Club run 18/09 - now a general discussion of the club run...

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Dombo"]I hear it is easier to make partner at Goldman Sachs

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Andrew G"]I can't remember the date off the top of my head (in a couple of months time) but the AGM is a good place to start to see how many mouths have trousers attached to them.

It's not the forum to discuss or cover all that's being mentioned here but is a good indicator of willing faces within the club. Good ideas need developing and commitment to them.

[Andrew G]

I wasn't suggesting the discussion takes place at the AGM Snoop, as you say it's not the place...
[quote]It's not the forum to discuss or cover all that's being mentioned here but is a good indicator of willing faces within the club. Good ideas need developing and commitment to them.

[Snoop Doug]

Thanks Mr my misunderstanding apologies

[philf]

Re. avoiding the A23/M23 junction - is the road going left just by Starbuck's an option? It's quite a fast climb, and following a right turn you drop back onto the A23 on the 'right' side of the road. It might be too narrow for larger groups, however - and could have been rejected in the past because of this(?)

[Amy]

Talking of voting in the Club Captain - I hope that some of you (as many as possible) might make it to the AGM this time and help vote me in?? I also need a proposer and a seconder. I've already got quite a bit of support and have been thinking of going for Captain for awhile but the more the better

Don't expect great things - my main intentions are to foster more alternative rides and to increase the number of VCs and their involvement in organising the club runs without the Captain necessarily being there all the time. And to encourage more riders to take greater responsibility for the rides and groups though not necessarily becoming VCs if you don't want it to be that official

[Phil H]

I think we need to see manifestos and a 5 minute YouTube video from each candidate with their pitch.

[Marcus]

[quote="Phil Hawkes"]I think we need to see manifestos and a 5 minute YouTube video from each candidate with their pitch.

[Dombo]

Although Amy has already told us not to expect great things from her captaincy I would urge her not to underestimate her capabilities.

In addition to the clear aims she has outlined vis a vis the CR I believe having a woman as club captain will go a long way towards encouraging more women to join Addiscombe and thus widen the appeal of our sport at all levels.

We have often had discussions on the forum about how to do this and I cannot think of a better way of achieving this aim.

[Sylv]

So, when's the AGM then? (Might be worth its own post so that people don't miss it)

[Marek]

In the last year or so I have been doing a bit of riding with some other local and less local clubs to get a feel for what they do on their club runs. When I tell them the format of ours they think that we are mad doing the same route every week.

I know that some of the training group have different views on this as you like the format of doing a route that people know and you like to taste blood every time you ride so is a good route for hammering it out and you don't need to take any responsibility for dropping riders as they just get picked up by the next group. If you think about it that is not actually a club run, it is a race training session. (Not to say that I don't actually enjoy this type of ride at times).

At least 3 of the clubs that I have ridden with have different ability groups like Addiscombe. There equivalent training groups are hard and fast. The difference is that the VC's or ride leaders are different people in each group every week and they are named prior to the ride. They work on a rota system where someone in each group decides on the route and the others follow and ride as a group. Ride leaders therefore need to plan a suitable route and give some indication as to distance etc beforehand. The benefit is firstly everyone knows who is in charge that day and that person is responsible for making sure that no one is dropped and that everyone makes it around the route (unless of course someone is having a bad day and decides to turn around etc).

They always stick in a cafe stop unless the group is doing something more specific like trying to ride a long distance without stopping for sportive type training etc. If someone cannot manage their turn due to being away then someone else will take responsibility. But what tends to happen is that because people know they have this responsibility they turn up on the said date and do the job, as they have been benefiting from all others doing the same previously.

This format seems more clubby to me and has the added bonus of not banging up and down the same roads each week and also may have the opportunity to throw in some hills and scenery, which although some are not interested in, I think the majority are. I for one would be very happy to lead the odd ride now and then and would be more than happy to rock up and get led on other peoples routes. Pete has been doing this for a while now and it seems very popular, the reason being because it is more clubby, interesting and fun. And also the coffee at Charlwood quite frankly sucks.

Cheers

Marek....

[Snoop Doug]

Nicely put Marek. Like Amy, and indeed many others, Pete, Mr to name but two more, I'm also a long standing advocate of letting the club run flourish and take different routes. Some might say maybe too much, I think I've only been on the formal club run twice in 2010 but I'm out, very often with ACC people, in other places. And I'm completely OK if people do want to do the charlwood thing (though I agree they clearly have no taste in coffee ). This whole thing ain't a pissing contest.

That whole evolution seems to be coming along much more now, I happen to think that Pete has had a big impact. I admire his persistence and the fact he's willing to start from CSS every week. I've tended to stay away largely because I've had a pretty yuck time from some folk in the past about leading rides from Coulsdon and I just want to enjoy my cycling.

So there's you and Paul offering to add to the folk who help out already - sounding interesting.

Snoop

[Keith]

I'd suggest that it would be pretty easy to add variety to a Training Group format.

Ride steady to one of the local race circuits. Do a few flying laps with a sprint finish. Regroup, picking up anyone who'd dropped off the bunch. Ride back, picking up the pace as we get nearer to home. Anyone dropped at this point wouldn't have far to get back. Potentially stop at at cafe within staggering distance of home.

The added bonus is you get to know the local race circuits; South Nutfield, Newchapel, Rusper, Horne, Crowhurst, etc.

[Paul on the Pearson]

Havent been out for ages..on the CR that is.. I have actually been outside but thats another story and at this very moment am in fact planning my cycling "comeback", but to cut to the chase I agree with Marek. One of the main contentions is the same 'ol route every week issue, which considering the potencial for other rides in the area is one of the reasons most other clubs find it a bit odd. When I rode with Avanti there were about 5 or 6 different routes which would be rotated and as a result they all became familiar, so if the ride captain was away we knew the routes and could just decide to do "that one" depending on whether everyone fancied a flat one, long one, hilly one etc. This format could still maintain the social side of the CR as more than one ability group may do the same route and meet at the same cafe.(one that actually serves real coffee). I think the club run format has and continues to work well and has achieved its aim of saving the club from the brink of extintion, but it now needs a bit more variety and the cr can then be run in a less centralised manner which as Amy proposes takes pressure of the few VC,s. Well thats my few pences worth.
See you Saturday for my comeback......

[Rob Q]

Some great views here and good to see the idea juices flowing. I love going out on different routes and have seen some lovely lanes with little traffic with very pleasant company except for Pete...I cant stand him. I like Marek's ideas he has picked up from other clubs and I agree the club needs to evolve and get away from the A23 for a starter. I too think the coffee and the cakes suck at Charlwood. Brasted cafe stop gets my vote every time and the coffee aint bad either