Archive for February 25, 2015

Jersey update:

in addition to meeting notes, I’ve spoke to our supplier regarding the jerseys. They should be a few weeks. There’s been a little extra on the lead time, I’m assuming this is due to volume of work with clubs getting kitted for the new year. I’ll keep you updated when I’ve a firmer date. Thanks for your patience. 

Meeting Feedback

As most of you know we held a club meeting on Monday the 23rd Februrary at Blaydon Rugby Club. Here is a summary of what went on and anything that came of it.

Membership – (updated to time of writing) Currently we stand at 76 members. With 8 expired, 2 of which have moved away from the area and we expect another of those to re-join soon. That puts up 10-15 up from our peak membership for the whole of 2014 with the vast majority returning.

Club Accounts Kevin gave a brief description and run down of money in and money out. Most money that went in has went out, a few minor expenses such as stationary and plug-ins for the website have been used. We’re keeping funds until we can find something ultimately in the best interests of the club. Our biggest outgoings were club kit. Asides affiliation costs most membership funds remain in the bank. Anyone who wishes to check out accounts is more than welcome to with some notice so we can get you what you want to see.

Race Team Paul gave us a quick run down of the clubs new Time Trial and Race Team, it’s new, we’ve done a few Croft sessions, and it’s a work in progress. To race you must have a SILVER British Cycling Membership and a race license. (cost is in the area of £70 to race). We are also affiliated with CTT enabling us as a club to take part in certain TT events. Anyone wishing to join the race team please join our race Facebook group, talk to one of the Blaydon Racers or contact our new race lead, Ben.

Affiliations it was pointed out who we are affiliated with. The two main ones are British Cycling and CTT (Cycling Time Trials)

Sponsorship it was suggested we should seek sponsors. The room agreed that the moment we are self sufficient, we may not immediately seek a ‘Jersey Sponsor’ but if we run events we may explore than avenue.

Website and Social Media it was generally agreed that out website and social media output was adequate.

Club Trips Ayr and Spain this year, a strong interest in club trips in the future. They’re to be inclusive so we won’t designate trips as a ‘fast lads holiday’ or suchlike. We need to work on being inclusive to all both on this as well as in club rides.

Club Runs – minor alterations to club runs may take place, we will take advantage of a slightly earlier start (8-830 for fondo rides) and club rides will gradually become 8:45 for 9. Development rides may also be altered in due course depending on route and location.
We also want to encourage all on club rides and remove any perceived stigma that it is a ‘fast’ ride. Club rides are at the heart of the club, they must be inclusive yet remain at a standard that will satisfy the majority. It was agreed that people will take turns in helping out and we’ll try to adopt an approach where we can keep people happy this as we mentioned relies on numbers and the reputation of these rides picking up. This will be a continual work in progress, it may mean staggered start times slightly (a few minutes head start for some) or a more neutral ride start so no-one flies off at the start. Again a work in progress and we’ll trial a few ideas, any additional suggestions are more than welcome.

Development / Easy Wheelers – Iain was appointed as our Development lead. We discussed assigning new members to the club a mentor for rides so they will have someone to ride with and get to know. This as well as we need a pool of volunteers for both rides so Ride Leaders are not always committed to the Easy Wheelers or Development rides and can pursue their personal goals more. All of these will be lead out and developed by the new ride lead.

We are also going to look into a basic maintenance course and a session to educate riders on pre-ride checks, and keeping their bike in good working order following mechanical problems on rides.

Club Kit – Suggestions were made to get a gillet for spring and autumn, enquiries to be made on this. Caps are another possibility and we’ll do our best to get caps ordered if possible in the near future. Again enquries to be made.

Ride standards – when we have new members especially, and on all club rides (additional to Development Rides) a pre-ride briefing, any known hazards (e.g. A ‘surface dressed’ road) , a head count, information on where we are stopping.
Additionally on development rides an explanation of the various hand signals and calls such as hazard reporting, stopping, and changes of direction.

Other Business – Mountain bike rides, (down the tracks and to parkhead station etc etc) I am happy to lead these, again I may need some help. so that is in the works. They are likely to coincide with development ride weeks so club weeks are kept clear.

Parking at our meeting point of La Taverna/Michelangelo was discussed. Due to a new car park layout the parking has been slightly reduced. Both premises are very busy at weekends and we wish to minimize cars in the car park. The management have been VERY good to us since the club started. We want to encourage riding to rides. for some this is not possible. Parking is suggested at Ryton Rugby Club, Newburn Riverside or just off Newburn Bridge road (king Oswald Drive) and for you to ride along. We strongly encourage either of the above options so we can maintain a good working relationship with La Taverna and continue to meet there.

Cycle and shed security

It’s come to the clubs attention again that there’s a rise in cycle thefts and burglaries within the clubs catchment area or we’ve heard of cycle security and advice in the wider news and online cycling community.

We’ve blogged before about cycle security but there’s never a wrong time to help out and give advice.
If you’ve any further questions and want to know more, ask us as a club, comment below on this article or you can contact your local Neighbourhood Policing Team for crime prevention advice.

Your bike:
Keep a record of the serial number (usually found on the bottom bracket under your crank)
Write down a description of the bike and any accessories and take a photo.

Register your bike online with immobilise or another local system if there’s one available

Keep your bike locked at all times when you’re not with it, even if you’re just popping in the shop for a bottle of water or a loaf of bread is enough time for the opportunist thief. Even a minimal security “cafe lock” is better than nothing. If you’re leaving it for any length of time (such as at work) buy a “sold secure” (rated from
Bronze through to gold) lock, and lock your bike through the frame and wheels to an object that can’t be moved or broken (take care not to block any exits or paths though)
You should also remove any accessories such as GPS computers, lights or panniers as they’re easy targets for the opportunistic thief.
When your locked up in public consider your surroundings, look for somewhere with high footfall, lights and ideally CCTV.

Get your bike marked, you can etch certain frames with your details or buy specialist DNA/Smartwater kits or UV chemical etching kits, these pair your bike with a unique ID number on a national database.

At home and in the shed:

If your bike is in the house keep them away from main entrances and out of sight, if they’re in the main hallway keep your door locked as it only takes seconds for someone to walk in and take your bike.
If your bike is in the house keep it out of sight if possible , if it’s on display in the front window it’s being advertised.
If you have something to lock it to in the house consider
Doing that as an extra measure.

If you keep your bike in a shed or garage bolt the bikes to the ground with a ground anchor and heavy chain (like a motorbike chain), again the more you pay generally
The better the lock, look for the sold secure or Thatcham (motor vehicle standard) approved locks.
If you can’t do this (wood floor for example) chain your bike to other objects such as a lawnmower or other garden equipment if anything else this makes moving the bike annoying as well As noisy.
If you’ve a garden shed consider using anti-theft bolts and hinges on the door to make it harder to open with tools, if using a padlock to lock the door again look for secure rated Locks.
Consider fitting a shed alarm, these can either work with a motion sensor, with a cable when it’s cut or as a contact alarm which goes off if a door is opened, there’s so many different types of alarms, look in your local DIY shop for a selection, alarms start at under £10 so they’re a cheap addition. Finally just as you would your house double check you’ve locked up before you leave.

Using technology:
Technology is a wonderful thing, we’ve got our phones, cameras and the Internet but to the organised criminal it’s as good as a glossy catalogue. A big advance in mobile and cycling technology is GPS, it’ll show you where you took a photo, where you have been and where you need to go. But to a thief it’s showing them what you have and where. You’ll put your rides on strava, post an Instagram photo and then say you’re away for the weekend, all pinned down to within a few feet of your location.

On ride tracking services, set a privacy zone around your house or office (this usually blanks out surrounding streets) if your service doesn’t offer privacy simply start your ride at the end of the street or just down the road at varying locations.

On photo sites such as Instagram where they give the option of geotagging of images (pictures with GPS data attached) be mindful of where you tag images, especially at or around your home.

On social media such as Twitter be mindful of what posts you tag with your location, be mindful of who your audience is and be mindful of advertising the fact you are not around.

With the right combination of photos, maps and information organised cycle thieves are targeting expensive cyclists. Take the simple steps above to help reduce the risk.

Another tactic recently employed by potential thieves is to create bogus profiles and befriend local cyclists, they’ll message you for cycling advice hoping you’ll add them (sometimes saying things like ‘they’re new to the area’) or they’ll simply friend request you, typically their profiles don’t have a lot of information on and have stock cycling images in open albums, or they’ll try the classic young attractive cyclist pictures to lure you in!

We’re not saying everyone new to the area or who adds you is a potential thief but do consider who you’re adding, consider mutual friends, their location and the look of their profile, if in doubt leave them out.

Emergency Info

When you sign up for a BCC membership or British Cycling please ensure you fill out your emergency contact details on your profile. Existing members can log into their dashboard.

Sign up shot.

Outstanding annual subs

If there’s anyone out there who’s still wishing to join us on our 2015 journey please remember to renew your subscriptions for the year.

Pay Club Fees

Now it’s even easier to join us!

Now we’ve made it even easier to be a part of BCC. You can sign up right from facebook!  simply be signed in to facebook and hit the sign up button. You can also join direct from from the membership page or via the sidebar of the website (look to your right).

OR if you are reading this now and want to join click the button below:

Pay Club Fees

Below are the screen shots of the two new options:

Sign up via site Sign up via FB

Reminder: Club Meeting

Don’t forget at the end of the month is our next club meeting, an off the bike chance to catch up with others whilst organizing club business for the year. (Event link)

If you wish to add anything for us to discuss at the meeting please fill in this form and we’ll add items to the agenda:

[contact_bank form_id=2 show_title=true ]

 

if you wish to nominate for club committee positions (including new Race Leader and Development Ride Leads) please fill in the following:

[contact_bank form_id=3 show_title=true ]

 

Locking up your bike….

Just because it is locked it doesn’t mean it is safe… one to think about whilst leaving your in a public place.
Photo credit: Peterborough police @PboroCops

Development Ride 8/2/15 & Joining us.

Once again a massive thanks to everyone that turned up today, we had 25 riders on the club development route.
If anyone has any suggestions, comments or feedback, please post below. Generally the feedback today was that everyone enjoyed themselves and everyone was looked after which is great to see.

We had a few new members asking about how to join:
Here’s a quick guide and some links.

First of all you will find all about the membership in our words HERE.
The payment page is HERE – That’s £10 (+£1 admin fee levied by British Cycling)

A few of you are new to both the club and british cycling, you can join a club and get your first British Cycling membership year at a discount. To read about what British Cycling membership gives you, and for the latest discount code please click HERE most people will opt for ‘RIDE’ membership (if you want to race you’ll have to look at the others) usually this will give you national discounts at various shops, competitions, and liability insurance, for the full list of benefits read the above link.

(most people will use the NEWCMRD code – but double check that is current)

Below is the British Cycling description regarding first year discounts

Introductory membership discount for club members

A benefit of your club’s affiliation is that club members can get up to £20 off membership when they join British Cycling for the first time.

How it works

Simply use the promotion codes below when you join British Cycling for the first time. You will get the introductory discount on the payment page when you join online.

If you need any assistance, don’t hesitate to contact our team: membership@britishcycling.org.uk

Note: Offer is only open to people who have not previously been members of British Cycling and are current members of a British Cycling affiliated club or team. Checks will be made on your club membership and British Cycling membership status and persons found not to be be current club members or who have been British Cycling members in the past will have their application for membership cancelled.

Existing members and those who have been members in the past are eligible for a 10% discount when they set up their first direct debit instruction to renew or rejoin their British Cycling membership.

if you need any help shout up on Facebook / Twitter and we will do our best to help you.

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All the latest information, club news, and events are based here. All content merges across the website / twitter / facebook too.