March 2019 newsletter

Already it's March and the month when the club's 2019 season really gets underway. It all starts this weekend with our annual Hardriders TT, quickly followed the next weekend by the Spring Reliability Ride. Our Wednesday night TT season begins on 27th with the 5 mile "Come and Try" event, with Race Squad and Rising Stars sessions continuing throughout the month. Added to all this, the clocks go forward on 31st and we can say goodbye to the mudguards rule. 

Please send any comments, ideas or proposals regarding the contents of the newsletter to the Press Officer. Copies of all previous newsletters can be found on the club website - About BSCC

Presidential ponderings

March is a great time of the year, one minute your're out riding in summer kit and the next up to your knees in snow wondering just when winter will end. So after the disappointment of having to cancel the 2018 Hardriders TT due to snow and freezing temperatures we are keeping everything crossed that the weather gods will be kinder to allow a fair competition up on Sunrising Hill this time around.

After that we go into the Spring Reliability Ride which is soon followed by the first of our greatly-anticipated club time trials with an easy 5 mile loosener as an introduction to the discipline. I hope many of our new members take the plunge into the addictive past time of time trialling. Any bike will do and you most certainly don't need the latest aerodynamic aids. A post-TT curry at the Indian Queen will also be held to help refuel and rehydrate.

We are trying to cut down on the club's postage bill for sending out membership cards and so our friends down at Broadribbs have offered to help by keeping them for collection. If you've yet to get yours why not nip down there and also use your club discount to buy some new cycling goodies?

See you on the road soon.

Paul

2019 Membership. Have you renewed yet?

The winter months are still attracting new members to the club and we welcome into Banbury Star:

Mark and Siubhan Litherland, Graham Furby and Paul Needle 

Renewals for 2019 were due on 1st January, which applies to members who joined before 1st September 2018. If you joined after that date your membership rolls over to December 2019 and there's nothing more to do. Details of subscriptions are as follows;

Standard First Claim (First claim to BSCC for BC and CTT events) £20 No change

Second Claim (Second claim to BSCC) £10 No Change

Student (16-17) and senior citizen (65+) on the day of joining £10 No change

Rising Stars £0

Juvenile (12 to U16) on the day of joining £0 Reduced from £5

Membership upgrade for entire time trial season (only available when (re)joining and only for First Claim members) £25. Increased due to mandatory CTT levy rise

Subscriptions should now be paid direct to our new Nat West account and details are as follows:

Sort code = 53-61-33

Account = 65953886

As previously advised, we have now moved entirely to online banking and no more cheques will be accepted for membership or payment for club services. 

Please note: The online Membership Form must be completed for all existing members when renewing membership. The joys of GDPR compliance!

Hardriders TT - this Sunday 3rd March

A record number of 25 club members, including 4 women, have entered Sunday's Hardriders TT, making up over a third of the entry for this Open event. This is a great achievement and as there are no Sunday rides planned, why not turn up to cheer on your fellow club members.

As most of you know, snow caused the cancellation of last year's event, but 2017 winner Jack O'Neil returns to defend his title. He holds the course record with a time of 51m 38s, so must again start as favourite.

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help out with marshalling and other duties on the day. However, there's always a chance we made need some additional help, so don't be afraid to call into the HQ at Wroxton Sports Club áround 9am.

 As always with any Open TT, cakes and hot drinks will be available, so any donations of cakes on the day will be more than welcome.. 

2019 Time Trial season and calendar

This weekend sees the club's 2019 time trial get underway, but like all club events we need the support of members to make things happen. The club's website has now been updated with details of all the club time trials and more importantly the marshal and pusher roster has now been added for our Wednesday night club TTs. Please advise TT Secretary Oli Wright as soon as possible if you can't make your nominated date. All the links are given below.

Oli has put together a guide to TT Marshalling which is now on the club website and can be found via the link below. Please read it.

Our weekly Wednesday night season starts on 27th March with the 5 mile "Come and try it" event at Gaydon. We then start the serious business on our favourite K4/20 course with the 2-up TT on 3rd April.

Spring Reliability Ride, Sunday 10th March

Spring is now here which means the first of our 2019 Reliability Rides is just around the corner, taking place on Sunday 10th March over a 100km/61 mile route to the north of Banbury. Some of our new members will be wondering what a Reliability Ride entails or where it goes, more details and a Garmin map can be found on the link below.

The Headquarters and ride starting point will again be at Woodgreen Leisure Centre, Banbury, OH16 0HS which will be open from 0830. The entry fee remains the same at a mere £2.

The departure times are:

0900: Leisure Pace. For riders stating a time of 4 – 4 1/2 hours.
0915: Intermediate Pace: For riders stating a time of 3 ½ – 4 hours.
0930: Fast Pace: For riders stating a time of 3 ½ hours or less.

A much sought after and highly revered certificate will be awarded to any riders who manage to stay on course and complete the route in their stated time.

Please note: For this event, mudguards are not  compulsory and there will be no Sunday club rides.

BSCC Road Race Sunday 26th May

We're only just 12 weeks away now from our main event of the season, the club's annual road race on Sunday 26th May. Entries are now open via the link below to British Cycling's online entry page. 

The format remains the same, with a Cat 3/4 men's race in the morning, followed by the women's British Cycling Team Series race in the afternoon. The 3 lap course, taking in the Edge Hill climb, makes up a total distance of approx. 45 miles.

Last year 9 club riders entered the event, which was a great improvement on previous years - let's hope we can get into double figures this year.

Most importantly though, this event will only run if we have a sufficient number of volunteer marshals on the day. This is a great club event, so please put the date in your diary. Further details will follow.

Pilates for Cycling - Core and Stretch

Thanks to the efforts of Mark Boyles, the club are holding two cycling focused pilates sessions by Juliet Wells.

This is a great opportunity to learn/practice cycling focused stretching which will help prevent injury, improve core strength and hopefully make you faster by energising muscles you don’t use.

The dates are on the 11th and 18th March and will be held at Wroxton Village Hall from 7pm. prompt.

We need to achieve 10-15 attendees to make this worthwhile.

Cost is £5 per head, a special discount rate for BSCC club members. (Normally £7).

You'll need to bring your own mat to the event.

This open to everyone within the club.

Ride and stay safe

Those of you on Facebook may have already seen the post from Paul Dean recently regarding comments made on the Banburyshire Info Facebook Group. We repeat it here for those who have not seen it.

For any members who are also on the Banburyshire Info Facebook group and disturbed by the threats of violence from some of the good motorists of Banbury aimed towards cyclists, I’ve reported those people to that group’s Admin and they should now be removed.

There do appear to be some genuine comments on a couple of posts with regards to how some cyclists conducted themselves on the Rawlinson Bracket yesterday and I won’t defend anyone riding in fog without lights or three abreast.

It’s vital our own club rides, time trials and even your own solo rides in club kit maintain the very highest standards of road craft at all times. I understand that’s not always easy when in groups, with potholes, close drivers etc. Let’s stay safe

Club Ride Survey

Thank you to the 46 members who completed the recent club ride survey, the results of which are being analysed using the same computer that Keri deploys to calculate TT handicap times.

We will endeavour to summarise the results into a report in the coming weeks.

Race Squad news

The success and growth of the race squad continues as the record number of entries for Hardriders mentioned above clearly illustrates. The Abingdon Crit Series last month also saw an increasing number of club entries. Training has played a big part in this with the winter turbo sessions and recent Bootcamp programme of road race and TT development sessions. Coming up we now have two Pilates for Cycling sessions this month, which are open to everyone, even if racing is not your scene.

Keep an eye on Facebook for all race squad news and further session dates.

The 2019 Racing Calendar

This section will now highlight the dates of time trials, crits and road races throughout our region to give members more information as they chose which events to enter.

Follow the links below to see what we've got planned so far as well as CTT Open events.

Rising Stars - youth section news

Cold and wet weather meant we only managed to hold one Rising Stars session in February. Hopefully, with the weather gradually improving we can hold our planned two March sessions on the 2nd and 16th. Planning further ahead we hope to hold our first April session on 6th. All start at 9.30am at Banbury Rugby Club.

Following on from last month's request for some volunteer coaches - if you're interested and would like to know more, then please contact Lee via the link below

Club kit

Dave Speck currently holds a small stock of the following:

Short sleeved Classic jerseys priced at £54.18. 

If anyone is not sure of the procedure for ordering new kit, then please contact Dave Speck via the link below.

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

The 5 Weekend Club Rides

Five weekend club rides are now available, please make sure you pick the one to suit your ability and speed.

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

10am Saturday: easy café ride: 25 miles, 12-14mph

10am Saturday: intermediate café ride 35 miles, 15-16mph

9am Sunday: fast non-café ride 50 miles 18mph*

9am Sunday: intermediate non-café ride 50 miles 16-17mph*

10am Sunday: intermediate café ride 35 miles 15-16mph

All rides will start at Broadribb Cycles, meeting 15 minutes before the departure time.

* may be quicker depending on who is riding

Banbury Star CC monthly social evenings

Regale your clubmates with tales of your cycling prowess on Thursday 8th March from 7.30pm, at our usual friendly venue, The White Horse in Banbury.

As usual, family and friends are welcome and food will be available.

Upcoming events

Social night - White Horse 7.30pm Thursday 8th March

Rising Stars next sessions 2nd and 16th March - 9.30am 

Race Bootcamp Training sessions - keep an eye on Facebook 

Wednesday night turbo training sessions - Wroxton Sports Club 6.45pm prompt. Last session 20th March

Hardriders Open TT - Sunday 3rd March - no club rides.

Spring Reliability Ride - Sunday 10th March - no club rides.

Pilates for Cycling - 11th and 18th March 7pm Wroxton Village Hall.

"Come and Try It" 5 mile time trial and curry night - Wednesday 27 March.

Chain Gang sessions restart first week in April - watch Facebook.

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

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