Seemed to go alright didn’t it? Fancy giving it another go? We’ll run the same routine of staggered start times and different locations, still with a limit of 6 riders per group.
I have repeated Niki’s beautifully conceived guidelines from last week at the bottom of this email; please do your utmost to stick to them and please feel free to wear your Penge kit.
NB. A couple of tweaks to the routine:
- No waiting lists. If a ride is full, you’ll have to either volunteer to take a second group (and I’ll allocate you a start place / time to align with whatever preference of early – 7am or before or late – 9.30 or after – you have), or, check back later to see if a second group has been set up.
- Rides open for entries at 6pm tonight (Friday 3rd July). We’ll keep this going so that people don’t sign up too early in advance and then forget or don’t show up.
Everest anyone?
You may have seen the pictures and clips on Facebook. Mike and Tash. Sometimes, people do things that just leave you speachless. I remember Warren doing the Ventoux ‘Club des Cingles’, John, Baz and David doing LEL and, of course Niki and John doing PBP. All things that fill me with admiration and leave me feeling a tiny bit inadequte.
Then Tash and Mike come along and do this. They ‘Everest’ Ide Hill. In case you missed what it is, they climbed the south side of Ide Hill 96 times between 4.00am and 11.00pm yesterday. On their bikes. Just plain, simple, utter, brilliant, complete lunacy. With a number of others, I couldn’t resist heading down to see them finish and I was astonished how cheerful and fresh they were. I did one rep (in jeans and trainers is my excuse) and found it testing to keep up on their 89th rep. Queen’s ‘We are the Champions’ booming from James Mc’s Tesla as they were joined by Niki, Joe and Emily on their final climb was pretty emotional.
I suspect they won’t ride Ide hill for a while – but we can, in groups!
Group Rides Revised Schedule
| Ride | Leader | Depart Location | Depart Time | Distance | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long 4 | Gareth Wall | SE20 Cycles | 7:15am | 45-55mi | 16-17mph |
| Long 3 | James Hanscomb | Crooked Billet | 7:30am | 45-55mi | 15-16mph |
| Long 2 | Emily Williams | SE20 Cycles | 7:45am | 45-55mi | 13-14mph |
| Long 1 | TBC | Crooked Billet | 8am | 50mi | 11-12mph |
| Short 4 | Matt Burney | SE20 Cycles | 8:15am | 30-35mi | 15-16mph |
| Short 3 | Nick Brun | Crooked Billet | 8:30am | 30-35mi | 13-14mph |
| Short 2 | Liz Begley | SE20 Cycles | 8:45am | 30-35mi | 12-13mph |
| Short 1 | Barry Graham | Crooked Billet | 9am | 30-35mi | 11-12mph |
| Steady | Ann Ferris | SE20 Cycles | 9:15am | 24-27mi | 10-11mph |
Bromley Council – Where next for our borough?
With the upsurge in cycling with Covid and the desire for more to cycle to work, much is being looked at to improve the lot of the humble cyclist on our roads. We have been invited by Bromley Cyclists, a group active in lobbying for improved cycling facilities to a Zoom meeting at 7:30pm on Monday 6 July. If you would like to share your insights, please sign up on their Eventbrite page and they will send you the MEETING ID.
More details on this Facebook post.
Niki’s Ride Rules
How many people in a group?
There will be six people including a leader per group. This only allows for 54 riders which is significantly less than we normally cater for on a normal summer Sunday. Therefore – please only sign up to a ride if you’re really quite certain you’ll be riding.
If you’re too late signing up for a ride, that’s tough luck at the moment unfortunately. We will allow second groups (but no more than this) to go out, but will not be recruiting leaders directly for these.
Practical guidelines while riding
Please observe the following when out on ride with Penge CC:
- Keep a 2 metre distance between yourself and other riders
- Don’t share anything – be aware this does mean if you have a puncture you’ll need to be able to fix it yourself, for example
- Don’t ride if you feel unwell or have symptoms of Covid-19
- Inform the club if you develop symptoms or you’re tested positive since your last ride
- Stay within your group – please don’t switch groups while out riding
- Please leave on time – the above staggered start times mean we shouldn’t have groups congregating at the usual junctions
- If you’ve not managed to sign up for a ride on RiderHQ, please do not arrive at the designated meeting points expecting to hop on the back of the group – you will be refused
- Be mindful about congregating when arriving back into Penge
- All the usual rules for riding apply, obviously
How do I sign up for a ride?
Please sign up via RiderHQ. Ride entries will open 6pm Friday evening.
If you need to remove yourself from a ride, please do so on RiderHQ – do not try and inform the leader via Facebook or any other method. If you can’t work out how to remove yourself on RiderHQ, please refer to that helpful post on Facebook. Alternatively, please let Niki know via email, Facebook Messenger or contact Niki via WhatsApp.
Ride entry will close on Saturday evening at 7pm, or whenever the ride is full; whichever is sooner.
Closing Thoughts
Have a great weekend.
James Hanscomb, Chair of Penge Cycle Club.