The meeting was fairly well attended and apologies were received from Simon, Phil S, Jan, Sylvia, Steve L, Sarah, and Adrian. Fred was back from his travels and co-chaired the meeting with Amanda.
Past Events:
June 11th – Bike Week and the Cycling Campaign were celebrated by Falmouth Wheelers with a stand on the Moor, and was well supported by members, and there was a good show of bikes. Unfortunately the public weren’t very interested! However, the the cycle ride in the evening of Wednesday 13th, led by Callum, was popular, with plenty of kids. It went through town and round the Point. It would be nice to held a similar ride on a regular basis, to encourage people to cycle – but not on a Wednesday evening!
June 12th – Pathfinder led by Paul, from St Austell on a clockwise circuit via Lostwithiel with lunch near Par. 17 members took part. An interesting route which was new to many of us, on a beautiful day. Only one of the hills was really tough!
June 19th – The Mines and Minerals Audax, organised by Simon. On a cold, grey day, 64 off-roaders, and 21 on-road cyclist took part (there were 28 entries but some didn’t start) The off-roaders particularly seemed to enjoy themselves, and there was excellent food for everyone – pasties at halfway, and a very good cream tea for finishers. The rain held off until 5pm. Thanks again to Simon and all his helpers.
June 21st – the longest day, saw a good turnout for an evening ride over to the Blue Anchor at Helston, to remember Raymond. His brother joined them and the conversation turned to motorbikes…
Future Events:
July 2rd – Audax event from Penzance organised by Martyn – 200k and 300k rides.
July 10th – Three Audax distances from Perranwell, also organised by Martyn. So far the entries have been quite low. No entering on the day – the cut-off is on the Friday before the event. Entries via the Audax UK website.
AOB Paula had researched getting caps in club colours, and enough members were interested, so we’ll order 10 to start with, which will cost £15 each.
We congratulated Jan, who was 3rd in her age group in an Iron Man event in Denmark, and Phil C, who was 9th in his age group in the Plymouth half marathon.
The new Group Cycling Guidelines, and Pathfinder Guidelines, compiled by Amanda, were discussed at length, along with the new laws in the Highway Code which aim to make the roads safer for cyclists. The discussion is on going….
The meeting closed at 8.50pm, and the next meeting will be on Thursday July 28th.
It is wrong to say that the public were not interested. Whilst the Cycling Campaign/Wheelers stand was not as well attended as I might have hoped the “Wheels to Work” Charity received a great deal of interest and were very pleased with the result. The stand organised by our local trike manufacturer, ICE, also received a good number of visitors. I was disappointed that few members of the public asked questions about the police “close pass mat” demonstration but hopefully many would have observed it and it may be in their mind when they are out on the road.
The point about the Cycling & Walking Campaign social ride “not on a Wednesday evening” seems to be a personal comment rather than a measured opinion. Less than half a dozen Wheelers regularly attend the Club Social ride on a Wednesday evening so this does not affect the majority of club members. It is really for those who attend the Cycling & Walking Campaign ride to decide when it should be. All Falmouth Wheelers are welcome to join in.
Apologies Dean – I just report the meeting as I hear it, and someone did mutter about ‘not on a Wednesday evening!’ I fully support the Cycling and Walking Campaign and I’m very pleased it is going well. I admit I was only at the FW’s stand on the Moor for a couple of hours after lunch, so I wasn’t fully aware of how much interest it generated. Anything that gets people out of their cars and onto their bikes is great – and for the kids, too.