Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2017 21:57:08 GMT
Contact the Club:- admin@northbirminghamcycling.uk
North Birmingham – October Newsletter
Thanks to all who supported our last Macmillan charity afe at the Cooper Rooms. We raised £225 after expenses well done everyone especially the people from Macmillan Cancer Support - cheers guys.
Well listening to the weather men we are in for a wet October but I'm sure we'll not let them dampen our spirits.
Rides List (ammendments)
All Sunday rides from November the 5th should read 10:00am Start (winter start time)
Christmas Cafe at Cooper Rooms is now 16th December swapping with Lichfield Morrisons 9th
The Wednesday Evening ride is Summer only be prepared for a lonely ride if you turn up.
Remember that there are no official rides if the temperature is 4deg or below.
Special Wednesday Ride
There is a visit to Mease Valley Dairy if you would like to go please register your interest with
Ian Bolton on 0121-384-5647 or 07779470786. A date is yet to be set.
AGM
The Date for this year’s AGM is 7th November at the Cooper Rooms Shenstone
Last year’s Minutes can be found at northbrum.boards.net/board/11/committee-meetings
The Club Annual Dinner
The Meal will be at Wishaw Golf Club on 25th November please contact Ros Llewellyn for details on 0121 354 5413
The Alternative Christmas Bash
This will be organised and details are to follow.
Request for ride leaders
Remember if there are no ride leaders then we can't put on any Rides. If you would like to become one then contact me at admin@northbirminghamcycling.uk or 01922 458697
The Christmas Cafe (The Mince Pie Ride)
Our next Cafe at the Cooper Rooms will be Saturday 16th December. Even if you aren't cycling on that day but wish to pop in for a chat, coffee and bacon roll/cake, please feel free to come along.
Club apparel
Club Jerseys, there are still a few left in various sizes please get in touch with Sally for Enquiries,
The next phase is being discussed either rain jackets or long sleeve jerseys?
Brittany 2018 – Message from Ian Bolton
The 2018 trip to Moulin Conan in Brittany for the week is
Wednesday 11 – Wednesday 18 July 2018.
Please contact Ian Bolton on 0121-384-5647 or 07779470786 for more details.
The Velo Birmingham A great day out! By Mike Fowler
I first became aware of “Velo Birmingham” event when it was in its planning stage during autumn 2016. I registered my interest but that soon waned when I heard that the entry fee was to be £75.
It was rekindled when I heard that Pete Kelsall had entered as a result of receiving the entry fee as a Christmas present from his Mother in Law. If Pete could it, surely I should be able to do the hundred-mile event.
February 2017 saw me celebrate a significant birthday milestone so I decided to treat myself by entering the Velo.
As my longest ride to date was only eighty-one miles, I decided I would plan a strategy to get up to speed and cope with the extra distance without too much stress. I looked at the Audax calendar and marked a few dates down starting with the club audax at the beginning of May. However, because of a ‘mishap’ on my way home from a club ride on the last Saturday in April I did not venture out on a bike ride until six weeks later. Luckily, I did not lose too much form and was able to enjoy a great weekend away cycling The Dieppe Raid event over the last weekend in June.
At the beginning of August, I did my first Club 100 on the Cheswardine course. I surprised myself in coping with the event without too much trouble. I then lost another week away from the bike at the end of August when I was on a walking holiday with my wife and friends in the Stubai Alps in Austria. So on my return I planned to get more longer rides done.
The first Sunday in September, I did 105K audax at Moira. The next Sunday was the St Giles Charity Ride of 75 miles over a tough course and two weeks later was the date of the Velo. Whilst doing the Moira and St Giles events I focussed on hydration and food intake. After having a chat with Matt and Sarah Hinkley I used their plan of making lots of large postage stamp size sandwiches wrapped in foil to eat on the move.
The day before the Velo involved going in person with photo ID to the Barclaycard Arena to collect the registration pack, which contained my number for the bike, a sticker with my number for my helmet along with a wristband also with my number on it. I also receive a goody bag which contained a number of useful items along with four ‘go anywhere’ London Midland Rail tickets.
The day of the event arrived. I rose at 5:15am, was off in the car by 6:15 am and parked up at Curzon Street in plenty of time to prepare my bike and myself for the day ahead. I cycled along New Street, which was empty bar for cyclists going towards Broad Street and motorised street cleaning machines.
Altogether, there were eighteen starting Pens for fifteen thousand cyclists. The first Pen was for Fasttrack 1 who were down to start at 07:00. I was in Pen A6 and had to be in the pen by 07:35 ready to start at 07:50. In the same pen as myself was Matt and Sarah Hinkley and Richard Dewsbery. Pete Kelsall was also in the same pen but nowhere to be seen. Mind you, it was pretty crowded. The last pen to start was C5 at 08:50
Our start was delayed nearly half an hour and lots of cyclist including myself were shivering standing in the shade near the starting Banner in Hagley Road. All of a sudden, we started moving forward and then we were off at 08:16. Going over the starting line was last time I saw Matt and Sarah. I did see Richard again a couple of times and I did meet up with Pete Kelsall at a water stop. Later in the day, Stewart Davis overtook me going over the hills at Clent.
The whole day was an exceptional experience, my enjoyment was beyond belief. There were some downsides with the organisation of the event. However, I was not put out by the overcrowding at the feeding stations thanks to using the Hinkley’s strategy of having large postage stamp size sandwiches individually wrapped in foil.
The atmosphere and welcome when passing through the small towns and villages along the route is something that I will remember for a long time. It was almost like being in a continuous party for the whole 100 miles.
My official time was 8hours 17 minutes with my Strava time being 7 hours and 38 minutes which is exactly one minute faster than my Strava time for the Club 100.
Was it worth the entry fee? Yes, completely, I had a truly unbelievable great day’s experience and entertainment for well over 9 hours.
North Birmingham – October Newsletter
Thanks to all who supported our last Macmillan charity afe at the Cooper Rooms. We raised £225 after expenses well done everyone especially the people from Macmillan Cancer Support - cheers guys.
Well listening to the weather men we are in for a wet October but I'm sure we'll not let them dampen our spirits.
Rides List (ammendments)
All Sunday rides from November the 5th should read 10:00am Start (winter start time)
Christmas Cafe at Cooper Rooms is now 16th December swapping with Lichfield Morrisons 9th
The Wednesday Evening ride is Summer only be prepared for a lonely ride if you turn up.
Remember that there are no official rides if the temperature is 4deg or below.
Special Wednesday Ride
There is a visit to Mease Valley Dairy if you would like to go please register your interest with
Ian Bolton on 0121-384-5647 or 07779470786. A date is yet to be set.
AGM
The Date for this year’s AGM is 7th November at the Cooper Rooms Shenstone
Last year’s Minutes can be found at northbrum.boards.net/board/11/committee-meetings
The Club Annual Dinner
The Meal will be at Wishaw Golf Club on 25th November please contact Ros Llewellyn for details on 0121 354 5413
The Alternative Christmas Bash
This will be organised and details are to follow.
Request for ride leaders
Remember if there are no ride leaders then we can't put on any Rides. If you would like to become one then contact me at admin@northbirminghamcycling.uk or 01922 458697
The Christmas Cafe (The Mince Pie Ride)
Our next Cafe at the Cooper Rooms will be Saturday 16th December. Even if you aren't cycling on that day but wish to pop in for a chat, coffee and bacon roll/cake, please feel free to come along.
Club apparel
Club Jerseys, there are still a few left in various sizes please get in touch with Sally for Enquiries,
The next phase is being discussed either rain jackets or long sleeve jerseys?
Brittany 2018 – Message from Ian Bolton
The 2018 trip to Moulin Conan in Brittany for the week is
Wednesday 11 – Wednesday 18 July 2018.
Please contact Ian Bolton on 0121-384-5647 or 07779470786 for more details.
The Velo Birmingham A great day out! By Mike Fowler
I first became aware of “Velo Birmingham” event when it was in its planning stage during autumn 2016. I registered my interest but that soon waned when I heard that the entry fee was to be £75.
It was rekindled when I heard that Pete Kelsall had entered as a result of receiving the entry fee as a Christmas present from his Mother in Law. If Pete could it, surely I should be able to do the hundred-mile event.
February 2017 saw me celebrate a significant birthday milestone so I decided to treat myself by entering the Velo.
As my longest ride to date was only eighty-one miles, I decided I would plan a strategy to get up to speed and cope with the extra distance without too much stress. I looked at the Audax calendar and marked a few dates down starting with the club audax at the beginning of May. However, because of a ‘mishap’ on my way home from a club ride on the last Saturday in April I did not venture out on a bike ride until six weeks later. Luckily, I did not lose too much form and was able to enjoy a great weekend away cycling The Dieppe Raid event over the last weekend in June.
At the beginning of August, I did my first Club 100 on the Cheswardine course. I surprised myself in coping with the event without too much trouble. I then lost another week away from the bike at the end of August when I was on a walking holiday with my wife and friends in the Stubai Alps in Austria. So on my return I planned to get more longer rides done.
The first Sunday in September, I did 105K audax at Moira. The next Sunday was the St Giles Charity Ride of 75 miles over a tough course and two weeks later was the date of the Velo. Whilst doing the Moira and St Giles events I focussed on hydration and food intake. After having a chat with Matt and Sarah Hinkley I used their plan of making lots of large postage stamp size sandwiches wrapped in foil to eat on the move.
The day before the Velo involved going in person with photo ID to the Barclaycard Arena to collect the registration pack, which contained my number for the bike, a sticker with my number for my helmet along with a wristband also with my number on it. I also receive a goody bag which contained a number of useful items along with four ‘go anywhere’ London Midland Rail tickets.
The day of the event arrived. I rose at 5:15am, was off in the car by 6:15 am and parked up at Curzon Street in plenty of time to prepare my bike and myself for the day ahead. I cycled along New Street, which was empty bar for cyclists going towards Broad Street and motorised street cleaning machines.
Altogether, there were eighteen starting Pens for fifteen thousand cyclists. The first Pen was for Fasttrack 1 who were down to start at 07:00. I was in Pen A6 and had to be in the pen by 07:35 ready to start at 07:50. In the same pen as myself was Matt and Sarah Hinkley and Richard Dewsbery. Pete Kelsall was also in the same pen but nowhere to be seen. Mind you, it was pretty crowded. The last pen to start was C5 at 08:50
Our start was delayed nearly half an hour and lots of cyclist including myself were shivering standing in the shade near the starting Banner in Hagley Road. All of a sudden, we started moving forward and then we were off at 08:16. Going over the starting line was last time I saw Matt and Sarah. I did see Richard again a couple of times and I did meet up with Pete Kelsall at a water stop. Later in the day, Stewart Davis overtook me going over the hills at Clent.
The whole day was an exceptional experience, my enjoyment was beyond belief. There were some downsides with the organisation of the event. However, I was not put out by the overcrowding at the feeding stations thanks to using the Hinkley’s strategy of having large postage stamp size sandwiches individually wrapped in foil.
The atmosphere and welcome when passing through the small towns and villages along the route is something that I will remember for a long time. It was almost like being in a continuous party for the whole 100 miles.
My official time was 8hours 17 minutes with my Strava time being 7 hours and 38 minutes which is exactly one minute faster than my Strava time for the Club 100.
Was it worth the entry fee? Yes, completely, I had a truly unbelievable great day’s experience and entertainment for well over 9 hours.