White Oak Tri Squad

Four members to race in the World's in Vancouver

Four members from the White Oak Triathlon club will represent England at the world triathlon championships in Vancouver in June. Andrew Walpole and James Drain are taking part in the Olympic distance event, 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run, in the 25 to 29 and 20 to 24 age groups, respectively.

John Setford, attending his 14th championships, will be joined in the 55-59 age group of the Sprint event by Roy Knight, who is making his championship debut.

The World Triathlon Championships take place on the 6th and 7th June.

Left to right : Andrew Walpole, James Drain, Roy Knight, and John Setford.

Club Races

The Club championship races for 2008 will be East Grinstead Triathlon and Milton Keynes(July). The handicap race still has to decided; please feel free to make suggestions. £10.00 refunds will be given to finishers of both the Club championship races. Please, let me know your race plans so I can keep the Races To Do page up to date.

2008 Spring Bike Tour - Boulogne

This year we are going to Boulogne with Seeds Cycling Club, Friday 9th May to Sunday 11th. The reasons for the change from Dieppe are the sailing timetables have changed, making it only possible to get one ride in, on the Saturday. The new format includes the crossing from Dover to Boulogne on Speed Ferries fast Cat service which is a car only ferry and will mean taking cars over to France.

The plus points are: crossing time only 50 minutes, sailing time 10.30 am, costs per car aprox £60 return - including up to 5 people, free parking at Boulogne Ferry Terminal, so no need to drive on French roads.The Hotel we have booked at is Hotel Ibis Vielle Ville, about 2 km from the port, next to the Old Town Centre, a great area for restaurants and night life and good access away from town for cycle routes. The Hotel would be B&B only, to give people more choice for evening meals and the costs are about 120 Euros per room, for the weekend.

Points to consider: car sharing will need to be sorted before we book - we will have to make a booking cut off date - anyone not paid up in full by the cut off date will be taken off the list - once bookings have been made, no alterations or refunds can be made.
Graham has been checking out some routes for Boulogne this year. Friday ride could be out to Le Touquet a coastal town south of Boulogne. aprox 40 miles round trip.
Saturday our long ride aprox 80 miles, the climb out of Boulogne is only 200ft over 1.2 miles; then a rolling route with some good downhill sections down to a lunch stop at Saint Omer at 40 miles, max height on way out 662 feet on a gradual build up. After lunch a flat run out to Mt Watten on Belgium border, as used in tour stage, then on through the historic towns of Ruminghem and Tournehem, into the parc naturel following the river Hem and back to Boulogne, 626 feet max climb at Desreves, which again is a gradual climb.
Sunday, a ride north along the D940 coast road to Wimereux and all the way to Calais, skirting along the beach roads, then returning via country route back to Boulogne, aprox 60 miles. As always there will be optional shorter circular routes around the Boulogne area.

AGM

This years AGM was held on Wednesday 28th November. Details to be published when available.

BTA Membership

BTA Membership runs from 1st April 2007 to 1st April 2008 so now is the time to think about joining or renewing. Forms are now available to download (requires Adobe Reader) or you can join on-line on the BTA website.