Monthly archive for June 2025

Orders for Club Kit

The Poll on Spond was successful, with more than enough interest expressed to meet the Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) of five required for the Supplier to accept a new order.  The Supplier now offers the facility of an online “club shop”, which will enable members to order directly, pay and have their kit delivered direct to their homes, thus being more convenient for members and greatly reducing the financial and handling logistics for the Committee. Depending on the individual order size, there may be a delivery charge of £5 – the Committee has decided that it will reimburse this subsequently to members (details of how to do this will be provided later).

The club shop for our bespoke kit has now opened and will remain open until 17 July 2025. The shop will then close, and provided the orders have met the MOQ’s, the supplier will move to production of the kit. This typically takes 45-60 days, but unfortunately we run into Italian summer shutdown, with the Alé factory being closed for all of August. Delivery of the kit will therefore not be before September.

As previously, there is a No Return policy on the kit so it is essential that members take every effort to try to get the right size when they order. There is a Sizing Guide Size (on p76 of this catalogue,) , but experience suggests members need a bigger size than they may think, particularly for the Short Sleeved top. The supplier says that the stretch fabric Short Sleeve top is designed to be worn skin-tight with no under-layers whereas the Long Sleeved top and Gilet would be expected to be a looser fit to accommodate under-layers. By far the best approach is to try on the tops that existing members already have.

There is also an issue regarding Male and Female versions. The Supplier offers Male and Female versions for all the tops (Short Sleeve, Long Sleeve and Gilet) and this choice will be available through the Club Shop. However, in previous years, whilst we have ordered separate versions for the Short Sleeved top, all the Gilets and Long Sleeved tops ordered (and therefore being worn by existing members) are the Male version. Therefore if Female members are planning to order Female versions of the Gilet/Long Sleeved top they need to bear in mind that the size they tried on from an existing member would have been a Male version.

The range of kit available to members is PRIME, and this can be seen from page 18 on the catalogue (see link above). The prices for the different tops are:

• PRIME Short Sleeve Jersey £49.68
• PRIME Long Sleeve Jersey £53.38
• PRIME Gilet with 3 pockets £59.95

Here are the details regarding the Club Shop:

Visit the Alé UK site https://alecyclingkit.co.uk/

Navigate to “Sign In” on the top right and either login to an existing account if you have one, or create an account.

Once Logged in – navigate to My Account, on the personal details section you will find a box to enter you club code which is:

873df4fcd0a81c0304328c0faf5ca929

After entering the code you’ll see a box like this:

There will be a new link on the top navigation bar between “Custom Kit” and “Mens” stating “My Club Shop” click on there and all the available kit will be there to purchase.

This is the desktop site view:

This is the mobile site view:

Following the successful Elstead Audaxes on 8 June, at which we attracted more than 100 riders thanks to the efforts of Neil McIntyre and the rest of the WSCC events team, it’s time to turn our attention to Tour of the Hills (TOTH) Audax.

As most of you know, TOTH is a 110km ride that takes in all of the main climbs in the Surrey hills, with around 2,300m of elevation. It takes place this year on Sunday 10 August, at Shere Village Hall. The event is open to all cyclists who are intrepid enough to take on the challenge, and we normally attract cyclists from across the country (and even beyond).

Entries have already started to come in and we are on track for a healthy number of participants. As well as being a very significant income source for the club, TOTH is also a very sociable occasion that brings a lot of club members together and creates excellent publicity and goodwill for the club each year.

Alongside TOTH, the club runs a gentler Tour of the Greensand ride on the same day and venue, which is also open to all comers. Further details of the Greensand ride, which normally attracts a good number of club riders from the G2 and G3 groups, will be posted on Spond nearer the time.

Entry for TOTH (the fee is £15) is via the Audax website

There are two main ways you can help:

• Volunteering for one of the roles on the day
• Assisting with publicity for the event

Please take a moment to read on and consider how you can help the club make the event a success.

Volunteers

TOTH cannot function without a small army of volunteers in the hall, and out on the course. Each year, we have had a fantastic response from club members who have taken on these roles, and our volunteers have also had a great time in the process. Since this year’s TOTH will be the 43rd edition, this is also a chance for you to become part of the club’s history!

Checkpoint Marshals

There are 6 separate checkpoints around the course, and we need at least two marshals at each one of these. Their job is to check the riders in and out, stamping their Audax cards and – most importantly – handing out jelly babies, water top-ups and encouragement.

We are also looking for someone to coordinate the marshals from the Village Hall. We have a well-drilled system for the checkpoint stations (and all the necessary equipment) so the requirements for this job are already well set out. Expert guidance is on hand for anyone who would like to give it a try for the first time!

Catering and in-hall support

Jill Ridyard is once again masterminding the catering in the village hall on the day, and will need some help both with preparing the food and drink in advance, and serving on the day. The catering is one of the main attractions of the event, and Jill will once again be managing the helpers by recruiting two shifts (morning and afternoon) to ease the load on anyone who steps forward.

There are also a few other jobs in the hall itself, including a volunteer to deal with on-the-day entries and checking in riders when they return to the hall at the end of the ride. We need a volunteer to coordinate entries for the Greensand ride too.

Please let me or Jill know if you would be available to assist on any of the above roles. To make this as simple as possible, we have set up a poll on the club’s Spond page that allows you to register your availability at the click of a button – or just get in touch direct or via your ride leader if that’s easier. It would be nice to see some of our newer members getting involved this year.

Publicity

We have already sent out emails to last year’s entrants and more than 30 cycle clubs and cafés throughout the South-East to let them know details of the event, and the Audax magazine and website also provide valuable publicity. But these mailshots can be rather hit-and-miss, and it would be really helpful if club members could use their own cycling contacts and local knowledge to ensure that we bring TOTH to the attention of potential entrants.

We are relying increasingly on social media to promote the event, this post includes the jpeg file which contains the poster we have used this year. A personal recommendation can speak far louder than an unsolicited email, so please feel free to post this on any Instagram/Facebook/website where we have a good chance to reach fellow cyclists who might be interested in signing up to ride TOTH.

Finally, there we have printed some TOTH business cards and posters that can be displayed in cycle-friendly cafés and other hot spots, so please get in touch or ask you ride leader if you would like to help in that way.

Thanks, in anticipation of your support!

Derek