Cycling UK Forum

We couldn't resource anything for the Port of Felixstowe, nor the Felixstowe Fun Cycling Day. They were close together at a time when some stalwart members were on holiday. I had no reports about the former but was told that the latter event was very small, with few visitors.

We did support the Woodbridge Family Cycling Festival (in June) with a publicity stand, but for various reasons, the event didn't attract enough visitors and we had less than 20 adult visitors in the day.

We were also invited to the second FolkEast music festival in the grounds of Glemham Hall at the August BH weekend. We had a small presence, in the form of an information stand which was manned for as much time as possible. It attracted some interest but probably not in proportion to the effort of getting the stand there.

As always, we had a small presence at the Mildenhall Rally, in connection with organisation of the Audax rides.

The most successful event was the SkyRide in Ipswich on Sept 8th, a well-supported event where we shared a stand with our associated road club, the Wolsey RC. We had a very good response from an amazing number of cyclists of all ages, shapes and sizes and a continuous flow of yellow bibs for about 3 hours, handing out most of the publicity material we had.

We were also invited to have a stand at the 'Tour Series' pro road race around the town in July but the requirements on us were daft - be set up by 12.00 and you can't leave until 22.00. The period between invitation and the response deadline was very short and I was on holiday for the whole time so we didn't even have chance to respond! I talked to one of the other road club organisers who had a stand, and he said they had very little interest shown by visitors, who'd come to see the racing.

It's difficult to measure the effectiveness of our efforts for the CTC since we have no means of knowing if anyone joined as a result of their visit to our stand. The only measure we have is the number of visitors.
Since it takes quite a bit of effort to prepare for these events, get the stand there and find enough people to man it, we might take a fresh look at what we support in 2014.

IMO CTC's position on child protection, viz participation of unaccompanied under-18s in club rides or events, is a mess and needs refreshing far more urgently than our brand (but that is another subject).

I haven't had time to read the more recent comments on this thread (though it is a thread that I have been watching for two years) but as a member group secretary I am at the moment having to spend a considerable amount of my time dealing with this subject.

The child participation policy referred to in recent posts (http://www.ctc.org.uk/events/support-fo ... procedures) is now ten years old and must be due for a review. I am not expert in this field, but to my mind, common sense says that if a child, previously unknown to anyone in a group of adult cyclists, turns up for a ride, with or without a signed consent form, there are quite a few things that need to be known and understood by both the child, the parents and the ride leader before that child is allowed to participate in the ride. In practice, since I have received no requests for a parental consent form in seven years, I would be very surprised of a youngster did turn up with a signed form. The guidance says that, without the form the ride leader should try to contact the parents by mobile phone and discuss the suitability etc., and if he feels that he has received verbal consent, the child can go on the ride. That's totally unrealistic; there are too many things that need to be explained to the parents (it HAS to be a written explanation to ensure that all the relevant points are covered and that there is no subsequent arguement about it) and there simply isn't time to go into this properly at the start of a ride, when the leader is concerned with getting his group on the road, and trying to keep to a schedule. It's not fair on ride leaders to expect them to take on any responsibility to a youngster who has simply turned up at the start.

If we allow an unaccompanied youngster to join a club ride then we also accept a responsibility to get them back safely - but to where? Home, or the start? Most of our rides don't return to the start, as people go their separate ways after lunch or tea. Someone then has the extra responsibility of seeing a youngster that they don't know safely back to a point where they can be either turned over to parents, or allowed to continue alone. This potentially raises CRB issues. If the youngster has a mechanical problem, who fixes it? What responsibility are they taking upon themselves by doing so? If it can't be fixed, what arrangements are made to see the child safely home? If there's an accident, who informs the parents? There are simply too many issues that could arise that we are not equipped to deal with and it's my view that we should only allow under 16s on rides if they are accompanied by a responsible adult who will deal with any problems (ok, probably with the assistance of others in the group, but it is the responsible adult who ultimately makes any decisions). We would still need a signed parental consent form.

I have asked for further guidance from National Office on this but at the time of writing this I am still awaiting a reply (which is fair enough). However, it leaves me in a position I do not want to be in, of not being able to give authoritative advice to our ride leaders since the only standing instruction is 10 years out of date and not fit for purpose. I have to say that it isn't really debate that I want on this, it's a clear, fit for purpose policy from CTC at national level, applicable to all member groups.

Interestingly, the original information posted on the ctc.org web site just four days ago on 15th August now seems to have slipped into oblivion......

er, more like this....

I think the tab on the washer has to be upwards, as it helps retain the cable, and would serve no purpose if it was the other way up.

I notice that some Shimano front mechs have the clamp bolt at right angles to the cable, making it much easier to grip the cable and tighten the bolt.
Although the Deore XT mech works well, I think the cable clamp is a naff bit of design!

Thanks, both of you for your help.

I have a problem fitting the cable to a Shimano XT front mech.
See accompanying photo (which is taken from above, alongside the rear wheel).
The cable is routed under the bottom bracket, up on the left side of the bike, and over the guide marked A in the photo, which turns it almost 180 degrees, and back down onto the clamp.
For reasons that I have never understood, the cable is clamped by a washer which is at right angles to the cable. The screw holding the washer is marked B on the photo and the axis of the screw is shown (C).
If I have routed the cable correctly, there are two problems. Firstly, the angle of entry of the cable to the clamp (just below 'C') is awful. I can hardly get the cable to stay under the washer to tighten it, and if I do, it puts a very uneven pressure on the clamping washer, which I suspect is not good for the casting that it is secured to by the screw. Secondly, the awkward angle of the cable causes it to move slightly sideways, and it falls off the guide (just below A).
Am I doing this all wrong, as they say?

As secretary of a member group, I am keenly aware of where our activists come from. About 15% of our 1,000+ members take part in some form or other of leisure riding with our group in the course of the year. I have tried various means of contacting the 'other 85%' but with very little response. All the 'activitists' that I know have, at some time, been out on a club ride. I accept that, for many reasons, club rides or events are not everyone's choice (age, family commitments, location, health etc) and that the CTC offers other services which they no doubt value, but the crucial point is that active support for cycling comes from our tourist riders. These people are often very experienced cyclists and their opinions matter. I am as keen as anyone to campaign for better facilities and the rights of cyclists on the roads, but touring, in all its forms from half day rides near home to crossing continents, is at the heart of cycling and this club is the natural home for tourists. Let us not forget them.

CTC web pages 15th August: "CTC is beginning a consultation process to consider refreshing our brand. This may mean a new way of describing ourselves and our services, a new look and feel, a new way of using our name - or even a new name altogether. "
Memo to Gordon:
So just why do we need to 'refesh our brand'? And why do we need a 'new way of describing ourselves' at a time when countless folk are taking up cycling? Why would we need a new name, or have we already forgotten that there are many people who joined the Cyclists' Touring Club because they are touring cyclists. Whatever the look and feel, or even the name of our club, the CTC must still be the natural 'home' for all those who simply want to ride for pleasure. Touring was the 'raison d'etre' of the Club, and whatever else "the national cycling charity" might decide to do, "touring" must remain a cornerstone of its future activies.

Thanks, folks.
I'll buy some Rema patches. Don't need to buy any tubes (pioneer, please note!) as I have a stash of new ones, but the old ones ain't worn out yet!! I did find a tube recently with eleven patches on it, though ! I had a backlog of tubes needing fixing and have done five today! 't was a bad winter on the roads in these parts!

As for tyres, that should be a new thread. Suffice to say that I'm generally dischuffed with the 'quality' of 'quality' cycle tyres. I use 25 - 32 mm tyres (depending on bike and use) and buy middle-priced tyres. Most do their job (though not always for as long as I think they should) but I've also had a good brand name new tyre blow a hole in the sidewall first time out (and before anyone asks, the pressure was within the manufacturer's recommendation), I've had the tread fall off another leading brand tyre long before it was worn out, I've had 'good' tyres that are so badly designed that they won't even stay on the rim so they stay in the shed... but haven't we all?

A few years ago, I bought a packet of 100 patches at the Mildenhall Rally. Now I only have about five left!
These patches were about 20mm diameter with shamfered edges, and very thin plastic backing which made them really easy to apply.
I'm fairly sure these were from Mike Dyason, but is he still trading, or does anyone know another supplier of good quality patches at a reasonable price?

Keith.

Hi David. I have had correspondence from Stewart re the Port's Cycling Day in June, but it's a Sunday and clashes with our own activities and it's also between two other local cycling festivals, so I don't think we will be able to have a presence at the Port. Of course, if anyone's reading this and would like to help, I'd be pleased to hear from them! Whilst I don't want to turn down opportunities, it is reassuring to see the number of small, local events growing year by year. Keith.

CTC Suffolk is a very active group, and we want to support the various cycling events taking place in the community in Suffolk this summer.
During June there will be family cycling festivals in Woodbridge and Felixstowe, the Tour Series is coming to Ipswich and they'd like us to have a presence at the start, there's a cycling day at the Port of Felixstowe, we've been asked to run an information stand at Folk East (at Glemham Hall).... we'd love to have a CTC presence at all these events, and we will manage some of them, but we need more help.
If you live in our patch and would like to get involved with your local group, even if you don't want to come on rides with us, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Drop me an email, or phone me.
Keith (Hon Sec., CTC Suffolk)
ctc.suffolk@btinternet.com
01473 716771

If you live in Suffolk, it's the time of year to start thinking about coming out on a club ride with us!
Details still as previous post, further information on our website
ctcsuffolk.org.uk
or email me at ctc.suffolk@btinternet.com

Keith.

Does anyone know a cycle hire place in the Peak District that has reasonable 'touring' bikes? i.e. suitable for on-road rides, with mudguards and pannier racks? I'm staying near Ashbourne for a few days in early October but won't be taking my touring bike from home this time. None of the cycle hire websites seem to indicate any 'proper' bikes!

I checked various cycle shops' web sites and also Stronglight but couldn't find anywhere that specified the crown race internal diameter.
I only found one threaded headset which was stated to have a 27.0mm crown race and that was on eBay (new, from a dealer) but was very cheap and, being of unknown manufacture, may not have been of good enough quality. If the newly fitted alloy crown race does wear out quickly I now have the spare one that came from the market stall and I can see that being used at some stage.

This is another of those irritations that seem to bedevil much cycle maintenance.

rjb - I was concerned about the fact that the Shimano crown race is an alloy one, but this was the solution suggested by St John Street Cycles.
You may be right - I will certainly keep an eye on this and take the forks out after 1,000 miles or so and have a look.
I'll 'report back' in due course on that one.

pioneer - I might make it to Wally's but you know I don't like the breakfast there!!