The Bugle | Blast 408

Friday 18th October 2019

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

BICYCLIST OF THE WEEK

Pete S's son Cameron got chatting with a gardening client and found he was a past Anerley member and keen racing cyclist in the 50's - Brian Hatton. Maybe some of our longer standing members will remember him? 

Here are a couple of photos of him in action. He won a silver medal in the Folkestone 30
and a bronze medal in the Kent RC 25.

Beautiful looking bike too!

BICYCLE OF THE WEEK

Don't know if anyone can identify Brian's bike - but this is what Raleigh expected you to be buying in 1951 for road training. 'Lenton',  of course, refers to Lenton Boulevard - home of the Raleigh factory in Nottingham and possibly the biggest bicycle factory in the world at that time.

I visited the factory in the early 70's when Raleigh was owned by Tube Investments. TI, as their name suggests, was in the steel and tube making business and as bikes are essentially just a collection of tubes was a major way of conveying their core product to the consumer.

Enjoy the rest of the Raleigh 1951 catalogue here: https://oldbike.wordpress.com/1951-raleigh-catalogue/

 

TINA'S MEDICAL SCHOOL

ROAD RAGE & CLUB DISCIPLINE

Last week I published a little irritation at what happened during a road rage incident on a Tuesday Ride in Knockholt. The question is - should the leader alone represent the club view to the motorist. Here is a reponse from a rider putting an alternate point of view. 

Members may wish to read both and consider where they stand so the matter can be discussed objectively at the AGM.

In relation to the so called road rage issue and the hope that fellow riders would cease discussions and all attempts at reason with the lady in question  it seems that unless it is an obviously dangerous situation it is fair to put an opposing point of view and/or explain the limitations of riding in a group. Depending on how this is managed it may or may not "wind up" the person, but you can't know unless you try.

Angry situations can be defused by calm and reason and it is worthy of any human exchange to hope this might be achievable. It feels to me that ride leaders would probably be exceeding their remit to deny freedom of expression so long as it is polite and respectful. The idea that the ride leader might 'send off' a participant when he/she  is attempting to explain/understand the person seems a tad over the top. Indeed one might expect the ride leader to atrempt to take the heat out of the exchange and reasonably represent the cyclists' viewpoint whilst of course trying to minimise further aggressive outburst.

The absence of any response contributes to a vacuum that others are likely to want to fill. This could for example  be done by stating the name and web address of the club and inviting the person to make a formal complaint to which she would be entitled to a reply or offering her the the opportunity of a call back. Should the club  to seek clarification on how to deal with such future cases I ask that you add this view into the mix and if you wish include  it in your next edition. That said I doubt you can legislate with much clarity since each case probably needs to be judged on its merits.

My judgement was  that this lady could have been somewhat placated and may have listened to reason, but I grant that wouldn't be the case with all irate drivers. 

 

SOMEONE TO GET REALLY ANGRY ABOUT

This man was this week sentenced to 8 years jail. He was driving a car that knocked down and killed a cyclist in Deptford whilst on his phone travelling the wrong way up a one way street fled the scene, leaving the dying man crushed under his wheels.

To understand the true horror and how bad a person can be you can read the full story here: https://bit.ly/2MrVw4I
 

RIDE REPORTS

UPCOMING RIDES

The theme this week is Chartwell - destination for two weekend rides. Chartwell is best known as the home of Winston Churchill - but if you ever visit the house - you will see it mainly decorated in the 'modern 1951' style favoured by his wife Clemmie - and of course the year he once again became Prime Minister.

Saturday 19th October: Meet Shurguard / 501 Brighton Road  9.00am. (Not going via Coulsdon)
This Saturday we are off to Chartwell, out via Old Lodge Lane, Bletchingly, Limpfield Chart to Chartwell for tea stop. Back via Westerham, Pigrims Way, Oxted, Marden Park. Approx 39 miles

SIGN SPOTTERS: 10

FINALLY

To complete our 1951 themed road racing edition - here is the indomitable Pathe presentation of Ian Steel winning the that year's Daily Express Round Britain Cycle Race. Looks like motors were even more of a problem then!
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/ian-steel-wins-tour
 


Happy Cycling