We are pleased to invite all Cycling UK members in our geographic area to attend our local group AGM.
The AGM will be held at 16 Market Square, Alton GU34 1HD starting at 2pm Saturday 26th April. It will last until about 3:30pm. Light refreshments will be available.
Prior to the AGM there will be an optional short ride (approx. 15 miles) from Alton Community Centre starting at 12pm returning to the Market Square around 1:30pm.
Some of the 50-mile cyclists just before setting off
Cycling UK’s annual Phil Hampton Memorial Ride took place recently, an event held every year to commemorate the life of Phil who was killed while cycling in 2002.
Organised for the first time this year by Richard Care, 75 cyclists from the local area tackled two new routes devised by Darren Lavender.
The 30-mile option took riders out to Popham Airfield before returning via Axford and Preston Candover; the 50-mile ride took in Petersfield and the challenging Kiln Lane hill at Buriton, before returning via Rowlands Castle and East Meon.
On their return to Medstead Village Hall the riders enjoyed filled rolls and home-made cakes made by the catering team.
The initial estimate is that around £1200 was raised for the Cyclists’ Defence Fund, a charity that was set up to fight legal cases involving cyclists but which now covers all aspects of cycling and the law.
Thanks go to the cyclists for their support, and to all the volunteers who helped make it such a success. Special mentions go to Rupert Jones who did nearly all the washing up, and to the cake bakers Janice, Dina, Chris, Kaye, Sarah, Viv and Viv – thank you all!
Volunteers and participants on the final confidence-building bike ride
In conjunction with Cycling UK North Hampshire, Cycle Alton offered a course of four confidence-building bicycle rides during March, aimed at potential cyclists who are hesitant about cycling in local traffic.
The rides started in Chawton or Holybourne, and were led and accompanied by experienced local cyclists. The routes took riders through the town centre and back, covering about five miles in total. Each ride included many stops to discuss up-coming junctions, correct road positioning, and hazards to be alert to such as the sudden opening of car doors in the path of the cyclist.
At the end of the rides there was a debrief over coffee in an Alton cafe, and the comments were all positive. Louise said “Everyone is so kind + friendly +supportive! You really feel you’re in good hands.” Helen said “Really enjoyed a social ride. Never done that before and would love to do it again.” Emilia said “The trainers are very patient, knowledgeable and encouraging.”
Thanks go to the Cycle Alton supporters who volunteered to help out with the rides, and to Specsavers and the Climate Change Committee of Alton Town Council for funding the hi-viz gilets and snap-on armbands.
Further confidence-building rides are being planned. Check on here for details, or email cyclealton@gmail.com for more information.
The annual pace-judging and freewheeling competition was finally held yesterday, after having been rained off when it was previously scheduled.
Eight Cycling UK members took part. First they cycled round a short circuit in both directions and tried to match their pace each way, then secondly they freewheeled down a hill and the winner was the one who went furthest without pedalling.
Martin was the winner of the pace-judging and Gary won the freewheeling, and he also won the event overall on points. Congratulations to both!
We thank Dan for organising the event.
Gary, overall winner, receiving his prize from Dan
Seventeen club members recently enjoyed a weekend away based in the Norfolk town of Fakenham, where some camped at the racecourse while others stayed in accommodation around the town.
After a damp start on Friday’s ride to Wells-next-the-Sea, the weather improved gradually over the weekend. Two separate rides were organised on the Saturday to cater for the differing speeds of riders, both groups appreciating the gentle hills and smooth tarmac along the quiet Norfolk lanes.
Sunday’s rides saw us meeting together at the excellent Junction 21 tea room on the Marriott’s Way cycle route.
As always, thanks go to Frank and Dina for all the organisation.
We recently held our AGM in Medstead Village Hall which was attended by 19 members. It was the first in-person AGM since before Covid, and refreshments including home-baked cakes were enjoyed by all before the meeting started.
The meeting began with the sad announcement of the very recent death of Lesley Wilson, widow of Mike Wilson who died a couple of years ago. Like Mike, Lesley was a regular cyclist with our club for many years but hadn’t cycled with us for a while. We send our condolences to her family and friends.
There was a short discussion on the failure of Cycling UK headquarters to send out the AGM notification to all members in our area, or to reply to any emails. Due to Cycling UK’s interpretation of GDPR regulations, local group secretaries are unable to access a list of local members or to contact them. We therefore apologise to any members who may have wished to attend our AGM but didn’t receive a notification. Our secretary will raise this issue with Cycling UK.
All our existing officers agreed to stand for another year and were voted in together. These are:
Chairman – Frank Pote Secretary – Richard Care Treasurer – Mark Beauchamp Publicity & Website – Bob Bending Membership – Richard Care Welfare & Covid – Kaye Hicks Alton Rides Co-ordinator – Janice Montgomerie
Ray Wood proposed a vote of thanks to all committee members for their work in the past year towards keeping the club running.
The Mike Wilson Tankard is awarded annually to the winner of the Pace-Judging & Freewheeling Competition. The winner last year was Janice Montgomerie and she was presented with the tankard by Chairman Frank Pote.
The rest of the meeting was concerned with the future of the annual Phil Hampton Memorial Ride, which organisers Dan and Janice Montgomerie are stepping back from after organising it every year since 2013. There was agreement that members wish the event to continue, and that the best way forward may be to share the tasks between a small team. Secretary Richard Care was thanked for volunteering to oversee the running of next year’s event.
Treasurer Mark Beauchamp announced that this year’s event raised a record-breaking sum of £1410.23 which has been sent to the Cyclists’ Defence Fund via Cycling UK.
Our annual Phil Hampton Memorial Ride was held recently in some memorable spring weather!
101 cyclists from Hampshire, Surrey, Norfolk and elsewhere, rode either 30 miles or 50 miles before enjoying some refreshments back at Medstead Village Hall. For the first time ever, both routes had to have diversions due to flooding of the roads usually ridden in this event.
Thanks in particular to Dina and Frank who helped magnificently in the hall, and also to all the cake bakers Kaye, Chris, Viv, Sarah and Dina – they were all much appreciated.
We’ll have to wait a while before announcing how much money we’ve raised for the Cyclists’ Defence Fund, but thank you to everyone for your generosity
