No.959 December 2016 Anfield Circular Journal of the Anfield Bicycle Club (formed March 1879) Runs List Autumn Tints weekend December 3 Meadow Lea Cafe Mickle Trafford 10 The Druid Inn Llanferres 17 The Plough Christleton Wednesday 28 Red Lion Parkgate January 7 Nag's Head Lavister 14 Royal Oak Bangor on Dee 21 Old Ma’s Cafe Gatesheath 28 The Plough Christleton February 4 The Britannia Halkyn 11 Durham Heifer Brownknoll 18 Red Lion Parkgate Graham Thompson and big ride team at Llanfyllin 25 Parish Rooms Coddington (*Committee1130*) March 4 Nets Cafe Denhall 11 Dysart Arms Bunbury 18 The Goshawk Mouldsworth 26 The Druid Inn Llanferres Closing date for next issue 25 February Contact Hon Secretary: Peter Catheral, Tel 0777 3587793 anfieldbc@gmail,com Friday lunch stop, Vyrnwy Editor©: David BirchaAnfieldl Bicycle Club 2017 Subscriptions 21 and over £15; Junior £7.50; Family member £1; CTC 3rd party insurance £24 – by Standing Order Steve Marriott inspects the Montgomery Canal aqueduct over Hon Treasurer: Phil Mason the River Vyrnwy, Llanymynech ! @AnfieldBicycle www.anfieldbc.co.uk No.959 December 2016 Hon Secretary's Report 2016 It has been another fruitful year for the Anfield. The 2015 Autumn Tints was enjoyed by all, as was the trip to Portpatrick. Although Anfielders were thin on the ground in Scotland the event was a great success. I personally thoroughly enjoyed visiting a part of Scotland that I would never have dreamt of exploring. Indeed, Geoff and I did a whistle-stop tour of Galloway and Dumfries on the way back. Our association with CALS has proved most productive this year. It resulted in the Club having a stand at both the Cheshire Show and at the finish of stage 3 of the Tour of Britain. We had many visitors on both days. It was interesting to note how many who would look at our stand and ask if we really were the Liverpool Anfield, as though the only thing to come out of Anfield was a football team. This year's 100 was truly amazing. Initially, it was panic stations when we were told the regular course could not be used due to the placing of permanent traffic lights on the finishing circuit. An alternative course was drawn up and approved, only for us to discover the traffic lights story was incorrect - so it was back to the original course. The winner was Army Captain Ryan Perry who shattered the course record by almost 8 minutes. His first ever 100, he went on to win the National 100, 50 and 25 events. A major innovation was the acceptance of online entries. This is rapidly becoming the norm for entry to events. There are numerous benefits for the rider. Once registered with the CTT then entry is simply via your registration number. Best time for the distance, and all the rest of the required details, such as address, contact details etc are filled in automatically. When the event organiser receives the entry he either accepts or rejects it, and the rider is automatically informed. No more phone calls, emails or texts ‘Have you received my entry?’ Another plus point is less paper to store and dispose of. Very few events now send out printed Start and Finish Sheets. These are emailed to the riders - thus there can be considerable savings on printing and postage. Given the status of the Anfield 100 and the desire of riders for hard copy we will probably continue with the printed version but it is something that we will have to think about. One final point on the 100 is the visit by UKAD to the event. I have already written about this in the Circular so I will leave the matter there. Over the year, our website has attracted a lot of interest and we have received enquiries from as far afield as Australia (a former Anfielder) and Philadelphia. Finally, I will finish by thanking all those Members who helped with the 100, our stands at the two events in Cheshire and all the Officials who have worked hard behind the scenes running our Club. Peter Catherall Committee notes • Treasurer Phil Mason reported that subs are due on 1 January, and thanked all who have already paid by S/O and who are now marked up for next year. • Members In: D Lewis, S Marriott, P Robinson: A warm welcome to all three. Degsy is a survivor of the Jason Rees-Hughes and Graham Thompson Tints big rides; Steve Marriott, son of the late Frank Marriott, re-connects a longstanding family name to the Club (although the Marriott link has never really been lost thanks to Nigel and Alison Fellows); and Peter Robinson from the late 1950s rejoins having found his way back to us via the website. Out (subs unpaid): Jess Cooper, Oliver Jenkins, Jim Morton, Simon Potts. • A letter was read from Keith Orum who has decided to stand down from time-keeping. Keith has represented© the Anfield Anfield loyally for many years andBicycle contributed a tremendous Club amount to the sport. Racing Round-up SCTTA 100, 17 July 2016: Geraint Catherall: 5:58:48 WCTTA 25 11th September 2016: Graham Thompson 59:13; Geraint Catherall 1:12:12 Spring weekend -21 - 23 April 2017 It's the ABC's turn to host the annual weekend with our Scottish Veteran-Cycle Club friends. But this time it’s different. Making the arrangements is Jim Gibson, our representative for both sides of the Border, wearing his Scottish V-CC bonnet. Basing the weekend at the Premier Inn, Heswall, otherwise known as the Clegg Arms, it’s on home turf and an opportunity to show off the brilliant cycling routes and venues on our doorstep. Please support the event and put the dates in your diary. ! @AnfieldBicycle www.anfieldbc.co.uk 2! No.959 December 2016 Chris Boardman’s Triumphs and Turbulences - a good read I was on my southerly anti-clockwise training route: down to Runcorn and across the Mersey to Delamere and open countryside. Just as I approached Frodsham I saw another cyclist coming in the opposite direction. He turned right where I would be turning left. It was clear he was a youngster, perhaps 13 or 14, and so I expected to catch him quite soon. I didn’t. So I tried a bit harder, then a bit harder, then racing effort, but he disappeared up the road. When next in the Mills I related this episode, and was told, ‘Oh, that will have been Keith’s lad’. I usually complete the story by asking, ‘I wonder what happened to him?’ Of course we all know what happened to ‘Keith’s lad’: Olympic Champion, Hour Records, Yellow Jerseys, yet there is still much to learn and enjoy from Chris Boardman’s recent biography, ‘Triumphs and Turbulences’. There were places where I laughed out loud. For example his well observed description of his visit to the local chippy immediately after his Barcelona triumph. There were free chips, but only the once. It seemed Ming Choi’s rule was ‘one medal, one (free) portion of chips’! There were other places with fascinating insights into developments at the top level. My favourite explained how Jason Queally’s delusions about the skinsuit he wore for his 61.609 seconds of triumph to take gold in the Sydney Olympics, turned out to be not to be delusional after all. You’ll have to read the book to find out why. John Thompson The more things change ... Once upon a time the ABC year ran from January to December. Subs were due each January when the AGM was held. Then in 1947 we changed to October. Why? To fit in with the RTTC's timetable for appointing delegates. Now, seventy years on we've voted to return to the calendar year. And that means, as someone at the AGM observed, members will benefit from three free months membership - from October to January (well at least this year). Last time there were complaints about paying three months subs twice. Ho ho ... plus c'est pareil. Happy Tweeting Some say you should be as careful with social media as with a midden. However ... both are facts of life, and the social media site Twitter does have a lot going for it, being instantaneous and easy to access. It is a good way to spread everyday news, better than the website, which serves a different purpose and for which quarterly updates are normally sufficient. But will we use Twitter? We have had (since March 2011) a dedicated AnfieldBC page on Mike Hallgarth’s Time Trials Forum, and a Photobucket account, but no one has used either. Hon Sec reports: Following discussion at the AGM it was thought that it would be beneficial to have a presence on social media. This would enable members to maintain contact with the Club and other members and share details© of interestingAnfield rides and matters Bicycle cycling. Club Those who already have Twitter on smartphone or tablet will be familiar with how to become a follower of our account. For those of you who do not, the Twitter app is free and can easily be downloaded. Once downloaded, just follow the straightforward instructions to set up your own Twitter account. You may initially be offered a number of local accounts to follow which you can either accept or decline (or block). To follow our account, in the Twitter search field enter: @AnfieldBicycle Then hit the button marked ‘follow’. When you become a follower, Hon Sec will arrange for the ABC account to follow you so you will receive ABC tweets which can then be retweeted to followers of our account.