This was the last race of the season and started on a cold and foggy morning. The course was very technical with plenty of steep banks and loads of mud!!!

Sunday 22nd Jan was the penultimate race of the season and the day started on a sunny but windy day at Wolverhampton. SCC had 4 riders starting in the first race.

The junior awards evening/late party will take place on Saturday 11th February at the Home Guards Club, Tiddington from 7.00 onwards.

The last round of the WMCCL league will be held on 29th Jan at Baggeridge Country Park, Sedgley. The usual age categories apply, with racing starting at 10.15 for the U8/U10's. Entry on the day.

Please note, on Monday 30th Jan we will not be holding any track training but we will be running an indoor session at the Home Guards Club from 7.00 pm onwards.

The 1st of a series of 3 Youth Races will be held on Saturday 3rd March at Tudor Grange Park, Solihull. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT YOU MUST PRE-ENTER VIA THE BRITISH CYCLING WEBSITE. Spaces are limited for each race.

Go-Ride Cyclo-Cross races are taking place on Monday 23rd Jan at the Tiddington Track. This event is for U16's novice riders only. Signing on is from 5.30.

Good luck to Tom & Preslav who are competing in National Trophy Rd 6 Cyclo-Cross Event on Sunday 15th Jan. The event is being held at the Sundorne Sports Village in Shrewsbury. The U16's race starts at 13.30.

It was great to see so many SCC junior riders at this event, despite it being a very windy New Years Day. A big thank you to all the parents who managed to get up early to get the riders to this event.

SCC Membership is now up for renewal. Please visit the membership section of the Junior area for further details of membership benefits/costs and forms etc.

Normal cyclo-cross training sessions will commence again on Monday 9th Jan. Session times as normal 6.00 - 7.00 for groups Pooley & Romero and 6.45 - 8.00 for groups Cooke & Pendleton.

The only Stratford Rider in the U10's & U12's for his race was Luke Simmonds aged 9. Luke rode most of the race in 3rd position and was hoping for his 1st podium but sadly after a slight tumble on the last lap, we was overtaken and had to settle for a very well deserved 4th place finish.

This event is being held at the same location as rd 4 but promises to be more exciting, with a new, longer more technical course layout and a ride thru Belgian sytle marquee. Please note a parking charge of £2 is required.

We are very sorry to have to inform you but due to temporary lack of floodlights at the Tiddington Track - we have had to make the decision to cancel the Go-Ride Racing planned for Monday 19th Dec. We are very sorry about this but the Go-Ride racing planned for Monday 23rd Jan, should go ahead.

Turbo Sessions for older Juniors will commence on Wed 4th Jan. They will be held at the FISCC Hut (located in the car park). The sessions will be for period of 10 weeks, session time is 6.30 - 8.00pm. Session costs are £3 or £25 for 10 weeks.

The event is being held in the same place as Lichfield CC event earlier in the season. The postcode for the event is WS15 2UA. For those who didn't attend the previous event please be aware that the HQ is not at the Forestry Centre. By using the postcode it will get you within 1/4 mile of the HQ. The event sill be sign posted and there will be a charge of £2 per car for parking.

On Friday 25th November, SCC hosted its annual awards evening at the Grosvenor Hotel in Stratford. This year the club were delighted to have the pleasure of Magnus Bäckstedt as a special after dinner speaker.

Please join us on Monday 12th Dec at the Tiddington Track for a very festive cyclo-cross evening. There will be prizes for the best dressed bike/junior (please do this safely as you will still need to be able to ride your bike!). Mulled wine & mince pies will be available for parents of SCC juniors and hot choc/squash and mince pies for SCC junior riders.

There will be Go-Ride Cyclo-Cross racing evenings on Monday Dec 19th 2011 & Monday 23rd Jan 2012 at The Home Guards Track, Tiddington. Races start at 6.00 with signing on from 5.30. Races open to u16's novice riders. £3 entry fee payable on the day

On behalf of SCC, we would like to extend a massive thank you to John Johnson and his team for organising another brilliant cyclo-cross event last weekend and for providing prizes for the under u10/u12's. 18 Junior SCC riders took part and there was also a good turnout of adult riders.

It was wonderful to see so many Junior SCC riders turnout on Sunday 20th for Rd 8 of the WMCCL. 18 riders took part giving results as follows: U6's 1st, Spencer Corder, 6th Ryan Speechly. U8's 7th Cerys Simmonds, 10th Jacob Barritt, 14th Dan Evans. U10's 5th Luke Simmonds, 9th Nick Evans, 16th Kieran Speechley, 22nd Joshua Stratford. U12's 13th John Chesney, 24th Andrew Butler. U14's 9th Kier Lewis, 20th Peter Musgrave, 21st Owen Todd, 26th Oliver Evans. U16's 6th Preslav Dimitrov, 8th Tom Lane, 10th Andrew Butler

With the Cyclo-Cross season well underway, we are getting some wonderful results from all of our Junior members. It is so nice to see so many younger club members taking part this year. A big well done to all of you. Please click on the link below to view the table! Please supply any photos you may take this weekend at Shipston, as it would be great to get these onto the site. If you have photos, please email them to gaynordavis@f2s.com

If you are able to make a cake, it would be most welcome. All cakes sold on the day will boost SCC funds. Please bring your cake with you and leave it in the main reception, near signing in. Many thanks. We look forward to seeing you all there.

As you may know we have the West Midlands Cyclo Cross League round 8, organised by Stratford CC taking place on the 20th of November. As the majority of Stratford CC riders are juniors at this event then we are looking for volunteers from the junior parents to help out either on the race day and/or setting up the course on the Saturday 19th (9.30am at Norgren Shipston on Stour)

As Round 9 of the WMCCL to be held on 4/12/11 at Shrewsbury is also a Midlands Championship event, all riders except those in u8/u10/u12's must enter in advance.

Please note, there will be no Monday Eve Cyclo-Cross session on 24th October due to Half Term Holidays. Sessions resume as usual on Monday 31st October. We look forward to see you all then.

Welland Valley Cycling Club will be hosting round 7 at Misterton Hall, Lutterworth, A4034, Junction 20, M1. This is a popular cross circuit, consists of an excellent mix of fast woodland, gravel paths, grassland and tarmac.

Solihull CC looks forward to hosting Rd 6 at Elmdon Park on 16 October. The courses will be very similar to last year but with a couple of slight variations. There will be portaloos in the park this year for the first time, but no burger van. However, there will be a cake stall and nice coffee. Signing-on will be next to the finish area - as it was last year.

As from 1st October 2011, the winter timings are now in operation for Monday evening Cyclo-Cross training sessions as follows:

Please note that the Club Run Lite is cancelled for Sunday 22nd May due to ride leaders being unavailable. The ride will resume on Sunday 29th May, 10am outside Box Brownie, 20 Henley Street

The first Roadman’s of the year saw new member Tony Kiss challenging fellow club mates for a top position in the Stratford CC title race. Despite a fast ride he was unable to improve on Pete Ward’s winning time of 25.17, having to settle for joint second with Mick Stallard and a time of 25.34

The second round of the Victoria Park Criterium in Leamington took place last Saturday with local Stratford CC riders John Meehan competing in the third category races and Tony Kiss in the fourth category.

Following the award of the generous Town Trust Grant, six members from Stratford Cycling Club begun their journey to become Level 2 Cycling Coaches last weekend.

The 12th Year of the Betty Pharoah Memorial Legstretchers Road Race, held on Sunday 28th March, was the inaugural ride for local Stratford CC rider Tony Kiss. With 79 ‘3rd and 4th category’ riders competing over a hilly 52 mile course near Cardiff, Kiss was in his element.

Keen to get the first race of the season out of the way, Stratford Cycling Club riders travelled over to Severn Stoke for a 10 mile time trial in bright but breezy conditions. The VC Sevale course is not known to be a fast course due to the undulating terrain, however there are several opportunities where it is possible to make up time including a fast descent in the closing mile.

The first open race of the season, organized by Stratford Cycling Club went without a hitch. Under the expert organization of Graham and Heather Sims, they even managed to arrange perfect weather for the challenging event. In beautiful spring sunshine the various category riders were split in to two races to test their climbing ability on the tough and undulating course.

The 10th round of the West Midland Cyclo Cross League (WMCCL) was also a regional Championship event, drawing competitors from other Midlands leagues and so increasing the pressure on Stratford Cycling Club junior riders.

Last weekend saw over 300 riders brave the wet and windy weather to attend Stratford Cycle Club’s annual Cyclo-Cross held at Norgren Social Club at Shipston on Stour. On arrival, riders were pleasantly surprised to see that conditions were in fact much dryer and firmer than expected, even though the course had received heavy rain in the few days before. Consequently racing was fast and furious throughout on an improved course which gave all riders plenty to think about all the way round the circuit.

Nine families and thirty eight riders arrived on a stormy looking Friday evening at Callow Top campsite just north of Ashbourne and right next to the Tissington Trail, for a weekend of camping, cycling and fun.

James Wall proved himself yet again by smashing the K33/50 course record.

Stratford Cycle Club, celebrated another successful outing at The Redditch Road and Path CC 10 mile time trial.

We have waited for local evening race series for years and finally VC Montpellier and Cheltenham and county have stepped up to the mark with race series at Cheltenham Race course.

Perfect conditions and a top field of Olympic riders, ensured an exciting and enjoyable day out for the many spectators who lined the H10/3A course near Hungerford to watch the National Championships over the Bank Holiday weekend. Time trials are usually quiet affairs with minimal fuss, however this was not the case for this race. Attracting the strongest and largest field ever of Junior’s, Women and Men riders from all over the country, the feeling of anticipation was overwhelming.

Stratford cycle club riders were met with strong, blustery winds and heavy, rain showers at the Coventry Road Club 10 mile time trial event at Princethorpe on 17th May.

Wet and windy weather but the usual competitive racing from the countries best veteran racers. As it turned out it was a good day for the breakaways.

Thursday was the first in the 2009 series of Stratford Cycling Clubs time trial series. The traditional opener is a single lap of the Long Marston course which is very suitable to complete novices yet a fast enough circuit to allow the competition for the club championships to start in earnest.

The weather forecast was for rain, wind and showers which meant for a nervous night for organisers and riders alike for the Stratford Cycling Club open time trial. The reality was quite different, the temperature was warm and it stayed dry, the wind was quite strong and seemed to be a head wind in all directions. The conditions led to a competitive time trial.

Stratford Cycling Club got their Time Trail season off to a flying start by taking first prize in the team event at this years VC Sevale (Malvern) Time Trail.

The SCC Club Reliability ride is a winter 54 mile event through the Cotswolds, usually held in Feb as a "warm up" event to the road racing season.After thick snow caused the first ever postponement it was held a month later on 8th March, however the winter weather also made it's last appearance.. The principle of the event is that the riders must predict their time as accurately and fast as possible.

SCC Rider James Wall has got his season of to a flying start and is already leading the Midlands Spoco series.

With the winter came another visit to the Velodrome in Newport. This time Juniors came with the seniors showing how the club is growing.

Sunday 22nd February saw the last round of the West Midlands Cyclocross League which had been delayed 2 weeks because of the snow. The race a Daventry was a race which required power and endurance which suited the SCC riders. The event was a top priority for Luke Turnbull who was leading the League.

A very pleasing thirty-two riders turned out to the first Stratford CC hosted Go-Ride interclub today, undaunted by the very stormy night, and relishing the prospect of a gutsy race!

It is time to start planning the new year of cycling. The first thing to do is to make sure you have paid your club membership , the forms should be filled out and sent to Roger. The forms are on this website in the membership section and Roger’s address is on the form, cheques should be made to Stratford Cycling Club.

L’Etape du Tour is a cyclosportif for amateurs which was first organised in 1993. It is an opportunity for amateurs to cycle the same route as the professionals cover on one of the stages of the Tour de France. It takes place during the Tour, often on a rest day through closed roads with many ferocious climbs. 2008 was no exception with 167kms of riding and 2114 m of climbing - Laurent Four came home in just 5 hours and 38 minutes. Over 7500 cyclists come from all over the world to take part but most of them don’t do what Tchavdar Kostadinov, known as ‘Kosta’, undertook.

Dark rain clouds, thunder and lighting would have been enough to put of the bravest of cyclist but thankfully there was a 12 hour weather window of 20 degree sunshine that allowed the 2007 edition of the Stratford Cycling Club Century ride. This year 3 start times were organised and the first group leaving at 0830 contained 7 cyclists, lead by Tony. In the second group at 0900 were 4 cyclists including John Bill, a century debutante. The final group was supposed to leave at 0930 but were still ordering coffee at 0935, eventually when they left the group was 9 strong.

I decided to travel down to Thruxton after a couple of guys who I knew had also decided to go down. Being my first closed circuit race I was rather anxious about how the race would pan out. The weather report the night before did not look too promising. Gale force winds on an open race track can't be good. However the Saturday before I went out with my dad and did a short ride involving a couple of sprints to get my legs turning.

As the riders for the 8 hour group assembled at Shakespere’s Birthplace at 0830 there was an eager anticipation for the day ahead, the weather forecast was good and the route promised interesting and varied riding. There was a mix of riders in the group including club veterans and novice riders who were using this ride as a practice for the Etape in just under a months time.

On a cold and Icy November morning 13 members of Stratford CC boarded the salubrious luxury of a National Award winning Johnson’s Coaches Mini coach and were whisked to the International Velodrome in Newport, South Wales. Arriving at the velodrome we met with our cycling chums who had made their own way to this fantastic lottery funded facility.

Please note that the Club Run Lite is cancelled for Sunday 22nd May due to ride leaders being unavailable. The ride will resume on Sunday 29th May, 10am outside Box Brownie, 20 Henley Street

The League of Veteran Racing Cyclists provides a full season’s programme of competitive cycling events starting at the end of February and running until the middle of October. Events are organised in regions and Stratford Cycling Club (SCC) have been hosting one of the races for several years.

The opening road race for Stratford CC members last Sunday, was a testing one and accomplished veteran rider Keith Walton realised he has yet to find his race legs for the season. Racing in the 55 plus category, Keith found strong winds and a fast pace broke up the riders on the second lap with over half the field trying to hang on to the rest of the pack.