A Sentimental Journey to Vienna – Paul Gillingham

By on 24 September, 2021   /   Blog posts  

Dear fellow cyclists,
Greetings to all. I hope you’ve had a good summer and getting ready with the long johns for the months ahead.
Just to let you know I’m giving a live Zoom talk on ‘Freewheeling to Vienna’ this Thursday at 4pm.
It’s a bike ride from Surrey to Vienna with the emphasis on history, but with bike bits thrown in.
In case you are free …..!
You can access the website by clicking the link here
Very best wishes,
Paul
Back to Top

Cycling kit orders

By on 23 September, 2021   /   Blog posts  
In response to multiple requests by club members, including some of of our many new riders, we have taken steps to re-open the club kit shop with our suppliers Alé.
The link to the WSCC shop can be found at:  https://alecustom.com/west-surrey-cc
If you click this link, it will ask you to either log in (if you have previously created an account) or to create a new account with Alé.  But if you prefer not to do that, no problem: the key info is set out in this email:
  • The shop will be open until Sunday 10 October, after which our orders will be collated and sent to the manufacturer for delivery to members in about 8 weeks (ie early/mid December).  Since (we are reliably informed) all other shops will be completely out of stock in the run-up to Christmas this year, this means that a club kit order could be your one and only opportunity to unwrap a present on Christmas Day!
  • You can order either direct for home delivery, or ask me to include you in a club order that I will make on your behalf.  Home delivery incurs a cost of £5 per order, whereas if you take the club order option you will have to pay the club when you order and pick up from my house (in Send) when the order arrives.
  • The product options are the same as before, namely short-sleeve jerseys, long-sleeve jerseys and gilets, which all come in either men’s or women’s fittings – so there are 6 products in all.  I have posted pictures of the items along with prices below.
  • Each of these 6 products comes in a choice of 9 sizes from X-small to XXXXX-large.
  • However, Alé requires that we order at least 5 of any one item in order to make production viable.  That means that we would need (for example) to order 5 women’s short-sleeve jerseys in order to meet the requirement, but that qualifying order can be made up from any combination of the 9 size options.
  • The product prices are around 10% LOWER than they were for the previous two options to buy.  This is a one-off concession that will apply only to this order window.  The short sleeve jerseys are £41, the long-sleeve jerseys are £49, and the gilets are £46.
  • It should be much easier for everyone to get the right size this time round, since we no have so many club members already wearing the Alé WSCC kit.  Alé’s size guide is at https://aleclothing.com/size-guide/, but you might find it much easier to simply ask fellow club members what worked for them.  There are some quirks in the sizing, especially for the short-sleeve jerseys.
This will probably be the last chance to order club kit for a while, and also the last and only chance to buy at these discounted prices.
We might buy some extra items for club stock, but if we do they will be sold on at normal (undiscounted) prices.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Derek

Alé Prime Gilet Wind.  Club Price £46 (RRP £80)

Alé Long Sleeve Jersey, Club price £49 (RRP £85)

Alé Prime Jersey short sleeve, Club price £41 (RRP £75)

Back to Top

Guildford Car Free Day – 26th September

By on 17 September, 2021   /   Blog posts  

Car Free Day is Sunday 26th September 2021   10:00am – 4:30pm

Flying elephants will fly over Guildford if it is car free, but we can do our bit.

Guildford Borough Council are closing Guildford High Street and WSCC/G-BUG/ZCG are sharing a stand of 6 tables.

Many people are put off cycling as they only know the routes they or their parents drive in cars.

Pat Daffarn with dual hat G-BUG and WSCC /Cycling UK with other WSCC members are supporting Car Free Day and aim to:

  • Show routes away from traffic, supported by physical maps and webs plotaroute, ridewithGPS, google maps and the SCC cycle pages.
  • Lead small groups.
  • Ambassador the cycling benefits, including time benefit over car driving and parking
  • Explain cycle parking and security.
  • Not to actively recruit for WSCC, but if asked, we will supply our calling card.

So far GBC have various markets (Ethical Vegan, Rural Crafts, Antiques, Farmers’), stalls (street food, environmental groups, local groups including GBUG/WSCC), street play for children, street performers and allowing for businesses to have tables and chairs out on the pavement/road.

If you would like to support, speak to Pat on 07801713518.  He will post more information like start and end times when he gets them.

In the mean time the SCC Transport Plan presentation is worth viewing  https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/commonplace-customer-assets/surreyltp4/Surrey%20Transport%20Plan.pdf.  Transport accounted for 46% of Surrey’s carbon emissions in 2019. Surrey plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 60% by 2035, and to zero by 2050, mostly by improved public transport cycling, walking with facilities within 20 minutes.

Note “Segregated or low speed, traffic calmed routes, with cyclists and pedestrians having separate routes” with “Segregated Cycle Lanes” defined as “A path for cyclists that is separate to motor traffic and pedestrians .”

Do SCC really plan to increase cycling by removing cycles from the shared use paths?

Pat Daffarn

Back to Top

West Surrey Centenary event

By on 12 September, 2021   /   Blog posts  

It’s 100 years since our club was formed!

 

On Sunday Sept 5th, 50 WSCC members and partners celebrated 100 years since the club was formed in 1921. Many people enjoyed a ride in glorious sunshine to/from MCafe in Cranleigh. Angela, Dom and Jasmine served up a delicious afternoon tea including the legendary carrot cake that has firmly put MCafe as a ‘go-to’ destination for cyclists from far and wide.

It was wonderful to see a ‘sea of yellow and blue’ and to hear chatter and laughter far exceeding normal levels (apparently). Phil Gasson provided some lovely words to mark the occasion. He ended by saying he hoped the club would still be here in another 100 years. Hear, Hear.

Alison

Back to Top

Out of The Shadows – forthcoming gigs

By on 30 August, 2021   /   Blog posts  

OUT OF THE SHADOWS

ANNOUNCEMENT BY HEIDI VINSON:

The band I perform with (Out of the Shadows) has a number of autumn gigs in the diary and I am aware that there are a number of WSCC members that have expressed an interest to Martin and/or me in coming along.  Obviously plans have to remain flexible given the unknown challenges Covid may present, but assuming people are comfortable with being indoors we currently have the following dates scheduled:

Sat 9th Oct    Elstead Village Hall 19:30   (£25 with a fish and chip supper) in aid of Chiks ( A Farnham based charity providing orphanage care to children overseas).

Fri 19th Nov  Camberley Masonic Lodge  19:30 (Probably £15 entry) in aid of Muscular Dystrophy.

Sat 4th Dec    Ash Victoria Hall  19:30 (Probably £15 entry) in aid of Alzheimer’s Society & Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice.

These are all charity events so the more people attending the merrier (and better) it will be for the various charities. Some are still in the planning stages – but at least people can see when/where the gigs will be and can put dates in the diary if they’d like to come!  It would be great to have a WSCC contingent and make a social evening of it like we did back in 2019 in Camberley.  60s costumes always welcome 🙂

If anybody would like tickets please drop me an email (heidivinson747@gmail.com) and I can let the relevant people know details nearer the time.

Looking forward to seeing some of you again soon.

Kind regards
Heidi

Back to Top