South Bucks Midweek Cycling Newsletter - February 2024

I am pleased to report that we had 54 members and partners at the Christmas Lunch, which is up on last year and it is good to see a mixture of relatively new members as well as regulars.  Everyone seemed very happy with the food and service and it was good value for money.  We have provisionally booked for next year.  Donations via BACS and in cash totalled £189 for Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

Many thanks to Richard Daniels for taking the pictures.

We have a provisional booking for Bed, Breakfast and Evening Meal accommodation at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester from Monday 22nd to Friday 26th April 2024.  Remarkably, prices remain the same at £270 per person in en-suite rooms. 

The format will be similar to previous years with led rides on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at EP, M and maybe MF pace depending on who comes.  There is the option to ride down on Monday and back on Friday with your luggage carried by the motorists.

Please make your booking request by clicking the link below.

It is hard to believe that it is a year since our last AGM, but they say time flies when you’re having fun, cycling.

This year’s AGM will be at Prestwood Village Hall on Wednesday 17th April after the rides.  Doors will open at 12:00 for a light lunch, before the meeting at 13:00.  Ride coordinators, please arrange your rides to come to the AGM.

I hope that as many of you as possible will come to the AGM, support the committee, and give your feedback about the running of the club.

Have you ever thought “Why doesn’t the committee do this or that?” or “The club would be much better if ..”.  If so, you could volunteer to join the committee and make your ideas happen.  If you would like to talk about what is involved, please contact me for a chat.

WheelPower has guaranteed places in the 2024 ride on Sunday 26th May.  For an entry fee of just £25, Wheelpower would love you to then raise funds for their charity.

Through Ride London, they are aiming to raise £5000 to continue WheelPower’s work transforming the lives of disabled people through activity and sport. 

I have done the Ride London-Surrey event a couple of times and riding on closed roads and being swept along is quite an experience.

If you are interested contact Eve Helyer at Wheelpower : eve.helyer@wheelpower.org.uk 01296 395995.

BBC Three Counties Radio had an item about a delivery driver who stopped in a layby on the A41 after leaving the M25, relieved himself in a jug in his vehicle and emptied it into the hedge.  He was pounced upon by an employee of a private security firm, employed by Dacorum Council and given a fixed penalty notice for "littering"!  He challenged the fine with the council but they declined to cancel it, though they have subsequently refunded it, probably after the publicity.  They were issuing fixed penalty notices under environmental protection legislation.  Urination in public could be a public order offence, but urine is a natural, biodegradable substance and not litter.  Would they pounce on someone who allowed their dog to urinate in a layby?

Hertfordshire has a fly-tipping problem; you would have thought that Dacorum council would concentrate on that!

Carlton Kirby's True Tales of the Tour de France, live in conversation, is at the Elgiva in Chesham on Tuesday 12th March at 7:30 pm.  It is an evening of frank opinions and tall tales from 25 years in the commentary box.