Banbury Star Cyclists' Club

October 2017 newsletter

Autumn officially arrived just over a week ago, but it has in no way diminished the enthusiasm of our increasing membership to get out on their bikes for our popular weekend rides. These will of course continue throughout the winter months, plus a planned midweek evening ride. Details of this and other new ventures will be revealed at our forthcoming quarterly meeting, so please try and attend, as we want your input and views.

Full details of the meeting, its new venue and some of the topics for discussion are given below.

Remember, this is your newsletter, so please send any comments, ideas or proposals regarding its content to the Press Officer.

email the Press Officer

All previous newsletters are now available to view on the club website and can be viewed by clicking on this link:

Newsletter archives

Presidential musings

So that's it, 25 weekly time trials have passed in the blink of an eye and our TT bikes can be tucked away safely for the winter*, to be dusted off next March when we'll resume battle up at Gaydon once more. This season has seen record entries and most encouragingly, attracted a broader spread of abilities. Thank you to everyone who has contributed, whether it was timekeeping, pushing off, marshalling, signage or doing the press reports. It's a huge effort but well worth it.

Our first retro ride, held in conjunction with Golden Age Cycles was a great success and will definitely be repeated again next year. Watching some of the fitter club riders on bikes built before they were even born struggle up some of Banbury's hills really brought home how tough cycling must have been for our forebears in the club many years ago. Whilst we enjoy reliable, lightweight bikes and clothing they must have cursed their heavy frames, lack of gearing and brakes with dubious efficiency. I think they enjoyed better roads though!

The Autumn Reliability Ride is just around the corner and I'm hoping that lots of members come along to test themselves and their bikes. Traditionally that was the end of cycling for the year, however we are planning on keeping the momentum going during the darker months with regular Wednesday evening rides and the addition of mountain biking (shock horror!).

Lastly, the response to the post by Mark Boyles regarding racing for the club in 2018 has been fantastic and will add yet another dimension to club life. This, along with many other topics will be discussed at the next club quarterly meeting and I'd like to encourage as many members as possible to come along and join in.

We will end what's been an amazing year with the annual trophy and awards dinner, details for this are at the end of the newsletter. Pre-booking is essential to secure a reservation.

Paul 

*unless you're riding in the Thruxton event!

PS we still need a member to step forward and help out in the role of Treasurer. It's a small amount of time and you'll be making a huge contribution to the smooth running of the club. 

Members corner

At our last quarterly meeting Lee Heron, with others, agreed to help set up and organise a Youth Section for the club. The process and planning is now underway and below Lee sets out where we are as a club and our objectives for the future.

"Banbury Start Cyclists' Club is going from strength to strength with record levels of membership, record attendance at the three weekend club rides, record numbers of competitors at this year’s club TT’s and a growing number of Stars competing in local and national events. There will be significant focus over the winter months on the adult racing team ensuring that a solid foundation is put in place for continued growth in that area. The club will also be working hard to retain members new and old providing a more diverse set of events and activities alongside the existing weekend club rides.

What you may not be aware of however, is that there is also a group of Stars working towards starting a youth section of the club. Together we are targeting the first ever BSCC youth club event in April 2018. Providing an opportunity for riders between the age of 7 and 16 to get involved with structured training and events throughout the year.

It has been recognised by many committee and club members that the key to our clubs continued growth and success is bringing in younger members. In order to do this, we must provide a safe environment for young riders to participate, with an appropriate level of facilities and we must get the right team in place to provide mentoring, coaching, welfare and child protection for all youth riders.

We have already had a number of Stars step forward with offers to help with the youth section. We will be asking for additional volunteers in the future and more importantly, asking for you to bring your children and their friends along when the youth sessions start in April.

Banbury Star will become Go-Ride registered and it is our objective to achieve Clubmark accreditation within the first 12 months of starting the youth section. We will be working with British Cycling in the coming months to ensure that we meet our obligations and ensure that we are in a position to provide a fun and exciting pathway for young riders to get into our sport, in our area.

More exciting developments are on the way…"

The above is another example of how you can use Members corner to have your say, or perhaps make a request, on any cycle or club related subject. Names can be withheld if that's your preference. The link below is your contact. 

email the Press Officer

Membership

The club continues to grow rapidly with new members joining frequently, so a warm welcome to the following who've joined in September:

Luke Sherlock, Tobi Ng, Lizzie Tym, Rebecca Mountford, Matt Ager, Paul Terry, Claire Stratford and Rajinder Gill.

Join now and your membership carries over to the end of 2018!

Join here

Quarterly meeting - 17th October

The club's Autumn quarterly meeting will be held on Tuesday 17th October at Wroxton Sports Club starting at 7.30pm. Please just note this is not the village hall as before, but the sports club, which is on the small road almost opposite The White House on the road to Horley. Subject to your approval, this will also now be the new HQ for our March Hardriders TT.

If you'd like a topic discussed please contact our Secretary, Ian Maconnachie who will add it to the agenda.

 

email the Secretary

Results - La Vuelta (Tour of Spain)

 La Vuelta finished in Madrid on 10th September after 21 stages with Chris Froome winning not only the Individual Red Jersey by a margin of 2m 15s, but also the Green Points Jersey and the White Combined Jersey.

As a result he became only the third rider in history and the first for 39 years to win two Grand Tours (France and Spain) in the same year.

Davide Villella (Canondale Drapac) won the climbers Polka-dot Jersey and Astana Pro Team won the team competition.

The full results can be found by clicking on this link                      

La Vuelta results

Results - 2017 OVO Energy Tour of Britain

The Tour of Britain finished in Cardiff after 8 stages, also on 10th September. The winner, by just 8 seconds, was Lars Boom (Lotto-Jumbo), Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) won the Wiggle Points Jersey and Laurens De Plus (Quickstep) won the Skoda KOM Jersey.

Team Lotto-Jumbo won the team competition and Geriant Thomas, who finished 7th overall, won the Best British Rider Award.

The full results can again be found by clicking on this link

Full results

We should also mention that Peter Sagan (Slovakia) won his third consecutive World Road Race title in Bergen, Norway on 17th Sept.

2017 Time Trial Season Review

It's over - 25 Wednesday night's of fun - a record number of entries with more women and first timers giving time trialling a go. As we all know, it wouldn't happen and be so well run if it wasn't for Keri Williams, so yet again we say a big thank you. Plans are already well advanced for next years calendar and events with CTT.

In the meantime here are the winners of some of the main club TT trophies that have been won this year. There are others to be awarded, but we still need to check, analyse and complete a bit of research before these can be awarded.

K4/25W Manners Handicap - Toby Heron

K4/25W Russell Memorial Bowl - Simon Kisley

K4/30P Edmunds Cup - Simon Kisley

K4/25W Friswell Cup - Lee Heron

KH5 Hill Climb Durran Cup - Chris Bull

Trinders Downhill Freewheel Trophy - Ian Maconnachie

H25/17 Leiden Plaque - Banbury Star CC

A5 Inter Club Cup - Banbury Star CC

Wednesday results

Autumn Reliability Ride

This year’s BSCC Autumn Reliability Ride will take place on Sunday 8th October. The route is a familiar but picturesque 60 mile/100km ride on quiet roads down to Burford, taking in the delights of the Cotswolds and with a few climbs thrown in for good measure.


Headquarters and ride starting point will be at Woodgreen Leisure Centre, Banbury, OH16 0HS. The HQ will be open from 0830 and Buzzy Beans will be on hand to provide coffee. Entry fee is a mere £2.

Reliability ride info and map

Cafe of the month

The Moon and Sixpence is located in the centre of Hanwell, two miles north west of Banbury. Postcode OX17 1HW. It's a new addition to our list of coffee stops and already a firm favourite. With advance warning a room is reserved for us with coffee and cakes awaiting. Like many of our stops this is a pub and restaurant and the link below to their website illustrates what an excellent venue this is.

The Moon & Sixpence

Race Section news

Following Mark's messages on Facebook and in last month's newsletter, the interest in forming a racing section has been amazing. Mark is now putting together a proposal to take this forward, which will be presented at our forthcoming October quarterly meeting.

This section will therefore now become a regular feature of the newsletter, so watch this space. If you haven't yet expressed your interest in this new venture, then please let Mark Boyles know via the link below.

email Mark

Youth Section news

An initial meeting has now been held by the members who expressed an interest in a youth section at our last quarterly meeting. We hope to have a representative from British Cycling at our next meeting to assist us further.

Watch this space for more details as a new chapter in the history of Banbury Star unfolds. 

Sustrans - Guides & Books

Sustrans, the cycling charity, is well known for creating and maintaining The National Cycle Network, but they also have a large range of guides and books for cyclists. So if you're thinking about planning an End to End, Coast to Coast or long distance UK ride next summer, Sustrans will surely have something to help you plan. Their new and updated range is available to see by clicking the link below.

Sustrans - Guides & Books

Thruxton RTTC time trial 15th October

A large contingent of Star members have already entered this popular season ending event on the closed Thruxton race circuit. If you're still interested in entering then please note that entries now close on 4th October.

Below is the link to the entry details

Entry details

Mountain biking

It may be heresy to the purists but Banbury Star is branching out into all things muddy this month. We have quite a few members who enjoy going off-road and have asked if a mountain bike ride could be organised.

Steve Goddard has kindly offered to run one and gauge interest - it won't be too technical but will be off-road so be prepared. If you need convincing about the joys and benefits of mountain biking, then why not read again the blog posted back in January on the subject. Click on the link below.

The first ride will be on Saturday 14th October, meeting at Spiceball Leisure Centre at 1.45pm for a 2pm departure. The route will take about 2 hours in total and be a mixture of gravel paths and off-road so please come dressed accordingly and be prepared for mud!

MTB blog

New club kit

It's now time to think about winter kit with the opening of another order window. All club members have received an email from Endura in the last few days detailing what is available. If you don't receive the mail please contact Dave Speck. Ordering will close at midnight on the 2nd October (that's tomorrow!) so you do need to be speedy if you want to look the part this winter.

New members qualify for a £20 refund from the club when you make your first purchase of kit.

Contact Dave Speck
How to order club kit

Banbury Star Retro Ride 10th September

A big thank you must go to Brian Reid for coming up with the idea of this new event, which will surely now be added to the club's annual calendar. With the growing interest in old and classic bicycles this is just the sort of new event the club needs to appeal to its growing membership. The inaugural Banbury Star Retro Ride on Sunday 10th September attracted a fine diverse entry of pre 1987 bikes, some hired from Brian's Golden Age Cycle shop. Light rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the riders on their 30 mile route, with a well timed halfway stop for coffee and cake at the popular Chandlers Arms in Epwell.

Among the bikes entered were models from Merlin, Holdsworth, Jack Taylor, Rotrax, Lotus, Carlton, Major Nichols and Raleigh. However, the most interesting bike was probably the Copenhagen Pederson, which won the trophy for the best of entry award for its suitably attired owner Richard Scrase. The ride also raised money for the charity Recycle – Bikes for Africa.

Winner of the trophy for the best entry went to Richard Scrase on his unusual narrow tubed triangulated frame Copenhagen Pederson.

Weekend Club Rides

Please note: The Banbury Star Reliability Ride is on Sunday 8th October with starts from 9am. There will still be a normal intermediate ride that day, but not a fast ride.

Please look at the club's website and Facebook group for details of organised rides, all of which have downloadable Garmin maps

10.00am Saturday: easy café ride.

9.00am Sunday: fast ride

10.00am Sunday: intermediate café ride.

All rides now start at Broadribbs Cycles. 

Club ride calendar

The club blog

We've had some great blogs recently, with Bill Ord's contribution, "Life Cycle or A Cycle Life", receiving many favourable comments. Now the race/TT season is over we'd love to hear from members as to how they got on during the year. The blog is a great way to inspire and encourage others to try other cycling disciplines.

Read the club blogs

We've only one promised blog in the pipeline at the moment, so please keep the stories, topics, events, rides, opinions and general comments coming. A good photo is always welcome as well.

blogger@banburystar.co.uk is waiting to hear from you

Banbury Star CC social evenings

The next social night will be on Thursday 5th October at the White Horse pub in Banbury, starting at 7.30pm to which all members are invited.

Annual dinner and prize giving

Our club's annual dinner and prize giving will be held on Friday 15th December with a change of venue from previous years with the 2017 event being held at Voujon restaurant on South Bar Street in Banbury, meeting at 7pm for a 7.30pm dinner.

The cost will be £20 per person, payable in advance, for what will be a set Indian-themed multi-course dinner. The restaurant can also cater for anyone who prefers something non-Indian or vegetarian - we just need to tell them as early as possible.

It's essential to book your spot now as this event will sell out quickly. The club's bank account is 46009578 and the sort code is 05-02-16. 

Upcoming events

Social Nights 7.30pm:

  • Thursday 5th October
  • Thursday 2nd November

Banbury Star Reliability Ride 8th October 

Mountain bike ride: Saturday 14th October

Quarterly meeting: Tuesday 17th October

Annual dinner and prize giving: Friday 15th December

For more details and other events please look at the calendars on the club’s website or Facebook group.

Club rides calendar
Racing calendar

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