Thanks to everyone who took part in the Santa Dash Tinsel Ride 2021.

I wanted to thank all of you who made the recent AGM such a success. It was good to see so many members attending and contributing their thoughts and great ideas on how the Club should move forward on the topics that we discussed.
The main area of discussion (though not the only area) at the meeting was why less members are joining Club rides. The minutes of the meeting will be sent out in due course, but in advance of the detail in these, work on culture and attitude on rides, ride leader training, the number of people in groups and general bike skills were discussed. Thank you to Laura Cameron, Liz Hughes and Andy Stewart who have agreed to work with Julia Adamson and Davids Oliver and Stoyle to develop a plan of action.
We also thanked the outgoing officers of the club who have contributed so much of their time and energy to the Club over their periods on the Committee; Andy Hicks retired as Chairman, Amanda Whipp as Treasurer, Darren Edward as Welfare Officer, Nigel Vaugniaux as Trophy Secretary and Michael Taylor as Off Road Captain. Special thanks to Aileen Brown who had been on the Committee for 15 years and is a stalwart of Club rides. Thank you to the members who have volunteered to take on the vacant officer roles.
As we all agreed we belong to an inclusive and friendly Club. We want to ensure the Club meets the varied cycling needs of all its members.
e as Chairman. I look forward to serving the Club in my new capacity.
Hilary Oliver

Bath CC Santa Ride/Tinsel Ride is 18th and 19th Dec 2021. All ride categories are included so everyone can have a go at dressing up your bikes with tinsel or as Santa. Please take lots of photos to show us your efforts and spread the cheer.

Fellow Club Members, please be aware over the coming Winter months and onwards, of extra road hazards caused by Ash Die-Back. Although local Councils have taken a number of trees down already, the problem is now so widespread that you may come across twigs, branches, boughs and even trees across your path. Cycling after windy weather may also increase the amount of debris from Ash.

The Friday women’s rides are back after the Summer break. These highly sociable rides have groups ranging from steady to medium to quicker. The quicker rides have longer routes to the cafe stop to make sure we all get there at the same time for a good chat. Do join us whatever your standard.

There is a suitable ride for everyone.

As we cast our minds towards the 2021 Club trophy awards, it seems a good time to think back to the restricted cycling days of 2020. Whilst the number of organised events was extremely limited, there were still some outstanding performances to celebrate.

Kim Barfoot-Brace, 100 mile champion, 12 hour champion 272.3 miles (overall club record), Best All Round at 50, 100 miles and 12 hours, fastest woman over 25 miles, Woman’s Best All Round at 10, 25 and 50 miles, and the Tempest Trophy awarded by Bath CC committee for “an outstanding achievement with a bias to long distances”.

Kim Barfoot-Brace, Bairbre Doyle, Heather Fell and Claire Parkin, South West Team Time Trial Champions.
Rob Pears, 50-mile champion, Road Race points champion.
Claire Philips, Club Woman Champion for contribution to club rides for the year.
Aileen Brown, Club Run Champion, best attended club run rider.
Dennis Davis, Merit Cup for outstanding services to the club.
Sam Duffy, Road Race Performance.
Steven Cottington (below), Best All Round, and fastest veteran at 10, 25 and 50 miles.

Peter Cottington, fastest 25 miles of the year.

We have been working on the awards the Club makes each year with a view to making them more relevant to all members.  The result is 33 awards for racing activities and 16 awards for non racing activities.  You can see the detail on the BCC Annual Awards 2021

The numbers in the green boxes refer to the Trophy allocations 2021 that will be awarded for each event.

While respecting the racing heritage of the Club this is a great step forwards as it allows everyone in the club to join in without having to enter events.  Although we will making awards to the winners the real fun is seeing how you do against your friends that you ride with week in and week out.

If you haven’t tried them yet you can find the segment for the Club Climb here:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34914887

And the Club Sprint here:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34914943

Later in the year we will be asking members about how many miles they have ridden and feet they have climbed so we can pull a league table together (unfortunately we can’t get a league table for these off strava).

So while the sun is shining, the roads are warm and the air is thin get out there and have a go!

This is the message sent by David Oliver, club captain, to all members yesterday following the tragic death of Matthew on Thursday evening’s club ride.

‘I am very sorry to have to report that Matthew Reeves had a head on crash with a car on Bonhill Lane, Bishop Sutton while on the Thursday Social ride last night. In spite of the best efforts of other riders in the group, tragically, he died at the scene. The Police have informed his parents. Matt was 26 and had only joined the Club in July 2020. He quickly established himself in the Club as a strong and popular rider. He was about to complete his PhD at Bath University having just made a break through discovery in the use of infrared technology. He was excited for the future and putting his work to good use. He absolutely loved the club and was a pleasure to ride with. Matt will be sorely missed. As a mark of respect to Matt and his family we are cancelling all Club rides this weekend.’

For anyone who needs help from the club following Thursday’s tragic accident. Darren Edwards is our Welfare Officer and can be contacted via committee@bathcc.net to offer support and advice.

Bath CC Support Fund Recipient Maddie Aldam-Gates

 

Congratulations to Maddie Aldam-Gates. 1st successful recipient of the Bath Cycling Club Support Fund.

Maddie decided to turn to cycling with a borrowed bike and cycling kit with Bath Club when her main sport of interest, swimming, was put on hold due to COVID-19. As it turned out she enjoyed it so much she was soon developing her skills within the weekend Club Paceline Groups, Odd Down Skills Sessions and Time Trials at Castle Coombe. Maddie is in full time education so is planning to use the fund to help support her with her race licence, the necessary kit and her time spent training and participating in events to take her cycling to a higher competitive level.  Bath Cycling Club is proud to support and nurture Maddie with her endeavours to achieve her cycling goals and we look forward to hearing of her developments.

 

 

For those of you who are interested in applying for the Support Fund in relation to cycling activities please email chairman@bathcc.net for further information.

The situation in respect of Covid-19 is changing rapidly. The government has encouraged us all to distance ourselves socially to the greatest extent possible. All organisations are considering what it means for them and how they should react. British Cycling has cancelled all of its officially sanctioned events up to the end of April. The TT this Sunday has been cancelled so if you have made a cake already, either enjoy it or give to someone who is self isolating!

We all need to do our bit so we have decided that Bath CC sanctioned rides are not appropriate at a time of social distancing so we are cancelling all official Bath CC rides until further notice.

Exercise to keep us fit and healthy is still very important so you should still try to get out on your bikes. However, in line with the guidance to maximise social distance and reduce the risks of transmitting the virus, it probably makes sense to do this on your own. This is for two reasons. Primarily it is to avoid riding in the slip stream of someone else’s exhalations. Secondly, although not specifically health related, we need to be seen to be acting responsibly to protect Bath CC’s name in our community. While we all want to support the cafes that we all enjoy the reality is that a lot of them may be closed so you will need to think about taking more snacks than usual.

We appreciate that not everyone uses social media or ride sharing platforms, but to keep us all amused for the next few weeks here are a few ideas:

  • Zwift. Chris Deane and David Stoyle have an inter club race set up on a Wednesday for all abilities. Contact them or me if you don’t have their contact details.
  • The Club Climb and Club Sprint challenges. Join Bath CC on Strava and we’ll have a reckoning for April to see who has done best on their own so get out there and have a go.
  • Check out the clubs ride with gps site for a library of rides around the area that will bring back all those happy memories of previous rides.
    Use Strava for your rides and “follow” as many other riders as you can to keep in touch.
    Facebook and WhatsApp groups are a great way of keeping in touch. Not just for cycling items but other stories and banter as we’ll need a few laughs over the next few weeks. With all racing cancelled we might have a few spare trophies, amusing ideas for what to do with them on Facebook please.
  • Send pictures of your rides/activities to Kim Brace to post on the Bath CC Instagram. Don’t forget that Chris Deane is running a photo competition this year so there is every reason to let your creative juices flow……
  • Let us know if Bath riders catch the virus or are self isolating so people can help physically (running errands) or morally (a steady stream of good jokes).
  • Sadly the ReliabilityTrial on 5 April is a casualty of social distancing. Fear not though, Jon Witty has some cunning plans to adapt it so watch out for updates on social media and email.
  • Put pictures of your clean and dirty bikes on Facebook and we’ll award a small prize for the best ones at the end of April. I already have some ideas on who will win……..

Stay healthy and do what cyclists do best, look out for each other.

David