountain Bike Training Session with more Ladies turning up than Lads!, now that's got to be a first in cycling. The group set of from the TT Grandstand in the direction of Axenfell where the riders were separated into ability groups before being put through their paces. All those present enjoyed themselves in the sunny conditions, not only having fun but improving their bike handling skills.

Hits Galore!

A big thank you to all surfers from all over the globe for clicking on to our site, We set a goal of 5,000 hits by Christmas, but thanks to you we had 10,000 by October, keep on clicking!

The popular Mountain Bike skill and Technique sessions resume on Saturday October 12 starting from the TT Grandstand pit lane at 2pm more

St Helens 10

Manx Road Club rider Peter Gage rounded his racing season off in fine style with a 21 minutes 57 seconds time in the St Helens RC 10 mile time trial on the Rainford By-pass course on Saturday afternoon. Peter finished third twenty seconds down on winner William Stopforth (Team Lighthouse) and missing second place by only seven seconds. Conditions consisted of a strong head wind up the by pass hill keeping super fast times at bay, in contrast to the last time Peter rode this course where Peter caught his minute man (who clocked 21 minutes) only to go off course!

The 85 mile Stuart Slack Ride takes place on Sunday October 20, there will be three separate start times to suit different abilities. The easy group will depart at 8.30am followed by the intermediate group at 9.00am then the fast group at 9.30am. Entries should be posted in advance to Mike Williams, Linden Lea, Cannan Avenue, Kirk Michael. IM6 1HF with name, age, contact number, group you wish to start with and enclosing £10 entry fee. Please send entries by Sunday October 13.

The organisers tell me that several cyclists from the mainland are to take part, so let's see as many locals as possible support this great event by getting your sponsor forms out to raise more money for Leukemia research.

Another GB Call Up For Kelly

Mark Kelly has just received a call up for the U 23 World Road Race Championships via a phone call from GB team manager John Herety. The championship takes place at Zolder, Belgium on October 11. " I can't wait, this has given me added motivation for the end of the year and will be great experience. All the pro teams will have their eyes on the race and they are always looking for strong workers" remarked Kelly on the great news. Mark has a busy schedule during October with the Madison Worlds one week later.

Clubruns Feel Welcome to join us for a club run on Sunday mornings from the NSC, Douglas, departing at 9am. The rides are open to all abilities, genders and clubs but cyclists must be 12 years of age or over over, children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by a parent for the duration of the club run. Please bring money for a cafe stop, spare inner tube/pump and it is advised to wear your helmet. As an alternative try the Saturday morning 'scone run' departing from Mike Williams house, (Linden Lea, Cannan Ave, Kirk Michael, tel.878462) at 9.30am. The ride is at a steady pace covering between 30 to 40 miles ending up at the Sulby Pub for a 'Devon cream tea !'.

Silver for Kelly Mark Kelly continued his good for with yet more medals, following on from his Espoir Silver, Mark won another Silver gong at the National Criterium Championships, if that wasn't enough Mark teamed up with Ben Hallam to claim Bronze at the National Madison Championship. Bronze this time! Mark Kelly won a bronze medal with team mate Ben Hallam at the recent Madison Championship, "This is an event that I am looking to become a World class rider in. It is like a points race on the track but with two rider teams, where one rider is in the group and the other rests at the top of the track. When the group passes under, the resting rider drops down and gets a hand sling in by his team-mate. It is a hard race to follow but exciting to watch and ride. I was riding with Ben Hallam, my friend from Cambridge. We were feeling very good and attacking a lot from the start. We won the first of the six sprints and we were leading until the halfway stage. We were the strongest team in the race and always attacking. Unfortunately, the rest of the main teams were not playing ball and just closing the gaps and then not working. All we needed was just one other attacking team and we would have a good chance of winning. Towards the end, we were not sprinting as well as the other two main teams. Going into the last sprint we still had a chance of the silver but I hit a bump on the last banking and lost my rhythm. We got the bronze medal, which although we were a little disappointed, is a very good achievement. It is Ben's and my first senior elite national medals, so it is great." said Mark later

Track Stars of the Future Young track riders Peter Kennaugh, Jonathan Bellis and Warren Flynn competed at the recent National Track Championships at Manchester Velodrome. Although competing in the under 14 category, taking place on the Saturday, Peter and Jon traveled over the previous Monday to compete in the under 16 championship to gain precious knowledge and skills that are required for this exciting form of cycle racing. Not only did the boy's gain experience from the track sessions and the racing they competed in, they were also lucky enough to see Mark Kelly win a silver medal in the 20km scratch event, a day earlier Cayley Ennett finished an impresive fourth in the girls scratch race .