Well done to Tom Rigby on taking the victory in Croston Velo colours at the Barrow Central Wheelers Circuit of Coniston at the weekend. A tough sporting course was completed in 35:02 with a gap of 53 seconds to 2nd place. 

https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-report/23476

We made it!

It was with welcome relief that Croston Velo trip to Majorca Sept/October 2021 went ahead and was a great success. So much so that we are planning on heading back out again this year.

To ensure it is flexible and suits everyone we are again using a company we know well, Stuart Hall Cycling, that way you can join the trip for the whole two weeks or simply fly out for a long weekend, Stuart Hall will arrange the transfers and your stay at one of the two hotels.

This last year in Puerto Pollensa most of us stayed at the Mar Senses hotel, (Adults only) ideal if you’re taking a “non cycling” partner, as the town and beachfront are much closer. For cyclists bike shops, and bars, what more do you need? 

The Playa Mar Hotel is also available, which is where all Stuart Hall rides start from, this is just a two-minute ride from the Mar Senses. Generally speaking at least three ride groups are run each day and caters for all abilities. We can also request rides and Stuart will try and cater for us, we did this last year with a round trip to Sant Salvador, a great 100 mile ride that some of the ladies requested.

Generally, we meet after the rides for a few recovery ales and a chat about the rides we’ve done.

Please note that Stuart has just contacted us and said there will be a shortage of single occupancy rooms this year so it’s important to get your places booked ASAP.

Carbon bikes are available to hire or if you prefer to fly your steed out, the hotel is more than happy for you to keep your pride and joy in the room. A point to note, if you ride a top of the range machine, then these bikes will never feel like yours! If you were to hire the equivalent top end bike, you would expect to pay in the region of £85/£100 per day.

The first members are flying out on Saturday 24th September and the last people are coming back Sunday the 9th October, but there is no reason you can’t stay past this date. 

You simply book online at https://stuarthallcycling.co.uk/package/mallorca-october choose the dates for your stay and select the Mar Senses or Playa Mar hotel.

Croston Velo has a 5% discount code, Croston22 simply add this to the bottom of your booking to receive this off the final invoice. 

Flights are available daily from Liverpool and Manchester via Easyjet and Jet2. If you would like to know what the trip was like, or what to expect, talk to any of the members who went in 2021, I am sure they will still be as enthusiastic.

The Croston Velo AGM was held 2nd November 2021, minutes to the meeting can be found on our 2021 meetings minutes page http://www.crostonvelo.co.uk/committee-meeting-minutes-2021/

Croston Velo Winter Safety Briefing. November 2021

My attention was recently drawn to the efforts trade teams are making to improve the safety of their riders whilst out on training rides. For instance they are producing high-visibility training kits and the use of daytime running lights. For example the Trek riders are mandated to train in high-vis kit and ride with lights at all times.

Here are some points to take from the pro ranks.

• Using daytime running lights, even when the sun is shining, can reduce the likelihood of an accident by 19%.
• Wearing some high-vis clothing helps you stand out from your surroundings.
• Drivers have a better chance of seeing you.
• The moving parts of your body – feet, ankles, legs – draw drivers’ attention.
• Wear bibs, tights, socks, shoes or covers incorporating fluorescent and reflective materials on these parts.
• At night wear kit that incorporates reflective material which will reflect light from street lamps or car headlights.

Mud guards are essential when group riding in winter and whilst they will keep the worst of the spray off you many of the products out there don’t stop the spray flicking onto riders behind. Raw mudflap extensions provide a cheap and effective way to stop the splash on those riding behind. Reflective versions of course also help you to be seen by drivers.

www.rawmudflap.uk

A reminder that Croston Velo strongly recommends third party liability insurance as a minimum to protect yourself if you are involved in an accident with other road users that is deemed your fault. 3^rd party liability insurance is available relatively cheaply (compared to the rest of cycling!) through British Cycling membership, an optional extra on many home insurance policies or a number of other cycling insurance providers.

Please find links below to our other guidance with respect to riding in a group

Group Riding Etiquette http://www.crostonvelo.co.uk/main-about-us/group-riding-etiquette/

Winter Riding Etiquette http://www.crostonvelo.co.uk/winter-riding-etiquette/

As the summer season draws to a close and the nights begin to draw in here are a few pointers to safer winter riding, whether solo or on a club group ride.

The committee strongly advises everyone to reread the risk assessment and the winter riding etiquette documents, which you agree to follow when joining the club. These can be found on the club website.

We intend to support safe group riding by providing links to videos which we feel are relevant to all of our members as guidance to preparing yourself and your bike in order to increase safety for all during the winter season.

We understand you may be fully aware of the information provided in these videos but feel a reminder can only make our group rides as safe as possible.

A reminder making sure you are fully insured is strongly advised

and that as a minimum 3^rd party insurance is available through British Cycling Membership which is strongly recommended.

• Know your route
• Anticipate movements
• Think about road positioning
• Be aware and anticipate
• Communicate with the group

So the weather gods didn’t shine on the Croston Velo TT 2021 held this morning (Sunday 15^th Aug) on the fast Levens L1015 course. It was a rather wet and dreary start brightening up for the latter end of the field thankfully!

A massive congratulations to our 1^st female and also winner overall Joanna Patterson – The Independent Pedaler/No Pinz (20:01) with Anna Weaver – East Lancs RC (22:37) and Lindsey Styler – Croston Velo (23:35) taking the other two podium spots.

The Men’s joint winner was Kamil Waligora – East Lancs RC (20:06) with John Morgan – Coveryourcar.co.uk RT (20:06) with Ian Dobbie – West Lothian Clarion (20:15) taking 3^rd.

A huge thank you to our two timekeepers Tracy Moore and Margaret Belk as well as all the volunteers from our club without whom these events cannot take place – Andy Ashton, Andy Ward, Chris Breen, Emma Pulsford, Nick Clark & Sarah Williamson as well as our ever-popular cheerleading marshalling trio Chris Woods, Richard Crompton and Ian Riley at the bottom roundabout. It was a very early start for all and we do appreciate it!

As ever the committed Ellen Isherwood (Lancs Racing Scene) was there with lens posed and ready and managed to capture an awesome album of photos for the riders in challenging conditions. The full album is available at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWqVZwU , Ellen is happy for you to use the photos but please credit her if you do on social media.

The final thank you goes to Ian Dobbie (I believe it was you but correct me if I’m wrong as the note on the results sheet was pretty soggy!) who left a crate of beers for the marshals at HQ, it really brightened up there soggy day when they arrived back to be handed a 4 pack!

A full set of results is available at https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-results/21487#anchor

Photo Credit Ellen Isherwood

Club subscriptions for the 2021 season are now due. Membership remains £20 per annum and runs from April 2021 to April 2022. Thank you to those that have already reached out/paid subs since the return to activity.

Please note that due to reduced activity and the absence of our usual social events the club only spent a limited amount last year (affiliations being the main cost). Therefore, for those members that paid in 2020 we have decided to roll over membership into 2021 and you don’t need to do anything. Current membership for 2021 stands at 96 people.

For data protection reasons we are unable to publish a list of paid members so if you are unsure please reach out to Dan or Lindsey and we will be happy to check the bank account/club register to confirm.

If you wish to pay your subs please transfer £20 to the club current account (unchanged from previous years), if you do not have the details reach out to a member of the committee and we will be happy to provide these to you. When making the transfer please include your name as the reference and also drop Dan/Lindsey a message (probably better to do privately to avoid excess traffic in the club WhatsApp) so we can update the register.

If unable to do electronic transfer then you can pay your subs to a member of the committee when out on a club ride and they will arrange for this to be transferred over and recorded.  

As ever if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. Let’s hopefully have a better summer this year and fingers crossed this is a one-way street out of lockdown!

Happy Cycling all!

New for 2021. To sit alongside the main summer club routes published a fortnight ago we also have a set of 10 C group rides for weekday evening. A route will be shared ahead of each club ride on a Tuesday and Thrursday so C group riders know the plan when they arrive for the ride. If you plan to join the C group rides please visit the new directory below and download the routes to your GPS devices

Happy riding.

http://www.crostonvelo.co.uk/ride-directory/

Thanks to Jo Ryding for taking the time to put the routes together and Andrea Whitehouse for sharing them with me.