10 Highlights from our 100th year
We’ve had a fabulous centenary year, filled with fantastic events (both organsied by KWCC and as participants), amazing rides, and with some remarkable (if not slightly crazy) feats of endurance to raise plenty of money for Kingston Hospital. We’ve decided to showcase ten of our favourites. In chronological order:
vEveresting
Three intrepid Wheelers – ringleader Hans Svendsen, Tobias Rosenkranz and Tom Kennett – completed the club vEverest challenge in early March.
This entailed cycling 8.5 times up the notorious Alpe du Zwift, clocking up the same amount of elevation as a hike up Mt Everest. With welcome support from a wide bunch of their club mates (as well as Henrik Persson who bravely made it much of the way through before having to DNF), the three made it up in times ranging from 10-12 hours.
In doing so, the three raised over £1,000 for the Kingston Hospital Charity (more on them later). Chapeau!
Centenary Dinner
A few weeks later the club hosted an outstanding Centenary celebration dinner. Put together in the style of old-school social evenings, one hundred Wheelers enjoyed an evening full of fun, games and terrific food.
A huge well done to Jo Reynolds, Caroline Hemmington, Alex Joss and Patricia Villar for putting on a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It was also wonderful to have Denny Gray hosting a Q&A with Olympic champion Jo Rowsell, and entertainment from The Landline.
The Wheelers take over Mallorca!
In April, around 25 Wheelers made the trip over to Mallorca, mainly organised by Tom Herbert. The 25 who went stayed across Port de Pollenca, meeting up for club rides with a distinctly Mallorcan flavour, then meeting up in the evening for dinner and re-hydration.
The club has a terrific legacy of trips and events abroad, and it was wonderful to see another installment in our Centenary year. There’s another Mallorcan trip planned for 2025, as well as a larger-scale weekend up in the Peak District.
Century Lap
You know you’re a pretty big deal when you have a beer made in your name. That’s exactly what happened in June, when we launched the Century Lap pale ale with The Park Brewery.
The idea had been brewing for almost a year before coming to fruition, but rumours suggest it’s been Harry’s boyhood dream for some time. It was great to work with Frankie & Josh at Park to bring the vision to life, complete with Crazy Swan and Coronation Stone branding.
We produced 1200 cans, which were sold online and in stores around the local area. The beer was well received* and is sadly all gone now. Brew up again next year?
*Unless you happened to be from a rival Kingston club.
Trails & Ales
What’s better than a gravel ride? A gravel ride with beers at the end of course. June saw the first edition of a new gravel event Trails & Ales, which coincided with the launch of the Century Lap pale ale.
The route was 100km of gravel around Surrey, which took in some lesser known trails and bridle paths. Riders finished back at The Park Brewery where they were greeted with beer and pizza from Dough Shack.
Shout out to the T&A crew of Harry, Hans, Dharmesh, Richard, Chris and Mark who help put together a great event. Look out for round two coming in May 2025.
Centenary Audax
As part of our centenary, the KWCC Audax Team hosted a 100 mile Audax in June. It featured a classic route down to Brighton taking in some iconic roads and climbs familiar to many Kingston Wheelers.
Following the start at Alpkit in Kingston, over 100 riders took on the course, with a particularly special stop at The Bluebell Railway on the way to Brighton a particular highlight for many.
The route then made its way via the Coast back through classic roads, all the way to The Park Brewery Taproom in Norbiton, where a well earned refreshment and BBQ was on hand. A cha[eau to everyone who rode, and a particularly huge well done to the KWCC Audax Chapter for putting on a great day out.
John Bornhoft Memorial Hill Climb
With the rain lashing down on Leith Hill, our Centenary Hill Climb proved to be a fairly epic edition in every sense of the word!
A hardy bunch of Wheelers and riders from other clubs braved the conditions. It was great to see former member and Ras Tailteann winner Dom Jackson taking on the climb, though on the day the Open winner was Tim Strickland from GFTL.
The real highlight of the day though was a mammoth effort from Neil Grunshaw, who cycled up the hill on a Cargo bike with his two kids, Henry and Rosa. His efforts raised yet more money for the Kingston Hospital Charity. Chapeau Neil!
Club Champs
It was great to see another a hugely successful instalment of our annual Club Championships. A special mention must go here to Phil Feather and the team of volunteers who made it possible! After an exciting series of races, our Centenary champions were:
- Go-Ride: James Bowden
- Women: Alexandra Wilson-Jon
- Men: Greg Wiltshire
- Masters: Henrik Persson
CX Weekend
One of our biggest events of every year is our round of Central League Cyclocross, and again it was great to be able to run this in our Centenary year. We ran a series of fantastic races across youth and senior categories, and were blessed with excellent conditions.
A massive round of applause must go to Matt Foote and Chris Montagu for all of their hard work putting the event together and the legion of volunteers. This event wouldn’t have been possible without you, so a huge thank you. With that said, Matt also recently contributed an excellent Volunteer Diary – take a peek here!
Bike Shelter Launch
To round out the year, we were delighted to (finally) officially open the new secure bike storage facility at Kingston Hospital, after launching a fundraiser that raised just under £10K back in February 2023.
The fundraiser was supported by several local clubs including Epsom, Kingston Juniors, New Malden Velo, Surrey CC, Velosport and Waldy Wheelers.
Hospital staff are chuffed to have the extra secure bike parking space, as bike thefts from the hospital have been a well documented issue over the last few years.
Chapeau to everyone involved and for all the generous donations!
—
These are just ten of our favourites, but in truth, at least another dozen could easily have made the list. Here’s to the next 100 years, starting with a great 2025!
