JaneF

Weather kinder than yesterday, great trip out and good company, thank you Chung for reminding us it was happening.
J&g

Hi planning to come along on the tandem as there appears to be a reasonable forecast. Looking forward to seeing you all. Jane and Graham

Please tell me that you didn't buy more pink socks with your winnings 😣

Paul, Ian A and me in the first group. Through the wonders of age handicapping we also had Jim Cusick as well as the women Lynsey Curran and Jesse who are all regular Renfrew bunch and winter Saturday morning riders. Ian McT, Marc and Robbie were in the later groups.
We quickly had a very well organised bunch of eight or nine which held together until a touch of wheels half way on the return and a rider went down. We lost momentum and within a few minutes were swallowed up by a big bunch including Marc and Ian who must have worked super hard to put over 4 minutes into us.
I just held on over mt Stuart and just sat in for the habble to finish. Kudos to Paul as first v50 but all jwcc did well in big bunch sprint. Robbie punctured.
APR is good format, Very hard racing with no let up, my geek meter says average 232 watts which explains why I am writing this while lying horizontal on sofa.

Errr...
Entered as the last rider, just to give it a shot. At the start line with Carol and Dave and without a clue as to what could happen in a race. Kept at the front group for the whole way round but after the first wee climb I was at the head and because I eat lots of cake I pulled away easily on the first downhill section. I kind of just repeated that round the course with everyone else catching me going up the next hill. One brave soul made a solo breakaway effort and held it until something stopped him heading towards Mount Stewart. Back in the lead bunch on the home run I decided to have a sprint with about 500m to go, looked back once at 200m to see no-one nearby and surprised myself by winning. Massive amount of fun.

Hi Folks,
 
It’s almost that time of the year to swop out the summer bikes & bring out the trusty old winter hack.
 
So I thought I would share a few tips that I’ve learnt in the past, to do to your pride & joy, before temporary retiring your summer beauties in the comfort of your shed/garage/lounge/bedroom/safe etc (delete as appropriate )
 
Before storage
1. I would obviously recommend giving your bike a good wash (or at least a thorough wipe down) but make sure everything is nice & dry after you’ve done so. No one likes rust on you bike/bike parts!
 
2. Chain - Clean & re-lube this part thoroughly, I use a “Park Tool†chain bath, works great but other means are just as good & dry lube!
 
3. Once chain is nice & clean, shift chain to small chainring on the front & smallest cog at the back - this put the chain into the “least stress positionâ€, theoretically making your chain last just a wee bit longer (if you can pop the chain off the front rings & just rest it loose even better - but might be messy) & your gear cable are not in tension too, again longing the life of these particular parts.
 
4. Oil/Lube all pivot points - front/rear mechs, brake pivots etc for obvious reasons.
 
5. Loosen the seat post clamp & take the seat post out & re-grease/apply copper seize before sliding it back into place (make sure you mark the position first with masking tape etc before you take out the seat post, so you know exactly how far to put it back on) remember to re-torque properly accordingly.
I’ve seem seized seat post before from moisture in this particular area & it’s a right pain to deal with, prevention is key here!
In fact, I make a point of pulling out & re-install all my bikes seat post every few months just in case!
 
6. Check that the condition of your tyres are still nice & ridable come next summer, check for deep cuts or worn parts. If it need replacing, then end of year/Xmas sales are usually a good times to pick up some new tyres. I always buy frequently perishable parts before I absolutely need it, yes I am a hoarder :-)
 
7. Brake pads/blocks - as above.
 
8. Maybe it’s a good time to replace your bar-tapes, it should be replaced as frequent as possible …….. I love new bar tape, cheapest way to make your bike feel brand new :-)
 
Hope these tips help, but if you guys can think of any, I would love to hear & learn more please!
 
It might sounds a lot of work but it's well worth it & saves you money as well, but if you can’t be bother, then there’s an alternative - just buy a brand new bike EVERY SUMMER :-)
 
I suppose these things don’t just apply to doing it before you store the bike, it’s good practice to do these things through out the year when you’re riding anyway!
 
Happy bike maintaining
 
Cheers
 
Chung

The final midweek confined event of the year, the last practice run up the hill before the Joe Brunetti Hill Climb Championship, 6:30 meet for 6:45 off.
Usual volunteers required pleae.
Surely it can't be any wetter than this week....

Paul, I had to sneak up during the night to remove those damn things, please don't tell the council 
 
Maybe they can replace it with big black ones so I can see them properly rather than those bright yellow ones which was a bugger to see ........
 
Cheers
 
Yours truely
 
The Bollard vigilante front

I'll be going out if the weather is not too bad, Dave. I'll be at Miller St for 9:30 as long as the weather is not too bad.

Bump!
I've given the Bagel Basket a heads up that we'll be descending on them en masse subject to confirmation of numbers on the day.

Little known factoid.
Richard is only the third person to have their name on the trophy 3 years running. No one has won it 4 years on the trot.....
 
R. Smith, 1960-1962 (1960 shared with D.Smith)
I. Campbell, 1983-1985

Well done to Marc and to Gerard who smashed a certain Archibald on the course today.. when telling the story leave out what Archibald it was you beat...makes it sound a hole lot better 🤣🤣🤣

Week 25
Only three events left and just 3 winners to be determined.
Joseph McIntosh has an unassailable lead at the top of the Chocolate Series, with one run still to do - well done Joe.
The Sub 26 chocolate also looks secure - well done Gerard
The Hilly TT final decider is this Saturday at Langbank and is wide open
The TT league is not yet secure, but could be sealed on Saturday, although I've still got the levelling to do taking only the top 20 results, so it's still in the balance, and we won't find out for sure until after the Sam Dooley.
How exciting is that?
PDF 20170823 Week 25 League.pdf

Congratulations to Marc on his outright win on the Hilly TT series. With three riders tied on 15 points, 3rd place has gone to the fastest rider across the three events
 
No change at the top of the TT league.
PDF 20170826 Week 26 League.pdf

Week 24 results.
 
There was, of course, no week 23 as the course had roadworks.
Please note that there was a small calculation error on the week 22 results, which has now been corrected for this week.
 
And the winner of the David Raymond 2-up TT Trophy is:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To be Announced at the club do.
 
So you'll just have to wait to find out, but I will say it was close.
PDF 20170816 Week 24 League.pdf

Thanks to Jane and Graham for timekeeping. Think the fact Team Cowan turned up, made the others pull out a bit more.

Results from tonights ride.
 
Carol and Dave Cowan 20.24
Joseph and Scott McIntosh 18.48
Alan T and Ian Holms 18.02
George Donnelly and Gerard Deeley 17.23
 
Winners of the trophy will be announced when Alan has had chance to compute the handicapping.
 
Well done to all who took part and £ 24  paid into club account. (inc £3 for last week from Scott too)

My. belated thanks Jane

In the absence of any other volunteers, Graham and I will be along to time keep tonight.
Happy to try and help someone learn the ropes......
Jane

In the absence of any other volunteers, Graham and I will be along to time keep tonight.
Happy to try and help someone learn the ropes......
Jane

They are all safely in Inverness! Lovely photos on strava. Well done guys.

I will pop them in a bag and bring them tomorrow.

At the regional meeting can you (or whoever is going on behalf of the club) bring up the subject of clubs, that have multiple riders racing, not putting on any races themselves with the burden falling on the same clubs, year after year.
 
I dont do much compared to yourself and Andy (and in previous years Chung and others) but it annoys me a bit giving up time to let some of these guys race whereas on the other hand I'd happily give up the time to let those from the couriers, nightingales, vcgs and others to race, because they will do the same when it is their turn.
 
I realise not every club is big enough to host a race but perhaps introduce some system that if someone is a member of a non contributing club and they want race starts then they have to do their bit and marshal (or whatever) at a race hosted by neighbouring club.

Day one over.. everone still kick. Day 2 getting a soaking but full scottish just been ordered. Ullapool for 5pm. good fun so far

Time for another piece of silverware, this time to the winners of the 2up TT. This is a handicapped event, based on your actual pace on the night against your average best 10 mile pace coming into this season, so it's not always the fastest on the night that wins the trophy.
There are TT league points at stake as well.
A good turnout for this would be appreciated, as well as volunteers for timing and holding.
 
7:00 meet on the Georgetown for 7:15 off.
I'll be looking to ride, so if anyone wants to team up with me that would be good too.
 
If the roadworks are still in place next Tuesday, we will move to the hilly 10 course, but missing out the starting and finishing climb.