It is with a very heavy heart that I open this months meeting. We heard the tragic news on Sunday that Raymond had died whilst out riding his motorcycle. Raymond was one of life’s great guys and it’s so very hard to say all we need to about Raymond in a few sentences. He’s known as being a supportive rider, always there to encourage and an especially good friend. When there are more details these will be published with the permission of the family.
We also said our goodbye’s to Keith with good support from the Wheelers and the One and All cycling club. These awful events make us appreciate what being in the Wheelers is all about and the support that we can offer each other.
During lockdown Amanda has been hosting a zoom meeting on a Friday evening for which I for one has been very grateful for. It seems a long time since we held the first meeting and it was great to be able to catch up and see how every one was doing. The topic of conversation has always been varied, we’ve discussed the best beers, Ian’s marathon challenge, Steve’s radio show and even talked about cycling. Many thanks go to Amanda for keeping us sane. The zoom meetings came to a close as we are now able to ride as a group of 6 and we are able to have face to face chats with each other – social distancing of course. Please can we be aware that when we do ride as a group that we keep the numbers to a maximum of 6 and socially distance when we stop for a break. A group of 6 is the maximum for a group at the moment though things are changing on almost a weekly basis.
There has been talk of a Falmouth Cyclovia. Cyclovia is a Spanish term that means ‘cycleway’ either a permanent bike path or the closing of certain streets to traffic for cyclists and pedestrians. I’m not sure who the group are who are looking to support this, though there is a facebook page to view and they are asking for suggestions of which roads to close and when to close them. The main suggestion is Pendennis Point and Cliff Road on either a weekend day or just during the school holidays on either a Saturday or Sunday. I think this is a bit of watch this space. It sounds like a great idea to encourage everybody out either walking or cycling and would make the seafront a real promenade area.
I received an email advertising the Chestnut Appeal for Mens Health. The Chestnut appeal raises funds and awareness for prostate cancer patients across Devon and Cornwall. The Rockets & Rascals of Plymouth have set up the ’77’ challenge. They are asking you to ride either 77km or 77miles in the month of July and send in your evidence and they will post our a unique ’77’ medal. You can also join the Strava club https://strava.com/clubs/685908. The registration fee is £12.00 of which the Chestnut Appeal receives £4.00. The Rockets and Rascals is a Cafe, Bike Hire and Retail store located on Plymouth’s Barbican. They meet and ride every Saturday. The facebook page is Ride 77.
The latest challenge for the club has been the Tour de Cornwall which Phil Conroy set up to continue raising money for Cornwall Hospice Care which was started by Ian with his marathon walk. The challenge for the Tour de Cornwall was to ride 100 miles but in true Wheelers fashion a brave group, on the hottest day of year, took on the Martyn’s 200k route to Padstow and back taking in the Lizard village and Gwithian on the way. 5 completed the entire 200k for which I personally take my hat off to. I started with the others never meaning to ride the whole way and thankfully I stuck to my guns. I was bushed by the time I got home with 66 miles under my belt. Phil Conroy, Amanda, Paul, Simon and Dean Evans rolled home just after 9pm after having the best day ever I understand. What do they say, ‘you never regret going’. I am determined to complete this route one day, maybe next year. Phil has set up a Just Giving page, with the link on the Falmouth Wheelers facebook page.
The club has a Printer which has been used previously to print our monthly newsletter but is not really used now. Adrian has asked if this would be useful to a member of the club. As it is over 10 years old there is no real value if we were to sell it we just need someone with space to store or use so it’s there if needed.
On another Club note, the club is in need of a Treasurer. Sonjia stood down at the last AGM and before lockdown we were unfortunately not able to recruit a member into the post. The club needs a Treasurer to be able to run properly and Sonjia I should imagine would be more than happy to go through the details. She has always said that it’s not a complicated role and we just need to be able show good accounting.
I hope I have covered everything and please let me know if there is anything that needs to be added to the meeting as I edit and add details.
I can’t see the July meeting taking place at Woodlane Social Club but fingers crossed for August. It will be great when we can all safely meet up as a large group again.
Kath