How lovely that so many of us were able to meet up in person at the Annual General Meeting. The golf club proved a comfortable venue, our thanks to Melinda for organising this. We tried to keep things brief, so that there was time for prize giving and a talk. Dave gave a very positive chair’s report – membership is up, more rides are going out, we have a new kit, a new website, a new rides hub and a new safety process. Recognising that club meetings are often tied up with administration and can be boring, we are planning to reduce committee meetings to every other month with a more social evening* on the alternate month. Dave thanked committee for all its work. Emily Wadge, Mark Hilton and Rich Chart have now joined the committee. Jane was surprised and delighted to be given a bouquet and a framed Lifetime Member card.
I was so astonished, that I didn’t make a thank you speech, so here goes: Thank you to all the ride leaders – where would we be without them? the people who come on the rides; the time triallers; the committee members – past, present and future; the people who organise evening pub rides, gravel rides and training rides; the helpers with kit, branding, website, charity events etc. Apologies to all those whose names I consistently get wrong on a Sunday morning. Jane
The Awards for 2021 were:
10 Mile Time Trial Men – Alex Boswell (21:23)
10 Mile Time Trial Women – Eve Sealey (28.05)
10 Mile Time Trial Veteran – Rupert Tildesley (25.04)
25 Mile Time Trial – Tom Round (1.07.18)
Tourist Trophy – Simon Spurgeon
Meritorious Ride – Alex Boswell (Pan Celtic Ultra Race)
Most Improved Rider – Ang Netherwood
David Piper’s talk on his round the world cycling was an absolute treat. He caught the bug when he cycled unsupported from Land’s End to John o’Groats and arrived a day earlier than a group of supported riders he’d met at the start. We learnt that to qualify as an official around the world ride he needed to cycle a minimum of 18,000 miles in total and pass through two antipodal points – in his case these were Wellington NZ and Salamanca in Spain. His talk covered many memorable moments, including learning that in Yosemite mountain bikes are equipped with bells to scare bears, that you can’t take durian fruit, automatic weapons or child prostitutes into Cambodia, that you need to research the best way to cross from Malaysia to Singapore and that Australia is massive! Along the way he managed to find a secret Omani beer keller, he was chased by a sea lion in New Zealand and he consumed an average of 9000 calories a day. Morocco was his favourite place to cycle, but he also found Jordan an absolute pleasure, and Oman beautiful and friendly. His talk was accompanied by many fabulous photographs. These are available in his pdf book, which you can order for a £5 donation to charity.