GLOUCESTER CITY CYCLING CLUB AUTUMN 2018 SPONSORED BY SPOKESPIECE Autumn, September 2018 The Newsletter of the Gloucester City Cycling Club The sun doesn’t always shine on us... See all the latest information on our website :- www.gloscitycc.co.uk Editor :- Malcolm Taylor Contributions for the next issue please to [email protected] ...but this summer was mostly dry, even on the Gospel Pass! EDITORIAL We’ve seen another busy season, with the dry weather encouraging good attendances on club rides, sport rides, chain gangs and evening time trials. The only disappointing turn out was a small field for the Club’s open time trial, though this was compensated by full fields in the road races. Speaking of these, we’ll be looking for fresh organizers next year. Volunteers will be welcomed and supported so please think about putting your name forward at the AGM on October 2nd. Alas, not all our events have passed without incident. Some unlucky members have even experienced hospital visits and broken bones. We wish them all full and speedy recoveries. As the weather deteriorates and the road conditions worsen (see right) let’s all remember to keep eyes open for hazards, indicating or calling them for the riders behind, and to keep a sensible distance from our fellow riders. Be safe out there! Spokespiece—Autumn, September 2018 page 2 Club Communications Cast your minds back to August Bank Holiday. The forecast, maintaining the weekly calendar, but I suggest that it is not which turned out to be accurate, was foul for the Sunday, but the place you would look for any last minute additions or changes. The third form of communication is via the Gloucester City Cycling Club Facebook page, and for racers, the GCCC racing Group on Facebook. This works fairly well, as can be seen by 18 being out on Bank Holiday Monday. However, the nature of Facebook is that things disappear from the top of the list quite quickly and can be easily missed. With virtually all members now carrying smart phones, there are many messaging apps that could be used for member communications, with What’s App perhaps being the best known. Groups could be set up that are fairly targeted (e.g. Sunday AA rides, Wednesday TTs etc) and members would only receive the messages for the groups to which they sub- scribed. The idea would require some refinement, and there good for the Bank Holiday Monday. Like many others, I may be some privacy issues to resolve, but wouldn’t it be good thought that I would much rather ride on Monday. As I if someone looking at the forecast could suggest a Saturday thought I would not be alone, I advertised a ride on the club’s ride one weekend, or change the destination of the Sunday Facebook page and in the end we had 18 riders in two rides. ride? Judge from the pictures as to whether it was a good idea. The reason for this article is to open up a debate about how the club can communicate better, and Currently, we have the “Joe Soap” e-mails, which are reserved for more globally appealing matters. The thought is that nobody wants their inbox inundated with these e-mails. The e-mail list is “owned” by the membership secretary and only he can access the address list (or for that matter any member’s e-mail address) used to send one of these messages. The second main form of communication is the website Food for thought. Any feedback welcome (http://www.gloscitycc.co.uk). The website is an ideal place to [email protected] or see Ian Wareing at the AGM. look up information. The web secretary does a good job of Subs are due! Senior membership is £15 and Family membership £20. A small reminder from our Treasurer: For convenience, repeated here are the bank details: Subs for the 2018/19 season are now due. Whilst there Bank Name: Santander Bank is a variety of ways to pay it would save a lot of progress For credit of: Gloucester City Cycling Club chasing by the Membership Secretary, the Treasurer, Sort Code: 09-01-55 and other committee members if you were to pay early, Account No: 58455182 by Standing Order, on 1st November. Remember that Reference: Subs “your name” regular riders in organised club events, including Sunday rides and training rides, are expected to be members of Note that you can cancel your Standing Order at any time. the Club so don't let yours lapse by accident. Spokespiece—Autumn, September 2018 page 3 A PYRENNEAN ADVENTURE in May it was decided there might be a window of opportunity to get Mountains sometime in June. After visiting the central and southern Alps over the last two years, it was more or less certain that a trip to the Pyrenees was on the cards. I left Dave in charge of booking flights, car hire and accommodation (as per usual) my excuse being that he has far more spare time than me. So on Tuesday 12th June we flew out of Bristol airport on a beautiful sunny morning only to land at Toulouse, an hour and a half lat- er, to misty drizzle. Picking up the bikes from oversize luggage, collecting the hire car, navigating Toulouse’s busy ring roads, we arrived at our base in Tarascon sur Ariege some two hours later. The misty drizzle had now turned to heavy rain! Our accommodation for the next week was on a well-equipped camp site on the outskirts of town, staying in a static cabin next to the river. We convinced ourselves that we were in the mountains and that rain was to be expected. ‘It will be OK tomorrow?’ We woke up on Wednesday morning to the sound of heavy rain beating down on the cabin roof. So over breakfast and visiting many local weather forecast sites, it looked like it was in for the day. So we decided to head towards the Mediterranean coast as it was supposedly basking in sunshine! After a two hour drive out of the mountains, into the foothills, the rain finally abated, so we parked up at a place called Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, an area that Dave knew well from holidaying nearby in 2009. We unloaded the bikes and set off down the D117 to Maury with a massive tail wind. Hitting speeds of 40mph, that had us both thinking “if only cycling was this easy all of the time…”. We turned off at Maury to pick up some quiet roads through Cucugnan, looping The road somehow clinging to the cliff face of the gorge around the back of the impressive ruins of the Chateau Thursday saw a vast improvement in the weather so we de Peyrepertuse, high up on a hill, then through the decided to tackle one of the highest cols in the Ariege even more impressive Gorges de Galamus. The road region, the Port de Pailheres, which tops out at 2,001 somehow clinging to the cliff face of the gorge. A quick metres. We decided to load the bikes into the car and drive to Ax-les-Thermes to avoid cycling along the busy We N20. We hit the slopes of the Col de Chioula as soon as returned to Saint-Paul, then headed off on a blustery, we left town, gaining altitude very quickly on fantastic hilly loop up to Sournia, Ansignan on roads that we had switchbacks on 10% gradients. After a short way up the completely to ourselves. On the return journey we were climb a junction takes you on the road to the Pailheres. back into dense cloud and wet roads, so the two hour The first part of the climb goes up through wooded car journey each way was definitely worth it. Spokespiece—Autumn, September 2018 page 4 slopes next to a fast flowing stream, the 10% gradient not really deviating. As you break through the tree line the gradient drops to give a bit of respite, only to return one kilometre later to kick up again to 10% plus, all the way to the col. A quick photo at the col, before donning wind jackets for the cold descent. Fantastic views of the road twisting its way through open meadow land below had us looking forward to a bit of freewheeling. A few hairpins from the top had us hard on the brakes as a herd of wild horses were coming up the road in the opposite direc- tion, all keeping to the right hand side of the road, and in single file (unlike a Sunday club ride!). Fantastic views of the road twisting its way through open meadow land below We continued our descent in Mijanes for a well-earned coffee, then retraced our journey back up to the col into a and coffee. On the opposite side of town was the climb up to the ski station of Ax 3 Domaines on those typical Pyrenean gradients. In beautiful sunshine we rode up to the deserted ski station only to turn around for a nice cooling descent! Ax-les-Thermes is a spa town and has numerous sulphur springs dotted around the town with the water at a constant 60°. The springs also leave the town with a rather strange smell hanging over it! Friday was a day to ride from camp for a change, so we headed into town and picked up the back roads for a tough little climb up over the Pas de Souloumbrie before dropping down through narrow wooded lanes with tight hairpin bends, over the river into Les Cabannes where the climb up to the Plateau de Beille starts.