Your Committee Nominees 2020
The nominees for your Committee 2020 can be found on the website
under ‘About Our Club’ or by clicking here
Cycle Seahaven First Aid Course
DAY ONE. 28th March 2020, 09:00 – 16:00 inc 1hr lunch break
Venue: Choice Medics LTD, St Mary’s Walk, Hailsham, Hailsham, BN27 1AE
The training takes place in a relaxed environment, using modern equipment and current guidelines dictated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
The HSE requires at least six training contact hours for these first aid courses. On successful completion of this course, you will receive an emergency first aid at work certificate which is valid for three years. Who is it for? This course is suitable for people aged 16+ who work in low hazard environments (for example an office or shop) or where Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines indicate personnel should hold a certificate in emergency first aid at work. This was the most suitable course identified by Choice Medics and they will modify & tailor the course covering cycling related incidents. It gives learners the skills and confidence to respond to a range of accidents and first aid emergencies they could encounter in the workplace. What does it cover? Our emergency first aid at work course covers the content specified in the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981. This course gives learners the skills to help someone who is: unresponsive and breathing, unresponsive and not breathing (including the use of an automated external defibrillator / AED), having a seizure, choking, bleeding heavily, suffering from shock, and burns. It also includes information on: dealing with an emergency, assessing a casualty, monitoring a casualty, where to get help. Each learner receives a training pack including a host of resources to help them practice the skills covered.
DAY TWO. (Optional) 29th March 2020, 10:30 start until finish
Venue: Currently – Exceat Farm, Seven Sisters Country Park, East Dean Road, Seaford, BN25 4AD (Friston forest)
Weather permitting this will take place outdoors. Here we shall carry out exercises in a roll play environment reinforcing subjects covered on day one. There will be plenty of working and falling around on the ground so you’ll need to dress for the occasion. These sessions tend to be quite informal and can be a lot of fun in addition to learning from practical experience. Attendees are encouraged to bring their bikes as they make good props.
To book your place contact: gray.brett@cycleseahaven.org.uk
Space is limited and bookings are accepted on a first come first served basis. A payment from £26 for day one is required for non ride leaders. Day two is free of charge and is open to anyone 18 yrs or over.
Ripe’s Winged Wheel: Latest News
The picture on the left was taken in May 2018. It shows a CTC Winged Wheel plaque on the derelict Lamb Inn in Ripe. The plaque had probably been there for over 100 years. I posted an entry on this blog at the time; we hoped the plaque could be saved although we feared it could finish up in a builders skip. Fortunately, the village stores opposite the pub was on the case.
Now, I should explain that the Ripe Village Stores includes a superb café. It’s a favourite of the tourers; in fact we visited it more times than any other café last year. It’s very cyclist friendly, the food, tea and coffee are great and we often meet other cyclists there as well
Over the past 18 months or so the plaque has been saved, handed over to the village stores and restored (it was in a bit of a sorry state) by someone in the East Sussex CTC. It’s now in pristine condition as you can see from the picture on the right.
The plaque is very heavy, being made from cast iron, but Derek managed to lift it onto a table so that I could take a photo. The next stage is for it to be mounted on the wall outside the café. This won’t be easy given it’s weight and size: about two feet in diameter. The café proprietor has advised us that when it’s installed there will be an opening event on a Sunday at which cycling clubs will be invited. We’ll certainly be there. Watch this space for more news.
Happy cycling,
Clive
Transport for the Southeast
Transport is completely failing us in the fight against the climate crisis. It’s the largest source of climate-wrecking emissions in the UK. And unlike other sectors, such as power, transport emissions keep rising.
But we’ve just been given a chance to turn this around. Transport for the South East has released a new draft strategy to improve transport in the region – and they want to know what you think.
So let’s tell Transport for the South East that their strategy doesn’t go far enough for the health of people or the planet. We have to take this opportunity to get a transport strategy that will improve walking, cycling and public transport and rapidly cut emissions and traffic.
We have until 10 January to have our say. Will you respond to Transport for the South East’s consultation now?
A Record Year for The Tourers
2019 was a record year for the tourers: 137 touring rides covering just over 4500 miles. That’s 17 more than in each of the previous two years and 34 more than in 2016.
Ideally, we should run 150 rides per year; that’s because we try to run three touring rides per week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. However, we sometimes have to cancel rides due to inclement weather. The fact that we’re cancelling fewer rides these days may, perhaps, have something to do with climate change. So, if we achieve 150 touring rides in a year, it may not necessarily be good news for the planet!
For now, the good news is that we’ve got 2020 off to a good start. Just as we did in 2019, our first ride of the year was to Molly’s Café on the promenade at Rottingdean. The route we take to Molly’s makes for a reasonably easy ride as it’s a round trip of 20 miles, starting and finishing at the Martello Tower in Seaford, and is graded as a 3B.
Our touring rides this year will largely be run in similar fashion to the past couple of years whereby the Tuesday rides will be about 20 to 25 miles, the Thursday rides usually between 40 and 50 miles and those on Sunday will be about 35 miles, give or take a few miles. However, we sometimes do longer rides such as to Littlehampton which is a round trip of 70 miles.
This year the Tuesday rides may have optional extensions to the route, after the café stop, which will be led by Dave Sutton. Dave is training for JOG-LE (John O’Groats to Land’s End) so needs to do the extra mileage. I’ll lead the shorter ride back to the finish.
I’m pleased to say that we have a third touring ride leader: Carol Bryant. Carol recently became a ride leader and is keen to lead some rides this year. In fact, as the numbers on our touring rides increase, we’re finding it useful to have two ride leaders on a ride with one leading and the other acting as Lanterne Rouge.
If you haven’t been on one of our touring rides then why not give us a try. The rides are sociable, always include a café stop and we cycle at a ‘moving’ average speed of about 12½ mph. That’s about the right pace for being able to chat with a fellow cyclist without getting out of breath and also to admire the scenery yet, sufficiently fast to get some decent exercise.
Our next ride will be to Horam on Sunday, a round trip of 31 miles. Details are on the Rides Calendar.
Happy Cycling New Year
Clive Aberdour