Mark O

Paul, I've just spoken to an architect today re our own property. East coast based but the only one to respond to a number of inquiries. Will pass on the details. As to builders - Smith Bros in Beith are well recommended but not cheapest and are in high demand. You could also try the builder who does most of the work in our street - Jamie 07736 339180. I can attest to his popularity via word of mouth. Has done a number of chunky extensions to our neighbour's house. M

Money would be better spent on education of all road users. Cyclist ARE traffic and should treated as such both in terms of their ability/entitlement to use public roads and their responsibilities in using said roads. Dedicated cycle lanes just muddy the waters as to the comprehension of 'rights' and responsibilities of road users when the dedicated lane ends. Cyclists as a road user group should not be cowed onto cycle lanes until there is equal provision of road space if that is the line this debate is going down. There are sufficient rules in place to protect all road users, they just need a rise in awareness and greater application thereof, allied with actual imposition of penalties when broken. Same education process and threat of prosecution as deployed in making seatbelts compulsory. Behaviour has changed and wearing one is now the norm.

It was a bit wet during the middle part of the ride but we set out dry which is always a good thing and returned with skies brightening. Even my flat 2 miles from Miller Street didn't dampened my enjoyment of the ride. Soup was excellent. Cheers Greg and Mrs Greg

Ginty, Like Charlie said AARGH (again). Hope you're on the mend. On the up side, that'll be another new bike from the compy. I'm sure there's a good lawyer that'll argue you a decent case. Take it easy M

I can't make it on Sunday for Reliability #2 - social stuff happening. Intending to head out to do something not too dissimilar on Saturday am. Steady pace, 50ish miles. If icy will stick to the lower, main roads If interested post up? Can meet at Miller St or Paisley or where ever. Cheers M

I think we should leave matters as posted. If necessary amend the route as required, avoiding higher roads. People will know if the weather closes in and get sketchy to head home or back to Miller Street I’ll be out for the 09.30 group. Will bring intel from higher parts with me.

Aiming to be out with the 09.30 group. Won't be a race Karen. Hopefully the group will stick together, even on the ascents and ensure no one limps back to Miller Street on their own. Fully expect the 09.45 group to make the catch somewhere between Kilmalcolm and Lochwinnoch.

I arrived a 09.31 to see main bunch depart up Miller Street. Advised the remaining Joansin of erratic heavy breathing behind me on the track. We departed quickly thereafter. Nice we run over to Stewarton on pretty icy roads at times. Cross winds made for interesting handling. 20mph up hill on the way home at one point......bonkers. All told a reasonable morning out.

Pre ride mechanical spotted as I was getting bike out the garage. Will need to attend to this. Won’t make Miller st for 09.30. Will do own thing this morning. Maybe next week for part two of the return M

Will probably tag along for a bit, at least until Stewarton then bale for Luggie and home. I hope its better (warmer) weather than yesterday. Cold is not good, sleet is just horrible. Binned my ride after 2 hours due to iced up digits. M

G, Long before before Rule 5 there was Lao Tzu - insightful individual. A full length bunch run will happen soon enough. M

A lumpy Largs is probably a hill too far for me at the moment and I don't fancy the long slog home a broken man just yet. I'll either do something on Saturday (Friday evening libations dependent) or think of something more modest for Sunday. 50-60 miles but with less altitude

Cheers Iain. A nice wee run to break my 2019 duck. Good to catch up with some familiar faces and meet new ones. Tired legs by the time I got the last drag home. See y’all in 2 weeks.

Will pootle out to Miller St seeing as you’re heading up the Bowfield. Will be interesting to see how long the legs last. M

I might turn out for this one or at least part of it - may bale at Stewarton and head for Eaglesham Moor. Are stabilisers still allowed in the main bunch for returnees???? Could someone post up some sense of the what the route is as I might meet you on the road rather than trek into Miller Street.

Disgusting bike pornography. Can’t wait to see it in the flesh.

Those are not tacx flow units in the Fullerton picture. Flows run a single cable from the brake unit to the bar mounted headset. Fortius units perhaps on a networked pc or individual laptops. Good set up nonetheless. The £400 trainer was a tacx flux from Halfords. Apologies to George for the wee moment of shock. M

Charlie, Firstly, a pity about the bike box idea. I thought it a good one. Not everyone can source, afford or readily store such an item. A couple of club boxes might have encouraged members to sample foreign roads, and if the boxes were regaled in club livery a nice way of promoting the club at the airport(s). However the majority have spoken for the time being. If it spares/parts required to get the club tacx turbos up and running fully then I've found this outfit very useful in the past - hollandbikeshop.com. If my memory, such as it is these days, serves me correctly when the flow turbos were purchased I sorted all the various leads and sensors for the turbos into small boxes - one for each turbo. It is detail of the anal variety I realise however perhaps a similar approach be used once the turbos have been rendered fully operational but this time use locked boxes and a sign out, sign in system with the rider/user responsible (deposit/replacement charge) for ensuring everything is returned. I note George's comments above re the track bikes being returned in a different condition to that when hired out. Personally I don't think you'll get a volunteer who would or could cover all possible sessions and therefore the committee may need to impose a code of conduct for the use of/access to club equipment. Perhaps the key holder / session organiser be ultimately responsible for session equipment - that would at least focus one mind when it comes to care of club equipment. On a positive note Black Friday deals abound at the moment and direct driver trainers are to be had relatively cheaply. £400 for a Kickr thingymabob?? Add in your BC discount and 'the world's your oxster, Rodney' M

Anyone got an idea where the bunch might be heading on Sunday. Just asking like.

Heading out tomorrow morning. Aim to be on the road (Carmunnock) for 09.00 at latest, possibly earlier if domestic duties permit. Looking to do 3 hours steady pace. Either A77 /Stewarton/Fenwick area or Sewing Bee loop (or variations thereof). Company welcome - flexible as to meeting point (Eastwood Toll/Indian Junction/Miller Street/Morrisons as appropriate). Post up if you fancy it. M

No worries Al, you passed me the first time as you headed to Stewarton from Fenwick. Clearly had your tail up and motoring some - so much so I didn't realise it was your good self until iI spied the Boardman frame which gave it away as you zipped past. My groupetto was 3 former racing boys who lent me a wheel until Dunlop out of misplaced sympathy before haring on up the road toward Uplawmoor.

Spent a half hour to 40 mins shuttling between Fenwick and Stewarton in anticipation of meeting the bunch or having it rattle past me. Al Yuille passed me twice - en route to Stewarton and then again on his return from Dunlop. I realised that something had gone amiss, perhaps multiple punctures or an off on wet roads. I now learn it was Brigadier Gunson leading an in bunch revolt for the want of a coffee shop. Changed days indeed. I'm quite relaxed about this but All's face was a picture when he passed me for the 2nd time.

Had hoped to get along to this one. Even assured Charlie that I would. A stick has been inserted into the spokes of my plans alas. Now on taxi duties for a lunchtime pick up from airport. Now having studied the route I'm kind of glad. Not been near a hill of note in months. Enjoy guys.

A very sad day. Such shocking news. Alex was a huge character on and off the bike, as many on here have already mentioned and to which the photos testify. 2 abiding memories of the man for me are trying to follow his line off some of the descents on La Sufrida while we made out way around the second part of the course, and a fine evening spent in his company, with our respective partners, working our way through the gin list in the Alston Bar. You will be sadly missed big fella. Thoughts are with your family.

Race report on this event, seeing as I'm still a paid up member and race in club colours. Flat course, fairly light winds off the sea, warm and sunny.......getting warmer as the morning progressed. Usual friendly atmosphere and well organised. First tri of the season for me and first since last summer's 70.3 effort. Target time around 2hrs 30 mins based on my training efforts. Swim was solid and pretty much as expected albeit marginally slower than pool times. Chalking that down to it being my first open water swim of the year. Not much of a scrum in the water which was good . I didn't feel i got into a good rythmn but a 26.26 swim was ok and was well placed in age group. T1 was a disaster time wise. Wet suit refused to come off. Room to improve here and gain back 2 mins lost. Bike stage was good. There and back again course. Bit of a head wind but not overly so. 1:08:13 . Could have gone harder but know the run is comparatively my weakest event and I need to judge my effort to avoid blowing. Got off bike feeling reasonably fresh and had made up ground on those who passed me in T1. T2 - better than T1, could get smoother but generally happy with this. Run - hot kind of covers it. Been regularly doing 45 min 10ks when fresh so anything close to this would be pleasing. Did 48:17. Slightly slower than I hoped for but the heat doesn' t agree with me. No cramp on the run, which is a first but the last 2k seemed to take an age. After entering this event I realised it was the English championship. Accordingly there were some proper athletes racing. The winning time was around 1:58:38. My age group winner posted 2:02:25. I was breathing down his neck at 2:28:53. That put me in 20th for my age group and 146th overall in a field of 400. Hard to tell the quality of a field but I reckon a gave a reasonable showing. Pleased with a 12 minute improvement on my last standard tri and beating my target time. Looking at my splits I'm giving away easily 8 mins to my nearest time placing rivals on the run - 14 places. T1 cost me a couple of mins and 10 places. Lessons - get wet suit legs trimmed and practice wriggling out of it more. No doubt there are a few minutes to be gained in the swim and on the bike. Incidentally, I had gained 25 places over the 25miles. Hydration still not perfect and need to work on this. However to really move up the placings a 40-45min 10k has to be the targeted improvement between now and Allerthrope in August. My target was to get close to 2:30 . Target achieved. New target now set at 2:20 Onwards and upwards M