Club Activities in Tier 4 Lockdown Week 46, 12 February 2021
Funny week last week. I usually bang out these emails and if one or two people comment on them, it’s usually because I have said something insensitive or dumb. In the last 3 weeks I have had many people reply to me and we’ve even sparked off a couple of Facebook chats. I’m self-aware enough
Club Activities in Tier 4 Lockdown Week 45, 5 February 2021
I thought we might delve into some ethical philosophy this week. It’s perhaps a bit controversial, so I apologise if anyone is offended, but I tend to believe we should face difficult issues with intelligent open-mindedness rather than hide from them. The 21st Century is throwing us so many complex moral and ethical issues and
Club Activities in Tier 4 Lockdown Week 44, 29 January 2021
There is a guy who used to live opposite us in West Norwood. He must have moved out at least 12 years ago, but every time I saw him, he was ridiculously cheerful. And every time, he’d comment on the weather. ‘Hey, it’s cold today. Maybe it will be better tomorrow.’ ‘Lovely weather eh? All
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
Lockdown Week 11, 5th June 2020
No question, it’s been a difficult week at a time when difficult weeks are not in short supply. I’m not sure this email is a platform for making weighty observations about the ills of the world, more a haven of relentless optimism and encouragement to get on your bikes. It is, however, hard to ignore the
Lockdown Week 10, 29th May 2020
The first tentative steps out of lockdown are reasonably clear for us in terms of cycling. Following British Cycling’s mid-week clarification, we still have no group rides, but on the road in ones and twos is fine. We are asking that you don’t wear club kit, not from any sense that we’re trying to hide;
Lockdown Week 9, 22nd May 2020
It did feel good to get out on the road last Saturday, though I noticed that gravity has been left totally unaffected by Coronavirus and was merciless on those extra pounds. That’s the trouble with home working, the proximity to tasty snacks and always being ready for the 6.00pm cocktails. We’re still in that limited
Lockdown Week 8, 15th May 2020
There’s something peculiarly human, maybe even British, about our ability to find things that are funny, touching, inspriational, even when the bombs and bullets are flying. I’ve started a mental checklist of all the good things to have come out of this catastrophe so far. Top of the list, important things like a new-found respect
Lockdown Week 7, 8th May 2020
If you have kids, you’ll have been on a long car journey when one of them asks, ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ and your heart sinks because you still have miles to go. You may even remember being that kid. It’s so tempting now to look out of the window from our semi-enforced isolation and