Tiered Lockdown to Resume Week 36, 27th November 2020
Back in the game. It shows how far we’ve come this year that we all breathe a sigh of relief that we are once again allowed to ride in groups of 6 from next week. It appears that, for now at least, we will be pretty much back to the conditions and restrictions we had before
Lockdown Resumes Week 33, 5th November 2020
It’s tough to put a positive spin on the prospect of another national lockdown, but as a fully paid up member of the glass-half-full club, I’m going to give it a go. It’s only 4 weeks. Yes, the government has left the door open for extending it if necessary, if only so we can be
Tiered Lockdown Week 30, 16th October 2020
I’ll be brief today because I’m travelling, having spend a week doing some cycling and hiking in Cornwall. If anything good comes from Covid, it’s that many of us have (re)discovered the fact we live in a country blessed with some fabulous places to explore. Club Kit Changes We are almost there on the choice of
Lockdown Week 29, 8th October 2020
A somewhat disrupted Barry Covington memorial ride last weekend thanks to the combination of a persistent global pandemic and some truly filthy weather, but an important way to mark the day. If you were in any doubt as to its value, listen again to Tom speaking at the Velodrome on our Facebook post. All of
Barry Covington Memorial Rides, Sunday 4th October 2020
The first year we ran the ‘Barry’, I remember a glorious sunrise lighting up the Crystal Palace transmitter, like a radiant Eiffel Tower, on my ride to Penge. We we treated to an almost indecently warm and sunny day to enjoy the lanes before gathering for a feast back at the Velodrome to remember our lost pal. A feast
Lockdown Week 27, 25th September 2020
[Editor’s note: This week marks 6 whole months since the UK entered lockdown.] In the week we’re preparing for our Barry Covington memorial rides, I’m not sure we needed reminding that we sometimes take our lives in our hands when we go out on our bikes, mixing it with impatient drivers and imperfect roads. We certainly
Easing of Lockdown Week 26, 18th September 2020
I’ll get to this Sunday in a minute. First, I want to talk about Sunday 4th October 2020. Part of what makes a club, or any insititution is its history. Out of its history, its traditions. Barry Covington Memorial Event 3 years ago, we created a new tradition to honour the memory of one of
Easing of Lockdown Week 25, 11th September 2020
I’ve rather got out of the habit of using this Friday email to give free reign to my self-indulgent ramblings with the vaguest possible connection to cycling. If you’ve missed these, then get a cup of tea and join me for ten minutes. If your heart just sank, feel free to cut to the chase
Easing of Lockdown Week 23, 28th August 2020
I think we are all a little frustrated by the continuing restrictions on group riding. I tried to find out if it’s actually illegal for us to ride in groups of more than 6 people, but all I can find are fairly ambiguous statements about ‘guidelines’. Illegal or not, it doesn’t seem to be the
Easing of Lockdown Week 19, 31st July 2020
We’re often accused of being the snowflake generation. Well, maybe not my generation, more the millennials who are my children’s cohort. We’ve not really seen war and pestilence in our lifetimes, and you might have expected such a so-called soft generation to have been somewhat broadsided by this wretched Covid thing. I actually think we’re