We have welcomed many new riders over recent years, and we thought it would be a good idea to highlight a few things about your club. Obviously the primary points of contact are the club rides, of which there are well over 400 each year, with some 150 riders, of which around half are regularly riding at least every 2-3 weeks. We run several different levels of ride to suit a wide range of fitness and ability, but always sporting our distinctive yellow and blue West Surrey CC kit along the many lovely lanes in our area..
There are also four key events each year which are of fundamental importance for the club.
Annual Dinner (to be held at Hoebridge Golf Club on Fri 14 March) is a great opportunity to meet up in a friendly, lycra-free environment and let your hair down (at least those lucky enough to have some!). You can meet riders from other levels as well as your regular riding buddies, and hear all about their cycling adventures over the last year, and their plans for the coming one. Non-member guests are very welcome. If you haven’t already done so, please reply to the email invite from Keith Stainer or accept on Spond and we’ll contact you.
The AGM (Normandy Village Hall, 10am Sat 10 May) is the key meeting to appoint members of the Committee, hear about our achievements during the year, and our healthy financial status. It’s the perfect opportunity for members to raise any issues they have or suggest improvements or changes for the club to consider.
There are then the club’s two Audax (Long Distance Cycling) Events – The Elstead Event on Sun 8 June, and the Tour of the Hills (TotH) on Sun 10 Aug. As a club, and that means individual members acting on a voluntary basis, we organise and manage these very popular events. They attract riders from all over the South East and farther afield – last year there were some 80 riders on the Elstead Events and just short of 100 on the Tour of the Hills. As well as being great events, they publicise the club and also generate a financial surplus which is essential to the financial health of our club – this enables us to do things such as running first aid courses for riders; providing first aid kits; and subsidising the Annual Dinner.
However, we can only run these events if members volunteer to help. Neil McIntyre has posted a request on Spond for volunteers to help with rider management and catering for Elstead, but the bigger challenge is with Tour of the Hills. This event needs volunteers not only in Shere Village Hall to register riders on the way out and return, but also at the many Marshall Points around the course and to provide the catering at Shere, which is widely recognised by visiting riders as amongst the best at any Audax event! The TotH has been run for the last few years by Derek and Jill Ridyard, but they’re going to take a well-deserved rest after this year’s event. John Carolin is going to take over Derek’s role organising the event, but we need volunteer(s) to continue with the very well-oiled machine that is the catering operation. If anyone is interested in volunteering or joining the Events Committee team, in any capacity, please let us know.
Thanks for your attention, and look forward to seeing you out on a ride or hopefully at the Annual Dinner!
