2012 Latest News

Club Clean Up Day

You are invited to a Club Clean Up Day at Cwmcarn Paragon Clubhouse on the 4th February 2012 at 1330hrs.

We plan to cut down overgrown shrubs/trees at the side of our clubhouse to make the space look tidy, giving us some storage space around the back of the clubhouse for cycles on our club events.

One or two hours will do, after the Saturday ride, just bring some gloves for yourself. Free tea/coffee available! Your help will be much appreciated.

Olympic TT Trip 2012

Ed Malarcyzk is running a trip to see the Olympic men and women TT's on the 1st August 2012.

If you are interested, please email your name and how many seats required on the coach, by 31st January 2012.

After that date it will be open to non-club members.

Approximate cost £20 per person.

Majorca Training Camp 2012 - dates confirmed

Update - Could everyone who is going on our Mallorca Training Camp please let us know on which days you are travelling, so we can arrange transport to and from the hotel. We have 22 names so far. Contact Richie Harris or fill in your details on the list at the club.

The dates are confirmed for our highly anticipated 2012 trip. We will be flying out on at 6am on Wednesday 28th March with EasyJet from Bristol, the flight back will be at 10am on Wednesday 4th April. For the dedicated riders there is the option to stay out a bit longer and fly back on Friday 6th April (evening flight). Can everyone who has expressed interest in the trip, please get in contact with Richie Harris so we can sort out numbers and rooms.

See our Facebook group page for more information.

Mini Paragons Christmas Party

For all our members with little ones (and not so little) Jodie is organising a Christmas party on Saturday 10th December at Abercarn Scout Hut, 2-4pm. There will be a Disco, Games and a special appearance from Santa who will be handing out gifts. Not forgetting a wrapped present for your child/children with their name on for santa to call out.

So any members children/grandchildren/great-grandchildren would be welcome to attend this party. Food will be available for the children, so we need numbers by Thursday 8th December, so please let Jodie/Ed Malarczyk know by then. Also in attendance will be a childrens entertainer for games etc. We will also be having a raffle, for the adults, so a few quid in your pockets would be handy.

New delivery of Club Kit - NOW IN STOCK

We are expecting a new delivery of club kit either this week or next, just in time for Christmas!! As a club we have to invest thousands of pounds to secure a kit order with Giordana. So we would appreciate if anyone wanting kit can buy it sooner rather than later, to help recoup the initial outlay for the club. Kit prices are as follows (and these unfortunately are what we now have to pay) no money is made from kit!!.

• Windtex Jacket £85
• Skinsuit £80
• Tights roubaix £60
• L/sleeve roubaix £50
• S/sleeve race jersey £45
• Gilet £45
• Shorts £50
• Armwarmers £20
• Track mitts £15

Winter track sessions - 2012

Our Wednesday night track sessions begin again on 19th October and will continue through until (approx) the end of March 2011. Riders will be on track from 8pm to 9:30pm and each session will cost £5 per rider. Please arrive by 7:45pm to secure a ride. We need a minimum of 24 riders, each week to make the session financially viable.

Majorca Training Camp 2012

Due to the popularity of our trip to Majorca this year, we are already getting asked for dates for next year. So we have got our heads together and are currently looking at 22-31st March/29th March-7th April or 7 days between those dates. All those that are interested please come up the club on Thursday night to discuss.

Club runs are back - it must be nearly Winter!

Sunday Club runs start again from tomorrow. Meeting at 9.30am prompt from ouside clubhouse - Riding via Newport, Nash lanes, Magor, Caldicot and on to Chepstow Garden Centre for Coffee. Setting off back to the club via Shirenewton and Usk. There will be a nice easy pace to accomodate all riders, so lets have a good turnout!

Welsh Hill Climb Championships 2011

Andrew 'Butch' Butcher attacking the Rhigos. Picture courtesy of SI Sports Images

Cwmcarn Paragon riders ended the Welsh time trial season in the best possible manner, with a superb victory in the National Hill-Climb Team Championship, which was contested on the gruelling ascent of the Rhigos mountain.

It was the second Welsh Team Championship, of the year for Cwmcarn, coming one month after their winning ride in the 10 Mile Championship. Richard Harris and Andrew Butcher, were part of the 10 mile team, and for the hill-climb they were joined by climbing specialist Darren Carpenter.

The Rhigos Mountain, is a savage 6km, strength sapping twisting climb, that taxes even the best of climbers. Cwmcarn, faced strong opposition from the 40 competing riders, especially the 5 man team from Ystwyth C.C. Butcher, fifth man off, gave Cwmcarn, a brilliant start, recording 13mins 27secs, that placed him 4th overall. Harris, produced his usual aggressive ride, clocking 14.28, for 9th overall and Carpenter, gave Cwmcarn, an excellent chance of victory with an excellent ride of 14.01, for 5th overall.

After Carpenter, had ridden, Ystwyth,still had 3 of their team to ride, but their collective efforts fell short of Cwmcarn's, time of 41mins 56secs, which gave them a winning margin of 30 secs over Ystwyth.

Harris, has enjoyed a hugely successful season, which was highlighted by his commanding victory in the Evening 10 Series. Riders must complete 6 rides, with their 3 fastest times counting. Harris, rode 9 events, winning 7 and placing 2nd twice, his cumulative winning time for his 3 rides, 1hr 2mins 28secs, he also produced the fastest time of the series, 20mins 33secs. Second placed was Gareth Pugh, 1.7.31, followed by Richard Hopkins, 1.9.15, Andrew Stokoe, 1.9.22, Jon Vickery, 1.9.32, Ross Porter, 1.11.33, Jack Carpenter, 1.11.44, Darren Morgan, 1.11.49, Barrie Mc Gregor, 1.12.38, Andy Haines, 1.12.38 and Jodie Lloyd, 1.21.03.

Robbie Westwood, was one of the stars of the Welsh Team, that won the National Inter-Regional Track Championships, at the Newport Velodrome. 1st in 2009, 2nd last year, the Welsh squad were looking to take back the title. Riding in 6 events Westwood, placed 2nd in the time trial, with a 35.432, 2nd, Keirin (with Matt Goss), 2nd Team Pursuit, 3rd Madison, 3rd Team Sprint and 5th, Sprint. Wales, achieved victory by 74 points ahead of Yorkshire, 78 and North West, 94

Top off-roader Johnny Morgan, was in brillaint form in the recent 661 Gravity Enduro, at Afan Argoed. 230 riders contested the 5 stage event in slippery conditions after heavy rain, but Morgan's, superb handling skills made light work of the technical course, as he recorded 3 stage wins in the Vet's category and placed 43rd overall.

Sam Harrison, added to his impressive number of National Championship medals, with two superb rides at the British Track Championships, at Manchester. The former Cwmcarn start now riding for 100% ME, collected a silver medal in the 4km pursuit, with a time of 3.59.758, and a bronze medal in the 1,000m t.t. recording 1.3.941.

Tour of Britain club ride - 14th September

Tour of Britain club ride Wednesday 14th Sept. Club kit essential! Meet at Newport Velodrome @ 12 noon & Bassaleg School gates @ 12.45pm Destination Caerphilly Mountain!

Cwmcarn Paragon CC AGM 2011

Cwmcarn Paragon C.C A.G.M is on Thursday 29th of September at 7pm at the clubhouse. All members please attend if you can.

It's nearly 'cross season!

Welsh League Round 2 takes place at Risca Leisure Centre on Sunday 2nd October promoted by Cwmcarn Paragon. Please support this event by volunteering your services as a marshal, contact Ross Porter if you can help

Cardigan Championship Street Racing - 14th August 2011 - EOL available

The Welsh Crit Champs are being held around Cardigan Town Centre over the August Bank Holiday Sunday. There will be separate races for Juniors, masters & women, E/1/2/3s and 3/4s. A few club members will be going up, please contact Richie Harris for more details.

Cwmcarn Paragon track session - 17th August 2011 - Limited places left!

We have a club derny session booked with a maximum of 20 places.
This will be a split session for novice riders and also experienced riders who will be following the derny. Please email us to book yourself on the session.

Cwmcarn Paragon reliability rides - 13th March 2011 - Report

A beautiful spring day graced the annual 100mile in 7hour reliability trial on March 13th. 20 riders signed
on at the club for a 9am start with ages ranging from the classy Dai Parry (70ish) to the raw talent of Jack Carpenter (14).

Following an early puncture in Newport (cheapskate tyre buying) the bunch kept a good even pace all the way to the cafe stop in Brecon.
With so many riders in the bunch, 2 cafes were used and stomachs filled. An advance party of 12 set off up to Storey arms 10mins ahead
of the haggis group with Jody taking the odd push to Libanus before falling behind. Mark Westwood's dodgy crank started to give him
issues before the summit and never saw the front of the bunch, again! A group of 14 ploughed on coaxing young Carpenter over
Penderyn moor and down the cynon valley before the devilish climbs and drags up through Nelson, Maesycwmmer and back to
the clubhouse for tea and cake.

Westwood leads Icebreaker Series

Congratulations to Robbie Westwood who leads Welsh Cycling's Youth Icebreaker series.

The second round of the Icebreaker series was the biggest one to date with 130 riders signing on to race.
The day was full of fantastic track racing action and incidents. Once again the programme was set to focus
on the endurance events; Points, Scratch and Devil races. The GB Talent team were also in attendance, taking
the profile of the event to the next level and encouraging the non talent riders to show them what they were made of.

The Youth A boys racing was always going to be an action packed affair especially with the Talent boys
looking to prove their Talent Team credentials. Chris Lawless, Robbie Westwood and Zachery May
all had a good day in the saddle swapping top three placings regularly throughout the day. Westwood who
is the current overall leader was consistent enough with two 3rd places and a 1st in the devil to claim 2nd
overall and maintain his series lead.

The final round will take place on 3rd March, good luck Robbie!

Image © IJC Sports Photography & Picture Library

Majorca Training Camp

Club members need to book a space (if necessary) on the van to transport bikes
to the airport for Majorca - limited space!!. Speak to Ross Porter for details.

For those who have not been before a few essentials. Kit - be prepared: long sleeves,
capes, gloves, caps, overshoes should be taken. Hopefully NOT skis this year!!.
Swim cap and flip flops are needed for pool area's. Travel wash for kit. Take plenty of your
favourite cereal bars and gels, although these can be easily bought.

Make sure your bike is in good condition, chain, tyres etc. We're not waiting around all day up a mountain!

New delivery of club kit

We are expecting a delivery of new Team Kit in the next week or so if you fancy treating yourself.
All items are available from the Clubhouse on a Thursday from 7:15pm.

Kit includes:
Short sleeve jerseys, Long sleeve jerseys (Roubaix), Windtex Jackets, Bib shorts,
bib tights, Gilets, Arm warmers, overshoes, cloth caps etc...

Contact us if you need prices.

First Podium of the year for Cwmcarn

Cwmcarn got off to a flying start to 2011 by netting a podium finish at the Welsh Madison Championships on Saturday 8th January. Robbie Westwood and Steve Powell produced a bronze-medal-winning performance in a most challenging race.

The Championships attracted a quality field of riders from all over the UK and contained the former Cwmcarn star Sam Harrison with partner Jon Mould. The main A race stayed together for most of the event until the overwhelming superiority of Harrison & Mould, began to tell. They started to lap the field and rode to a convincing victory over Agsikoviner rider James Lowsley-Williams and Cardiff Jif's Zac May.

The Cwmcarn pair rode superbly well throughout with their performance improving with each lap, finishing the race in the bronze medal position, a brilliant ride for their first attempt. Robbie also joined the best of the british track stars to contest the Revolution Series at Manchester the following weekend.

Image © Guy Swarbrick - www.trackcycling.me.uk

Cwmcarn's Andrew Baum takes 2010 'Cross title

For Cwmcarn Paragon's Andrew Baum there was no repeat of the bad luck that put him out of contention the previous year and he comfortably regained the Overall League and Senior Welsh 'Cross titles, although second-placed Joe Lally (CC Abergavenny) had his best season to date and was the stronger at Pembrey. Mark James (MI Racing) and evergreen Graham Edwards (Abergavenny RC) were convincing winners in the Vet 40+ and Vet 50+ categories respectively and League stalwart and ever-smiling Carol Miller took the Women's title by one point.

A closely fought season for Juniors Matthew Thompson (Cardiff JIF) and Luke Cornish (Cwmcarn Paragon) ended with Thompson as League winner.

2010 News

Club Track Session - 22th December

The Wednesday track session is still going ahead. Caroline Gay will be your coach, there will be a mix of endurance/sprint with a practice devil race.

Tredz demo evening - 16th December

Tredz will be visiting the Clubhouse on Thursday night to do some demos on lights and will possibly be bringing a climbing simulator if you fancy a challenge!!

Club track sessions over Christmas

Wednesday Track Sessions will continue right through the Christmas holidays with no break!!!
Dates are Dec 15th then Dec 22nd, Dec 29th & Jan 5th. So come on down and work off all those excess calories!!

Cwmcarn Paragon Club EGM 2010

Thursday 2nd December, 7.30pm
All members please attend (if possible) to discuss club matters still outstanding since the AGM. These include work completed, work outstanding, report on kit, membership fees, club awards and election of officials for 2011.
Click here to download an agenda.

2011 Timetrial Dates

Open timetrial dates are now on the South Wales DC site.
The Welsh 25 is in Mid-May (22nd) not August as listed.

Welsh 25	May 22nd
Welsh 50	June 12th
12hr	July 3rd
Welsh TT champs	July 24th (new event)
Welsh 100	July 31st
Welsh 10	August 21st
Hill Climb	Sept 25th
Port Talbot 2up	March 6th
Port Talbot 4up	June 30th

Club Trophies - Can you help?

Ross Porter is updating the club trophies and needs anyone who has won any of the Club Championships to get in contact with him by phone or email .

Membership Fees

A note to all: Membership renewal is now due for 2011 and is £20 for 1 year.

Please visit the club and pay your fees as soon as possible. We rely on membership fees for the running costs of our club house, pay affiliations to cycling governing bodies and to support riders in key events. Thank you.

Winter Track Sessions

Hello all. The Wednesday night track sessions have been in place since the velodrome opened in 2003.
This winter, the sessions will start on November 3rd and continue through until (approx) the end of March 2011.
Riders will be on track from 8pm to 9:30pm and each session will cost £5 per rider.
Please arrive by 7:45pm to secure a ride.
We need a minimum of 24 riders, each week to make the session financially viable. Paul Shepperd will be the coach for week one with several people performing that role through the winter.
Track Session Organiser