February 2003

Happy New Year from The North End!

Hello there, and hope you had a great Christmas and New Year, and are raring to go into 2003! The AGM in December saw some important changes amongst the officials within the club. Here are the highlights:

Andy Kelly finished his term of office as President, and stepped down. The new President is Mike Daly.

I completed 3 years as Treasurer, and also stepped down (but, as you can see, I’m keeping busy!). Peter Hudson is the new Treasurer - more on this below. Andy Templeman and Geoff Brandt will continue as Secretary and Chairman respectively.

Andy Templeman is the new Road Captain, replacing Bob MacDonald.

And Peter Byrne, as he announced last month, has produced his last newsletter (for now!), and that job has fallen to me (again!). So send me your news, your results, your gossip, your classified ads and your bribes, and I’ll try to keep you updated, informed and entertained.

Ruaraidh Gillies

STOP PRESS: Mike sent me a message from New Zealand, where he is currently on holiday. Unfortunately it was just too late to make the 'paper copy' of the newsletter, but I include it here.

I thought I should try to send a message before the January monthly meeting to first of all thank the club members for electing me as president, which I consider an honour, and secondly to wish all the members a happy and successful new year.

We met Geoff Brandt and his wife for a drink a few days ago, just before they flew back after their holiday here. Tell Geoff I hope they didnt find it too cold when they landed in Manchester. I've been doing a bit of cycling here, but mostly enjoying the sunshine and warm weather (although it's been raining today). I've even ridden a couple of timetrials (28min tens). Last Saturday the first people I saw when I arrived at the start were Alan and Christine Roberts who are also over here on holiday.

Best wishes
Mike

Subscriptions

As I mentioned above, Peter Hudson has taken over the duties of Treasurer. As he lives out in Mold, he will not be making it along to every Thursday evening, and will probably only attend for the monthly meetings. In addition, he takes every opportunity to escape these sodden shores to sunnier climes - and will being doing so again this spring.

So, to make his job easier, and rather than have a queue a mile long at his table after the February and March meetings, it would be appreciated if members could post him their subscription cheques (payable to BNECC) to: 22 Rectory Lane, Llanferres, Flintshire, CH7 5SR.

Subscriptions have remained unchanged from last year, namely:
Seniors £24
Juniors £15
Over-65 £13
Juvenile £12
2nd claim £12
Associate £6

All club members’ subs are due for renewal (apart from those of you who joined since October 2002). You should note that Club rules state "if subscriptions are not paid by the March monthly meeting, the membership is deemed to have lapsed, and the member is required to rejoin" (i.e. incurring the £5 fee). This rule has not been enforced for some time, but some (prominent!) club members have persistently taken advantage of previously lax regimes, and it would be appreciated if everyone could be swift in their payments (by the way, this isn’t Peter coming in and wielding an iron fist - I’m wielding it belatedly on his behalf!).

To sum up - please pay as soon as possible!

Marshalling Rota

The other duty that every club member needs to be aware of now is the Marshalling Rota. Everyone is expected to perform 2 marshalling duties per year, and you have until the 28th of February to choose your own duties. After that, the Rota Secretary (who happens to be me!) will fill in the unselected slots.

The rota will be available at the clubroom on Thursdays from now on, and internet-enabled members can view the list online at the club’s website (click here, or on the Events button on the left), and send in their requests by email. So apply now, and you can make sure you get a couple of Club ‘10’s and not the 12 Hour!

The full list will be published in the March newsletter, and monthly reminders will be published throughout the year. You must remember that it is your responsibility to find a replacement if you cannot turn up for your allocated duty, whether you chose it or it chose you!

Track Nights, and February Meeting

There are 2 more track sessions at Manchester booked for the winter. The first is on the Thursday 16th of January, and the second on the Thursday 13th of February. Riders who need to hire track bikes can contact the Velodrome on 0161 223 2244.

You will notice that the February session is on the second Thursday of that month - the day usually reserved for the monthly meeting. For that reason the February meeting will be held on the first Thursday - the 6th. In March we will revert to the second Thursday - the 13th.

Freewheel and Christmas Tea

December saw the traditional Freewheel competition and Christmas Tea, along with the newly-traditional attempt by Clive Walmsley to find the worst route imaginable between these two locations! Roy Chappell put up a good early distance, and thought it would be enough, only for your reporter to marginally pip him late on! I then had to fend off all complaints about actually riding a decent bike, instead of the rickety boneshakers everyone else was on! (Sheesh! You don’t see me complaining when I ride a club 10 against monocoque frames and disc wheels, do ya?!). Clive then took us to the Spital Vaults via the Packhorse Bridges - a delightful little area of which I was previously unaware (and if I had been I’d have gone my own way!). Thanks to Dave Parry for organising the meal at the Vaults, as well.

Liverpool ‘10’

Les Kennedy is planning on organising another "Liverpool 10", after last year’s successful event. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the idea is to visit ten pubs in Liverpool in one evening (oh, and have a drink in each one too!).

It’s intended to do this towards the end of February, before the racing season really begins. If you’re up for it, speak to Les to let him know you’re interested.

Club Badges

After having been without them for some time, we have received a stock of club badges. Every club member is supposed to receive a badge (and a rulebook) when they join, but this has obviously been lacking of late. If you didn’t receive a badge when you joined, then contact Andy Templeman to get yourself sorted.

North End Kit, 2003-style!

The new kit has arrived, and for all those of you who wondered if you should have bought some, here’s a picture of what you missed out on. Unfortunately I couldn’t persuade a nubile girl in off the street to model it for you in the style that gets Cycling Weekly’s readers’ hackles up, so you’ll have to make do with a boring photo of it lying on my carpet!

Previous Newsletters:
2002 January February March April May June July August September October November December
2001 January February March April May June July August September October November December
2000 January February March April May June July August September October November December
1999 January February March April May June July August September October November December
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