Half way…

The Summer Solstice is behind us marking, orbitally speaking, halfway through the year. Already! So some sort of blog post is long overdue… In between all the TT and race action, you may not have noticed that June 21st – 30th is National Picnic Week. Yes, I know, it’s nine days, but that’s the only way they could squeeze two weekends into a ‘week’! Gimmicks aside, I feel a Grand Annual Ythan Picnic Ride would be a valued addition to our calendar. The idea is a simple one; we ride to a suitably picturesque spot with everyone packing their own lunch. Prizes awarded for most extravagant picnic set-up and, naturally, there should be lashings of ginger beer! Cross your fingers for co-operative weather as I don’t fancy towing the gazebo very far by bike…   Expect a Forum post in the near future for the inevitable discussion about suitable destinations and whether Rapha or Castelli make the best tartan rugs.  Initial thoughts are to target Aden Country Park; easily within most Ythanites’ range (even allowing for the weight of a picnic lunch) and handily equipped with public toilets and plenty of scope for the QLs to show off their MTB skills by hooning around on the park’s many paths and trails. Obviously, a later departure time from Ellon would be in order too! [accordion usebuttons=”true” clicktoclose=”true”] [accordion-item title=”Serious Stuff”] On a serious note, you may have seen a news article recently about an unfortunate case involving a pedestrian injured in a collision with a cyclist. Although the on-line media rarely reported the full facts of the case, the judge’s decision that the cyclist was 50% liable for the accident certainly got the Twitterati excited. For us, the case highlights the benefits of belonging to a cycling body (such as BC or Cycling UK) which offers insurance as part of the membership package. Insurance is a lot like that quick link for your chain that rattles about at the bottom of your tool pack; you hope you don’t need it at all, get frustrated that you need to pack it at all and you can be certain that you won’t be using it often. But if you do need it, you’ll be really glad it’s there! [/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Ythan Challenge”] Best of luck to any Ythanites who are (tightly) lacing up their running shoes for the last ever Ythan Challenge this weekend. This will be my 10th run in the Challenge and I’ll be particularly sad to see it come to an end as it was a public commitment to this event that got me off my backside and running in Jan 2009. Still, its demise opens up other opportunities for 2020, like the Stonehaven Beer Festival and its associated sportive… [/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Ellon Youth Crit & Pedal Cars”] The annual Ellon youth crit races and the pedal car races are rapidly approaching and, as ever, the support of our wonderful, generous, athletic and good-looking volunteers will be essential for making it all happen. We’ll need help with marshaling, managing sign-on, corralling junior cyclists, retrieving chips, etc. If you’d describe yourself as wonderful, generous, athletic and good looking, get in touch with Colin or I and confirm all these qualities by helping out! And if you fancy a spot of fun in the afternoon after the Youth Races are over, we have at least one car entered in the Pedal Car Race. I believe that the Ythan Ladies have already commandeered that car, though I still need to confirm its crew… There is also a very good chance that we can bash the bottom bracket back into a second car to have a another Ythan crew contest this prestigious trophy. We’d need just four Ythan Blokes to commit to this to get a second crew; there are plenty of you racing and time trialing – you know who you are!! Now is your chance to take on a real challenge! Names to me and Colin, please! And as if volunteering at the Youth Crit and crewing a pedal car weren’t opportunity enough, there is a third opportunity related to the Youth Crit!! Colin has been beavering away for nearly a decade as this event’s organiser and has decided that it’s time to step down and give someone else a chance. If there is anyone out there interested in managing one of the region’s best Youth Cycling events, please make yourself known to either Colin or I. It would be well worth shadowing Colin at this year’s race as prep for 2020! [/accordion-item] [/accordion]

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