Newsletter - January 2001

  AGM

The Club AGM will be held in the upstairs lounge in the Tollbooth, Ellon, at 7.30pm on 19th March 2001. After the formal business there will be a talk by our own Charlie Allan. Charlie is one of the best after-dinner speakers in the North-East.

We hope to see as many members attending as possible, as there will be a general discussion on the organisation of the Club. Have a free drink on arrival and refreshments will served after the AGM and discussion.

  Tour d'Etape

Mike Harper went to France in 2000, and among many thousand cyclists undertook this mountainous stage of the Tour. Many riders never made the top because of the severity of the climb and the cold weather conditions. Mike did a very impressive climb, and his account of his day is here.

  Club Membership

A printable membership form for 2001 is here, and Lorna eagerly awaits your subscription. Members of Ythan CC can receive a 10% discount on accessories and clothing at Cycling World and Alpine Bikes in Aberdeen, on production of your membership card.

  100k Pre-Season Warm-Up

Mike Harper represented Ythan CC and received his certificate for coming 6th in the Aberdeen & District BAR for time trials.

  Ythan CC 2001 Programme

Club Runs are held on Sunday mornings at 10:00am in the winter and 9:00am in the summer, starting at the Community Centre in Ellon. Contact is the Club Run Captain Dave Carnegie (01358 725037). Mountain bike runs will be organised if there is sufficient interest. Contact Steve Argo (01358 721896) or Graham Parley (01358 722172).

We organise a confined (i.e. open to members and potential members) time trial league series throughout the summer. The race is an individually timed time trial with a handicap system, and is run on every second Tuesday commencing 10th April at 6:30pm from the Mace supermarket at Auchterellon on the Ellon-Tarves road. The distance is 10 miles and there are separate categories for junior, youth, ladies and mountain bikers. On every alternate Tuesday, training runs are held starting from the Mace at the same time.

Included in the league this year will be all out open Time Trials. The events we are organising are:

All SCU events are in the 2001 SCU Handbook which can be ordered from Lorna with your subscription. Also SCU events are on the SCU Web Site.

Regarding the Time Trial League: Lorna is organising 2-up time trials, which will be included in the league results, on 12th June, 10th July and 7th August. Paul Winter is arranging an APR (Australian Pursuit Race) some time in the season. So we have a very full and varied programme for our members.

  Membership

We are pleased to welcome Andy Turner to the Club. Andy lives in Ness Circle, Ellon, and has been along to some of our winter runs.

Andy's partner Linda Milne has agreed to be our new Editor, replacing Colin. Linda will require articles and news items for the Newsletter in future, so pass on any info to her on 01358 724254.

  Golden Oldies

Ewan Black has been on a couple of club runs. Welcome back, Ewan.

Also, a real oldie - Boyd Ross is back. We passed him and his mates on a Sunday club run, but Boyd was complaining of mechanical problems.

We would like updates on any other past members.

An update from the pubs & clubs of Aberdeen & Ellon from Neil
Brett Clark - last heard of being a barman in ski resorts in winter and Ibiza in the summer. He appears to have a good time when off duty.

James Hall - working in Denmark in Lego Land, but came back for the Corporate Games in 2000. James tried racing in Denmark: Mountain biking was OK but road racing was scary.

John Hamilton? Gavin Booth? Julian & Tilo, and our great hope Simon Crook?

Oldies
Dr. Jim and Ken Donaldson (both past Presidents)?
Once a cyclist, always a cyclist - you always want to get back on your bike.

Ladies
We would be interested to know how they're getting on:
Gillian: In Norway, training hard. A good bet for the Biathlon in the Winter Olympics 2005.
Jean
Sally: Getting better and better. Will be top of the SCU BAR this year.

Also any news on John Paul, Chris Humble, Andy Brailsford, Phil Glennie?

  Training

We have two spare club turbo trainers. Contact Mike Harper (01779 841724), or Graham Gerrard on 01358 721599.

Something Special
Lorna has organised a visit to Inverurie for our club to try SpinCycles on 22nd February. Numbers are limited so call Lorna as soon as possible on 01358 722867. After the fun on the SpinCycles a visit will be made to a pub to allow members to make a full recovery. It was booked up well in advance, so it promises to be a good night out. Contact Lorna now!

  Club Clothing

Colin has agreed to organise our racing gear. You will need the club clothing to enter open events, unless you wear a white top. No, you cannot race in an old T-shirt! As the season is only a few weeks away, we need to get an order off as soon as possible. So if anyone needs new or replacement tops, shorts etc., contact Colin (01358 723909).

  Keeping Informed

Our club tends to keep members up-to-date, but we need help from members. Linda Milne (01358 724254) will be happy to include any article or news item from the members. Also Ian Jones (01779 841453) with articles, photos etc for the web site.

Cycling Magazines
Cycling Weekly has up-to-date general information, Cycle Sport is a monthly production that focuses on the professional scene. There are always quite a lot of mountain bike mags in the newsagents. One advantage of getting the cycling magazines is that you can order parts and accessories from mail order companies, but you need to be mechanically-minded to fit them.

  Xmas Presents

Lorna has a very shiny new water bottle, only trouble was it sounded like Jingle Bells until a kind member adjusted her bottle cage on the Sunday club run! Graham Gerrard received a Campagnolo corkscrew for Christmas. As you would expect from Campag it is beautifully engineered. If any member would like to see it, Graham would be willing to demonstrate if you bring a bottle round to his house.

  That's all, folks!

Linda will be taking over the newsletter now, I just tried to keep things going for the AGM. Enjoy your cycling!

Regards,
Graham Gerrard
01358 721599