Christmas 2021 Newsletter

2021 was another bumpy year with lockdown, vaccinations and boosters. 2022 also looks a little uncertain and the “new normal” is starting to be familiar. We hope that this newsletter finds our members and their families healthy and getting the miles in where they can.

Throughout 2021, your club has continued to organise a varied programme of events:

Regular Wednesday night time trial series and open time trial events. See 2021 time trial report here.
Saturday and Sunday rides for newcomers and seasoned club members alike.
Ad-hoc weekend off-road adventure rides were introduced with solid attendance.
Group riding even returned to Castle Combe on a Tuesday.
Occasional club social events.

Throughout the pandemic, the club has followed British Cycling guidance and our own risk assessment. We thank all members for following the required registration procedures and being good citizens both on and off the bike when at cafes etc.

Please find below a summary of the festive rides planned, the new Audax season and other points regarding club matters.

We wish all members a safe and healthy Christmas 2021 and look forward to seeing you on a bike or at a social event in the very near future.

Festive rides

Traditional Christmas Eve Ride – 24th Dec

All our December rides are now on the website in the club calendar, including our traditional Christmas Eve ride where bike decoration and other seasonal adornments are positively encouraged. Starting at the Chippenham Town Bridge, stopping at the M4 footbridge near Dauntsey and finishing at the Sports and Social Club for a festive drink and bar snacks. Come for the ride, or just come to the finish for the fun. All now published at https://www.chippenhamwheelers.org/events/traditional-christmas-eve/

Boxing Day Ride to Imber Village – 26th Dec

Well not quite to Imber Village as it’s still closed on Boxing Day but we will do our traditional alternative ride avoiding the village that the MOD uses for firing practice. Note this is a hard ride for experienced riders, with no stops except mechanicals or punctures, so come suitably prepared. Start at Chippenham cemetery gates at 08:00. Route and full details are on the website. https://www.chippenhamwheelers.org/events/imber-2021/

Boxing Day Easy-peasy Ride to the Old Royal Ship Inn, Luckington – 26th Dec

A nice easy ride, 26 miles, everyone welcome. A few of us enjoyed a lovely stop at the Old Royal Ship Inn on Boxing Day last year. They’ve confirmed they’ll be open for our visit this year, with coffee, mince pies, cake and possibly breakfast butties to enjoy. The aim is to be back home in time for lunch. An ideal chance to try out your new Christmas cycling gear, or new bike if you’re lucky enough to get one! Note this ride will start at Chippenham Rugby Club (near the entrance gates). https://www.chippenhamwheelers.org/events/boxing-day-easy-peasy-ride/

Audax Series 2022

After a year’s break we’re bringing back the club’s popular Fletcher’s Flapjack 100km Open Audax in March, which usually attracts over 100 riders. The ride is now named after Eric Fletcher who unfortunately passed away earlier this year. Eric organised the Flapjack on behalf of the club for many years.

The club Audax series starts with a 50km ride in January and then increases in distance by 25km each month to finish with a 200km randonee to the seaside in July. Ride as few or as many events as you like. You will be able to earn shiny medals depending on how many and how far you ride. We’re introducing three levels of medal award depending on the total distance you achieve in the Audax rides. All the rides are designed to be achievable for relatively new cyclists wanting to stretch their distance. They are not races, the aim is to complete the distance in the set time available and have a fun ride with friends. Look out for news and dates of the events on the website coming soon.

Club matters

Club social events

We had very good attendance at the club social held at the end of October. It had been a long time since we were able to meet indoors for a natter. Club kit was available for purchase or order and trophies were presented for the 2020 racing and Audax season.

Chippenham Wheelers will be celebrating its 90th birthday in 2022 and a social event will be organised to mark the occasion. More comms will be put out nearer the time or if you want to assist with the organising, please get in touch.

Annual General Meeting

The 2021 AGM did not take place as planned at the end of November due to not reaching quorum. A healthy debate took place about club matters and the AGM was to be rescheduled for the new year, maybe combined with a social event. It was felt that it would be good to present to the membership, a little about the club governance under our British Cycling affiliation and Sports England Clubmark accreditation.

The committee is looking for volunteers to assist with the running of the club. Shared between many people, the workload is quite small. Anyone interested in supporting the club through the positions of social secretary, comms manager or just helping out are encouraged to contact our club chairman or secretary.

Membership renewals

A reminder that club memberships are managed through RiderHQ and renewals are for 12 months. As such, renewals are taking place throughout the year. You will initially receive a reminder via email from notifications@riderhq.com with subject “Expiry reminder: Chippenham Wheelers within 22 days”. Unfortunately, the next email is to notify you of expiry. From either email, you can follow the links, logon to RiderHQ and effect the renewal. Note also that members may have multiple memberships managed by RiderHQ if you also attend the Castle Combe Tuesday night sessions. We hope to be able to make changes to increase the number of email reminders before actual expiry.

We have had reports of some reminder emails getting missed as they had incorrectly been marked as spam/junk and filtered out. Please check your spam/junk folders in case you might have missed something.

Any problems over renewals can be reported to the club secretary for investigation.

Ride registration lists

During 2021, discussions have been had around the ride registration process and whether to open this up so those registering can see who else is registered. During these discussions, the following view has been formed. The rider registration was a track-and-trace requirement following our club risk assessment. We are hopeful that the requirement for pre-registration will be removed in 2022 as it would reduce the admin burden on ride organisers. Quite often, members register for a ride the day before the ride itself. Therefore for a Sunday ride, the list of riders on a Friday is poor indication as to who will actually turn up. Making a list of riders available publicly has all sorts of data protection ramifications which we really don’t want to be dealing with. Finally, small groups of mates who want to ride together will most likely have their own group messaging that would allow them to check on who intended to ride at the weekend. We therefore have no intention of making pre-registration information available. You turn up for a ride, knowing that other club mates will be there ready for a good ride.