Islamic creationist in the clink

I picked this story up from Pharyngula.  The crazed Islamic creationist Harun Yahya, real name Adnan Oktar has been banged up for three years by an Istanbul court (Reuters).

Oktar runs a bizarre publishing enterprise that sends out huge and lavishly illustrated but bizarrely argued tomes vainly trying to discredit evolution.  The strategy seems to be to compare fossils with extant species, claim no morphological difference between them, then state this proves evolution to be false.  As a wild-eyed strategy this is rather amusing, such as the comparison of a spider crab with a spider.  He is certainly taxonomically challenged.  Perhaps I'll scan some examples later...I have a copy of one of these volumes that was sent to me a year ago...

He's been convicted of "creating an illegal organization for personal gain".

NBRC club 10, F5d/10 7/5/08

We had a lovely summery spring evening for this event, one of our interclub events between the North Bucks Road Club and the A5 Rangers, and it brought out a field of 32 riders.  There was quite a stiff easterly breeze, which made me rather apprehensive about likely times on this course, which is not exactly a dragstrip!', '

In the event however most, if not all, riders recorded improvements, with some particularly strong rides.  I was pleased to improve by nearly half a minute to 22:56.  The breeze actually helped us up the hill to the DC section and up to the turn.

Tony's official writeup is here.

                Pos. on
Pos No Name Club Time Cat Vets Std .+ / - Vets Std
                 
1 7 Stuart Tarry Team Sanjan Design 21.46 S      
2 29 Simon Cannings TeamMK 21.58 S      
3 5 Tony Parks NBRC 22.01 V43 26.06 .+ 4.05 7
4 16 Rob Fletcher High Wycombe CC 22.11 S      
5 9 Nick Pitt Team Sanjan Design 22.36 S      
6 23 Ian Marshall TeamMK 22.41 S      
7 32 Geoff Perry TeamMK 22.45 V48 27.07 .+ 4.22 5
8 11 Rob Saunders NBRC 22.56 V48 27.07 .+ 4.11 6
9 18 Lee Goodman TeamMK 23.13 S      
10 14 Greg Lewis Sigma Sport 23.36 V44 26.18 .+ 2.42 12
11 31 Kevin Stokes NBRC 23.37 V46 26.42 .+ 3.05 10
12 24 Fred Edwards TeamMK 23.40 V50 27.33 .+ 3.53 8
13 8 Ian Stokes NBRC 23.49 V48 27.07 .+ 3.18 9
14 21 Lindz Barral TeamMK 24.10 S      
15 12 Brian Primett NBRC 25.06 V41 25.42 .+ 0.36 18
16 6 Chris Hartley NBRC 25.30 V50 27.33 .+ 2.03 14
17 4 Trevor Parrish A5 Rangers CC 25.42 V63 30.30 .+ 4.48 2
18 3 Andy Lambeth NBRC 25.51 V50 27.33 .+ 1.42 16
19 26 Murray Kirton A5 Rangers CC 26.00 V67 31.30 .+ 5.30 1
20 1 Alan Lawson NBRC 26.05 S      
21 13 Gilbert Wheelwright NBRC 26.26 V65 31.00 .+ 4.34 4
22 27 Stuart Chung NBRC 26.42 S      
23 25 David Stockton A5 Rangers CC 26.48 V67 31.30 .+ 4.42 3
24 17 Tony Brunton NBRC 27.34 V43 26.06 .- 1.28 21
25 2 Chris Parkes NBRC 27.46 V48 27.07 .- 0.39 20
26 10 Dave Garrard NBRC 28.12 V60 29.48 .+ 1.36 17
26 20 Mick Holiday A5 Rangers CC 28.16 V51 27.46 .- 0.30 19
28 15 Dick Selley NBRC 28.45 V67 31.30 .+ 2.45 11
29 28 Katherine Dilks NBRC 29.42 SL      
30 30 Brian Hills NBRC 30.33 V72 32.46 .+ 2.13 13
31 22 Derek Taylor NBRC 32.35 V78 34.22 .+ 1.47 15
32 19 Sue Holiday A5 Rangers CC 33.38 LV51 29.34 .- 4.04 22
                 

Time keepers :- Mary Hartley & Tony Farmborough NBRC

Icknield RC 25, F1/25 (4/5/08)

Once again (again), the forecast was for rain, and this time (unlike Wednesday), it turned out to be a pleasant morning for a time trial.  This was only my second solo 25 of the season, and it was held on the F1/25, using the version with turns at the Sandy and Buckden roundabouts.  In past seasons, I've never had a good ride on this course. On the day, it was pretty mlld, and in fact I felt a bit too warm with my arm warmers on.  Once again, I rode the Cougar with the trispoke clinchers - a configuration I'm very happy with.', '

I had quite an early start, at 7.16 (number 31, bizarrely).  The seeding of the field seemed a little odd.  Not that I am disputing being on a 1.  What little wind there was presented a headwind for the southbound legs (i.e. to the Sandy RAB, and from the Buckden RAB to the finish.  This didn't present too much of an obstacle, in contrast to my inability to keep the speed up over the undulations in the course.  I suppose that offers some pointers to how I should modify my training.

My result was a 57:43 (and no punctures in contrast to my clubmate Ian Stokes, who was a DNS due to a puncture before he started).  Out of a full field, I came 32nd...

1 Sam Barker  Planet X   00:51:17   
2 Ian Cammish  Planet X   00:51:40  +19.59 
3 Paul Mill  Team Edwardes/Elite Cycling   00:51:59  +14.01 
4 Barry Charlton  Lyme RC   00:52:09  +14.51 
5 James Heaton  Rugby RC   00:52:16  +13.44 
6 Jason Gurney  Team Milton Keynes   00:52:58   
7 Neil Kirk  North Notts Olympic RC   00:54:02  +14.29 
8 Dan Staite  Python RT   00:54:10   
9 Andre Dyason  PCA Ciclos Uno   00:54:27  +15.06 
10 Dave Kendall  Finsbury Park CC   00:54:31   
11 Tony Stott  Wheelspin Cycles   00:54:39  +23.41 
11 Ian Waddilove  Fenland Clarion CC   00:54:39  +17.32 
12 Martin Jones  Fenland Clarion CC   00:55:08   
13 Stuart Tarry  Team Sanjan Design   00:55:10   
14 Simon Cannings  Team Milton Keynes   00:55:15   
15 Mark Simmons  Team Milton Keynes   00:55:21   
16 Ian Wroblewski  Leicestershire RC   00:55:56   
17 Paul Lilley  Fenland Clarion CC   00:56:00  +14.04 
18 Zak Moore  45 Road Club   00:56:04  +10.26 
19 Neill Coventry  www.agiskoviner.com   00:56:10  +14.57 
20 Dave Green  RAF CC   00:56:20  +11.40 
21 Hugh Vivian  Finsbury Park CC   00:56:21  +11.09 
22 Paul Davis  St Ives CC   00:56:30  +10.30 
23 Darren Jewell  Glos City CC   00:56:39   
24 Nick Jackson  Cambridge CC   00:56:51  +9.39 
25 Ian Mackerness  FVS Tri   00:56:55  +10.35 
26 Steven Madeley  Ogmore Valley Wheelers   00:57:04  +11.58 
27 Ken Roesner  Fat Birds CC   00:57:14  +12.50 
28 David Pearson  VC Lincoln   00:57:24   
29 Nicholas Pitt  Team Sanjan Design   00:57:30   
30 Dean Clarke  Fat Birds CC   00:57:36  +10.24 
31 Andrew Murphy  Haverhill Wheelers   00:57:42   
32 Robert Saunders  North Bucks RC   00:57:43  +12.21 

 

NBRC Club time trial, Stony Stratford 30/4/08


Once again, the forecast was not good for a time trial: this time the forecast was accurate! It turned out to be a hard evening on the course, with a headwind up the hill to the turn, and light rain.

Because the event was over at Stony Stratford (F5u/10 - though despite what the code suggests, the course version we use is 11.4 miles), I rode down to work on the Cougar TT bike, then on to the event after work.  By then, there was light rain which eased a little by the time I got to Stony.  On the way, however, I had yet another puncture (while I was evading a traffic jam on Brickhill St by popping briefly onto the redway).  I had no tyre levers, but discovered I could use 50p coins instead! This was the fifth puncture of the 2008 season.

Anyway, 12 riders showed up for the event.  It wasn't quite as cold as it looked, but the headwind out to the turn made life a bit difficult, and for me the return leg was hampered by nerves at the twists and turns in the road in the fast descents - since the crash I had a few years back in the Icknield early season hilly when cornering in the wet, I've been a bit more (too?) cautious. For much of my ride, it was raining lightly, and this had the beneficial effect of getting ride of the clouds of annoying insects that seem to come off the fields just to get up your nose and into your eyes!

In the end I took second place after Stuart Tarry.  I was first NBRC rider, but got pipped by Glibert on vets standard.  I rode home uneventfully, except for the twerp who tried to pass me on the left while I was negotiating a double roundabout

 

Result of the NBRC Time Trial held on Wednesday 30th of April 2008  
Course:- F5u/10 (Stony Stratford)   League Round 2      
                Pos. on
Pos No Name Club Time Cat Vets Std .+ / - Vets Std
                 
1 4 Stuart Tarry Team Sanjan Design 27.13 S      
2 11 Rob Saunders NBRC 28.12 V48 31.11 .+ 2.59 2
3 10 Kevin Stokes NBRC 28.29 V45 30.29 .+ 2.00 3
4 9 John Buchanan NBRC 28.55 S      
5 2 Darren Haydon NBRC 30.02 S      
6 12 Lindz Barral TeamMK 30.14 S      
7 8 Brian Primett NBRC 30.29 V41 29.33 .- 0.56 5
8 6 Chris Hartley NBRC 31.31 V50 31.41 .+ 0.10 4
9 7 Richard Stanton NBRC 32.05 S      
10 1 Alan Lawson NBRC 32.35 S      
11 5 Gilbert Wheelwright NBRC 32.37 V65 35.39 .+ 3.02 1
12 3 Chris Parkes NBRC 35.55 V48 31.11 .- 4.44 6
                 
Time Keepers:- Mary Hartley & Tony Farmborough NBRC

 

Norlond 10 27/4/08 F5d/10

The forecast was for rain, but as it turned out, this event was held on a rather lovely spring morning, with a gentle breeze.  The event was organised by the North Bucks Road Club, with the clubroom used as the HQ,  We used the F5d/10, which is the new '10' course based on the Stoke Hammond bypass.

Conditions were fairly similar to those for the recent NBRC club event, and I improved by a measly 3 seconds to record a 23:25.  As far as I recall, the winning time was a long 21 - a fine ride by Jason Gurney (Team MK).  It was good to see a strong turnout from NBRC members.

This is the third event run on the F5d/10 - I reckon it's a pretty tough course, with a lot of climbing (OK the gradients are pretty shallow, but when trying to maintain a reasonable race pace they are quite hard!) to the turn.

Results to follow.