Hey everyone,
First of all I want to take this opportunity to welcome all the new Condors who have joined the club during past few months. It’s been unbelievable turning up to Beeline and seeing so many faces on the green next door. They’ll be naming that piece of land after us soon! A big thank you for choosing our club – I hope to meet you all properly soon.
The start of each Condors season sees the club’s board set aims for the coming year; for 2015/16 we’ve set ourselves a target of getting as close to the 200 member mark as possible, but with the aim of considerably increasing the amount of women members. At the time of writing this piece we find ourselves on a simply brilliant 38 women members, approximately a third of our total membership! Significantly we had 22 women members in total last season (up to and including 31/03/15) so we’re on course to double that! I think you’ll agree this is fantastic progress and something everyone involved in the club should be immensely proud of.
Joining a cycling club can be a big step and the Summer Sessions have helped to break down many of the barriers. Huge credit and thanks must go to both Cheryl Reid and Jo Lankester for getting this off the ground, and to all of you who have helped out with the ride leading – I’ve heard numerous positive stories from participants and helpers. These sessions really have emphasised just what a friendly and inclusive club we are.
A further aim for this season is to establish spinning classes for Condors again during the winter months, following the success of last year’s sessions. We’re currently looking at options and will do our best to make these as regular and as cheap as possible for our members. Do look out for an update soon.
The season’s successes and achievements are many and varied. It’s impossible to mention them all within this newsletter, so we’ll make sure we revisit as many as possible at the upcoming October AGM. This will therefore make the AGM both an opportunity to talk serious Condors ‘business’ and a chance to celebrate a great season of cycling.
Ollie
Some further updates:
ORRL and Competition update
Huge congratulations to Michael Devaney for winning the men’s competition at this year’s Oxfordshire Road Race League, ably assisted by a strong race team who gave everything throughout. The race series was compelling. We had storming performances from the ladies too; and I’m very proud to highlight that the women’s team won the team competition and Laura Cubiss took 2nd overall in the individual! This is excellent stuff. Laura also recently smashed around the SEWTTS National 25 TT competition in Essex, coming 35th overall and 1st in her SEWTTS event category. This performance brought significant recognition from the organisers. You can read about it here. Well done, Laura.
A quick word on the wonderful support seen at each race too. It is so good to see such big turnouts this year, it really does give those competing a boost.
Bike Oxford is soon approaching! This is a massive event for Oxfordshire and one the Condors are a big part of. The 20, 50 and 80mi routes offer something for everyone and, like last year, a big turnout is expected. Jonny has once again been at the forefront for this and would appreciate volunteers to assist on the Saturday (signing the routes) and Sunday (at event HQ, feed stations, and marshals along the course). Check out the Facebook group for further info.
Condor Away Weekend – 25th – 27th September
This year we’ll be heading back to the awesome Brecon Beacons for some hilly, and extremely rewarding, late Summer riding. We’ll once again being staying at Baskerville Hall (Yes, the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes’ creepiest outing) which caters perfectly for cyclists, with plenty of bike storage, male and female dormitories and a pretty fine bar! There’s also good pubs serving great food in the immediate locale. Getting to Brecon is pretty quick from Oxford, about two hours by car, so do come along if you can. Contact Jonny Revis for more info.
AGM – Save the date!
Our next AGM is to be held on 10th October at 6.30pm in the East Oxford Community Centre. This is a chance for members to get together and express your views, and really help to shape the direction of the club. There’ll be opportunity prior to the AGM to register your interest in joining the Condors’ board and apply for positions. If you would like to discuss anything relating to Condor governance, or have specific questions about any of the roles, then contact Ollie. Do bring some cash along as there is a bar at the venue; we’ll also likely head out somewhere after. You know, Joe Perks or somewhere else traditional… like Hi-Lo.
Questionnaire
We’ll soon be publishing our first questionnaire and we’d like to get some views from you, our members, before October’s AGM. This will really help us in future decision making and help to ensure the right things are being done to keep our club moving forward. Details to follow soon.
Kit Stocks
Hari has set up a Condors kit swap-shop. This is perfect if you have any kit which doesn’t fit quite as well as you’d like. Condor water bottles are now available from Beeline, as are the much sought after Condor key rings. There are also small quantities of club kit in stock – check the following link for details, and more items will soon be added here once we receive the latest kit order. Do contact Hari at [email protected] if you have any queries.
Last but certainly not least…
Did you know that Dave Dyer is taking part in the upcoming Amateur Road Cycling Championships in Denmark?! Dave qualified alongside Thomas Peutz and Adrian Sell at a recent event in Cambridge. Thomas has sadly had to pull out though injury but has promised to show off his Dutch kit in the very near future. Good luck, Dave…with all the training you’ve been doing I reckon you’ll bring home the bacon ☺
With so many Condors having helped out with all facets of club activity recently, I want to pass on a massive thanks from myself and the rest of the board. Without member input it’s simply impossible for the club to run and take part in all the activities we do. We’re always on the lookout for more volunteers so please do get in touch if you’d like to get involved. See you all soon,
The Condors’ Board.
