Gerard Deeley

I have submitted what is the first edition of our confined events calendar for 2022.  As a club we are currently looking into ways to increase participation and there is still much work to be done taking on board what has already been said.  Therefor this is only the start!  The calendar is, at the moment, presented with no changes.  This is to show what would normally be done and allow everyone to see how things will evolve.  New events need to be chosen and old ones will need to be discarded along the way as we look to adapt.
For the first few events, the reliability runs, they are quite established and have been reasonably well attended during my time at the club.  They will stay in place this year, but I propose a simple change.  We discard the middle group leaving and only have two groups.  The first group will depart at the allotted time and do the route as they have always done, which is a social pace that suits everyone in the group.  The second and faster group shall then decide how much of a delay they should have before setting off.  Let us all see if you have the skills to wait longer than usual and still catch the earlier group to finish as a whole club in Miller Street?  A long lie in and bragging rights await.  Please let me know how you all feel about this before it is confirmed.
An open meeting for all club members will also happen soon to discuss the rest of the calendar.
2022 Confined Events #1 15 January.pdf

I have submitted what is the first edition of our confined events calendar for 2022.  As a club we are currently looking into ways to increase participation and there is still much work to be done taking on board what has already been said.  Therefor this is only the start!  The calendar is, at the moment, presented with no changes.  This is to show what would normally be done and allow everyone to see how things will evolve.  New events need to be chosen and old ones will need to be discarded along the way as we look to adapt.
For the first few events, the reliability runs, they are quite established and have been reasonably well attended during my time at the club.  They will stay in place this year, but I propose a simple change.  We discard the middle group leaving and only have two groups.  The first group will depart at the allotted time and do the route as they have always done, which is a social pace that suits everyone in the group.  The second and faster group shall then decide how much of a delay they should have before setting off.  Let us all see if you have the skills to wait longer than usual and still catch the earlier group to finish as a whole club in Miller Street?  A long lie in and bragging rights await.  Please let me know how you all feel about this before it is confirmed.
An open meeting for all club members will also happen soon to discuss the rest of the calendar.
2022 Confined Events #1 15 January.pdf

I have submitted what is the first edition of our confined events calendar for 2022.  As a club we are currently looking into ways to increase participation and there is still much work to be done taking on board what has already been said.  Therefor this is only the start!  The calendar is, at the moment, presented with no changes.  This is to show what would normally be done and allow everyone to see how things will evolve.  New events need to be chosen and old ones will need to be discarded along the way as we look to adapt.
For the first few events, the reliability runs, they are quite established and have been reasonably well attended during my time at the club.  They will stay in place this year, but I propose a simple change.  We discard the middle group leaving and only have two groups.  The first group will depart at the allotted time and do the route as they have always done, which is a social pace that suits everyone in the group.  The second and faster group shall then decide how much of a delay they should have before setting off.  Let us all see if you have the skills to wait longer than usual and still catch the earlier group to finish as a whole club in Miller Street?  A long lie in and bragging rights await.  Please let me know how you all feel about this before it is confirmed.
An open meeting for all club members will also happen soon to discuss the rest of the calendar.
2022 Confined Events #1 15 January.pdf

A pretty spot on observation from Billy.  There are currently many different small groups of people riding different bikes at different times.  As club members we really should be be trying to ride together as much as possible.  In the past the planned diary of club runs and events have defined what you needed to do as an active club member but that model is not getting participation and we are now looking for a new way to do things.  As time is progressing on this matter I will put up a provisional diary based on what we would normally have done, a starting point from where we can work from.  Quickly following on the next task is to decide what we should keep and what we should change out with.  Darryl has proposed a working group for discussing this and the invite is still open to everyone.  Widespread contribution is vital, we all want to ride our bikes as club members, what would get us doing it together?  This may also involve doing it over a video conference call that I have zero knowledge of setting up!  I would rather bribe/encourage everyone with a drink at Amaretto.

A pretty spot on observation from Billy.  There are currently many different small groups of people riding different bikes at different times.  As club members we really should be be trying to ride together as much as possible.  In the past the planned diary of club runs and events have defined what you needed to do as an active club member but that model is not getting participation and we are now looking for a new way to do things.  As time is progressing on this matter I will put up a provisional diary based on what we would normally have done, a starting point from where we can work from.  Quickly following on the next task is to decide what we should keep and what we should change out with.  Darryl has proposed a working group for discussing this and the invite is still open to everyone.  Widespread contribution is vital, we all want to ride our bikes as club members, what would get us doing it together?  This may also involve doing it over a video conference call that I have zero knowledge of setting up!  I would rather bribe/encourage everyone with a drink at Amaretto.

Glengarnock circuit was in a terrible state for ages but part of it resurfaced last year so might be suitable again. Would be good to have even a club training APR up and running again...my first year in the club it was on the Peesweep circuit and it was good fun, but gradually the numbers reduced so it was no longer viable.
 

Just throwing in some events ran in past which proved popular
I used to run a two day event at Glengarnock circuit  it started with a prologue TT 1.6 miles followed by a crit of an hour plus 5 laps in afternoon. Followed up by a RR at Gateside on the Sunday all done with 3 marshalls per day .
We ran a series of APRs  at various locations a) Peesweep at top of Braes  b) Gateside  2 circuits  c) Kilmacolm d) RNAD always popular events
A hill climb series 4 climbs one after the other starting at Howwood then Club hillclimb then 2 climbs off Beith Road heading to RB at Lochwinnoch
Hill climb followed by cyclocross event  we ran this for a few years first as a confined then as an open event.
Place to place TTs instead of out and back great if you ride with tail winds only  or reduced distance one year we were getting great numbers at Georgetown and light was fading so we shortened distance each week down to a final 3 mile event everybody loved it .
We rented a field off a farmer near Howwood and had a series of MTB races for different categories on a weekly basis ( riders paid £2 each ) before that we built circuits at Bluebell woods Elderslie  , vacant ground opposite clubrooms , quarry near Georgetown road and Gleniffer braes 
Two ups where teams were chosen from hat on the night so you could have the fastest and slowest rider riding as a team , great for team bonding or not depending on the individual LOL
We used to traditionally follow up club hill climb championship with a sports day which had slow cycle ,obstacle race , speed judging , freewheel , plus novelty events ie throwing the welly a sort of shot putt on bikes . WE invited other clubs to event , traditionally Lomond Roads and Regent.
We did a couple of cyclist v Harriers events with Kilbarchan Harriers these were popular down south ( a couple took place in Irvine as well) 
we did try to organise a bike v horses event but failed to find a suitable circuit 
Sometimes you have to think out the box 
ie when I started the Millport events again we had a 3 up 10 mile lap of the island . Everybody told me it was too short for a team TT nobody would ride it  the first year we had over 120 riders and more the next year . It was only discontinued due to island becoming too busy .
The same was true of TTT championship when I reduced it from 100K to 50K everybody said it wouldnt work it went from 6 teams to 24 teams 
We also held open event series with other clubs ie
Early season APRs at RNAD Beith 36 , 45 56 miles an extra lap per week we did that with Inverclyde Velo and Fullarton Wheelers
We also ran a summer crit series at Glengarnock with Inverclyde Velo , Fullarton and Inverclyde CRT helping to run the events 

It's a tough situation and I think other clubs are experiencing similar issues with participation in confined events.
I can't speak for any one else but the reason I don't do many confined events is that in the summer i'll usually do the Georgetown league on a Wednesday night rather than the club event on a Tuesday. Partly this is so i can do the Renfrew Bunch on the Tuesday but also with the success of the Georgetown League it now has a big draw as the local event to compete at. And unfortunately i don't like TTing that much to do it twice a week!
So that is a bit of a negative comment...for more productive then Kenny's idea about a club BAR sounds an interesting idea - potentially would keep interest going across the whole season and in different disciplines. Although not sure about using standard times for it -  for a Jet to win they would need to be going sub 10 minutes on the Georgetown to beat Ian A!
Also to encourage whole club participation in TTing then perhaps a one day special event instead of a club run in the summer? Sort of like a mountain bike enduro event but on the road. 3 x TTs in a row - a 10 on the hilly course, a Georgetown TT and one lap (5 miles) on the restricted gear circuit.  Starting and finishing at club rooms and all the riding (including the TTs) is about 60miles.  Race all events or just do one if you like. And if you dont want to race could help timekeep or even just have a cafe stop while others are doing racing. Finish at the club rooms for a bbq. More of a social sort of race event rather than any trophies at stake. I realise this suggestion sounds like a lot of extra work But i'd be happy to help organise.
 
 

A pretty spot on observation from Billy.  There are currently many different small groups of people riding different bikes at different times.  As club members we really should be be trying to ride together as much as possible.  In the past the planned diary of club runs and events have defined what you needed to do as an active club member but that model is not getting participation and we are now looking for a new way to do things.  As time is progressing on this matter I will put up a provisional diary based on what we would normally have done, a starting point from where we can work from.  Quickly following on the next task is to decide what we should keep and what we should change out with.  Darryl has proposed a working group for discussing this and the invite is still open to everyone.  Widespread contribution is vital, we all want to ride our bikes as club members, what would get us doing it together?  This may also involve doing it over a video conference call that I have zero knowledge of setting up!  I would rather bribe/encourage everyone with a drink at Amaretto.

You know the problem is the club is made up of loads of different groups ( not a bad thing ) which all go out in their own separate groups  and currently Traditional Sunday Club Runs and Time Trials are not really that important to the current membership . Maybe we should deliver something different and bin testing maybe do  Timed Gravel Rides ( not races) would save the committee some time and stop trying to get a non racing club racing . At the moment we have one racing track , maybe one racing road and at best 2 doing time trials , we have more riding gravel than riders racing . So maybe we should focus our time getting all the bunches back out on a Sunday , jus a thought  

The filth on that!

How about a revamp of the old Tourist Trial event ??  a sort of BAR club event 
A)  long ride  of 100 miles ie 5 ferries , double Arran or  nominated sportive which has to be completed in different times for each standard  Gold , Silver , Bronze (  dated events to allow qualification)
b)  a 10 mile TT ( part of League of 10s) again with standard times 
c)  a Georgetown TT ( Chocolate series) with standard times 
d)  a hill climb with standard times  ( 2 events to allow qualification time)
possible addition of confined circuit race , APR , cyclo cross or track event 
Gold , Silver ,Bronze awards  with Platimum for riders who qualify and also attend nominated whole club runs 
Separate category for e bikes as we must embrace that these bikes will become more and more prevalent in the future .
 
 
 

Saturday could be better , however you still loose a chunk of riders that ride with the bogs , so maybe every second Saturday, But what do I care as second claim member I can’t ride in them 

Moving some events to a Saturday morning might get more along as riding confined & Georgetown league on consecutive nights is tough 

Fantastic build, impeccable in every detail.  
You do know that gravel riding means off road, where the mud and muck lives?

Very nice looking build happening.  A few tools in the background are ever so slightly out of alignment with each other though, quite distracting really.

Hello fellow Wheelers,
  How’s youse all doing! It’s been a while since I made a new build, so I thought it’s about time I make another one just before Xmas 🙂   So far in my life, there’s THREE things I thought I would never do but end up doing it anyway 🙂 1st one was smoking, I hater people who smoked when I was young but ended up taking it up for a number of years, but thankfully I gave it up as soon as we were expecting our child ….. that was more than 20 years ago 🙂   The 2nd thing was drinking alcohol, I don’t “hate” a drink, just never really felt it was for me or the need to, but again I took it up later (be it not excessively) in the form of a few whiskey 🙂   Then there’s “gravel riding”, I mean, what’s all that about? A road bike with mountain bike features? Come on, pick a discipline & stick with it for god sake 🙂 Who needs tubeless & disc brakes on a road bike …….   ……. Well, I have just bought myself one & looking forward to trying it out after a bunch of Wheelers have been going out “gravelling” & it looks so much fun with brilliant scenery and all …. even on not so favourable weathers for road cycling 🙂   Also, I have to admit it as one  of the main reason why I want to try it out was because my favourite cycling brand - Campagnolo have brought out a new “gravel” specific groupset call the Ekar ……. 1-by too ….. got to try it 🙂    So, here’s a few snaps of my new frame set with the groupsets sitting on my work bench ready for some wrenching 🙂   The frame set is a Cinelli Zydeco aluminium with Columbus full carbon fork ….. not the lightest but relatively “cheap” compare to the groupset 🙂   Hope youse like it & I’ll get more pictures when it’s finished!   I’m coming soon “The Wheeler gravel boys” 🙂   Cheers   Chung

My tupence worth
Firstly , date clashes with Renfrew bunch so you loose maybe 3/4 possible riders, second these events should be open but low key CTT events , facilities some extra competitors , lastly link the events to help members compete at national/ regional competitions, so run some tens before the CTT national 10 / and same with 25 , find another flat course that’s not the west ferry , maybe use part off the 25

Come and get it 07799403080
 

Gerrard might have will check tomorrow, definitely have a Campagnolo one but might have a shimano one 

I contacted Geoff about the Drum Up and his expectation is to do it on the 7 November, but that is not certain at the moment, the weather may decide otherwise.

What was looking online like a nice tidy bunch of about six quickly developed into a multitude of wheelers.  After a couple of mechanicals very early on we were finally a complete bunch after the Bowfield climb.  Steady progress down the Eglington Country Park.  At the park a nameless and shameless member brought the club into disrepute with his handling of a standard puncture on a, frankly, filthy bike.  Our return was at a nice pace with scones for fuel and a bit of a tailwind.

What was looking online like a nice tidy bunch of about six quickly developed into a multitude of wheelers.  After a couple of mechanicals very early on we were finally a complete bunch after the Bowfield climb.  Steady progress down the Eglington Country Park.  At the park a nameless and shameless member brought the club into disrepute with his handling of a standard puncture on a, frankly, filthy bike.  Our return was at a nice pace with scones for fuel and a bit of a tailwind.

14 riders entered the event on a cool, blustery morning. Results as follows.
Andy Ross 00:02:34   Colin Edgar 00:02:25   Diane Gray 00:02:48   Chris Marsh 00:01:54   Ritchie Provan 00:01:53   Rob Gunson 00:01:34    2 James Ross (J) 00:01:53   Murray Gray (J) 00:01:56   Evan Marsh (J) 00:01:58   Fraser Anderson (J) 00:02:18   Ruari Mulholland (J) 00:02:18   Sam Edgar (J) 00:01:43   3 Jamie Thomson (J) 00:01:27    1 Jann Lapsley (Ebike) 00:01:45    
Congratulations to Jamie on retaining his title from last year, and to Jann as the first ebike entry to take part. Maybe next year, we can have a few more ebikes taking part.
Well done to all the riders, this really is a brutal little climb.
Big thanks also to our Marshalls and timekeepers on the day, and to the support.