January 2018 newsletter

When we started to produce these newsletters in March last year, we did wonder whether or not we'd have enough news and information to produce them monthly. However, with a growing membership, a thriving time trial season, new initiatives and activities and increasing numbers on our weekends rides, there's always been something to write about and report. So, don't forget to check your mailbox on the first day of every month throughout 2018 for more Star news.

As we've said before, this is your newsletter, so please send any comments, ideas or proposals regarding its content to the Press Officer.

All 10 of last year's newsletters are now available to view on the club website and can be viewed by clicking on this link:

Presidential musings (long edition!)

So that's it, 2017 is done and dusted and on behalf of the club I'd like to thank you for being with the club this year and wish you and your families a successful and prosperous New Year.

Over Christmas, I spent some time looking back through the website, these newsletters, the blogs and the many Facebook posts to remind myself what we've achieved last year and just how far we've come in 12 short months with a view of giving me some ideas of the club's goals for 2018.

Let's remind ourselves of some of the great events we put on this year:

• January: The AGM and the start of the rebuilding of our club
• February: The Spring Reliability Ride took place in very un-spring like conditions. 
• March: The Hardriders time trial lived up to its name with a torrential downpour before the start threatening the entire event. The Cycling Weekly magazine "Ride With...." article and a four-page write up on the club eventually took place after two false starts due to bad weather.
• April: An average of 45 riders turned up for the weekly Time Trials. Ten members undergo formal ride leader training.
• May: The club ran another successful road race day, even without British Cycling officials for the morning men's race. Five members take a wrong turn on the Tysoe 10m TT, some never seen again.
• June: Two teams took part in the 9-up team trial on Silverstone's F1 circuit. Temperatures in the 90's affect the 30m TT.
• July: Almost 40 members took part in the Broughton Castle sportive. Joby Mullens rode LEJOG unsupported.
• August: Banbury Star regained the Leyden Plaque time trial trophy. 40 members turned up on a special ride to help celebrate my 50th birthday. Simon Bull rode from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean along the Pyrenees.
• September: Will Fox goes under the minute mark to win the hill climb event. The first retro ride for old bikes was held.
• October: We go off-road with the first monthly mountain bike ride.
• November: club rides continued to attract record numbers.
• December: new Saturday intermediate ride launched.

It really has been a memorable 12 months for me as both a club member and also President and to see the club flourishing once more is very rewarding. Having members volunteer to run events and initiatives shows the club is in a healthy state.

A new year means New Year's resolutions and I hope yours are cycling related? For the club, these are my hopes and aspirations:

• more women and youth/junior members
• reaching 200 members by the end of the year
• more club rides to satisfy the demand
• Go Ride introduced and delivering
• the race squad achieving its aims of getting BSCC back on the local road race and TT circuits
• greater participation in club meetings

January also means it's membership renewal time and there are more details below about how to do it. I hope you've enjoyed 2017 with us and we've delivered on your expectations of the club, stick around in 2018 as it's going to get even better.

Paul

Annual dinner and prize giving

The annual dinner took place in a packed Voujon on Friday 15th December with a great meal warming up the chilliest of members and guest before the club's trophies were awarded.

The 2017 winners were:

Edmunds Cup: Simon Kisley

Manners Cup: Toby Heron

Durran Cup: Chris Bull

Lester Cup: Keith Barcock

Friswell Cup: Lee Heron

Startford Cup: Andrew Wallwork

Russell Memorial Bowl: Simon Kisley

Thomas Best All-Rounder Cup: Keith Barcock

Powell Trophy: Reuben Trotter

Cavalcade Race Cup: Greg Fitzek (Cowley Road Condors)

Wali Shield: Stuart Quick

Bolland Trophy: Reuben Trotter

Trinders Trophy: Ian Maconnachie

Thomas Veterans Cup: Keith Barcock

Simon Smith Memorial Cup: Tim Butt

Broughton Cup: Jack O'Neil (Team Jewson)

A5 Inter-Club Cup: Banbury Star (Simon Kisley)

Leyden Plaque: Banbury Star (Toby Heron)

President's Award: John Tustian

Congratulations to all the winners who deservedly earned their trophies both on and off the road!

Membership

As a new year starts It's time to renew your club membership if you want to continue taking part in the club rides and events. We have decided that membership renewals will be done online so as we get up to date records for everyone which are then securely stored in compliance with the Data Protection Act and to also ease the burden on the membership secretary now we have so many members. Please note there is an increase in the price of the time-trial supplement for 2018. 

If you are an existing member you can do it by following this link:

Mudguards

Winter brings with it many challenges for us cyclists: frost, ice, snow, rain, leaves and mud. Plenty of mud! This can be a real problem when riding in a group due to the spray hitting the following riders.

The spray is significantly reduced but not eliminated by the fitting of a decent pair of guards so with this in mind, the club have purchased a small stock of custom-printed mudguard extension flaps which have been successfully trialled on the mud-coated roads of Banburyshire. The flaps are durable, easy to fit to any type of guard and work very well. If you'd like to buy one please contact Paul who will add your name to the next order.

Hardriders 2018

The club's 2018 racing season kicks off on Sunday 4th March with the Hardriders event, a 23 mile individual time trial from Wroxton to Ettington and back with the not insignificant lump of Sunrising Hill to be negotiated in each direction.

As well as the usual vast sums of money for the winners, this year we will be introducing prizes for the fastest men's and women's teams (time for three to finish) and also a KoM and QoM prize for the fastest ascent of Sunrising.

Entry will be via the CTT website which should be live in the next few days.

The website

WWW.BANBURYSTAR.CO.UK

Over the last 18 months the website has seen some big changes and improvements and these will continue as the club grows. The biggest bonus of these changes has been attracting around 100 new members to the club.

We must remember that not everyone uses Facebook, so the website remains the best way of promoting the club and all its events and activities to the widest possible audience. Also, questions are often asked on Facebook when the answer can be found on the website.

The latest update to the website is membership renewal - described above. The 2018 time trial calendar is already up on the Racing page, the Club Rides page is full of interesting information and don't forget the About BSCC page. Future developments will feature Race Squad and Go-Ride pages. 

2018 Time Trial Season Preview

We're now deep into the winter months and hopefully your TT bike is safely tucked away until the better weather returns. It won't be long until our first 2018 event is upon - the much-feared Hardriders 23 mile slog involving Sunrising Hill.

We've proposed to CTT and the relevant police authorities a calendar of events for 2018 that will require an additional marshal each evening compared to previous years because of the number of riders we are expecting. We have secured the services of everyone's favourite timekeeper, Mr Keri Williams, once more but he has asked to be excused duties for a couple of weeks when he disappears off to his summer retreat and we will need volunteers to deputise in his absence. Rumour has it he is also going to actually dig out the lycra and show the rest of us a clean pair of freshly-shaven legs on a few TTs too!

Marshals for the TTs haven't yet been assigned, that joyous task will happen in the next few weeks but the old trick of delaying rejoining the club in the hope your name is missed off the list isn't going to excuse you from duties if you've TT'd in the last couple of years!

Click the link below for the calendar and then go and give your TT bike a gentle pat and let it know it will soon be called into service once more.

Banbury Star Road Race Sunday 27th May

Now you've all got new calendars and diaries, our annual road race, on the above date, can now be added. This is the club's main event of the year - so if you're not entering, we really need your help and support on the day. We continue to receive excellent feedback from British Cycling officials regarding our smooth organisation which many members contribute to by giving freely of their time both in the build-up and on the day.

Winter cycling

As we all know it can be cold, wet and at times muddy out on the roads at this time of the year, so we've found another Global Cycling Network video with some useful tips for winter cycling.

Cafe of the month

The White Horse Inn, Duns Tew

The first of our combined Saturday Gentle and Intermediate rides met at the White Horse, a venue that not many members had been to before. It's a truly classic village pub with nooks and crannies and a great atmosphere, Again another pub offering a warm welcome to cyclists, good coffee and as can be seen from their website an excellent bar and restaurant.

Race Squad news

A regular fixture is now the Wednesday night turbo training session. Held at Wroxton Sports Club it runs from 6.30 to 7.30pm. but please arrive 15 minutes early to set up. You'll need your bike, a turbo plus skewer, towel, drink and £3 for room hire. 

Please note:  Further details and updates should be sought via the club's Facebook page.

Youth Section news

If you've not already done so, then please contact Lee Heron via the link below if your children would be interested and if you'd like to become involved with the Rising Stars.

Mountain bike news

Our third club mountain bike ride finished off the year in fine style on Saturday with six riders enjoying some local off-road fun. Led again by Steve Goddard (second on left) the route covered  some interesting and varied terrain of around 18 miles. Details of January's ride will be posted on Facebook.

Bikes made in our area

Last month we drew your attention to a new bike by Aston Martin. Now they may be based at nearby Gaydon, but they're almost certainly not made there. However, two totally different bikes are now being built locally, with both receiving good reviews.

Above is the new Santander TfL Cycle Hire bike which is being made by Pashley Cycles in Stratford on Avon. Around 10% lighter than the original Canadian built bikes, they also boast a more comfortable ride and better brakes and lights.

Below is the Hummingbird bike, which is being built by Prodrive at their Banbury factory. Made with a carbon frame, it is claimed to be the lightest folding bike in the world - but it's not cheap.

2018 Tour de Yorkshire

Details of the above event were recently announced, which takes place on 3rd to 6th May. This will be the fifth running of this increasingly popular event, which will run alongside a women's race on 3rd/4th May. Full details can be found by clicking on the link below.

New club kit

The latest batch of the new club kit was delivered recently with long sleeved tops and waterproof jackets now much in evidence on club rides. It was decided at the last quarterly meeting that with our earned Endura credit we will now hold a limited stock of just Small, Medium and Large jerseys. Dave Speck has again kindly agreed to hold this stock.

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

The next ordering window will be in January 2018 for spring and summer items, each member will shortly receive an email informing them at the time.

Members Corner

In case you didn't see it, or are not on Facebook, member William Peel-Yates recently posted this message. It refers to SunVelo's Majorca 312 Sportive event at the end of April.

"I want to set up a group to see if we can do a club trip and get the cost down. Estimated cost £700 might be less (I hope) might be more. I have some interest already, but please email me via the link below if you are interested".

Full details of the event can be found by clicking on the link below

Weekend Club Rides

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.

10.00am Saturday: intermediate café ride.

9.00am Sunday: fast ride.

10.00am Sunday: intermediate café ride.

Coming soon: Sunday 9:00am intermediate non-café ride

All rides now start at Broadribbs Cycles. 

The club blog

The old club archives we've recently acquired were the inspiration for our press officer to write our latest blog. Following on from the blog Lydia Watts wrote on gender inequality, it was fascinating to read that between 1891, when the club started, until 1935, the club was strictly male only.

We'd love to hear from more members with their cycle related stories, so don't be shy blogger@banburystar.co.uk is waiting to hear from you.

Banbury Star CC social evenings

The 2018 season of club activities starts with our usual monthly social night on Thursday 4th January at the White Horse pub at 7.30pm to which all members are invited.

Registered for the Velodrome visit yet?

Upcoming events

Social night White Horse at 7.30pm Thursday 4th January

Race Squad Turbo Training 6.30 to 7.30pm every Wednesday  

Next Mountain Bike ride date will be posted on Facebook 

Annual General Meeting: Tuesday 30th January

Hardriders Time Trial Sunday 4th March

Derby velodrome trip: Friday 9th March

Come & Try 5 mile TT Wednesday 28th March

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

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