The Anerley Gazette, May 2023
It has been a very miserable start to Spring this year. The first weeks of April continued with an abundance of very heavy April showers. But latterly things have begun to improve. Jim W had to cancel his Friday Ride due to heavy rain on Friday 21st April, but the next day was sunny and the warmest day of the year so far. I took advantage of this, and led a Saturday Ride of 7 down to Tully’s Farm. We even noticed that bluebells were out in the woods, but had not been evident the weekend before. So what’s all the news about Anerley activities during the sunny days of 2023?
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Competitor and Organiser of our Club entry, Race Secretary Mark H tells the story which starts here https://anerleybc.org/new-forest-classic/
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Unfortunately some of us are not as fit as our younger hares, and after the long winter lay-off, need to put a bit of oomph into our fitness training. But whatever your age, even octogenarians like me, can still enjoy riding our bikes. So what advice can the coaches and scientists tell us about how to compensate for each additional candle on the birthday cake? Find out here:
https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/fitness-and-training/how-to-keep-cycling-through-your-40s-50s-60s-70s-and-beyond/
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This year’s Anerley Away Days to Snowdonia, with 20 Club members, is probably the greatest number in it’s 140+ years history since it’s heydays in the 1880 and 90s. This was the Whitsun Bank Holiday Anerley Away Days, staying at the Crown pub in Selsey, with 22 members in 1892.
But how would these adventurous young men on their primitive machines have coped with the Welsh mountains? See https://anerleybc.org/welsh-mountain-roads/
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Mention of the good old days reminds me of how times have changed. Club runs used to be only on Saturday afternoon (Saturday mornings were working days) The Club Rides started at 4.30 in the afternoons. Even In those far of days many rides started from PURLEY CORNER! – now the Tesco roundabout. But how far do you think they could ride on a winter’s afternoon, when it would have been dark in only a few hours? To give you a flavour of those good old days – see this compilation of what the club rides were like in 1914, with my comments, in a more recent Anerley Gazette. See https://anerleybc.org/the-good-old-days/
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Jim K is probably our most prolific Ride Leader, and now with the revived Anerley Gazette entering it’s third year, we have at long last got a write up of one of his rides! See https://anerleybc.org/tablehurst-farm-tues-18-april/
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Map reading and using maps to follow a route are useful skills, and offer some interesting, entertaining, and challenging competitions for cyclists. We hope that this year we will revive the Anerley long tradition (started in 1924!) of holding some Club competitions. So your opportunity to learn and practise how to find your way around is here – https://anerleybc.org/map-reading-practise/
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And as promised in last month’s Gazette, another interesting write up from Tom V about a very interesting and very scenic part of Mid-Wales, accompanied by Tim Styles and John Diamond – as described in the title at https://anerleybc.org/the-elan-valley-a-dam-good-day/
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You must all have noticed at Shurgard in particular, that at long last there have been major changes to our cycle lanes to make them safer for cyclists. Not one change but several changes as Croydon Council’s Cycle or Road Safety advisor, did not appear to have got it right, first or second time – and counting! My personal opinion, for what it is worth – and you may not agree with me – is that they can be potentially dangerous, and hence something for us to be aware of. So read on https://anerleybc.org/upgrade-to-cycle-lane-down-graded/
