Club Newsletter – Late Winter 2024

Newsletter schedule

Feedback for our quarterly newsletters has been overwhelmingly positive. However, there is concern that quarterly, is not frequent enough to get club news out in a timely fashion. Newsletters are a time-honoured tradition for the club and whilst there is still a place for them, we want to get the right balance with a growing social media presence. To address this, we plan to put out smaller newsletters more frequently with a focus on news and forthcoming events. We will publish the detailed reports submitted by our sections on the website, as soon as they become available and publish links to them in the newsletter. If you have difficulty accessing any of these reports online, do let us know and we can forward you copies by email.

Forthcoming event highlights

Note we have corrected the start of Castle Combe from that originally published.

• Wednesday 20th March – Club night at the Sports Club – Talk on time-trialling by Paul Winchcombe.
• Wednesday 27th March – First of the series of Wednesday evening time-trials.
• Friday 29th March – Good Friday Classic racing at Castle Combe – all help appreciated.
• Tuesday 9th April – Group riding training at Castle Combe Circuit restarting.
• Wednesday 17th April – Club night at the Sports Club – Exercise is Good for You!  (Or is it?) – Talk by Jamie Brosch.

Good Friday Easter Classic – 29th March

A day of cycle racing for all ages and abilities. Youth racing for each age category during the morning. Senior races for all categories including Regional races for 4th and 3rd Cat seniors, as well as National races for Elite Ladies and Men in the afternoon. The usual help is required to support the club running these races. Jobs are:

• From 8 am – Setting up:
  • PA system
  • Gazebos
  • Branding
  • Feather flags
  • Crowd Control Barriers
  • Registration desks
  • Etc
• Gear checking for youth categories.
• Marshalling for the separate U8, & U10 races that use the pit lane circuit.
• Volunteers to help at Registration.
• Assistant judges to support the BC Chief Judge with their duties.

Throughout the day, we will witness around 600 competitors representing some of the best domestic riders in the UK. Past competitors have been six times World Champion Zoe Backstedt; Tour de France stage winner and winner of Paris Roubaix Magnus Backstedt; Current Ladies National Champion Pfeiffer Georgi to name just a few. If you can spare time to help for either part of the day or the whole day please get in touch. andy@andycookcycling.com 07811156141.

Time Trails

The cognoscenti will be well aware that the 2024 time trial season has started and many will have been motivated by the daily Facebook posts in the West Districts page with gems such as “I may not be the strongest, I may not be the fastest, but I’ll be damned if I’m not trying my hardest!” and that of course is the spirit of time trialling.  On 20 March Paul Winchcombe will be giving a talk on time trialling to demystify it and remind you that “you have to be in it, to win it”.  The first of the club evening competitions starts on Wednesday 27 March and this year we have a new 5 mile course for the Come and Try It Event (CATI). The CATI is on Wednesday 10 April and all are welcome, the club will cover the entry fees for all first time club riders dipping their toe into time trialling and of course you will get a Personal Best as it is a new course.  So why not make a promise to yourself to challenge yourself and discover just how fast you can be. You may surprise yourself!

Leisure and Challenge Rides

The full range of Challenge Rides (CR) is now in the Club Calendar. There are a total of twelve (12) rides, for the summer and early autumn, with the first over Gospel Pass on Sunday 21st April. Each of the following months has two CRs with the exception of October when the last will be on the 12th. The Leisure Ride (LR) program to the end of March has been approved by the Committee and are published on the Club Calendar. The rides into early summer will be proposed at the March committee meeting. On the days of a challenge ride or a long Audax, we will have a LR as an alternative, for members who are unable, due to time constraints, or do not wish to partake of a long ride. We hope there is something in the program that appeals to all the Club Members.

Monthly club night

The planned reintroduction of our monthly club nights at the Sports Club, has got off to a positive start with lively presentations including Midge’s ‘Review of 2023’ and Gary Harris’ guide to roadside repairs. We plan to run these at the Sports Club into April. As well as offering an opportunity for a cup of tea and a catch up, forthcoming club nights include: Paul Winchcombe’s Introduction to Time-trialling – Thinking about starting Time-Trialling…..or already a regular rider, their will be something of interest for everyone in this insight into time trial racing in 2024. From how to get started and what you need as a novice rider to the events available locally and nationally for the more experienced regular time trialists. What trophies the club has racing….information on the trophies available to compete for in this category. Exercise is Good for You!  (Or is it?) – Dr Jamie Brosch offers his personal take on how to ensure that your cycling boosts your health and well-being rather than grinding you down

Awards and Social Evening

Thank you to everyone who attended the Awards and Social evening on Saturday 17^th February at the Angel Hotel. 59 members, partners and friends of the Wheelers attended and enjoyed a full evening of eating, drinking, chatting, presentations, and dancing. Congratulations to all the award winners, most of whom were in attendance to collect their trophies, be it for Audax riding or time-trialling and presented by our Club President Mike Edwards. Mr Winchcombe leaving with biggest box of all of course. During the meal, Sue took to the microphone to introduce a surprise guest appearance from the current Chair of CTT, Cycling Time Trials West District, Peter Rogers. Peter was there to recognise our own club Chairman, Andy Cook for his outstanding services to cycling and all the hard work and effort he has, and continues to put into our sport. Andy was awarded the prestigious ‘District Medal’. Not forgetting the ‘Alternative Awards’ of The crash Trophy, The Gunner Trophy, The Half Wheel Trophy. Jim Baggett being the recipient for all three this year…Oh dear Jim…! There is of course one other ‘Alternative Award’ in The Lollers Best Dancer Award. There were a few contenders for this, but in the end it just had to go to Lauren Booth for her great moves to YMCA whilst still sitting in her chair… we just couldn’t persuade her to get on the dance floor. A raffle in aid of ‘Doorway’, the clubs Charity of the Year for 2024 raised an amazing £220. A big thanks to those who donated some great prizes including, TREK Bath, Cycology Bikes, Lowden Garden Centre, Sweetpea Kitchen at Hartham Park, Sweetapples Tearoom at Marshfield, The Best Ever Brownie Company, The Rowdey Cow and Tesco. Running alongside the Raffle was a Silent Auction for pictures kindly donated by John Pierce Photo Sport which raised £60 for Meningitis Now. Paul Winchcombe was the lucky recipient of the picture showing Mark Cavendish winning a stage of the Tour De France in Paris. Finally, we hope you all enjoyed the evening. Thank you to all of you who took time on the evening to come and say what a great evening you’d had.