Blog Bulletin

Firstly, a quick reminder that Saturday's club ride is to Relish at the Cotswold Water Park. There are no set routes. Surprisingly, it's one of the gaps that we still need to fill in the MCCC library of cafe stops and courses to reach them. Please take a look at the spaces we need to fill here and if you have a course, just email me the link. The sooner we can complete the library, the better, as I know lots of members prefer to have a designated route. 

(Click once to enlarge the pictures)

Club rides on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and of course the lunchtime meet on Thursdays, are all currently well attended. The two photographs from Wednesday evening, were taken and kindly forwarded to me by Karine. 

Nine of us rode Peter C's interesting course, which included an ascent of Clack Hill, up to the village of Bradenstoke. Unwittingly, we found ourselves caught up in Chippenham Wheelers' TT up Lyneham Bank. 

Steve M suggested that it was well worth taking a moment to admire the view from the top of Bowd's Lane, Lyneham, which was where the first picture was captured. The vista certainly merited a stop. 

Having worked up something of a thirst, we rounded off the evening with a well deserved glass of lemonade at the Rose and Crown in Lea, where we were pleased to be joined by Phil, who hadn't been able to ride with us.

Clevedon Bay on our visit there in August 2014

Please don't forget to let Tim H know if you intend to ride to Clevedon and Portishead for our 3rd annual trip to the seaside on Sunday 31st July 2016, and also, regardless of whether or not you're riding, if you're dining in the evening at the Spice Merchant. Significant others are also very welcome at the meal.

This surely has to be the highlight of our riding calendar and as such, it would be good to see as many coming along, as possible.

Life in the fast lane

The meaning of life is an oft-posed question. Last week though I found myself trying to define what is life. Let me explain. Thursday evening saw the curtain come down on another season of cycle racing at Castle Combe. The commissaire addressed the riders at the start. She took them to task over two things arising from the previous week. Gel wrappers being discarded on the track was one of them. She rightly pointed out that if a rider is able to remove a gel from their jersey pocket, then there's no reason why they can't return the empty sachet afterwards. Animosity in the peloton was the other. 'Remember,' she said, 'this is your hobby and not your life.' I understood the point she was trying to make, but I couldn't help wondering what constitutes life. Is it just the bare essentials, such as food, water and shelter or is it the many facets of our daily lives, which shape and ultimately determine who we are? If it's the latter, then for many cyclists, you could argue that it is their life or at least, a big part of it. Either way, animosity on the race track should always be discouraged.

The following tables should have appeared in the last bulletin, but somehow I forgot to include them. I've already apologised to Mike G, who I know spends a lot of time and effort researching and accurately recording the data. 

As at 1st July 2016, below are the scores on the doors for the Chairman's Trophy, Grimpeur Challenge and Sunday Series Cup. 

CHAIRMAN'S TROPHY

Rider	Points
Peter C	28
Tim W	26
Phil	16
Tim H	14
Des D	14
Howard	13
Simon S	12
Malc	12
Steve K	11
Andy Poolman	11

GRIMPEUR CHALLENGE

Please note that for the Grimpeur Challenge, you must be a member of the Malmesbury Clarion Strava Club. This is to save Mike G having to search Strava trying to find members who haven't joined. Don't let your efforts go unnoticed and potentially unrewarded.

Rider	Elevation Gained in Metres
Tim W	37,559
Peter C	29,769
Phil	17,998
Steve K	14,341
Colin	13,341
Malc	11,330
Tim H	10,999

SUNDAY SERIES

Rider	Rides	Total Mileage	Points
Peter C	6	419.3	30
Tim W	5	378.8	25
Phil	5	322.5	25
Andy Poolman	4	282.0	20
Steve K	4	246.0	20
Tim H	3	191.8	15
Colin	1	76.5	5
Howard	1	40.5	5
Mike G	1	40.5	5
Steve M	1	40.5	5

And as at 9th July 2016, those for the Club Ambassador Trophy:

Rider	Points
Tim W	30
Mike G	15
Steve K	10
Peter C	5
Phil	5

Please continue to support club activities whenever you can.

Clarions on the Carnival ride gathered in Badminton August 2013

Events and activities for this year's Malmesbury Carnival again includes Ken MacLennan's Carnival bike ride. This popular listing will start at 10.00am on Monday 29th August 2016, from outside of the Old Bell. Entry is just £5 and includes light refreshments served out on the course. This is a leisurely paced, family-friendly ride, which often generates a number of enquiries from people keen to learn more about the Clarions. If you do go along, please consider wearing your club jersey.

You can see the complete events calendar here.

Blog Bulletin

In no particular order, there's a few matters of interest to bring to your attention.

Folly Row Cafe, Kington St Michael

This Saturday's ride is to the Folly Row Cafe in the High Street at Kington St Michael. There are two courses. Both can be viewed and downloaded by following the links below. If you have a Garmin or similar device, please download the course you intend to ride. This can be helpful to the Ride Leader. Also, please take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with the route.

Social Group: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12826724

Sporting Group: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12826390

A rather tenuous picture link, it's the library at Calne

Our online club library of cafes and courses to reach them, is gradually taking shape, but as you can see here there are still plenty of gaps to fill.

I've been trawling through old blog updates and those courses I have saved on my Garmin and Ride With GPS sites, but I now need your help to complete the task. If there's a gap you can fill, please send me a link to the course. All contributions will be very gratefully received.

Our peleton in 2014 is brought to a halt by a stray calf at Alderton

As part of the 2016 Sunday Series, we're making our 3rd annual visit to the seaside at Clevedon on Sunday 31st July 2016. Tim H will be releasing details of the 103 mile course and itinerary for the day, a little nearer the time. Keeping with tradition, the day will probably end with a meal at a restaurant in Malmesbury.

All smiles at The Salthouse, Clevedon in 2014

In past years, this ride has enabled some members to complete a ride of 100 miles, for the first time. If you think you have the legs for a long day in the saddle, then please come along. You'll have the help and support of your club mates to help pull you through. No one will get left behind.

A big Malmesbury Clarion Strava Club welcome to our newest members. Ian, Jonathan and Lyndon have all joined following a round of invitations recently sent out by Howard. If you haven't accepted yet, hopefully you will soon. If we missed you out, please email Howard.

Our kit supplier Force GB has created a very impressive page for us on their website in their Club Shops section. This will allow members to place their orders directly with the company and pay online, although at first glance, it looks like the only payment option is Paypal. Alternatively, speak to Graham at Force GB and he'll take your credit card details over the telephone.

In the first instance though, if you're after a jersey, please speak to Howard who carries a certain amount of stock. This will help you to choose the correct size if you do have to order. Force GB won't refund your money or swap the item if it's the wrong size.

You can see the range of jerseys, jackets, including a new rain jacket, and gilets in our club colours here. 

With a number of new Clarions, it's worth mentioning that your club membership entitles you to a 10% discount at C.H White & Son in the High Street at Malmesbury, on production of your membership card, with no minimum spend. 

Membership cards are issued by National Clarion. Those who joined or rejoined at the beginning of the year, will have received theirs a long time ago. I'm not sure if National Clarion issues cards mid-term. If they don't and you encounter any problems receiving your discount, let me know and I'll supply you with a MCCC version, which I know will be accepted.