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.