The Cricket Club has decided to hold its AGM on Friday 1st therefore we have rescheduled the first social evening to the 8th April.

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With spring round the corner its time to circulate a few dates and bits of information which will hopefully be of interest. In no particular order.

Sunday Club rides:

Restart meeting from the Market Place on Sunday 27^th March at 8.30 with a café stop. We had scheduled the last Reliability for that date but its mothering Sunday and I don’t think the likely numbers will justify opening up the cricket club.

Routes:

I’m looking at developing a set of routes in Strava with a Café stop around 60 miles or so in length that will be available through the clubs website, that could be used for Sunday Club rides.

This would give riders an idea of where they are going and we would look more organised!

Let me know your favourite routes and they can be added.

The main drawback is the ability of members to load and follow a route on their Garmin, hopefully at least one person on a ride would be able to!!

Reliability Rides:

It has to be said that the weather has not helped this year, maybe we are getting older and softer and Zwift is too easy an option. However the ones we did have were very enjoyable, with some varied routes. Thanks to Alan & Janet for the photos, Dave for the Broom Wagon, Dave for opening the cricket club, Loz for the tea and of course Gill for the flapjack.

Club TTs:

These start on Tuesday 5^th April, with the traditional 2-up, see attached schedule for the full list.

Remember Front and Rear Lights are now required under CTT regulations.

Open TT’s:

Thanks to Tony Hardenberg for organising the club open events again this year, which incorporate the club Championships and will be held on the Sleaford course. Note pre-entry via the CTT is required for these events.

Saturday June 11^th – 10 mile

Saturday July 2^nd 25 mile

Social Evenings:

Its been suggested that we have a monthly social evening when we can meet up for an hour or so, talk rubbish about cycling, plan rides or just have a drink. These will be at the cricket club on Gorse Lane on Friday evenings from 7.00pm. Dates scheduled so far.

1^st April – Chance to buy some club clothing and a bring and buy if you want to sell any cycling related equipment, books etc.

29^th April – Award presentation for 2021 for club trophies etc that were competed for in the Covid years.

Saturday Social Rides:

Well done to Suzanne for stepping forward to organise her Saturday social rides, generally meets 9.00am at Wyndham Park, see club Facebook page for updates

Open Road Race:

I am organising the clubs Open Road Race again on Sunday 12^th June, with the Reginal B ‘GT Ellingworth’ support race in the morning and the National B ‘GA Bennett’ in the afternoon, which this year incorporates the East Mids Regional Road Race Championship, so should see some competitive racing.

Note this year the HQ will be at Hungerton village hall as the cricket club has a match on.

Go-Ride:

Hopefully will get back up and running in the not-too-distant future, details to be confirmed.

ChainGang:

Training (Chain-gang) rides will be starting. on Thursday 7th April.

Usually 2 groups, first one off at 6pm looking to average 20mph, the 2nd group leaves approx 5 minutes after and will be faster. Please be realistic about your abilities.

Leaves from the Bus Shelter on Manthorpe Rd. near the hospital entrance.

Check the club WhatApp group on the day for any changes due to inclement weather etc.

Velo 99:

As usual this year various club members will be partaking of the Velo 99 racing series, Tony Mendham will be organising his event on the 10^th July, with the HQ at Skillington Village Hall.

Communication:

We currently have the

• Club Website which I try and keep reasonably upto date with what’s happening in the club and also has historical club information
• Facebook Page should probably be the most active with regards publicising club activities to the general public.
• WhatsAPP group for members, which is probably most used for circulating immediate information about rides etc. Let me know if you want adding.

East Midlands Sportives:

There is a good selection of Sportives in the East Mid’s which offer the chance to try out some different roads without driving too far, a list has been posted on the clubs website

Belles of Belvoir:

One local ride of note the ‘Belles of Belvoir’ ride is on Sunday 12th June 2022. A group of Ladies from the Club are entering the 50 mile route, although there are shorter or longer routes available.

If any Ladies, young or old, would like to join them last year’s ride averaged 13.2 mph with 2,310 ft of climbing, and we regrouped at the top of each hill, and completed the ride together after a very enjoyable day out. We are also grateful once again this year to have Dave Borchard following in his car to support us. Contact Carol Milne if interested.

East Mids Road Races of note:

As usual the East Mids has some important national level races, which are within easy cycling distance and well worth a trip to watch.

24^th April – Mens Cicle Classic – course runs on the lanes and tracks between Oakham and Melton.

8^th May – Mens & Womens Lincoln GP, always a great atmosphere on the Steep.

19^th June – Womens and Junior Cicle Classics

There are plenty of races in the region for all levels of competition including 3 events at the Yarborough leisure centre with the focus on Youth riders as in previous years. See the British Cycling web site for details.

Volunteers:

As ever all these activities rely on volunteers to give up their time to organize, so if the call goes out for help, please step forward. Without help these events will not happen and once lost they don’t tend to come back.

Any questions, comments or suggestions please let me know.

Happy cycling

Simon

PS Talking of Volunteers, we still need a Chairman, I’m currently doing Secretary, Communications and standing in as Vice Chairman and its enough!