|
Just one member kindly replied to our request for some newsletter feedback last month. With a new year and season not far away now we'd really like to hear from a few more members on its content. Again, is it too long, too short, have you any new ideas and are there any other topics we should be covering? Let the Press Officer know via the link below. Copies of all previous newsletters can be found on the club website - About BSCC
|
|
|
The highlight of November for me was our annual dinner at which the 2019 racing trophies were awarded by our special guest, Charlie Quarterman, the winners are detailed below. Ila Pearson did a fantastic job of organising the event at the Hook Norton brewery which is an exceptional venue.
You can also read below about our decision to kit out the ride leaders with bikecams following an incident on a recent club ride. It's a shame a cycling club has to resort to such a measure but the increasing levels of abuse law-abiding club members are having to endure from impatient motorists couldn't be tolerated any longer.
The month of December not only brings Christmas but also a special club ride with a festive theme, more details will shortly be announced on the website and our Facebook group.
In the mean time thank you for your continued support to the club in 2019, 2020 promises to be an even better year and I'll take the opportunity to wish you and your families a Happy Christmas and if you've been good enough then I hope it's rewarded with lots of cycling goodies!
Paul
|
|
|
The most common reason respondents give when surveyed about cycling and in particular not taking it up is concern regarding the amount of cars that we have to share the road with.
The sheer volume of traffic, coupled with a less-respectful society and growing levels of antagonism towards cyclists has justifed a significant investment by the club in the purchase of 6 pairs of front and rear bike cameras which will be used on club rides from now on.
Almost all of us will have experienced what is called a "close pass" when a car or truck doesn't respect the 1.5m overtaking gap and occasionally it's deliberate and accompanied by verbal abuse forcing the club to act.
All club rides will now be recorded by the relevant leaders. If anyone is concerned about privacy, rules are in place for who can view and use what’s captured and all data will be stored in compliance with GDPR with full transparency by the Club Welfare Officer.
Remember to smile!
|
|
|
The club recently received the sad news that Ron Dobson passed away on the 5th November in Katharine House Hospice.
Ron was a Banbury Star member for many years and his name features almost as many times as that of his good friend Laurie Allitt in the club’s record books as he too was a prodigious club ride participant with he and Laurie competing head to head in the competition to see who could go on the most number of club rides in a year.
A quick look at the trophies showed that Ron won both the Trinders Trophy and the Lester Cup.
Ron's last outing with the club was on our 125th anniversary ride in 2016. He also organised the annual dinner for many years and his post-dinner reports were unforgettable for the attendees. As recently as October he was still meeting up with ex-members as part of their monthly pub lunch outings.
|
|
|
This year's annual dinner saw a new venue after we outgrew The Castle at Edge Hill.
Over 60 members and guests made the journey out to the Hook Norton Brewery, many leaving the car at home and taking the "fun bus" from town. Apparently what goes on on the bus stays on the bus.....
Our guest speaker for the evening was Charlie Quarterman who some may know from our time trials. Charlie has had an incredible season, breaking some of our club TT records and along the way taking part in the U23 "baby Giro" tour in Italy, becoming the U23 National TT Champion, competing in the World TT championship and then being signed by World Tour team Trek Segafredo as a professional rider for 2020 to support the likes of Richie Porte and Vicenzo Nibali
Charlie gave a funny and inspirational speech and then presented the trophies to the 2019 winners, the full list can be viewed on the website at the link below and as a momento of his own incredible year was presented with a special piece of artwork created by Mark Boyles.
A raffle was held to raise money for the Helen and Douglas House Hospice, in memory of Oliver Boyles with Charlie making an incredible donation of his national jersey which was won by Helen French.
|
|
2020 TT Plans and Proposals
|
|
|
Looking forward to the 2020 TT season we now have a couple of provisional dates for our two Open events. These dates still need the approval of the District and National Committees of CTT, but hopefully this is only a formality. So please pencil in your diaries - 1st March for Hardriders and 6th September for the 10 mile Open. As usual we will need plenty of helpers for both events, so if you could please make a note in your diaries that would be great.
Behind the scenes, TT secretary Oli Wright, timekeeper Keri Williams and Paul Dean have been busy looking at next season’s Wednesday night TT schedule. As we basically have a very popular and successful format, only a few minor changes will be made. The Chipping Norton course will now be used later in the early summer holidays, when traffic is lighter and there’s more daylight. That change is made for safety reasons. It’s been proposed that we use the Tysoe 10 course in its place early on in the season and perhaps once or twice more during the rest of the season.
No more changes to the program are planned at the moment and we will advise members as soon as the full calendar and marshal roster is up on the website. However, whilst the calendar has only minor changes, Oli has some interesting and hopefully popular plans to introduce further competition within the Wednesday night TT season.
He’s planning to formulate a league, with three or four divisions, so that all riders have a cup to go for. The divisions will broadly be average mph based - exact formulation to be confirmed - but it’s likely Division 1 will be 25mph+, 2 will be 22.5mph+, 3 will be 20mph+, 4 will be everyone else. There’ll be small awards for each division and riders will be allocated to a division at the TT secretary’s discretion and moved up as necessary. There will also be a road bike only category, probably for Division 4.
Keep your eyes on Facebook for any updates and do email Oli via the link below with any constructive comments.
|
|
Ride to Chipping Norton special
|
|
|
Back in the late summer the club received a request from a care home in Chipping Norton asking if we could arrange a group ride there to see one of the residents who although suffering from dementia enjoyed seeing and talking about cycling having been a keen rider in his earlier years.
Twenty Banbury Star members joined forces with another two groups from Witney and Oxford on what was a rather sub-optimal day for riding with torrential rain and a temperature only just above freezing. Normally we'd have cancelled the ride in such conditions but decided as it was for a very worthy cause we would continue.
The Southerndown Care Home made 40 cyclists very welcome with hot drinks and a lot of food. John was a bit overwhelmed to see so many (wet!) riders in the home at one time however we'll try to set up a return visit with a smaller group.
|
|
|
The club is planning a Boxing Day TT – something that’s been talked about for some time now. It will have three aims, to work off Christmas Day’s over indulgence, have a bit of fun on our bikes (perhaps in fancy dress) and raise some money for the Helen and Douglas House Hospice, the charity which helped Oliver Boyles. It will be run on our K4/20 course with advance entry only, to make sure there is enough interest to run the event.
More details will be posted on Facebook shortly, but it would be great if you could register your interest now with Oli via the link given in the above section.
|
|
|
Existing members - you'll no doubt be keen to renew for 2020 but can you please hold off doing so until Jan 1st, thanks!
A warm welcome to our newest members who joined during November:
Joe Walsh and Caleb Smith
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!
|
|
Derby Velodrome visit 10th January
|
|
|
The club's visit to Derby Velodrome on 10th January 2020 is now fully booked. The two hour session time is between 12:00 and 14:00.
Details of the velodrome can be found via the link below, which includes full address and directions.
Dave Pittman will post on Facebook full details of the day closer to the time, so please keep an eye open.
He's also asked that if there is anyone who has never been on a track bike (fixie) and ridden around a velodrome before to let him know.This will allow him to give the British Cycling coach an idea on how to plan ahead for the day. Some members will be looking to obtain accreditation this time around and the day will need to incorporate everyone’s needs.
|
|
Mudguards - another reminder
|
|
|
Important. Please remember that from now until the end of March, mudguards are now compulsory on organised club weekend rides.
The reasons and rules for this and the types of mudguards required has been well covered in previous newsletters.
If your guards aren't long enough to stop the person behind being sprayed you'll need to fit an extension flap, as illustrated on the above two photos. The club Star branded variety, are easy to fit, lightweight and give complete protection to the riders behind and are available from Broadribb's for a mere £8.
The only exception to the need for guards is if the weather forecast is good and the roads are already dry.
If wet, no guards = no ride.
|
|
|
The blogger is still awaiting to hear from you all.
Come on - anything cycle related.
Send your blog to the link below, preferably with a couple of good photos and we'll do the rest.
|
|
|
Whilst the TT and road race season is now behind us, a growing number of members are discovering the joys of winter cyclo-cross (CX) racing. CX is currently enjoying a big growth in both participation and number of events, with British Cycling putting an increasing effort in its promotion. A number of our junior members have been competing regularly for some time now, as it's a fun and safe way to go racing. Jane Holton, pictured above, has really caught the bug and others like Simon Bull are now competing on a regular basis. It's also a great way for some winter training.
There are many races in our area and Race Secretary Mark Boyles regularly posts details of coming events on Facebook
|
|
Club casual kit order update
|
|
|
The latest order, which included the new zip up fleece was placed some time ago now, with the hope it will all be delivered before Christmas. No firm date for delivery has yet been given, but we anticipate it should be around 17th December. As Oli Wright lives out at Long Compton, he’s at the moment looking to see if he can deliver it all to someone in Banbury.
Details on this will be posted on Facebook nearer the time.
|
|
|
Whilst the latest club kit order arrived last month, remember if at any time we get 5 orders for any one garment, regardless of size, or men's or women's fit, an order can be opened placed with Endura.
In the meantime, below is a list of club jerseys which Dave Speck currently holds in stock:
Ladies Short sleeve jersey - Small
Men’s Short sleeve jersey - Large
Men’s short Sleeve jerseys - Medium
|
|
Worth a watch - Group riding etiquette
|
|
|
For those members not on Facebook, or those of you that missed it, below is a link to a video that Paul Dean posted on Facebook recently.
Made by Cycling Weekly, it's well worth a watch.
|
|
|
A link to the club's own riding etiquette booklet is given below.
Following last month's appeal, we still need more volunteers for ride leaders, so please contact John Tustian for further details
|
|
|
Five weekend club rides are now available, please make sure you pick the one to suit your ability and speed and don't forget the winter mudguard rule is now in force.
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
|
|
|
Our next club social night is on Thursday 5th December from 7.30pm, at our usual friendly venue, The White Horse in Banbury, sponsors of our men's road race.
As always, dogs, family and friends are welcome.
|
|
Upcoming club events in December
|
|
|
Social night - White Horse 7.30pm Thursday 5th December
Pre-Christmas club ride - just before Christmas, date TBD.
Boxing Day TT - Thursday 26th December
For more details and other events please look at the calendars on the club’s website or Facebook group.
|
|
Follow Banbury Star on social media
|
|
|
|
