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We may be a cycling club, but we know how to have fun off the bike, as last night proved! Rounding off a year of great socials was an epic 10 hour party, expertly organised by social secretary Dave Dyer who led us from Cafe Baba, to a great curry at Aziz – topped by the presentation of this year’s Christmas awards – before heading on to Joe Perks for more drinking and dancing. And when Joe Perks closed at 1am, a strong contingent headed down the road to keep on dancing.

Of course, as the club constitution officially records, no social may be deemed a proper social if it doesn’t end in HiLo. And at exactly 3.56 am the end of the party was officially pronounced by Dave, and the final few headed for home. 

To celebrate a great year there were awards in four categories.

Individual sporting achievements

First we honoured some of this year’s great individual achievements. Cathy Naylor and Matt Thomas took Queen and King of the Mountain respectively, having triumphed in the September hill climb competition. They’ll now be proudly wearing their exclusive Condors polka dot jerseys.

We also celebrated the racing achievements of Mike Devaney and Laura Cubiss – Mike who won the Oxfordshire Road Race League, and climbed two cats this season, and Laura who was runner up in the ORRL, and won her age category in the South East Women’s Time Trial Series.

Aimee Fenwick and Dan Bradley both got a mention for great individual achievements, reaching Cat 3 this year, and Thomas Peutz, Adrian Sell and Dave Dyer who qualified for the Grand Masters World Championships in Denmark – Dave going on to ride in Team GB colours! 

This year’s award for Most Improved Rider went to Liz King, who went from zero to completing the 100 mile Ride London in August, and learnt how to use cleats and gears!

Just for fun…

Of course, we don’t like to take ourselves too seriously. This year’s Best Crash award went to Thomas Peutz. Happily he’s back riding again, but two broken ribs and a punctured lung earnt him the prize. The award for Most Euro Rider went to Matt Thomas, the owner of some pretty luminous lycra. Worst Kept Bike was won by Peter Smith for handle bar tape flapping in the wind and some pretty haunting noises from his drivetrain. Mike Devaney was back to the podium again as Social Media Hound, Tracy Best earned the title of Biggest Chopper, and the effortlessly beau Brett Kamino was clearly touched to win Most Photogenic.

Honourable mentions

Many people make this club great, so we also paid tribute to Andy Haines for encouraging several Condors to take the muddy plunge into cyclo-cross, and Arran Curran for leading the new converts with great enthusiasm, and for ride leading all year. James Neuhaus stepped up in the latter half of the season to lead many excellent rides, Hari Lehal made sure we were all superbly kitted out in the best jerseys in the land, Richard Quayle put many hours into making the ORRL and time trials happen, and Jon Harle was noted for keeping the friendly and supportive ethos of the club going. A final chapeau went to Joby Mullens and David Whitaker for keeping riding through the dark. 

Contributions to the Club

Matt Thomas and Dan Bradley have done much to support men’s racing this year, and Aimee Fenwick and Tyra Rivkin have encouraged so many women to spin their wheels into competitive cycling. 

Mike Devaney has run fantastic spinning sessions, which continue into the new year.

If you’re reading this you’ll also be enjoying our amazing website, for which huge credit goes to Tom Woodforde.

Time trials and the hill climb have been a highlight this year, with dozens of members having their first go against the clock, and we have Brett Kamino and Cathy Naylor to thank for that.

Stephen Tearne organised the Condors round of the ORRL in Kirtlington, and generally helped keep the league running. And Jonny Revis not only put together a brilliantly successful series of races as ORRL President, but also took the club to new heights with our second Bike Oxford, and carried on club duties as Race Secretary and kept on leading rides all year.

The evening’s final awards were to three riders who have made incredible contributions to the club this year. Jo Lankester was named Best Newcomer – buying a bike just a few months ago, and going on to co-lead the women’s summer sessions, running introductory rides for new members, and delivering some fantastic design work on posters that have profiled the club around Oxford.

One award is very deliberately a people’s choice – the Golden Condor, awarded this year to Chery Reid for so much effort and enthusiasm this year, helping us grow our women’s membership at an incredible rate, conceiving and leading the women’s summer sessions, encouraging so many new riders, and getting involved in racing, time trialing and cyclo-crossing. 

And last but certainly not least, a huge shout for Ollie Jaques who as President this year has done so much to grow the club, welcome new members, and enable so many of us to get so much out of cycling.

We’re delighted to bring you the following advice and guidance from respected coach and Condor friend Tom Kirk of Custom Cycle Coaching.

Read on to find out his answers to our burning questions!

Firstly, is it a good idea to take a rest from cycling for a while over the winter/off season?

In general yes, although many of us have some ‘enforced rest’ through other life commitments with work, family holidays etc so a strict end of season rest might not be needed by all. It’s often more a mental than a physical thing so if you feel mentally drained from a long season’s racing then a longer period will be needed off. In general I recommend 2 weeks off the bike completely then another couple riding as and when you feel like it socially etc. If however you’ve had an extended period off earlier in the season this might not be necessary. In a related question it’s often good to plan in a short break mid-season too as it can be a very long competitive season otherwise!

Is it beneficial to look at other activities such as running or gym work to be better prepared for the start of the competitive season, if so what do you recommend?

Again, this depends a bit on your schedule and goals, if you have limited training time it’s generally best to be as specific as possible to your goals i.e. cycling! However some weights/core work/yoga etc can work well to help strengthen your other muscles that are neglected from cycling. Running is a tricky one as it’s a very time effective way to get in a training session so if you’re time limited it can help to make the most of your time. However it’s also easy to get injured so if you want to include running in your training it’s very important to build it up slowly!

Are base miles a myth? Is it good to just go and ride or should I be focusing my time on shorter sessions of intervals or such?

Again, it’s all about your time availability and being able to train consistently over a long period of time to see the benefits. A long base ride can be great for your fitness when it fits in a balanced overall programme but if it leaves you too tired to train for 2-3 days after then it’s too hard! The best cyclists tend to develop a big base, whether that’s over a winter period or what they’ve accumulated from years of riding so no, I don’t think base miles are a myth. A mixture of controlled intensity (i.e. not a screamer every ride) endurance work and harder strength and speed work is best.

Is braving the cold, wet and dark really necessary or can you replicate all outside training from a turbo or rollers inside? How disciplined and frequent should the sessions be and what do you recommend to fuel yourself for inside sessions, pre and post?

Getting in some outside work is important as it’s very hard to get the endurance work done indoors (some people can cope with a lot of turbo work better than others, I hate it but others love it!). Obviously that requires weather conditions that are safe, when it’s bad out MTBing is a great safer alternative to consider too… Generally, indoor sessions are shorter but intense so require a bit less fuelling before and during. Hydration and keeping cool with a big fan and riding in a cool room is more important to keep the quality of your training up as you will sweat a lot! After any intense session it’s important to refuel to restore your body’s carbohydrate stores which deplete quickly when you’re riding hard! If you’re not training the next day the timing is a bit less important but generally try to get in a small snack containing a bit of carbohydrate and protein like a peanut butter sandwich or a specific ‘recovery’ food or drink ASAP when you finish then a proper meal within an hour or so. And don’t forget to drink!

Rollers or Turbo, and why…

Rollers for interest as they’re a bit more challenging but turbo for harder work as it’s hard to get enough resistance on the rollers and you can end up spinning top gear at 120rpm and it still not being hard enough. I’ve not used them but the rollers with resistance are supposed to be a good alternative…

What advice to you have on prepping your bike for winter, clothing or kit to take out on rides?

If you’re not great mechanically it’s wise to get a good mechanic to check your bike over. New tyres that are made for winter riding (not going to open the can of worms about which to choose!) can make for fewer punctures and standing round freezing with numb fingers for you and your mates! In the winter brake blocks wear out much quicker too so worth keeping an eye on them. Mudguards make wet riding much more pleasant too! In terms of kit, a good comfortable pair of warm bibshorts and a winter jacket with windstopper or similar material can make winter riding much more manageable. After September it’s very rare to see me in shorts in the UK until I race in March. I hate seeing people out in the middle of winter in shorts and short sleeves – for me it has to be about 18 degrees first! It’s always good to rep your club kit but I’ve also got a really warm jacket I got from Aldi years ago, I only ever use it on really cold days and it was cheap!

When should I really start picking my training up with a view of being ready competitively for the late spring/early summer?

If it’s late spring/early summer then you can get away with a fairly light workload until the New Year then pick it up. You’ll thank yourself if you have been at least ticking over before then though as it can be a big hill to climb. Cycling is a sport that rewards consistent training over the years so if you take 3 months off every winter you’re losing a lot of potential development over the years! You can get away with a bit of ‘crash training’ but in terms of reaching peak fitness and importantly holding it for more than a few weeks a solid base is important.

Finally, one golden rule of winter training…

As with any time of the year consistency of training is key. Bashing out a big ride or a big week is great but consistency over weeks and months is best!

What next?

If this has inspired you to keep pedaling over the winter, but you’d rather do some work in sunnier climes with an excellent coach, check out Tom’s training camps here:

http://www.customcyclecoaching.co.uk/training-camps.php

They can be customised for different groups so even those who consider themselves social riders can get involved. If you’re interested please fill out this survey so we can get organising!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N36PRF2

Keep the training up x