In the last newsletter (which
was ages ago, back in 2004) we
mentioned our drive to increase the club membership and weed out the
“free
loaders” from our events.
It’s pleasing to report that the
move was a huge success –
from a low of only 35 members in December, we now have 93 members. With
that
growth comes the need to lift our game to cater for all you new people.
We’ve
run a number of successful events over summer, some old ones and some
new ones
and have a number of new things we will try over coming months. Let us
know
what you would like to see – either at the monthly Monday night
get-togethers
or at a committee meeting or just flick us an e-mail – the club now has
it’s
own e-mail address, www.taurangacyclingclub@xtra.co.nz
To keep the
interest up over winter, we will be trying
Saturday events twice a month, using some new circuits as well as the
old
favourites. Remember that we still have the Tuesday Night Spin Sessions
at
Pack’N’Pedal right through until daylight saving kicks in again, plus
the
Sunday rides continue year round. This ride is working well (with
around 30
riders most weeks) and we are grateful that Talbot, Raewyne, Malcolm
etc opened
up their ride to the rest of us a couple of years back. They have been
doing
this ride as a group for about 15 years.
If you’ve been to an event out
of town and would “like to
share with the group”, please send your story in – we’d love to hear
from you.
Lastly, if you are out on the
roads in the mornings or
evenings now, try to avoid riding into the rising or setting sun. Bikes
are
very hard to see in these conditions now and it is not unheard of for
cyclists
to get run over. Check the batteries in your lights too before you
strap them
back on your bike.
Winter……who needs it?!
Welcome to our new members. Too
many to name here
unfortunately. Easy to spot your fellow club members out on the road,
with
their yellow helmet dot. Although putting faces to names and vice versa
is not
easy – my mission this winter is to figure out who all 93 members are!
The
committee has had a review of events that we ran over summer. Thursday
nights
went well, 20 to 30 riders out at Te Tumu most nights and everyone
seems happy
with the way it operates.
Tuesday
Nights also went pretty well on the whole. Big numbers were an issue –
up to
130 riders and the now infamous 2nd Group did cause a few problems.
Next summer we plan to have another “middle” group to trim the bunch
sizes down
and to separate the faster riders from those that ride in a desperate
fashion
to stay in contact with them. Some folk lost sight of the fact it was a
training ride I think. Plus there has been a demand for a super casual
group,
for the cyclists that can only get out once a week and aren’t as fit as
the
riders in the Casual group. We’ll give it a try.
The other
change will be a group leader for all groups – the 3rd and 4th
group worked in part because there is someone taking control.
We will
have to keep an eye on traffic growth – we will probably reach a point
at some
stage where the circuit we use now will just be too busy to use. By
that stage,
some of the rural sealing that WBOPDC is doing will be completed and we
might
be able to find a suitable circuit away from the heavy traffic.
The BBQ
that we were to have after a Tuesday ride prior to Christmas was
eventually
held on a Sunday morning in March. Very nice cooked breakfast (courtesy
of Tony
and Robyn Fairweather and Brian Melville) at Pilot Bay. Everyone felt
it was
much nicer and more relaxing than after the Tuesday ride anyway, so we
will
probably do the same again next summer.
New Road
Consultation
The
Tauranga Road Cycling Club is recognised by Transit NZ as one of the
official
bodies that it must consult with by law when constructing new roads. As
part of
that, we have been invited to meet with Transit representatives to
discuss the
proposed 4 lane eastern bypass road from Te Maunga to Te Puke. They
want to
designate it a motorway, which means no bikes allowed. However, they
advise the
existing highway would remain as an alternative route and would
probably be
better for cycling due to much lower traffic. We’ll do everything we
can to
make sure that we still have good access from the coastal strip across
to the
Papamoa hills and Welcome Bay Rd. We’ll keep you posted!
Results
Joyce Road 19 February –
Handicap Start Road Race
3 laps
1st
Keith Monnington
1:13:07
2nd
Kevin/Carol Jerome
1:14:09
3rd
Tony
1:10:59
4th
Talbot Munro
1:16:52
Raewyne
Cathie
2 laps
Ron/Mauren
Weeks
1 lap
4 laps
1st
John Cobbalt
1:22:01
2nd
Jasin Goldsmith
1:20:35
3rd
Andrew Gibbs
1:20:37
4th
Allan
Giles
1:30:37
Individual Time Trial Champs,
Te Tumu 12 March
This
event was a great success – fantastic weather, lots of riders and a
good time
had by all.
Mark
Crowther is the clubs Time Trial Champion for 2005 – congratulations.
Mark
Crowther
58:35
Jasin
Goldsmith
1:01:19
David
Birley
1:02:57
Brian
Docherty
1:03:17
Heath
Lett
1:04:41
Roger
Creighton
1:04:56
Kevin/Carol
Jerome
1:05:10
Tandem
John
Cobbalt
1:05:48
Cindy
Taylor
1:06:19
Glen
Kivett
1:06:34
Duncan
Hart
1:08:41
Warren
Taylor
1:08:49
Steve
Crowther
1:09:56
Lance
Muller
1:10:44
Paul
Manson
1:11:01
Puncture
Ron/Maureen
Weeks
1:13:12
Tandem
Karen
McCarthy
1:13:45
Yvonne
Manson
1:17:26
Eric
Taylor
1:20:30
Talbot
Munro
1:20:52
Jenny
Watts
52:27
Raewyne
Cathie
53:57