All posts by Duncan Coe

News

Exeter Wheelers Club Bulletin #13

This week:

A Blast from the Past

This week we open with a look back to the good old days when you could go out on your bike without fear of a 40 tonne truck cutting you up. The photo above (no, not taken at the latest committee meeting!) was received by the club from Sue Andrews, née Lowton. She writes:

The photograph… ‘was in my grandfather’s possessions when he died in 1987. Apparently the photo was taken in Ide. The chap on the tricycle is Robert Lowton (1832-1915), who was a blacksmith in Ide and Dunchideok. He was my great great grandfather.


Penny-farthings were, I think, developed around 1870, making Robert at least 38 in the photo. I’m astonished that penny-farthing would have been owned by the likes of blacksmiths in rural Devon so soon after their development. Do you know of others at that time? I have also wondered if the blacksmiths might have made their own?


I appreciate I’m asking very niche questions. My main hope is that some in your club may find the photo, taken locally, interesting. My branch of the Lowton family moved from Devon on the late 19th century. I moved to the county (Plymouth, Exeter and now the South Hams) in the 1990s.’

Club Chair, Ian Hennessy, has uncovered an advert dated to 1881 for a tricycle similar to that in the photo.

If any one has any more information that we can feedback to Sue please do get in touch.

Coming Up:

27 September – SWCX League Round 2 – Scorrier House, Redruth, TR16 5AW (On the day entry available)

3 October – SWCX League Round 3 – Saltash School, Saltash School, Wearde Road, Saltash, PL12 4AY (SWCX 2026/27 Round 3 Events – British Cycling)

18 October – EWCC Hill Climb, Stoke Hill 

25 October – National Hill Climb Championship (https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/events/42188-rttc-national-hill-climb-championship) See below

Looking Forward:

  • 15 November – EWCC Cyclo Cross, Escot Park
  • 28 November – Sarah’s ‘Breakfast in Bampton’ Audax Ride

Racing Round Up

The road racing season might be coming to an end but EWCC riders have been getting out on to the start line.

Finlay Webb took the ferry to Brittany to race at a UCI sanctioned event:

Finlay and Joe Monk also flew the club colours on the Mendip Hill on Sunday 19th September.

Club Hill Climb

Still plenty of time to get training for the club Hill Climb on the 18th October.

Get those entries in now for what will be a fun and exhausting, but short, effort….

Entries are open now at CTT | Exeter Wheelers – Stoke Hill – Hill Climb 2026

National Hill Climb Championship

Closing date for entries 6 October…….

Danny Hart Talk

For those interested in all things off road, especially where gravity is involved, this talk at the Barnfield Theatre on Monday 16 November will be of interest.

Danny Hart is one of Downhill Mountain Biking’s racing elite; 2x World Champion, Red Bull Hardline winner, multiple National Championships winner and 2x World Cup overall silver medal winner, the ‘Redcar Rocket’ has secured his place in mountain biking history, including an iconic first World Championship winning run that is still legendary today. 

In ‘Won’t Sit Down’, Danny will bring his dry wit and cool composure to take audiences on a journey through his life and impressive racing career and give a glimpse behind the scenes of what becoming a World Champion really takes.

Youth Training/Racing Calendar

If you have children (up to 16) who are interested in racing a new website has been developed that lists all activities, training days and racing events, where children and youth categories are available.

South West Kids Cycling

This includes the Haldon Forest Rides that EWCC run in partnership with MDCC

It could be a really useful resource.

News

Exeter Wheelers Club Bulletin #12

Summer might be over, but that doesn’t mean that things are getting quieter. There’s lots happening in the coming weeks and months, lots for you to get involved with and lots of fun to be had on the bike.

Our usual request for you to get in touch, let us know what you have been up to? Do you like the Bulletin? Does it give you information that you need? Drop us a line at .

This week:

Coming Up:

14 September – EWCC Committee meeting – Upstairs at The Cuckoo Tap Room, Paris Street, Exeter – see below

27 September – SWCX League Round 2 – Redruth School (https://swcx.org/wordpress/races/)

18 October – EWCC Hill Climb, Stoke Hill 

Looking Forward:

  • 15 November – EWCC Cyclo Cross, Escot Park
  • 28 November – Sarah’s ‘Breakfast in Bampton’ Audax Ride

EWCC Committee Meeting

The EWCC Committee meeting meets tonight (14th) at the Cuckoo Tap Room on Paris Street (upstairs).

All members are very welcome to attend and contribute that these meetings. Its your club, we’d love to see you there and hear your thoughts on how things are going. This months agenda:

SWCX League Rd 1 – Torbay

Sunday (13th) saw the CX season formally get underway with Round 1 of the SW CX League held at Torbay Velopark, Paignton.

This is a great venue that has a number of purpose built CX features. Normally racing here is deeper into the Autumn/Winter and the venue is renowned for muddy conditions as a result of the poor drainage. Not this year. An early date in the season and an extraordinarily dry summer meant that riders were presented with very different conditions. The hard pack, bumpy course made for fast but tiring racing.

There was great EWCC representation across all categories, with Arthur Brown (U14) and Phillip Harris (Masters 70) making their CX debuts.

EWCC Hill Climb

The Hill Climb season is upon us. An important date in the club calendar is the Hill Climb held on Stoke Hill Road. This year is will be held on the 18 October.

Entries are open now at CTT | Exeter Wheelers – Stoke Hill – Hill Climb 2026

This is always a well attended event, so dust off the lightweight bike, start drilling holes in your cranks, we’d love to see you out there.

SW Hill Climbs

Of course we’re not the only club that hosts a Hill Climb at this time of year. If you want to test yourself on other local climbs, get some practice in before the cub event, or just enjoy the pain, these are some other events you can enter:

National Hill Climb Championship

If course we can’t talk about Hill Climbs without mentioning the big one, the RTTC National Hill Climb Championship, which is coming to the South West this year.

This will take place on the Porlock Toll Road on the 25 October.

CTT | RTTC National Hill Climb Championship 2026

If you don’t fancy testing yourself against the best hill climbers on the country then this would still be a fantastic event to go up to as spectator, so definitely one for the diary.

Club Rides

Club Rides continue to provide an opportunity to get out and explore the mazing landscape that we are lucky enough to call home. There is something for all riding styles/abilities. We really do want to see you out there, so come along and join the fun.

Details of clu rides can be found here Rides – Exeter Wheelers CC

News

Exeter Wheelers Club Bulletin #11

Welcome to another edition of the club bulletin. We start with the usual request – please get in touch is you have any news, comments or suggestions, we really do want to here from you…… Don’t forget to get in touch use:

This week:

Coming Up:

12 September – Devon Air Ambulance Cycle Challenge (Devon Air Ambulance Cycle Challenge 2026 – Devon Air Ambulance Trust)

13 September – SWCX League Round 1 – Torbay Velopark (see below)

14 September – EWCC Committee meeting – Upstairs at The Cuckoo Tap Room, Paris Street, Exeter

27 September – SWCX League Round 2 – Redruth School (see below)

Looking Forward:

  • 18 October – EWCC Hill Climb, Stoke Hill 
  • 15 November – EWCC Cyclo Cross, Escot Park
  • 28 November – Sarah’s ‘Breakfast in Bampton’ Audax Ride

Women’s Ride

Saturday (5th September) saw a group of members and prospective members set out for a social women’s only ride. This event, which was oversubscribed, saw the group ride out to Thorverton and Shobrooke before heading back for a welcome coffee at the Quay.

Our thanks to Trudy Clist for organising and leading this ride.

CX Training

The CX season kicked off with a training event organised by the SWCX league.

EWCC coaches supported this event which saw a professional coach take a group of women through the key skills, and MDCC and EWCC coaches leading youth riders. We were able to take advantage of the features available at Torbay Velopark to hone in on a few areas that riders need to focus in for strong, smooth and fast racing.

Hopefully there will be more events of this type, so watch this space if you want to get involved.

Ilton Crit Race

The final round of the SW racing series took place on Saturday (5th Sept.) at RNAS Merryfield, Ilton in Somerset.

Chapeau to the EWCC members who got up there for what was by all accounts a fast a furious season conclusion.

SWCX League Rd 1 – Torbay

Don’t forget to get your entries in for Round 1 of this years CX league.

Racing at Torbay in dry conditions will be a new experience for many who are used to the heavy muddy conditions that this course is renowned for.

There have been some issues with online entries for this race, relating to some of the age categories. British Cycling have now resolved those.

Online entries normally close midnight Tuesday before the event (this week – 8 Sept.). On the day entries are normally accepted, but there will be a small premium for that…. so get your entries in now.

SWCX League Rd 2 – Redruth School

There may be a little confusion around Round 2 of the SWCX League on 27 Sept. An early version of the calendar had this as the Saltash course and the ‘Event’ description on the BC Website suggests that the event will take place at Coxleigh Barton, Nr Barnstaple!

The race will be held at Redruth School and entries are open now.

For an up to date calendar for this season visit Races – SWCX League.

Audax Dates

It’s never to early to start planning for 2027!

Key dates for Paris Brest Qualifier Audax events are:

200 – 17 April 2027
300 – 15 May 2027
400 – 22 May 2027
600 – 29 May 2027

The ‘Mad March 200’ will take place on 14 March 2027.

Full details of all these rides will be published in the near future.

You’ll need those winter miles, so make sure you keep riding through Dec, Jan and Feb!