Blog posts

This upcoming exhibition needs to enthuse all the cyclists out there who may be surprised to know that Ripley was once the most famous place on the planet for cycling .

The exhibition is called RIPLEY – WORLD FAMOUS AS THE ‘MECCA FOR ALL GOOD CYCLISTS’. It traces the origin of the so called Ripley Road which was, in fact part of the Portsmouth Road between Ditton and Ripley. The cycling craze from 1870 -1900 which brought thousands of cyclists into Ripley and in particular to the Anchor Pub and the hospitality of the Dibble family. It features the memorials in Ripley church and the ‘spin offs’ of the craze such as the Anchor Visitor books, a Ripley board game featuring the Anchor. We are delighted that The Anchor are supporting the exhibition with a free draw for lunch for 2 in their restaurant. as the new village hall is being opened)

So please encourage your members to come along from the 8^th of June any Saturday morning  from 10-12 (the 22^nd might be worth avoiding as the new village hall is being opened)  – we can also open at other times by arrangement

Clare McCann -museum curator

Maggie’s have asked whether any members of WSCC would like to act as guides at their forthcoming charity cycling event.

The event is on Sunday 28 April 2024, with 3 different distances available. The roads will not be closed for this event, but all routes will be fully signposted. The event page can be accessed here: https://www.maggies.org/get-involved/find-event/surrey-cycle-challenge/

There are staggered start times depending on the distance: 8am (100 miles), 9am (50 miles) and 10am (28 miles). These are the routes:
28-mile route: Maggies 28 mile 2024 · Ride with GPS
50-mile route: Maggies 50 mile 2024 · Ride with GPS
100-mile route: Maggies 100 mile 2024 · Ride with GPS
They are looking for some cycling guides to join them on the day, similar to the role of a ride leader, to ensure participants have a great experience. Someone to be on hand to support participants should they have any issues and for the less experienced riders to have someone to follow and cycle with. They are looking to secure six guides, two per route (and they have already secured three). Last year there were 70+ participants. They are hoping for a few more this year, up to a maximum of 100. All participants and guides will receive lots of fuelling snacks on the day and a lunch stop at their centre in Sutton. They would also be more than happy to cover your travel expenses.

All proceeds raised from this event will go towards supporting Maggie’s at The Royal Marsden, allowing them to support people living with cancer, so they’d be very grateful for our help. More information about their work here: https://www.maggies.org/our-centres/maggies-royal-marsden/

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Claudia Sandu at claudia.sandu@maggies.org or on 07725 487 951.

On Sunday June 16^th 2024, the Overton 100k, Danebury 150k and the (nearly) Stonehenge 200k Audaxes will take place starting from Elstead Village Hall at 8.00, 8.30 and 9am respectively. These events are being run by our club so come and support us! Details are on the Audax UK website – enter now to guarantee your place.

Alison

Message from CyclingUK North Hampshire:

This year’s event will be on Saturday 23rd March.  The ride is organised in memory of Phil, a cyclist from West Surrey, who was killed by a lorry while cycling on the A3 in 2002.  Our aim is to raise funds for The Cyclists’ Defence Fund, a charity set up to fight legal cases involving cyclists but which now covers all aspects of cycling and the law.

The routes are the same as last year, and as usual there is a choice of either 50 or 30 miles starting from either 09:00am or 09:30am respectively, allowing more time for the longer route to be completed.  Medstead Village Hall will be open until 4pm.

This year is the 21st edition of this ride, and the 11th that we have organised.  After this year we intend to step back from running it, in the hope that some other club members will step forward to take it on.  To reduce the workload this year we’re introducing some changes around the receipt of donations.  Please don’t send any money now as we’re rejigging the handling of the contributions.  A second email will be sent out at the end of February with details on how to send your donation, along with an entry form.  As always, donations in advance are encouraged to help the smooth running of the event on the day, and for planning the catering.

There will be free tea and coffee before the event, and sandwiches and cakes are available for a small sum afterwards.  Pubs and cafes can be found on both routes.

We look forward to seeing you on the day!

Dan & Janice

Dear all

I hope you have all enjoyed a good festive season – welcome to 2024!

The start of the New Year seems like a good time to provide an update on some WSCC dates and events, and to keep you informed on the work of the committee over the last few months.

2023 club ride stats at a glance

On a quick look through the Spond records for 2023, the club put on around 450 rides in total, with 158 different riders taking part. With just over 8 riders per ride on average that comes to a grand total of around 3,700 rides across the club in 2023 – an impressive result. Assuming that at least one cake is consumed by each ride participant, and based on an average cake portion of 125g, that comes to almost half a metric tonne of cake that we have collectively shifted from the local coffee shop shelves ?. We’ll put these and other vital statistics together for the annual report that is presented at the AGM (see below).

I’d like to offer a huge thankyou to all the ride leaders whose hard work and dedication enabled this to happen in 2023.

WSCC annual club dinner and awards, Friday 15 March 2024

Following the success of the club’s Annual Dinner and awards last year, we have once again booked the Cygnet room at the Mill in Elstead for this event on Friday 15 March 2024. Please make a note of the date and look out for further details which will follow soon. The dinner provides a nice opportunity for the various groups to get together under one roof, and to thank those who have made a special contribution to the success of our club. We hope to see as many club members as possible again this year, and remember that partners are also very welcome.

WSCC AGM, Saturday 27 April at Normandy Village Hall

Another date for your new 2024 diaries is the AGM, which has been booked for the morning of Saturday 27 April 2024, to be held this year at Normandy Village Hall. As previously advertised, I’ll be standing down from the Chair role after this meeting, so the AGM business will include at least one change to the committee. There are no current plans for any special resolutions at this point, but members will be notified in advance if there are any other changes that will require a vote.

As with the Annual Dinner, we will shortly post a club event on Spond for the AGM, and further details and updates will be available there closer to the time.

Rides and ride leader guidelines

As many of you will know, since taking up his role as Rides Secretary in April 2023, John Carolin has been busy making some changes to the rides and ride leader guidelines on our website to remove some anomalies and bring them up to date with current CUK policies. The results of John’s excellent work can be found at:

·      https://westsurreyctc.co.uk/ride-guidelines-2/ for the rides guidelines; and

·      https://westsurreyctc.co.uk/members/guidelines-for-leaders/ for the ride leader details.

Please take some time out to review these pages. Even some of our most experienced riders might learn something! It is in everyone’s interests for our groups rides to be run safely and under consistent procedures.

WSCC Ride with GPS account

Whilst on the subject of club rides, it may be worth a reminder that we have recently renewed the club’s subscription to RideWithGPS. This allows every member to access the premium features of this route planning tool, and for both riders and ride leaders to benefit from the growing library of gpx files that are stored in the club’s account, conveniently organised by start point. Please take a look at the website details, to be found at: https://westsurreyctc.co.uk/information_for_members/ridewithgps-club-account/

First Aid Courses

Many of you will also be aware that Keith Stainer has taken the lead for the committee to organise a series of practical first aid courses at Merrist Wood college, run by Jen Craven from Wimbledon First Aid. Feedback from those who have attended the two courses to date has been very positive. The third group of 8 club members is due to benefit from Jen’s dynamic teaching later this month, and if there is sufficient interest we will consider extending this further in 2024, in conjunction with some online options.

Club Audax events 2024

Finally, a brief mention of the two main fundraising events that the club plans to run in 2024:

·      After a gap of a couple of years, the Elstead Audax rides will return this year, on Sunday 16 June, organised by Neil McIntyre; and

·      The Tour of the Hills Audax will take place on Sunday 11 August, with me again in charge of the admin, along with Jill and her catering team.

Look out for further announcements on these events, and also for requests for volunteers to help to make them a success. And of course if you’d like to register an interest in helping, both Neil and I would be very pleased to hear from you.

That’s all for now.  I look forward to seeing you out on the road in 2024 – happy cycling!

Derek