Sleaford Wheelers CC Ladies Web Page

Photo's from Women's 7 TT Coutesy of Lincs Race Photo's (click)

Welcome to the launch of Sleaford Wheelers CC Ladies Web Page, designed with all kinds of information that will hopefully encourage and inspire ladies who are new to the sport, as well as catering for the more advanced rider.
Our aim is to provide details of Women Specific Club/Social Rides, Time Trialling, Cyclocross, Sportives, etc, as well as holding taster sessions on strength and conditioning, bike maintenance, nutrition and every cyclists favorite… a turbo and cake session!
No matter your age or ability, there'll be something for everyone. So why not dig out that bike Santa brought you for Christmas, that's been gathering dust whilst you've been trying to gather motivation, or polish up your Road or TT bike and give yourself some 'you' time and come and join us!

Introducing our Club Representatives:

The Club representatives are here for you. We'll do our best to answer any questions you may have with regards to joining the club, racing, or just cycling in general. We'll also arrange for at least one representative to be a point of contact and meet you should you decide to come along to one of our Club sessions.

Heather Riddell

A relative new comer to the world of cycling as my roots lay in triathlon. I completed many races at all different distances between 2006 and 2010, as well as the odd Cyclo Sportives as part of my triathlon training such as the Fred Whitton, Etape Du Dales etc.
After a break from the sport and a realisation that I swam like a brick, ran like an efferlump, I decided that I was probably better suited to cycling.  I love my time on the bike and love the cake that goes with it. If I had to describe my body type I definitely be a Clydesdale or a roly-poly aging gymkhana pony! 

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Julie Close

I am most definitely a social rider, riding simply for the pleasure of just being out and about in the fresh air and hopefully getting fitter in the process. My cycling all began three years ago following a trip to Yorkshire with the Sleaford Wheelers to watch the first stages of the Tour de France.  While cycling about in Yorkshire with a great bunch of people, I realised how much pleasure could be had from joining in no matter how slow I was or how many times I had to get off and walk up the hills!
I am totally non-competitive but willingly support and encourage those who are. I am a time keeper for the club time trials and often marshal for racing events. I am the Welfare Officer at our Go-Ride club.   
The best thing about being in the Sleaford Wheelers is taking part in the Sunday Social rides; Riding in a group is far better than riding on your own, especially when there is a café stop somewhere on the route….there usually is!
My Motto: You don’t have to be great to start but you do have to start to be great!

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Denise Buckley

I'm a leisure cyclist – for the enjoyment of being out on my bike and also for commuting to and from work. I've been a member of SWCC for several years, having swapped horses for bikes – it's just a change of saddle (if swapping saddles is good enough for Victoria Pendleton, it's good enough for me). Haven't noticed any change in comfort levels though.

I don't race, although I am doing my first ever sportive at the Tour de Yorkshire this year.
If I had to describe my body type it would be that of a retired racehorse – still slim but not very speedy. Although last weekend our secretary Chris likened me to a goat! I'm assuming he was referring to my climbing (in)ability and not my cake eating habits.
During race season I can quite often be spotted grazing (sorry, I meant marshalling) on various local roundabouts. Our Sunday social rides are relaxed and friendly and a good introduction to the joys of getting about on two wheels – and who knows what it might lead to……
Come and join us and give it a go.

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Niki Durham

Without trying to push the horse/pony comparisons too far, I'm the equiva-lent of a 3 day eventer!
I'm a triathlete: I love cycling, but because I have to also run and swim a lot , I only ride a couple of days a week.
I use time trials to train for triathlons. I've really enjoyed meeting and getting to know all of the members of SWCC and I hope to become more involved with the club as time goes on.

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Women's Turbo Sessions

Ladies Only Social Rides

Following on from the success of the Maintenance Day Workshop Turbo Session, the SWCC Ladies Committee will be running Ladies Only Turbo Sessions. You will all be pleased to know we have found larger venues, so it won't be quite as cosy as it was at the workshop!!! Dates & venues below:

Under 18’s will need a parental consent form and under 13’s must be accompanied
For more details please see our website: – www.sleafordwheelers.co.uk

SADDLES

The one thing we all hear from non-cyclist is "ooh, looks like you could do yourself some damage on that saddle!" Well that maybe true in some instances. I think if you ask most regular cyclists, they've all had an experience with a saddle that would have served better being used as some sort of medieval torture gadget! However, get it right and the miles will fly by like Lizzie Armitstead racing the National Champs in Lincoln last year.

So, how do we know when we purchase a saddle whether it will be the one for us? Well in all honesty we don't know. We're all individuals and as such we are all built slightly differently, what's right for me might not be right for you. If you go to a bike shop to purchase your new saddle, ask if they have one you could try before you buy; failing that, ask what their returns policy is. You may be able to return or swap it within 30 days if it doesn't suit you. This goes for online purchases too, so always make sure you check out the small print. Companies such as Fizik have 'test' saddles that are often held by Bike Shops and you can borrow one for a re-fundable deposit. They're bright yellow in colour, so unless yellow is your colour I don't think you'd be running off with it anytime soon.
Speak to club members. They maybe more than happy to lend you one for a short time for you to try. There's always someone who'll have bought a saddle thinking "this is the one", only to find its worst thing they've sat on since the metal rimmed toilets on a frosty morning in Whitwell car park!

If you're new to cycling and not covering a lot of miles, you may be happy to continue with the saddle that came with the bike. If you've started to build your fitness and time on the bike, you may find that the seat isn't quite as comfy as you first thought! This can lead to all sorts of issues such as chaffing, back ache, sore bruised sit bones, and muscle fatigue from constantly trying to re-position yourself.
Before you consider changing your saddle though, you may want to consider shorts and a Bikefit.

So what sort of price are we talking about for a decent saddle?
Well, price will vary enormously from just under £20 to well over £100, and often the most expensive isn't always the most comfy.
To get an idea of what is out there, here's what the Club Reps had to say about the saddles they use on their bikes

Heather:
At the moment I'm spending a lot of time on my winter/touring bike which has a Ladies Charge Ladle saddle on it. It is so comfy I would recommend it to anyone. In fact, I leant it to Niki to try and she ended buying one too. Even after 6hrs plus of riding it still feels as comfy as it did in the first half hour, and the price........a whopping £18.00 - bonus!
In the summer, I generally spend a lot of time on my time trial bike. It has an ISM Adamo saddle which is great for me. Spending time in an aero position (In my head I'm Emma Pooley, but realistically it's more Dawn French) can put pressure on those regions that are precious to us ladies, so the cut away that the Adamo offers suits me perfectly. Obviously this comes at a price, I'm fortunate to have acquired mine a few years ago for around £80 but these days a brand new on will cost in the region of £100+. As with a lot of things these days, check out the internet price. Also chat to local bike shops. They may do a good deal for you; after all it's always good to support them too.

Niki:

As Heather has already mentioned, she recommended a Charge Ladies saddle to me. It's been on my main ride, a Bianchi road bike, ever since. It's comfortable. It was cheap. I don't really think about it, which is the highest compliment I could pay a saddle! My TT bike still has it's original saddle on it. This is mainly because I had a great bike fitting when I bought it, the set up is perfect and I don't want to mess around with it. I have a Specialized women's saddle on my mountain bike, which has a hole in the middle of it; very comfy. My winter road bike has a very old Giant saddle on it, which is held together with black tape and falling apart. Heather told me not to attach a picture of said saddle as it's a disgrace, but it's still on the bike because I love it!

BIKEFIT

SHORTS

Think about what kind of shorts you're going to wear. Sometimes it can be as simple as investing in a good pair of cycling shorts. Just because they have loads of padding doesn't mean they'll be the most comfy, more often it's a combination of both saddle and shorts that makes for pain free miles.

So now you get an idea about how personal buying a saddle is to you, how it can be seen as an invest-ment in your health and joy of cycling. Don't forget, a decent pair of cycling shorts and a good bike fit will make a huge difference too, but they're topics we'd like to cover in the future.

We're here to help you out as best we can as you start, or continue your cycling journey. We can't tell you which saddle will be a best buy for you, but I for one have tried a lot and our garage is living proof!

Billie Flemming

13 APRIL 1914

12 MAY 2014

Born on April 13th 1914 in Camden, Billie Fleming first became interested in cycling around the age of 18 when she met a boy who taught her to ride in the evenings on the Barnet Bypass in London. This, with an interest in the Women's League of Health and Beauty, lead to her now infamous year of cycling around Britain. On January 1st 1938, she set off from Westminster on a bike provided by Rudge-Whitworth in exchange for her agreeing to ride it every day for a year. Along with this sponsorship came a deal with Cadbury's, in whose adverts she appeared in exchange for five pounds of chocolate every month.
By riding her bike every day for 365 days, she set the record for the most miles cycled in a year by woman: a record standing at 29,603.4 miles and one which is unbroken to this day; doing it with only a small saddle bag containing a change of clothes and a few tools with her, relying on cafés and shops along her rides to provide food and water. Amazingly, the one puncture she suffered was the only mechanical issue with her bike throughout the entire year of riding!

Fleming also broke records in other areas of cycling. In 1940 she broke the record for riding a tricycle 25 miles, and followed this by breaking the records for 50 and 100 miles on one as well!
She died aged 100 on May 12th 2014.
"The only thing I could say to that is that you have to really want to do it. Whatever the weather is that morning, you have to put your clothes on and get on and ride the bike. It's not funny walking out in the pouring rain and getting on your bike. You have to hold the determination to want to do it. You will have bad days, but the good days make up for all of the bad ones." (Billie Fleming in 2014, speaking to Cycling Weekly on her 100th birthday)

Acknowledgements to:
Martha Wilson

Beryl Burton

12 MAY 1937

5 MAY1996

Burton was born Beryl Charnock in the Halton area of Leeds, West Yorkshire and lived in the nearby Morley area throughout her life, racing mainly for Morley Cycling Club and laterKnaresborough CC. In childhood, she suffered chronic health problems which included 15 months in hospital and a convalescent home due to rheumatic fever.

She was introduced to cycling through her husband, Charlie, whom she married in 1955. Two years later, she took her first national medal, a silver in the national 100-mile individual time trial championship, and before the decade was out was competing internationally.

In 1967, she set a new 12-hour time trial record of 277.25 miles – a mark that surpassed the men’s record of the time by 0.73 miles and was not superseded by a man until 1969. While setting the record she caught and passed Mike McNamara who was on his way to setting the men's record at 276.52 miles and winning that year's men's British Best All-Rounder. She is reputed to have given him a liquorice allsort as she passed him. Apparently, McNamara ate the sweet.

She also set about 50 new national records at 10, 15, 25, 30, 50 and 100-mile distances; her final 10, 25 and 50-mile records each lasted 20 years before being broken, her 100-mile record lasted 28 years, and her 12-hour record still stands today. Her prowess led to the rare distinction, for a woman, of an invitation to compete in the Grand Prix des Nations in 1967.

In 1982, with her daughter Denise, Burton set a British 10-mile record for women riding a tandem bicycle: 21 minutes, 25 seconds.

A memorial garden was established in her home town of Morley. Morley Cycling Club also donated a trophy (previously won 20 times by Burton) to the RTTC for a Champion of Champions competition for women of all ages: the Beryl Burton trophy