It was so maddening that we had to postpone the National Grasstrack Championships on Saturday as travellers had got onto the school grounds, especially as everyone was looking forward to it, the riders were ready and the track was all marked out, and especially for the amount of organising that Ade Ravenscroft in particular had dedicated to it... but all is not lost, Ade and his chief elf, Mick Stanford retired to the pub and new plans are afoot to re-schedule it sooner rather than later, so watch this space.
One thing that did go ahead was Alan Weaver's 2-day YHA trip to St Briavels which is just across the border into Wales. Excellent photos are on the FB page showing the unique accommodation and I asked the inimitable Dave Cole for his thoughts on the trip, and he responded thus:
"It was a fabulous trip, with two great (and hilly) days of cycling to get there and come back. First of all, a huge thanks to Alan Weaver for organising everything and to all the riders for making it highly enjoyable. I did note that Rob Parker and his son Harry shared a very small saddle bag to carry their combined kit. We suspected that they had to share their clothes, including underpants, because we never saw the two of them together outside of the dormitory. Our accommodation was on the third floor of a castle tower and the toilets were on the ground floor, which were accessed by descending a extremely precarious spiral staircase. Not an ideal arrangement for some of us oldies with overnight weeing issues, but don't let that colour a wonderful outing with good friends"
...Excellent detail, Dave
Also worthy of a mention again are young Matt Russell , who raced at Darley Moor, and finished in the leading group...it's great to see him racing so regularly and getting the results and improvements that his energy deserves... and also Ed Moss, who must be the only one who could ride a mid 22, 10mile TT and describe it as a 'bag of spanners'...to the rest of us mere mortals, Ed...that's fantastic riding!
...and so onto club runs...it was great to see a full set of club runs, and a bonus one or two on Saturday...thanks to the leaders as usual, and yes, it is right to name check them...Cedric, Karl Walton, Mark Stammers, Mariana Sorrill and the clubman of the year, Mick Stanford...thanks all.
So what's going on this month...it's the usual Tuesday and Thursday night bashes, and this Tuesday also sees the penultimate time trial on our Earlswood course...it's a 10mile bash and again, it would be great to see a good Beacon contingent there...don't forget that the August Time Trial is on the same course, but features a road bike 2-up focus, so grab a mate, and ensure you give this a go...it doesn't matter how fast you are, put a number on your back once this season and give it full beans.
Kiddy Killer Audax is in two weeks...I'm hearing of a group planning to make their debut on this next year, but this year is Dr Whiteman's last as organiser, so let's give him a great send-off...get your entries in and give it a bash.
Finally, a few of us are thinking of a Mallorca trip at the end of April next year to coincide with the Mallorca 312 weekend (Saturday 27th April), so Beaconites are invited, it would be great to get a big bunch of us there... this will be a book your own accommodation and book your own flights scenario rather than us planning everything for you, but hopefully we'll provide some joined up thinking in terms of dates (Wednesday 24th - Monday 29th give or take a day or two) and accommodation options in Porta Pollensa... let me know if you're interested as accommodation is filling up slowly...
Keep happy, and GET INVOLVED in events. club runs and the whatnot.
Phil