Project scoping

Today I have spent the morning with my line manager within Sport Reading - our regular monthly 1-1. This is an opportunity to keep her up to speed with what's going on and a general update on the development of my community projects. Also it's a great opportunity to brain storm some potential new ideas as we have to be mindful of Big Lottery's target areas.

So, all in all a very postive and productive meeting, which was then followed by lunch - I know, it's a hard life, but it's great to have some downtime! Though the actual reason for lunch was to say goodbye to my CTC line manager - Simone Makepeace, she is off to pastures new (and I'm very pleased to say, staying in cycling!) It has been a terrific 16 months or so and I have learnt heaps from working along side her and I know we'll miss her in Reading on both a personal and work level. Good luck Simone - if you get to read this?

Well, again the weather this weekend looks promising - time to get out that summer bike and put on the summer clothing and for me, it will be exploring the Chilterns - how about you?

Just not feeling 'it' today?

I definitely got out of bed the wrong side this morning - metaphorically speaking of course, as I would have trampled over my partner!
I rode all the way into Reading today and I just wasn't feeling 'it' at all. The meticulously researched items, I was either wearing or sitting on, just didn't feel comfortable? I couldn't find my rhythm - my legs just seemed to go up and down, rather than in perfect circles. Oh dear - this didn't bode well for the day ahead.
As I approached Burchetts Green (12 miles into the commute), I had come to the conclusion that I should have taken the soft option and driven in...... Well, that was until I saw a female buzzard just metres away, taking in some early morning sunshine and some how that made me appreciate the cycle ride and feel a little better!
Once on the A4, things improved somewhat - although when a very fit veteran cyclist whizzed passed me, looking over his shoulder, nodding at me to join him for a burn up, I resisted and said "Sorry mate not today, I've joined the slow bicycle movement, heavily endorsed by Chris Juden!" (Please see the recent issue of Cycle magazine.)
Well, that is for today, as for tomorrow I just may have the legs......!

Rain stops play!

Oh, how the weather has changed from the weekend - but that's life in the UK for you! Unfortunately all my cycling sessions had to be pulled today as the stadium was flooded in places and after a full risk assessment, it was the most appropriate thing to do.
So, a quiet day in the office catching up on admin and emails.
Good news though, I made contact with Alafia - a group of Asian women who want to resume their cycling sessions in June through to the end of July.

I also managed to meet with the Director of Sports & Recreation of the SportsPark at Reading University. They are about to launch a cycle campaign - 'Burn fat not oil' and will be encouraging people to cycle to the SportsPark. Each member will be given a loyalty card that will be stamped every time a journey is taken by bicycle - the completed card, then goes into a raffle for some fantastic prizes from AW Cycles. They are also looking to offer some cycle training, an event around the Tour de France and some advice on security. I have offered to assist when and where I can and look forward to working with the students, employees and the community living around the University.

On 2 wheels...

Since riding out along the towpath to Newbury on Saturday, I have to come clean and say I haven't looked at my bike, or even considered swinging a leg over one these past 2 days - I have been dead lazy and to be honest, I have enjoyed the inactivity!
However, today I had a meeting with a bike shop in Bourne End -
On 2 Wheels. Where I began to forge some partnership working with the owner and potential contra deals that will help with the BMX project at Waterloo Meadows.

The cycle ride over was pleasant and it was good to be back in the saddle. Once there, the owner kindly showed me the types of BMX bikes he had - freestyle and racing rigs and explained the difference between them. I guess I should have known - there is more to this than meets the eye! I thought I could purchase 10 bikes, assuming 1 size fits all? Wrong - to ride the BMX track we would need bikes without the gyro headset, appropriate gearing/chainset,V brakes and most importantly the weight needs to be on the low side. I lifted one bike and it must have weighed 35lbs - can I really expect a youngster to ride that and enjoy the experience? NO! I need to have a re-think and maybe spend a bit more, but have fewer bikes.
A big learning curve for me today and I await a call from the shop regarding discounts after he has spoken to the appropriate companies. Watch this space..........!

Fundraiser for the Women's Centre

Well, what more could I have asked for? The weather was just perfect for today's event and I saw 30 riders sign in at the Women's Centre to cycle to Newbury along the Kennet & Avon towpath - a quick tot up of all the money raised showed a princely sum of £1300, including the 'gift aid' donations. Vital funds that will help in the running of the Women's Centre.
En route we were spoilt with refreshment stops and some fantastic home made cakes - thanks to all who marshaled and baked!
Despite having ridden this route several times in recent months for risk assessments, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it was great to share the experience with my partner riding along side. (We haven't ridden out together for ages!)
I hope you all enjoyed it as much I did and if you didn't pick up your certificate - do let me know and I'll post one out to you.

Have a great Bank Holiday - mine has certainly started well, now where's that cup of tea?

The weekend is here...

Well the forecast looks promising for the weekend and with a bit of luck we'll all get some 'dry' miles in...?
It has been a long week, what with working the weekend in Dumfries - but I wouldn't have it any other way, I'd rather be busy and it really doesn't feel like work. (Though try telling that to my body this morning when the alarm went off and to my legs when trying to push the 70" gear on my fixie!)

The regular coach for the Cycling for Health sessions was off today and I had promised to swing by to help her replacement. It was really good to catch up with the participants and I was so encouraged to see how much they all had improved. I also took the opportunity to mute the idea of a monthly led ride - which was well received, so will now get something down in the diary for June.

Hopefully, I will see some of you tomorrow on the Kennet & Avon towpath - bound for Newbury? If not, have a great Bank Holiday and catch up with you all soon?

Dawn chorus

As is so often the case, I was woken up by the dawn chorus this morning - though usually I manage to turn over and squeeze in some extra Zzz's, but alas today I just lay there listening to it all. In the very distance I could hear a cuckoo and I realised I had never seen one in the flesh. I suppose you could say that about a lot of animals and birds- other examples that spring to mind, would be a red squirrel or a puffin?
"What has this got to do with cycling?" I hear you ask - well nothing I guess, but it got me thinking of all the cycling I would like to do and as time marches on, I figure now is the time to start working through my "route wish list". I just don't want to miss any opportunity and although I'm doing the C2C and Reivers this summer, one of my biggest goals would be to climb some of the famous cols in France (before I'm way too old to contemplate it!)

This is all relative though - the participants of the cycling for health course, had their sights set a little lower and wanted to make the coffee shop at Sonning Lock and I was determined they wouldn't be disappointed. The ride took longer than I anticipated, but that didn't matter and as we sat for a while with a drink, it was great to see them all achieving their goal - they were buzzing!
If I can impart some of my enthusiasm for cycling whilst working in Reading, then I know I'm succeeding....!

Risk assessment

It's a tough job - but someone's got to do it.....!
This Saturday I have planned a ride from Reading to Newbury using the Kennet & Avon towpath - working in partnership with the Women's Centre in Queens Road.
So, today I had to do the last minute checks for the risk assessment and to see where the free refreshments and marshals would be positioned on the day. I had some company - Norman Pitcher, who is a trustee of the organisation.
Despite the rain at the weekend, the towpath and field areas were very dry and fingers crossed, things won't change before Saturday and that the participants will have a great ride. The weather forecast looks promising.....?

I hope you will join us and help raise some funds for a worth while cause. For more information, please see here. It would be good to see you.

An early bath!

A rather relaxed start to the day - I had to return the hire car, so it was a leisurely drive in, radio tuned to Capital 95.8 with the lovely Lisa Snowdon and my Roubaix in the back, for the journey home! (The hills on the way home seemed much easier on the Specialized - it's SO light and I have missed riding it!)
Due to working the weekend, I decided to take it easy today, so caught up with my colleagues in Sport Reading, contacted my volunteers, worked through my emails and arranged some meetings for the next few days - all good stuff!

Good news for Reading Borough Council staff, they announced their bike purchase scheme today and have agreed to work with me on starting a BUG - will update as and when things happen.

So, until tomorrow.......

Women on Wheels.....

An early start and fuelled by a huge bowl of Scots porridge - I drove for an hour to Kirroughtree for a full day of cycling for women.
I had previously arranged to hire a bike and offered to help lead a couple of discovery rides on some green (easy) trails.
A great day with so much on offer - skills training, maintenance sessions, demo bikes and clothing to buy! I resisted the temptation to buy anything- you'll be surprised to know!
Unfortunately, the weather broke mid-afternoon and put pay to some of the proceedings - but everyone left with huge smiles on their faces and my groups were left wanting more.....!

See you back in Reading!

Remembering the Lockerbie disaster

A very grey start to the day and with heavy rain forecast, I decided to ride over to Lockerbie Memorial Gardens. So, I left my colleagues contemplating some off-road riding and I rode out of Dumfries on my own.
The road snaked its way through the countryside with the gentle hills providing a great backdrop! It was really quiet, which enabled me to look around at the wildlife - baby rabbits munching on the grass verges and the house martins were doing their best to catch the may flies, but were being buffeted by the strong winds.
Once at the visitors centre and memorial gardens, I was reminded of how many people had died in the disaster and I couldn't believe it was 20 years ago - scary!
The huge granite memorial stands in a quiet corner of the cemetery - a place of quiet contemplation and has all the names of the people who were killed, both in the aircraft and on the ground.
After picking up some postcards, I jumped back on the bike to see the commemorative stained glass window at the Town Hall - depicting the flags of all the nations who lost their lives on the 21st December 1988.
The ride back was quick, as I had the strongest tailwind ever - just in time for a quick shower, bite to eat before heading over to the membership stand. Business was very slow this evening,
though Mark Beaumont - the chap who cycled around the world was signing his new book and was around for an hour or so for questions,so that generated a fair bit of interest.

Off to bed early as I'm helping on a Women on Wheels event tomorrow- hopefully the wifi will be up and running for another blog posting?
Night!

The road out of Reading.....

I received a call at close of business on Tuesday from Head Office, asking whether I would like to work on The Original Bicycle Festival in Dumfries this weekend - apparently it would involve manning a membership stand, generally supporting the local volunteers on the ground and oh, yes riding my bike! What more could a girl want....?
So, it was an early(ish) start and I was soon on my way - van packed with all membership material, CTC merchandise and my much cherished Specialized Roubaix, its first proper airing this year and I was trying to be optimistic regarding the weather!

After a very long journey up, in what was the worse ever rain I've driven in, I arrived at the DG One Leisure Complex in readyness for the setting up the membership stand. After an initial flurry of people - all of which were delighted with their freebies! I managed to have a chat with Graeme Obree before he went off to introduce his film - The Flying Scotsman. He was very down to earth and I'm pleased to say is a current CTC member. If only I had brought my copy of his book for him to sign...! A great start to my weekend.

Another positive meeting

Another full on day - starting with leading the 2nd Cycling for Health rides. Despite the weather forecast promising us heavy rain, it was overcast and very mild. One of the participants - who had learnt to ride a mainstream bike over the last couple of weeks, but didn't feel overly confident about riding on the tow-path, decided to take a trike instead. The ride passed without any hiccups and we had lots of laughs on the way. Now, think Little Britain - whilst riding the trike, Marianne would periodically shout out "I'm a laaydee and I ride a laydee's bike" ( I guess you had to be there to appreciate the humour and oh, how I should have taken my camera!)

My evening meeting was with an organisation called Gay Berkshire. The committee meet on a bi-monthly basis and I had just missed the last one. Again, such a positive response and they had been one step a head of me and had canvassed their members via Facebook prior to meeting me and 30 people had responded warmly to starting a new group - all wanting to try some mountain biking, road rides, BMX and track riding. So, fantastic news and will arrange a MTB taster session for a weekend in July.
I love my job.......!

The meeting I've been waiting for......

This evening I attended the residents association meeting at Katesgrove Community Centre - to float the idea of the BMX club, launch and the potentially contentious siting of a container on the meadows.
Well, the idea was received very positively and it was a unanimous "YES!" They were delighted to have some money to spend on the youths and adults living in the area.
I am SO pleased and will now forge ahead with the project of setting up the Club and the discovery/health rides. If anyone out there fancies leading some rides along the Kennet & Avon tow path - do drop me a line?

A new acquisition

One of the perks of being in my job is that sometimes I'm offered some cycling related equipment to try out. Well, this rucksack was a long time coming - I had made contact with the Ergon's UK distributor at the Cycle Show last year and it was finally delivered last week. The BC3 rucksack is fully waterproof and is designed so that your hips take all of the weight and not your shoulders and neck.
(At the Cycle Show it was demonstrated with 2 house bricks inside and you could not feel the weight of them at all on your shoulders.)
So, today was it's first airing and after a few adjustments along the way to make it tighter, it was very comfortable indeed. My shoulders and neck were very happy - just need a downpour to check out the waterproofing!!

As planned I caught up with some admin, made inroads in mailing out the Bike Week marketing material and eventually made contact with a professional photographer - I have hired him to take some photos at the Cycle Festival on the 13th June. I am desperate for some modern/fresh cycling shots and this is a great way to start my library.

Dreadful journey home - very strong winds that swirled around, making progress slower than usual. (The voice of my old coach rang in my ears
"Ride into the wind at all times - it makes you stronger!")
But that wasn't the worse thing to happen - a car towing a caravan came way too close and I really don't know how I avoided being knocked off. The driver had wildly swung off and the caravan snaked and almost took me out. Fortunately for me we were heading for the same single track lane and I managed to catch up with him. I very calmly put my view across and suggested politely he may like to consider giving cyclists, at least a car doors width when over-taking. All credit to him, he had realised the error of his ways and apologised profusely- which I accepted and I hope he will THINK BIKE next time.....?

Recruitment of Cycle Champion - East Hampshire

Today I was privileged to be invited on the assessment day for a new recruit in East Hampshire - my colleague Clive Andrews has taken up a communication/marketing role for the new Bike Club initiative and we're looking to fill his shoes!
The post is mainly based in Petersfield and the beautiful Alice Holt - pictured above.
6 eager candidates turned up promptly and were taken through their paces - presentation, team exercises and an interview. A thoroughly interesting day, albeit exhausting! It certainly took me back 4 years to my assessment day - which I found very gruelling and the moment I stepped out of the building I just HAD to find some chocolate! Strange but true.....
Hmm? Back to the day job tomorrow and time to catch up on all my admin and mailing out the marketing material for Bike Week.

Dads Club

I was in Reading first thing this morning- what a delight to cycle in on relatively empty roads!

Working in partnership with Sure Start in Whitley, South Reading I organised a cycle ride around the lakes of Green Park Business Centre for the Dads Club- a group of men that get together with their children on a Saturday morning to try out different activities.

10 of us took to our bikes, with the youngest at just 2 years old! It was a very pleasant, though sedate cycle round - obviously sticking to the old adage of, going as fast as the slowest rider! Little legs were very tired after 2 laps of the 1 mile circuit - so that was a great opportunity for the Dads to head off on their own for a while and for the kids to have some refreshments.

A delightful group to work with and I'm very pleased to say that they are all eager to do more!

So I'll be organising a regular slot with them shortly.......

Off now for the 23 mile commute home - despite having the Bank Holiday, it's been a long and busy week and in the words of Captain Oates " I'm just going outside and I maybe some time......!"

Bye for now.......

Journalist takes up the challange....

As part of the media build up towards Bike Week this year, we approached a journalist from the Reading Chronicle to ditch her usual mode of transport to work and cycle commute instead. Sarah Stead will be writing a diary account of her experiences over the next few weeks.
We met at Palmer Park first thing this morning and I handed over a bike and a lock - an essential accessory for anyone these days! After a brief run down of the controls, I waved her off and promised that I would make sure I found time to read her articles.

My second meeting of the day, was to meet up at Waterloo Meadows with the Parks Department of Reading Borough Council. The site visit was to check out where we could potentially site a container for the BMX Club. All very positive, photos were taken and an area was measured out. The meadows are part of a conservation area and we have to be very sensitive to all matters that surrounds that. I'm very hopeful about this project and pleased we are inching towards an exciting and sustainable initiative.

The commute was a struggle today......

For some unknown reason, I really struggled climbing out of High Wycombe this morning - what a difference a week can make! Last week I was in and out of the saddle and dancing on the pedals ( in a Pantani-esque sort of way! See video clips below) and was up the hill in no time, but today I grovelled up at 7mph? I realise from my time trialling days, that I can expect peaks and troughs in form - but today was beyond the pail! Never mind, I put my head down and got on with the job in hand and I managed to zone out completely- so much that I didn't give way on a mini roundabout and was hooted at by a driver! "Oops, "GET OVER IT!" - if I had a tenner for every time that happened to me on a bike, I could afford to purchase something exotic from Mercian!
Got to Reading 10 minutes later than usual and hoped the wind would be with me on my journey home!

The Cycle for Health group gathered today for their first led ride - the plan was to head for the tow path and ride towards Sonning. So, after a warm up around the stadium, a rather raggedy peloton wobbled its way out of the park and joined the cycle path by the Kennet and Avon canal. For most, this was a complete revelation - the joys of cycling in a traffic free environment. They absolutely loved it and were left wanting more of the same! Which is just as well because, next week we're taking the same cycle path, but in the opposite direction into Reading town for a coffee. Something for them to look forward to and to tell their families about.

Everybody Active

Since the Everybody Active Club was launched in April '08, the session has been run by volunteers and a Sports Coach - but today, due to various reasons, we were down by 3 staff and I had to step in to help!
It was great to see the old faces and I was surprised that they had remembered me from a little over a year ago. After a couple of hugs, shaking of hands and high 5's - the session was on its way! We had a total of 24 participants, plus their carers. In addition to the trikes and mainstream bikes, the duets, tandem trike and quad bikes all got an airing too. The hour and half zipped by and I thoroughly enjoyed myself - it's good to keep in touch and it certainly gives me a buzz to be able to see a very successful project continuing, after the initial hardwork of setting it up. A great legacy to leave behind when I eventually leave Reading.

Can't quite believe....

.....that we are almost half way through the year - I'm still waiting for the year to start, maybe that is a definite sign of getting old!
Bike Week '09 is almost upon us and today I chaired the last meeting before the activities commence on 13th to 21st June.
I was pleased to present the marketing material to the partners around the table and was delighted by their response - we have used an outside company this year, who have some fantastic cycling images at their disposal. So keeping the CTC colours of blue and yellow, the posters and flyers have a really fresh/modern feel. Look out for them as they will be hitting the streets in the next week or so!

The volunteer gene.......

Hmm? It's as well some people have the "volunteer gene!" Projects such as the Reading Cycle Champions Programme would struggle BIG time if it wasn't for my enthusiastic and reliable volunteers.
Today I met with a chap who has offered to help maintain my pool of bikes at Palmer Park - and very timely it is too, as they are in need of constant attention and I'm finding it increasing difficult to schedule in some time to look after them. So, thank you Stephen for giving your time to help.
I'm also looking for a regular cyclist that has an interest in nature and the environment - I'd like to run some Discovery Rides from
Waterloo Meadows in conjuction with the BMX project. So, if you would like more information or perhaps you know someone who could potentially help - do get in touch?
In the meantime have a lovely Bank Holiday and get those miles in.........!