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It's May and already we've had a successful Hardriders TT, large entries for our Wednesday night TTs and an increasing number of members entering local open TTs and road races. May though presents the club with its biggest test - the running of our annual road race. We need your help and support to make the event the success it's enjoyed over past years.
A lot of information on other forthcoming events is contained in this month's newsletter, so please read on for further details.
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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
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During more quiet moments out on the roads I sometimes wonder about a cycling club that enjoys a history as rich as ours and in particular our forebears, the individuals who first formed Banbury Star CC and then those who took over the reins to keep the club going until the present day. Looking through the club's archive material, (which stretches back to the early 1900s) one often sees the same names cropping up time after time, year after year, members who gave so much to the club because of their passion for being on two wheels.
One of the most frequently encountered names in the records is Laurie Allitt who we believe joined in 1952 and was prodigious in organising club rides, acting as the Ride Secretary for an amazing 47 years. Laurie was universally liked by all who had the honour of meeting and riding with him. He passed away last month, to join the list of members we've recently lost who really are Star legends and to whom we owe so much: Eric Smith, Jim Broughton, Roy Pagington and the Randles. Details of tomorrow's funeral are below and it would be great to get as many members as possible to show our respects.
Paul
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The club recently received the sad news of the death of one of our stalwart members, Laurie Allitt who dedicated so much of his life to cycling and organising club rides.
His funeral will be held on Thursday 2nd May at Banbury Crematorium at 2pm. The club has been asked by Laurie's family if we could provide some riders to escort Laurie on the short journey up to the Crematorium. For those who can come along we will meet outside the Odeon Cinema at 1.20pm.
An article and photos of Laurie has been put on the website.
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Most of us use a bike computer these days, either for logging our miles, maybe navigating new roads or for the distant and somewhat forlorn hope it captures a glorious, bragging rights secured, King/Queen Of The Mountain gong on Strava.
The navigation feature is often underused, possibly because it's perceived to be too difficult or technical to master so we were asked to produce a Dummies Guide to Course Uploading because each and every club ride follows a published route but it's often just the ride leaders to have the maps on their computers and we want to encourage more club riders to have the correct map with them in case issues arise out on the ride.
Coming soon to the website will be a step by step guide showing how to transfer maps.
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A warm welcome to our newest members who joined during April, Peggy Simpkins
Subscriptions and any other payments to the club should now be paid direct to our new Nat West account.
Sort code = 53-61-33
Account = 65953886
Having now moved entirely to online banking 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!
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Burton Dassett finish for Women's Tour
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This is how the Banbury Guardian announced the big local cycling news story a few weeks ago. Yes, not only is Stage 4 of the 6 day OVO Women's Tour on our patch again, but we now have the chance to see them climb Burton Dassett twice. The 159km stage, which starts from Warwick, has a 2 x 12.6km loop at the end, with the finish at the top of Burton Dassett. All this happens on Thursday 13th June. No timings have been published yet, but the route and other details can be found via the link below.
The club will have a presence up on the hill and then a ride back to Banbury with a rehyrdration stop at The Falcon is planned.
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Tour de Yorkshire - 2nd to 5th May
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The above upgraded UCI sanctioned event takes place this month with a 4 day stage race for men and a 2 day stage race for women. All the top teams will be competing, with the added interest of Team Sky morphing into Team Ineos the day before the start.
Live TV coverage has been confirmed - probably again ITV4 and Eurosport. Further details can be found via the link below.
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Tour Series Round 1 - Redditch 9th May
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The OVO Energy Tour Series starts this month with the first of 7 rounds again taking place in nearby Redditch on Thursday 9th May. All the top domestic men''s and women's teams will be taking part, with the women starting at 5.30pm and the men at 7pm. The races last 1 hour, comprising multiple laps of the 1.4km town centre circuit. It's a great chance to get up close and see plenty of fast action. Further details can be found via the link below.
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2019 Time Trial season and calendar
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Message from TT Secretary Oli Wright - Please Read
We are now a few weeks into our club TT season, so it’s about time I put a brief message out. Firstly, well done for some pretty impressive early season performances, and to those starting out and giving this TT business a go. It’s important to remember that most of us are only ever racing our own previous bests or those of similar ability to ourselves, so if (like me) you are not at the top of the timesheets, it really doesn’t matter.
A few issues with parking have arisen recently. The first is parking on Ludlow Drive. Please, if you have to drive to the events, park considerately. That includes NOT parking in front of the house that faces on to Ludlow Drive under any circumstances. Please be conscious of the feelings of the homeowners there. If 20 cars parked up on your road every Wednesday evening, you might well lose a bit of patience, so do your best to park considerately. If you can avoid driving and parking up on Ludlow Drive at all, then all the better. Parking a bit further away and riding to sign-on might also be a good idea.
Secondly, we have received a complaint about parking around the finish area. A number of extra cars have been parked on Bretch Hill Road between the end of the road and the chicane, causing some queuing to occur. We need to avoid causing friction for everyone’s benefit, and the last thing we need is a number of aggrieved local residents seeking to spoil our enjoyment or bad-mouthing our club on local Facebook groups. We will now be adding cones to stop anyone other than Keri and Roger parking there and causing an obstruction.
Parking for the K4/10C1 (Tysoe) course has been a problem for a few years and some locals have been angered at our presence on a few occasions. Parking has therefore been arranged for no more than 20 cars at the Sun Rising Burial Ground for the 29th of May and the 31st of July. More specific details of where we can park will be provided closer to the time as we will only be allowed to park in a particular area.
Permission to park at both sites is granted expressly on the basis that we leave no trace and behave impeccably. That means absolutely no urinating on site, no leaving litter and generally being respectful – the latter being especially important at the Burial Ground.
Both sites are private property and if we lose the goodwill of the landowners then our activities will be at risk in the future.
Finally, marshalling duties were well observed in the first few weeks (thank you) but in the last couple of weeks it has slipped a bit. If you are unable to attend then please seek a replacement so that we are not short on the night. Replacements don’t appear from nowhere so it is your responsibility to find someone. Some people have kindly contacted me well in advance to inform me they can’t do certain nights, and that is fine.
Thanks everyone. As ever, any feedback, complaints, issues should be emailed to me via the link below..
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BSCC Road Race Sunday 26th May
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As mentioned last month, entries are now open via the link below for the club's most important event of the year - our annual road race.
Behind the scenes the planning and organisation is well underway, thanks mainly to the efforts of Mike Gillett, who kindly agreed to take over running the event from Mike Hicks. What is really going to help Mike though, is the support of club members on the day to help marshal the course and carry out other duties.
This is a great club event, so please put the date in your diary - Sunday 26th May.
Last year 9 club riders entered the event, which was a great improvement on previous years. Mark Boyles has been putting a lot of effort into setting up and running the race squad, so hopefully we can get an even bigger entry this year.
A decision was made by the committee to award £100 to the highest placed U23 BSCC first claim member in both the male and female races
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Family cycling on Silverstone F1 circuit
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Whilst the 9Up TT at Silverstone has had to be cancelled this year because of track resurfacing, the track will still be open to the public again for family cycling on the following dates: 29th May, 31st July, 14th August, 17th September and 9th October.
This is a great opportunity to cycle around the wide smooth and traffic free 5.89km Grand Prix circuit. Booking is required via the link below. It's £10 per person with children free.
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Good news. Following our request last month for someone to take over the running of more Pilates for Cycling sessions, Katherine Latham has kindly offered to take on the organisation.
She's arranged for a monthly Pilates for Cyclists class for club members to be held on the third Thursday of each month. So to begin with she's looking to find out who's interested in a class for the following dates; Thursday 16th May, Thursday 20th June and Thursday 18th July at most likely at Wroxton Sports Club at 7pm. The location will be announced on the Facebook group.
Club member and Pilates guru Juliet Wells will again run the classes.
The cost previously was £5 per person per session and it's expected the cost will be similar and ideally we need 10 to 15 people to regularly attend in order to make it viable.
If you've not already done so, please register your interest via Katherine's recent Facebook group post.
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Women's representative Ila Pearson reports on the club's first women only ride last month.
Despite the weather being more suited to hiking in the Himalayas than cycling, 8 women arrived on the day of April 14, happily meeting outside Broadribbs. The ride was headed up by ride Leaders Lydia Watts and myself. After an introduction and a brief explanation of route and pace we headed out on the quiet roads surrounding Banbury.
The ride was social and as a group we were prepared to go at the pace of the slowest rider. The aim was 80k in 3hrs before a stop for coffee and cake at the end. Well, after Garmin failure - user and lack of, we did 3 hours, relying on sign posts and chance - Stars outstanding sense of direction is a rite of passage! It made for an interesting and enjoyable Sunday club ride. The pace was leisurely, occasionally splitting on the hills, but everyone met at the top. The ride featured one fall, a bird poop (lucky for some!) and a rogue banana skin. They all said that they would do it again ....! I say "it was great to see the ladies out and I don’t think we had anybody complain, even about the cold weather" - hope to see you all on the next one.
Watch Facebook for the next ride date which will be sometime in June.
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We've had another great start to the season with 16 riders, by far the largest club contingent, in Stratford CC's 10 mile Open TT, with Suzy Patience claiming the women's prize.
As mentioned on Facebook, the Bicester Millenium 9-up TT is back on again. Although it won't be held at Silverstone, a proposed Plan B has been hatched by our BMCC friends and will hopefully be held on Tuesday 14th May on their Weston on the Green off-road course over the usual 10 mile distance. It's open to men's and women's teams from all clubs, we are waiting final confirmation that it's going ahead.
Here are some more dates and events coming up this month:
12th May Newbury RC - 25 mile TT
19th May High Wycombe CC - 25 mile TT
Crit Racing - the weekly Thursday night racing series at Milton Keynes Bowl kicks off on 18th May. This is a great opportunity to race on a off road circuit that is pretty flat and a good starting point for first timers.
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This is a very important month as the club holds its very own road race. Last year we fielded an impressive line of up 9 members which was probably a record - this year we'd like to beat that, If you haven't already signed up, do so now and let's have a show of force that the club can be proud. Entry link above.
Junior racing at Weston-on-the-Green. Juniors are now allowed to race at this venue again. Mark will be posting times on the Risings Stars Facebook page once all the information is available. The first event is on 7th May, with sign on from 6pm, so get there early.
Keep an eye out on Facebook for the latest news on Monday night Chain Gangs and Race Bootcamp training sessions.
Further details of the Newbury and High Wycombe events can be found via the Racing Calendar link in the following section.
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Highlights of the Spring Quaterly meeting held on 30th April:
- the club have been invited to take part in the People's Park Centenary celebrations on 14th July. BSCC were there in 1919 when the park was opened.
- the club has been invited to talk with the Institute of Driving Instructors on cycling in and around Banbury to give the instructors a greater understanding of how cars and bikes can share the roads, the pitfalls and dangers etc.
- an overview of the results from the ride survey
- the purchase of a club-branded gazebo to be used at events we attend
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Don't forget this section now lists the dates of time trials, crits and road races throughout our region for the months ahead. This gives members more information on each event, with a further link on how and where to enter.
Follow the links below to see what we've got planned so far, plus all the CTT Open events.
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Rising Stars - youth section news
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As you can see from the above photo, Lee Heron is doing a great job, together with help from Katherine Daniels and Roger Gollicker, in running our enthusiastic Rising Stars sessions.
However, Lee is still the club's only BC Level 1 coach, a qualification needed to run these sessions. As a result, due to other commitments, we are only able to run one session this month on 4th May. As we've said before, we could really do with some more volunteer coaches to enable us to run at least two sessions a month and progress this initiative further. Please let Lee know if you're interested, or would like more details.
Looking further ahead, we do have two sessions planned for June on 15th and 29th, but as usual, keep your eyes on Facebook for any updates.
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An order was placed with Enduro on 11th April for all those members who met the April deadline with their kit orders. The expected delivery time is around the last week of this month and Dave Speck will confirm on Facebook when the order arrives.
The club have also ordered a few items which Dave will hold in stock, which will then comprise the following items:
3 x Short sleeve jerseys - Medium
3 x Short sleeve jerseys - Large
1 x Women’s short sleeve jersey - Small
1 x Women’s short sleeve jersey - Medium 1 x Long Sleeve jersey - Large
Don't forget, if at anytime we have 5 orders for any one garment, regardless of size, or men's or women's fit, then an order can be opened and placed with Enduro.
Dave Speck is your contact via the link below.
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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
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Banbury Star CC monthly social evenings
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Our next club social night is tomorrow - Thursday 2nd May from 7.30pm, at our usual friendly venue, The White Horse in Banbury.
Important: We plan to devote some time at this get together to discuss and arrange final plans for our all important road race at the end of the month. So your support and attendance would be most welcome.
As always, family and friends are welcome and food will be available.
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Social night - White Horse 7.30pm Thursday 2nd May
BSCC Road Race - entry closing date Saturday 11th May
Rising Stars next session - Saturday 4th May at 9.30am
BMCC 9Up TT Weston on the Green - Tuesday 14th May (TBC)
Race Bootcamp Training sessions for road race - see Facebook
Chain-Gang sessions for men and women every Monday from 6.30pm - see Facebook for any updates.
BSCC Road Races - Sunday 26th May
For more details and other events please look at the calendars on the club’s website or Facebook group.
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Follow Banbury Star on social media
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