NEWSLETTER
January – February 2012
Welcome to the first Newsletter of 2012.
Wishing you a puncture free year with plenty of downhill coasting on your routes!
We promised some new features in the last Newsletter:
Rides Calendar – we will schedule at least one ride a month to help you plan your cycling agenda for the year – this includes day rides, beginners’ rides, and longer and off road rides. Remember those New Year resolutions, dust off the diary and let the ride organiser know if you are interested in going / have any questions.
We positively encourage new members and will be increasing our social / networking events and links with other groups so watch this space and et us know if you have any suggestions.
New feature – Introducing Episode One of A Mystery Story in several riveting instalments.
’The Diary of Daphne Sprocket Intrepid Cyclist’. See below.
Bike Maintenance Classes
Jo will be running cycle maintenance classes in Regent’s Park after Easter when the evenings are lighter.
Contact Jo to sign up.
BUSINESS BIT
DOBS meeting on Thursday 19th January at Cafe Leon, Bank side (near Tate Modern) was lively and interesting and welcomed two new members Annie and Ruth. We found some comfortable leather sofas to sprawl on and discussed the following:
Contact made with Hiking Dykes who will advertise our website. We hope to increase our links with HD and encourage some HDs to take to
two wheels and vice versa (if that makes sense.)
If any walker wants to experience the euphoria of travelling at more than 3.5 mph ... join one of our rides.
*TIP – do not try to cycle in hiking boots you’ll never get them out of the cleats....
Plans to encourage membership including a subscription to Meetup which will increase our readership, will be explored to increase our readership using some of our funds.
We confirmed that subscriptions to DOBs are currently suspended. Our Newsletter is freely available and you do not need to pay membership to join our rides.
Dee will produce Vista business cards for the group and add a section on DOBS history to the website (So dig out those old photos and marvel how young you looked!).
Jo is still trying to make contact with Diva ... best of luck with that Jo and don’t get tied up with anything involving leather.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
February
A short month so we have crammed two rides in:
Saturday 18th February
Geraldine’s Wandle Trail ride. The River Wandle flows northwards (is that unusual? Ed) from Waddon Ponds and Carshalton Ponds to the Thames at Wandsworth. Our ride will start from Carshalton station. The Wandle Trail is a path for walkers and cyclists, passing through Merton Abbey, Colliers Wood, Lambeth and Wandsworth, remarkably quiet and rural most of the way. Our likely lunch stop is Earlsfield where there is a friendly pub, shops and station. For more information about this ride, please contact us through our ‘Contact Us’ page.
Saturday 25th February
Jo’s St Albans National Cycle Route 12. The route has 2 options:
1. From West Hampstead to St Albans and back through Finchley 48 miles
2. From St Albans along disused railway line to Hatfield and back to London 23 miles tea stop on route.
Please note you will not be expected to do both rides- although knowing Jo we would not put it past her ...Ed. For more information about this ride, please contact us through our ‘Contact Us’ page.
Sunday 18th March
Julie’s Mystery ride aka she hasn’t decided yet. This will be a ride for new members and beginners, east or south of London. For more information about this ride, please contact us through our ‘Contact Us’ page.
Saturday 14th April
Isabelle will be organising a ride details to be decided nearer the time. For more information about this ride, please contact us through our ‘Contact Us’ page.
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 May
Sue Morris Memorial Ride to Eastbournein support of Breakthrough Breast Cancer. 7th year of this popular event with over £3500 raised so far. One or two day options staying over in Eastbourneor returning on the Saturday. We usually ride Eastbourne to Hastings on Sunday. For more information about this ride, please contact us through our ‘Contact Us’ page.
June
Ruth will be organising a ride in June……..contact Ruth nearer the time for details. For more information about this ride, please contact us through our ‘Contact Us’ page.
Come on a ride; bring a friend; make new friends; get fit; have some fun.......!!!
Report from Lucy’s Western Water ride Sunday 15th January 2012
7 women joined Lucy on a mainly off road 17 ½ mile ride by the Grand Union Canal, River Thames and Ham House in perfect weather. Enjoyed
by all including tea at Pembroke House just before the end. See photo gallery.
More rides required! *********************
This is the 25thyear of Dykes on Bikes, so ideas for a summer celebration are welcome; possibly a picnic in the park, with rounders..... an outing to the seaside.... give us your ideas.
The Diary of Daphne Sprocket Intrepid Cyclist
Episode One: March 1st 1935
Red Letter day! My first outing with the Balham Ladies Cycling Club. Packed egg and anchovy sandwiches in saddle bag and set off for Balham Station on the Southern Railway.
Recognised Gloria Endell-Barr, club leader, at once. Very tall with a superb upright Raleigh. She whipped out her pump and offered to inflate my tyres, which I gratefully accepted.
Sally Brooks "Like the saddle" she joked "Once ridden, never forgotten!" has curly hair, freckles and the jolliest gap in her teeth.
The other member of the club is Georgina "Georgie" Blyton. She looks wonderfully athletic. She was polishing up her rims with Silvo and gave me a firm handshake. Together with Tammy her collie dog we make five! We put our bikes in the guards van, found a carriage and Gloria spread her
map. We are cycling to see her old school chum Petra Fyde at Weirdsley Manor for tea, buttered crumpets and lashings of ginger beer.
At least, we hope so. Gloria showed us a telegram Petra had sent. It read "On no account venture to Weirdsley Manor." Gloria explained that telegrams cost four pence a word so Petra had to be concise. I thought the wording a little odd, but I am sure Gloria knows best!
As we left the station, I noticed a rough looking young man with a flat cap and a handlebar moustache. He was staring at us in an ugly manner. On
seeing me, he leapt on his bike and rode off.
"This way" shouted Georgie. She was heading quite quickly up a steep hill. Georgie is wonderfully athletic. We all puffed after her, reached the top and then sped gloriously down the other side!
The sun shone. We were looking forward to a super day! And lashings of ginger beer!
TO BE CONTINUED....................................
Daphne Sprocket’s diary is reproduced by special permission of Julie Eaton and Dee O’Brien who discovered it in a jumble sale in Clacton
on Sea.
Contact details:
Jo for more information about the club.
Julie for MEMBERSHIP which is free and items for the Newsletter
Lucy treasurer and mailing lists.
Sue for information about meetings.
For more information, please contact us through our ‘Contact Us’ page.
Yahoo Group http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/dobsmod/ The Yahoo Group is a forum for bikes rides, ride reports, gossip, cycling
equipment, recommendations, advice. Keep the forum vibrant and interesting by adding new stuff. Lynn is moderating this. If you have problems joining contact please contact us through our ‘Contact Us’page, and she will help you through the technical side.
Our website address is www.dobs.org.uk
If you have any photos that you’d like to share, please write to Isabelle through our ‘Contact Us’ page.
Our regular meetings are at
Leon (Behind Tate Modern) which does eclectic food with cheap options and a good range of drinks in a modern relaxed setting................... bike racks outside. Come along for a friendly drink and chat and help plan future events. New members very welcome.
Next meeting 7.30pm on Thursday 1st March
Leon
Bankside
7 Canvey Street,
The Blue Fin Building
London SE1 OHS
Tel 020 7620 0035
See map below
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