WSCC Annual dinner postponement

By on 3 October, 2021   /   Blog posts  
Back in May we announced that we hoped to organise the club’s annual dinner at The Princess Royal in Farnham on Saturday 23 October 2021.  Due to the ongoing uncertainty around the Covid risks associated with large indoor gatherings, we have decided not to go ahead with this date, but hope to re-schedule some time in the spring of 2022.  Please wait for further announcements on this.
Derek
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Harold Coleman

By on 28 September, 2021   /   latest news  

Kath Coleman just phoned me to tell me the sad news that her husband Harold died peacefully in her company yesterday morning in his nursing home at the age of 90. Harold was full of enthusiasm, for cycling and for West Surrey CTC (secretary, mover and shaker, etc). He has been missed ever since he became incapacitated by dementia a few years ago. Our thoughts go out to Kath and Harold’s son John. More to follow in due course.

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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
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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)

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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

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