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Club trip 2018
Forums:
I have booked Foel Ortho near Bala again for 22/23rd June 2018 for the club trip.
http://www.farmhouseinwales.com/
We will have the farmhouse, bunkhouse and treehouse. The cost will be £75 to cover both nights and all you need for breakfast. Cash to the shop or via PayPal at steve.depport@blueyonder.co.uk
The sooner you sign up, the better (for my stress levels if nothing else).
We had an A and a B group again this year, what about a C group too?
Drum being banged!!!!
Ste gutted I can’t make this years trip due to LEJOG. I’ve kicked up the FB drum again and left it with JP and Kenny Madden. More than capable the pair of them to get people signed up and financially committed more importantly Lol.
I'm bad and that's good. I will never be good and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be, than me. (Wreck-It Ralph, 2012)
Bookings starting to come in ....
Craig Sneddon, John Jones, Dave Alty, Ange Dixon and Craig Disley have paid to book their places, well done and thanks. It looks like lots of interest on Facebook but I don't need interest, I need your money.
I have to pay a £350 deposit by the end of the month to secure the booking. Help me out, stop worrying about it and just send me £75.
Riders update
Right, Friday before the club meeting next week, where are we up to?
John Jones, Craig Disley and Stuart Smith have paid cash in full, thanks guys.
Craig Sneddon, Dave Alty and Ange Dixon have paid via PayPal (although Ange has paid a deposit, must have overspent at Christmas)
I have enough to pay the holding deposit, thank you for your support so far. I need 20 riders to really make this work and we can accomodate 26/28ish but don't miss out by leaving it too late.
Happy to answer any questions in person at the meeting next week.
Post Club dinner update
Mark Titchenor paid up last night. Kenny Madden had already left his money at the shop. Including myself that makes 9 people who have paid to join the Bala crew. Quite a few more people asked about the trip and committed to pay up, if you did the sooner the better to secure your place.
Chief drum banger aka Lord Lucan (JP) will be paying up shortly, as will our Hard Man and Golden Stabiliser award winners. Alan Treanor also wants to join us and will probably bring his wife. That would be another 5, taking us up to 14 people.
Craig Sneddon, Dave Alty,
Craig Sneddon, Dave Alty, Ange Dixon, Mike LLoyd, JP, Gemma & Inder have paid via PayPal.
John Jones, Craig Disley, Stuart Smith, Mark Titchenor and Kenny Madden have paid cash.
With me, that makes 13 riders so far, so starting to fill up
Latest update
Quite a few people have said there were coming but have not paid up yet. The numbers are starting to grow so you don't want to miss out. This is who has paid so far -
Craig Sneddon, Dave Alty, Ange Dixon, Mike Lloyd, JP, Gemma & Inder, John Jones, Craig Disley, Stuart Smith, Mark Titchenor, Kenny Madden, Mark & Clare Lane plus me. That is 15 names so far but there could be a couple of names I don't have.
When Ange was booking she was looking for a room suitable for three ladies so I have allocated the Library Bedroom. Who are the other two and when will they pay? If they confirm that is 17 riders so far.
I have allocated the Treehouse to Gemma & Inder with Mark & Clare Lane having the Master Suite.
I have to pay the final balance by 15th May so will need all the cash before then. Places are filling up, don't miss out.
What Price the Bwlch y groes?
Alan Price and James Wignall have both paid up, which makes 17 people who have paid up.
Is Alan going to want to do hill repeats on the Bwlch y groes?
Bala update - 19 riders confirmed
Craig Sneddon, Dave Alty, Ange Dixon, Mike Lloyd, JP, Gemma & Inder, John Jones, Craig Disley, Stuart Smith, Mark Titchenor, Kenny Madden, Mark & Clare Lane, Alan Price, James Wignall, Maxine Geary, Graham Sutch plus me. That is 19 riders booked in now. BIG THANKS for your support so far as I can now pay the outstanding balance which means the booking is confirmed and we are all off to BALA!!!!
There are still places available but don't wait, book yourself in asap or you will miss out.
Time to start giving the weekend some thought. We have been to the pub in the Lake Vyrmwy Hotel for both nights in previous years. Last year we took our own food and/or something to share on the Friday and had a BBQ on Saturday. What do you think, what would you prefer?
What sort of ride will you be looking to do on Saturday, which is a full day out. We have ridden to Barmouth for the last two years, which is a brilliant route. If you want to climb a legendary hill we have also ridden the Bwlch y groes twice in previous years. There are lots of other places you could go or if you have any suggestions you can let me know.
Sunday is just a morning ride, routes around Bala and leaving for home around lunchtime. Some people just head off home, it is up to you.
Have a chat with your ride buddies and anyone who has been before. I am sure there will be a club meeting before June when we can finalise the details.
20 places confirmed
Brian Holmes has paid to join the Bala party, taking us to 20 riders so far.
You can still join us but be quick before we fill the last spaces.
Club Trip - May update
Craig Sneddon, Dave Alty, Ange Dixon, Mike Lloyd, JP, Gemma & Inder, John Jones, Craig Disley, Stuart Smith, Mark Titchenor, Kenny Madden, Mark & Clare Lane, Alan Price, James Wignall, Maxine Geary, Graham Sutch, Clare & Mark Lane plus me is 20 riders.
Ange and maxine are allocated the Libraryt Bedroom, Gemma & Inder have the Treehouse and Clare & Mark Lane have the Master Bedroom.
Ange & Maxine, can you both pay the balance you owe of £40 each. I have to make the filanl payment next week. Thanks in advance.
There are still spaces available, let me know as soon as you can if you want to come,
Time to start giving the weekend some thought. We have been to the pub in the Lake Vyrmwy Hotel for both nights in previous years. Last year we took our own food and/or something to share on the Friday and had a BBQ on Saturday. It worked really well last year, should we do the same?
What sort of ride will you be looking to do on Saturday, which is a full day out. We have ridden to Barmouth for the last two years, which is a brilliant route. If you want to climb a legendary hill we have also ridden the Bwlch y groes twice in previous years. There are lots of other places you could go or if you have any suggestions you can let me know.
Sunday is just a morning ride, routes around Bala and leaving for home around lunchtime. Some people just head off home, it is up to you.
Have a chat with your ride buddies and anyone who has been before. I am not sure there will be a club meeting before the trip so put your thoughts on Facebook. I am not on Facebook but will ask JP to post this on the general timeline as well as the club specific event.
Spot the deliberate mistake?
Craig Sneddon, Dave Alty, Ange Dixon, Mike Lloyd, JP, Gemma & Inder, John Jones, Craig Disley, Stuart Smith, Mark Titchenor, Kenny Madden, Mark & Clare Lane, Alan Price, James Wignall, Maxine Geary, Graham Sutch, Brian Holmes plus me is 20 riders.
Corrected it above, Mark & Clare were staying twice and I missed off Brian Holmes, apolgies everyone. We are 20 riders so far, the numbers were right, the names weren't!
A couple of more riders
Maxine and Angie have paid their balances and Pete Southern and Daniel Hughes have paid up. That makes 22 riders so far, thanks for the support.
Still room for more but be quick.
Dining arrangements
There has not been much response to what to do to eat and I don't want to stress about anyone not getting fed. I have made an executive decision and booked for both nights at 8pm at the Brasserrie at Lake Vyrnwy Hotel & Spa. We have been there previous years and it has always been great. It also has a fantastic view of the lake. You can look at the menu on-line although it may be changing, so don't be disappointed if you favourite disappears.
https://www.lakevyrnwy.com/tavern-brasserie.html
I have booked for 23 people because Pete Holtom is now joining us.
Joining instructions
I will put a few posts out today, partly because if I post too much in one go it usually falls over. Directions to the farmhouse are on this link -
http://www.farmhouseinwales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Directions-La...
Arrival - you can generally check in from 4pm Friday, although early arrival is ok too if you just want to park and go for a ride. Rooms are on a first come, first served basis with a few exceptions. These exceptions are the Master Bedroom (Lord & Lady Lane), the Treehouse (Gemma & Inder), the Library bedroom (Ange & Maxine).
Bring a sleeping bag and a pillow if you have not been allocated a room. That way if you end up sharing a double bed you won't have to top & tail and can keep yourself pure. The Bunkhouse has plenty of mattresses but you will need a sleeping bag and a pillow.
Parking - parking can be tight so car sharing helps a lot. If we have too many cars we will have to park some at the top of the lane.
Departure - we need to be out by 10am Sunday 26th. The plan is usually to drive to Bala, park in the car park behind the Fire Station and go for a morning ride, back to Bala for lunch & then home late afternoon. As there is some of that football stuff going on I don't think I will be riding Sunday so will probably be heading home.
Meals - I will provide all the basics for breakfast, lots of bananas, tea, coffee, milk, cereals, bread, bacon, eggs, biscuits, etc. We are eating out both nights at the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel Brasserie.
https://www.lakevyrnwy.com/tavern-brasserie.html
Bring your own beer, wine, etc for the Farmhouse and anything else you think you might need.
I have had 23 people book so there are still some spaces if you decide at the last minute.
If you would like to join us for a day out on Saturday let someone know you are coming and aim to arrive by 8.00am. You will have a great day out.
I will post some routes and it would be good to have a few garmins loaded just in case. My own is not working at the moment! Better to download the routes in advance. The farmhouse is remote, has dodgy phone signal and some wifi but not brilliant, a great place to get away from it all.
Groups & routes
There are currently 23 riders and it looks like two groups. I would suggest a B and a C? I am happy to lead the B group as I helped to do last year. The rides are more leisurely than many club rides because we all have the whole day to play out on our bikes. Wales is hilly though, wherever you go you can assume 1,000ft of climbing for every 10 miles ridden.
Who is happy to take charge of the C group? A second leader is also needed to make sure nobody gets left behind and lost in Wales!
Who will help me out with the B group?
The B group went to Barmouth last year on this route, which includes two cafe stops, 90 miles. There is no reason why the C group could not do this too if you want to -
https://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_4333074.html
An alternative taking in one of the original Top 100 Climbs of the Bwlch y groes, 74 miles including two cafe stops. I think this would also suit the C group as a days ride -
https://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_3859801.html
Another alternative is the Horseshoe Pass which would be 74 miles with at least one, possibly two cafe stops. Again this could suit either group -
https://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_4299058.html
A nice Sunday ride could be this loop from Bala, 39 miles -
https://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_4103685.html
Another Sunday route back down to Lake Vyrnwy from Bala of 34 miles -
https://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_4299151.html
My garmin is not downloading any routes at the moment so I really need someone from the B group to load the route for me on their garmin. Can you let me know if you can do this for me?
We also need to agree what routes you all want to do, can you chat on facebook and agree what routes we will ride?
Happy to help out with groups
Happy to help out with groups as needed Steve. Will download all routes to Garmin. Also, I don't think me and Gemma will arrive in time for the meal on Friday so we'll meet you at Foel Ortho when you get back from the pub.
Under
Bwlch y groes route tweeked
Just updated the Bwlch y groes 74 mile route in case we use it. There was a small error near the end, download this one if you want it.
https://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_3859801.html
GPX files in Ride With GPS
I also had problems getting the routes to work on my Garmin. I exported them to the "Ride With GPS" app which seems to work. Link below for anyone who wants to download them from here (the top 5 files in the list). https://ridewithgps.com/users/759873/routes
The final round up of 2018 club trip
Brilliant weekend with more incidents than the previous 5 years put together. If you were there, you know, if you weren't, you will never know. Thanks to Steve W, Mike and James for their rescue services. Thanks to everyone who supported the trip, new experiences and adventures for us all.
There was a total of £1,725 in the pot to pay for the trip. The farmhouse, bunkhouse & treehouse cost us £1,400, leaving a pot of £325. I spent £145.83 on groceries and £9.30 on the obligatory supply of bananas! That leaves a grand total of £169.87 remaining.
As the organiser (and this being a dictatorship), I always donate anything left to a suitable charity. Two riders connected with the club, one of our sponsors Steve Hodge and Jan Johnstone rode across the Alps and the Pyrenees on 30 year old Moulton bikes to raise money for Headway. I have donated £170 on behalf of everyone on the club trip, have a look at the link. The following is an extract from Jan's story about a broekn neck and fractured skull https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage...
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