Banbury Star Cyclists' Club

April 2017 newsletter

Welcome to the second edition of the new look Banbury Star CC newsletter. We hope you like the fresh easy to read layout and the varied contents which we hope you find both interesting and informative. Our original thoughts were to make it quarterly, but we now think we have enough going on this year to produce it on a monthly basis. Do let us know what you think.

Regular features will continue to include:

  • Upcoming club rides and events
  • Race and ride reports
  • Blog features
  • Information about the club

We’ve got a great year of cycling activities lined up for members, including we hope some new initiatives. Remember, it’s your club so please join in and make the most of what Banbury Star CC has to offer.

Presidential musings

Spring is now here and we are seeing an increase in the number of riders coming along for the club rides and events we have on offer to tempt members out of their winter hibernation. 

It's only early April and we've already held the Reliability Ride, a very successful Hardriders Time Trial, the Cycling Weekly "ride with" day and our first club TT of the 2017 season. But there's a lot more yet to come!

As part of the club's growth, we have made a significant investment in Ride Leader training with British Cycling of which there is more information in this newsletter. The purpose of this training was to give the existing leaders formalisation of what they do week in, week out and to also create more leaders that will help spread the load a bit more.

Behind the scenes the club is changing too, we've a new Press Secretary in Roger Gollicker who is well known to many members for both his club blogs and also the help he gives at our weekly Time Trials. Special mention must go to Moira Goodway who wrote many articles over the years. An important role in any modern, forward-thinking club with U18s or dependent adults as members is that of a Club Welfare Officer and Dave Pittman and Brian Reid have been putting in some great work in this area to define the policies and procedures we require as a club. We also have a willing volunteer to take over the Treasurer role but that needs to be agreed by a vote at the upcoming club meeting. To those who have recently stepped up and to those who continue to give freely of their time, thank you!

Paul

 

Quarterly meeting - tomorrow 4th April

Remember, the new venue for this meeting is Wroxton Village Hall. For those that don’t know, it’s on the left as you drive through Wroxton on the A422 towards Stratford, just before the White Horse pub. The satnav postcode is OX15 6PZ

We’ve got a number of items up for discussion, plus some samples of the new club kit, so please try and come along. The meeting starts at 7.30pm.

Membership

BSCC would like to extend a very warm welcome to Mark Holman, Katherine Daniels, Matt Longman, Andrew Morris, Anya Sims and Simon Knight who have joined the club in the last month.

 

Plus to all those who previous members who have renewed their membership this year, welcome back!

Renew membership here

Membership Cards

In a departure from previous years, we've decided to change from the traditional printed membership booklet and introduce a more modern membership card which is produced by Mark of Buzz Graphic Design and in association with Golden Age Cycles.

 

As well as a being paper-less , the new card is to be used as proof of membership when using the 15% discount members receive at Broadribb Cycles. The more observant will note that there's space on the back for an emergency phone number and any significant medical issues to be written down. Please fill those sections in and then keep the card with you on club rides just in case the unthinkable happens to you. The cards will be available at the quarterly meeting tomorrow.

2017 Time Trial calendar

The Time Trial season got underway last Wednesday evening with 32 riders taking part on our 5 mile "Come and Try" course. It was great to see some new faces and a few first timers having a go. The full results can be found by clicking on the tab below.

It doesn’t matter what level of cycling you aspire to, or what road bike you have, please come along and have a go. And remember the club loan bike can be used if required. 

For more information, including downloadable course maps, results and the all-important marshal roster, please follow the link below on the club’s website:

Also, if you haven't already done so, then please do read the recent blog posted on the club website by Keri Williams. Our ace timekeeper gives his Top 10 TT tips.

Time Trial information and calendar
Wednesday results

Cycling Weekly anniversary ride

To celebrate the 125th anniversary (a bit belatedly!) 35 BSCC members joined with Cycling Weekly magazine for a special ride which will be featured in the 27th April issue. This was an exceptional turnout given the wet and muddy conditions which were experienced before the coffee stop at the Chandlers Arms where a special birthday cake and coffee was waiting.

 

The return leg of the ride split into two parts with an ascent of Edge Hill via the Knowle for those so inclined whilst those out for an easier time remained on top of the escarpment where the group re-joined to ride back into Banbury together along the route of our road race.

 

Cycling Weekly were very complementary about the pre-ride briefing, the ride etiquette, the events and rides we organise and finally the goals we have as a club and it is a great advertisement for everything we do as a club and as individuals.

Tour Series 2017 - Redditch start

The popular Tour Series returns for its ninth season of the unique team-based cycle race Series taking place at ten town/city locations around the country. The series starts at nearby Redditch on 8th May, with races for both men and women. Highlights of every event will again be shown on ITV4 in a one-hour highlights programme, screened the evening after each round.

 

Tour Series 2017

Cafe of the month

What better way to start this regular feature than to nominate what we believe is the clear favourite - The Chandlers Arms at Epwell. Yes, as the name implies, it’s actually a pub, with a very good restaurant, but landlords Peter and Assumpta open daily from 11am with excellent coffee and cakes available. As many of us know, they really do give cyclists, in particular Star members, an exceptionally warm welcome. What’s more they’ve also kindly agreed to sponsor our annual road race and were the natural stop for our recent Cycling Weekly anniversary club ride.

The Chandlers Arms website

Thinking of a cycling holiday?

These are not recommendations, but just a few cycling websites covering different types of cycle related holidays.

cyclingholidays.org

totalcyclingholidays.co.uk

bike-express.co.uk

sportactive.net

alpine-velo.com

The idea of a club holiday has been mentioned by some members, so maybe this will prompt a few suggestions and ideas.

The UK's big road races

Want to watch the pros in action this year?

Here are the dates of the UK’s four main events;

Tour of Yorkshire  28 – 30 April

Tour of Britain (Women) 7 – 11 June

Ride London Surrey Classic 30 July

Tour of Britain (Men) 3 – 10 September.

New club kit

At the 2017 AGM, a vote was passed to update the club kit. Mark Boyles has since produced designs for a whole range of summer and winter kit which will be produced by the existing supplier, Endura with whom Dave Speck has been working. Samples of the kit will be available to view at tomorrow's club meeting and the ordering will also go live from this point: each club member will receive an email from Endura enabling them to log on, view, order and pay online, an improvement from previous years when the club had to hold significant amounts of stock. 

Club rides

1000 Saturday: easy café ride, meet at Broadribb Cycles

1000 Sunday: intermediate ride, meet at the Dog & Gun 

The club's website has a full calendar of each ride planned for the coming months, including a downloadable Garmin map.

Club ride calendar

The club blog

A big thank you to all the members who have contributed so far to our blog page. We’ve had a great variety of topics from both young and old members. Matt Watson and Lydia Watts, in particular, wrote very inspiring stories of their road race and time trialling experiences, which will hopefully continue throughout this season.

Our latest blog is again from the keyboard of Keri Williams who, with the time trialling season now underway, gives us his Top 10 TT Tips. Next up, will be something from Moria Goodway and then there's a monster that's almost as big as the challenge undertaken and being written about.

Remember, the blog page can only exist if members provide their stories, so don’t be shy....

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

Read the club blog

Banbury Star CC social evenings

Following a request, the club has started having regular social meetings on the first Thursday of each month. These are open to members past, present and future and are held in the White Horse pub (opposite the Dog & Gun) in Banbury starting at 7.30pm. Please try and leave the lycra at home!

The next one is this coming Thursday.

Ride leader training

As part of its duty of care requirements for those who either lead or attend club rides, Banbury Star members have attended a course run by British Cycling for ride leader training.

Ten club members took part and all successfully passed the eight hour Ride Leader Level 1 course which was a mixture of online learning, classroom theory and on-road practical tests.

The course confirmed that Banbury Star's current crop of ride leaders already possessed great leading skills, plus gave them even more skills to help manage the growing numbers of members who are attending the rides. In addition, having an extra six leaders on board will help spread the workload and gives the club many options for yet more rides in the future.

Don't forget!

The club loan bike - contact davidspeck@ymail.com

Broadribb Cycles - 15% discount for club members

The Wednesday Wobble rides - watch Facebook for details

The club ride library - see section on website

2Up Club 20km TT - Wednesday 5th April at 6.30pm

 

Cycling on TV

Eurosport will again be providing live coverage of the four big European one day Spring classic races in April

Paris Roubaix                 9th

Amstel Gold Race         16th

Fleche Wallonne           19th

Liege-Bastogne-Liege  23rd

Upcoming events

Social Nights 7.30pm:

  • Thursday 6 April
  • Thursday 4 May
  • Thursday 1 June

Time Trials: Weekly series now underway every Wednesday evening

Quarterly Meeting: Tuesday 4 April 7.30pm - Wroxton Village Hall

Tour Series Race 1: Monday 8th May, Redditch town centre

BSCC Road Race: Sunday 21 May - NOA Pavilion

BMCC 9-up TTT: Friday 9 June - Silverstone

Broughton Castle Sportive: Sunday 9 July

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

Club rides calendar
Racing calendar

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