Weekly Club Update and Club runs for the weekend of 11th and 12th of February

[WorcsPhil]

WEEKLY UPDATE:

Lovely to see the photos of the Black Horse car park full of cub runners on Sunday...Huge thanks to the leaders as always for stepping forward, namely Richard Greer, Matt Hale, George Barker, Paul Balfe and Richard Chaplin, as well as Ian Gannon's Saturday ride. A couple of those rides had huge turnouts, and it was good to see the disciplined Beacon B ride riding well. I discussed with a couple of people on that ride, how wonderful it would be if the club run Risk Assessment guidance was followed by everybody. It's a great document (and found on the club run page of the website), and on a big group ride (indeed on any size ride), it's worth remembering a couple of things...

- When someone at the back shouts 'car up', then please shout along the line so that everyone is aware of it and moves in accordingly;
- and when you're on the front or near the front, then shout out or point at any incoming potholes, and again continue this call down the line so that those near the back are aware of it...

Simple things, but as important as ever when group riding. More wonderful snippets from the Risk Assessment every month!

Finally, despite much discussion at the AGM, where not many attended, there is still a lack of clarity on the use of tri-bars. I have now re-written the club run guidelines and Risk Assessment to clarify the matter, and in short:

- The presence of and/or the use of tribars, aero bars or handlebar extenders (henceforth referred to as tribars) are not permitted on club runs;
- The one exception to this is where there is a rider has a confirmed medical reason for their limited use, as under the Disability Discrimination Act 2010 (DDA), companies and organisations such as Beacon RCC are required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for those with medical conditions or disabilities;
- Where this is the case, the rider should inform and discuss their specific requirement with the committee via the Club Run Secretary and provide confirmatory evidence if necessary before approval is given for that person to ride;
- Once agreed with the committee, then that rider can lead rides or join rides led by others but must not use the tribars when riding in the group, i.e. ride off the front or off the back whilst in use.
- That rider should also caveat all their message board club run posts stating that they use tribars as a medical aid, and do not join that ride if that bothers you)
- This approach has been discussed with CUK, and does not invalidate our club run liability insurance.

I hope this provides the clarity that was perhaps lacking, but if you have any comments, please message me personally either here or text me on 07803 258902, as there's been a huge amount of discussion on this, and I really don't want to open this up again.

Short and functional this week, back to my fun-filled frivolity next week....oh and by the way, the Snowdrop/Sunrise Audax is closing for entries a week today, so now is your last chance to enter...we are virtually full and I reserve the right to close it even sooner if we hit the 280 limit.

Enjoy

Phil