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The Tour of the Hills event, held yearly in August at Seale and brilliantly organised by Don Gray, is the major source of funding for the West Surrey CTC.  Such funding is essential as it allows our club to partially subsidise a wide variety of things which are dear to us, from the purchase of club shirts, an occasional CTC membership for a member in need, first aid training for ride leaders, refreshments at AGM or club events, etc.

I have thoroughly enjoyed assisting Don by organising the catering for the 160 plus riders we typically get but time for a change after 3 years in the job so this position of “Catering Big Cheese” will become vacant in 2016.  Not much to it:

• recruiting the best volunteers for the job (already a fantastic crew of 6 on hand!)
• purchasing the food a few days prior to the event and delivering it to the hall on the day
• overseeing the catering operation on the day
• providing audit paperwork for all expenditures to the club Treasurer on completionAll in all it is a fun job and it only takes a full day on event day plus an extra 15 hours of your time prior and after to buy the food and do the accounting.  The event this year is on 21 August 2106.For the many of you with good organisational skills, this will be a walk in the park!  If you are interested or know someone who will, please contact Louise Gagnon at bridgethatgap@hotmail.com.

I am currently in Japan.  Lynette and I have spent a couple of weeks visiting our son Mike and his family in Tokyo, but today we took a train south-west to the tip of the Izu peninsula and my plan for tomorrow is to hire a bike and explore some wild coastal scenery.

Being away, I have yet to read the April ‘Cycle’ but I gather from facebook that it has generated a great deal of comment.  I hope the WSCTC Committee will consider the rebranding and the proposed governance changes and come up with a plan for action at the CTC AGM on 7 May.  I shall be going, and am more than happy to act as proxy for anyone who wishes to vote but cannot attend.  Instruct me how to vote on each agenda item, or leave it to my discretion, whichever you wish, but please, please vote.  Maybe the committee will make clear how it regards the changes, and possibly suggest action, to ordinary WSCTC members.

It now seems clear that if the recent actual and proposed changes, introduced in a totally undemocratic manner, are not challenged, then the CTC will never again be a club nor focussed on touring.  The current management have managed to achieve this because not enough members have voted in the past, so please make sure you vote this time.  The CUK Charity tail is wagging the CTC dog and I fear that soon all that will be left will be a disembodied tail wagging its death throes.

It was a happy band of six Grade 2 cyclists and five bicycles (work out the maths!) who travelled by train on Wednesday to Liphook, where we were greeted by a reception party of a further four cyclists. After the initial climb out of Liphook, we enjoyed an easy ride along quiet lanes to coffee at the Maple Ridge garden centre.

It was after this relaxing interlude that the real adventure started, for this was no ordinary West Surrey CTC route but a trademark Chris Juden route, incorporating stony and rutted bridleways and even a vast, open field! For the more intrepid among us, such routes are a real bonus but for those who prefer a nice stretch of tarmac, it was perhaps a tad too bumpy. Our efforts were amply repaid though with glorious views all around. This rather unconventional route delivered us to the cosy interior of the Royal Oak pub, which nestles against the South Downs and evidently attracts lots of ramblers.

The sun made some brief appearances during the afternoon, which together with the sight of lambs in the fields and an abundance of wild flowers in the verges gave a definite feel of springtime to the ride. We were also treated to a couple of forays into local history with visits to a Norman church and an ancient barrow, which looked pretty much like any other mound of earth with the result that nobody appeared to have any qualms about trampling on the dead!

The unrivalled stars of the day though were Brian and Helen on their newly-adapted, turbo-charged tandem! They put the rest of us to shame as they whirred their way past us up all the steepest hills. I suspect that this type of device might just catch on with others among us who would be happy to have a helping hand on some of the more challenging climbs.

From start to finish it was an excellent day’s outing, confirming my view that we should try and include more such “away” days in our runs list.          

  
Report written by Hilary Stephenson

Photos taken by Chris Juden