March 1st: Lazonby to Castle Carrock for a Big Breakfast at the Watson Institute (breakfast £8.00 donation in aid of Music on the Marr festival)

( A repeat post because I am learning to use the blog....and hoping this works. Hope to see loads of you Sunday. The weather's going to be fine trust me... only 45% of you will get wet...)

A hilly circuitous route from Lazonby to Castle Carrock. Not overly long but energetic and very beautiful.  Must leave at 9.00am aiming to get there by 10.45 latest as breakfast service only goes to 11.30. 

Meet Lazonby car park ( by the river/ the recycling).
Ride Leader: Liz Radford  . If possible leave a message here on blog or text me  if you are coming so I can let them know how many ( ish) for breakfast. I realise you might be waiting for the weather so will check Sunday morning.

Google inaccurate stats are:
Out: 17ish miles 500 ft up 725ft  down   hillyish:  Lazonby, Parkhead, Renwick, Croglin, Hazelfield to follow Cairnbeck to Carlatton Mill , north to Castle Carrock .

Back:  15 ish miles 804 ft up 1030ft down  hillyisher: CC - Moss Nook, Cumwhitton, Hornsby Gate, Holmwrangle, Armathwaite ( east side), Staffield, KO, Lazonby.

2 bike ride Wednesday 26th February

10 am start at Dalston New Car Park then Great Orton, Monkhill, Beaumont , Burgh by Sands , Thurston field , Kirkbampton to Watchtree at 16 miles.The cafe is being decorated tomorrow's so  they can only offer take-away from the kitchen. There could be the option of shortening the morning and having a one-stop at the King's Arms, Bowness on Solway but this could be discussed in the morning. The pub is able to provide soup, sandwiches and the like as well as tea and coffee. Anyone going 'around the island' via Anthorn and Cardurnock will do an extra 6 miles, otherwise the route is about 42 miles. There are some floods that are passable and some hedge trimmings after Monkhill.
The wind is from the West with max gusts of 29mph which will make it feel like -1degC. There is the slight chance of a shower and sleet at 4pm. Not for the fainthearted but better weather than recently.
Ian B

Sunday's 2 bike ride from UpFront Gallery at noon

Unbelievably, the rain seems to be forecast to stop on Sunday - not for long, but long enough to  make my cycle ride a possibility. I am planning to be at UpFront for coffee, leaving at 12 for a cycle over towards Bowscale Fell to Mungrisdale and back via Greystoke. I think I will make it a circle from UpFront out and back without a stop at Cocklakes as some people may have something to watch on the TV from 3... The planned route is about 20 miles but may be shortened or even cancelled as conditions can change quickly. It may  give some cyclists a reason to get out and cycle to UpFront and back even if they don't fancy the ride.

EV Away Week Ellesmere April 24th to May 1st

Two months to go until our away week in Shropshire and one until the booking is finalised. Hopefully better weather by then ......

Presently 24 bed spaces and 20 EV’s booked, so room for a few more - contact me if interested - can be friends or relatives and not limited to cyclists, plenty to see in the area and good walking too.

Cost between £110 and £130 depending on how many of the 4 spaces get filled.

Couple of items from Committee Meeting

1) There has been a lot of discussion about the best way to increase club membership. Presently we have the web site and this blog as the main portals for advertising what we are about.
The following points come from a meeting held last month and discussed further at committee meeting earlier this week:

• Placing notices and writing articles may be ways of increasing membership but are likely to have limited impact
• There are many people searching for clubs, and this is done through the internet
• Our website provides a great landing pad for those that search the internet. Could we increase the chance of them find us amongst all the other clubs? How do we make our USP heard?
• Do we need to “tag” / “link” the club and create more connections so that search engines and social media find us more readily?
• The obvious (but not necessarily right) medium was Facebook. It was agreed that if we were to use this tool, it would be an open/public page that we hope will draw interested parties to our website and our blog, i.e. effectively a portal to the two separate mediums currently used (web site and blog). Club member activity would continue to be coordinated through our blog and our website.

The committee has come to the opinion that it's probably time the club has a presence on Facebook. It is intended that this would purely be an external page to advertise the club (i.e. informative rather than consultative) and is no way intended to replace the blog - rather it would point to the blog.
If there is there anyone out there who would be willing to take this on can they please get in touch with me or one of the other committee members.

2) There are a couple of changes to the make up of the committee due to the resignation of Rob for health reasons. Cecilia Fry has been co-opted onto the committee and is going to take over the treasurer's role from John R and John will take over as secretary. Special thanks are due to Rob for all the effort he has put into the club over the last couple of years and he will hopefully be back cycling with us soon.

Many thanks,
Bill

3 bike ride 19th Feb EARLY START

This Wednesday's ride will be as planned though the route may be moderated according to *whim! It may be wet late but looks ok until mid afternoon. I propose therefore since there is no ice around to make AN EARLY START AT 0930 then we may get back before the rain!
Hope to see some of you out - rides have been somewhat of a rarity recently!
Geoff
* Route -  Salkeld Dykes, Armathwaite, Cotehill etc and possibly come back on the fell side.

Sunday 16th 2 bike ride cancelled

We are going to have to cancel due to the high winds and rain.

Phil and Rosie

MTB Ride Friday 14th

Although it seems there may be a burst of heavy rain around mid-day I intend to go ahead with this ride - however I would appreciate being contacted by anyone who intends to turn out! This will avoid us leaving you behind and also in extremis avoid me turning up and being the sole rider!
The route proposed is shown below but weather, inertia or mutual agreement may yet make changes.

As is it is 36km and 1130m of ascent

Wednesday Ride Cancelled

With warnings of ice, wintry conditions & negative temperatures, I have decided to cancel Wednesday’s ride from Dalston.

Cheers,

Bill

Morecambe Bay Walk

Just a reminder - the date for this is now fixed for 11th July
Further information see here and or contact Nigel Faulkner

Cycling Across Iceland

Next Tuesday Mike Lee and Richard Ingham (Cumbria Cycling Mayor) are giving a Presentation on their cycling across Iceland.
7.00 p.m. at Harraby Community Centre. 
There is no charge on the door  but contributions to support the work of the Mayor (his function and Support Group) will be gratefully received.
Should be an interesting evening as well as supporting a 'good cause'.
If anyone would like to share transport from the Penrith area, please would they contact me.

Public Information Drop-In, Wednesday 12th February, 3-7pm. Glenridding Village Hall.

Wednesdays Short Ride

Will be cycling to the Pot Place via Stoneybeck, Catterlen, Laithes, Skelton and Calthwaite. Returning to Penrith after coffee/early lunch . Not a long or fast ride.
I will be on Beacon Edge at 10:am if anyone wants to join me.
Rosie

3bike ride Wed 5th Feb

Hi
Looks ok for tomorrow. Possibility of early ice but the first part of the ride is on road that is said to be gritted.
See you at Tebay
David

Tomorrow's 2-bike ride (Sunday 2 February)

Leaving Armathwaite at 11 am, I suggest we meet on the bridge. I will be driving there and plan to park where I can. The route is an anti-clockwise one, setting off along the fellside and crossing the railway viaduct into Wetheral, turning south and stopping at the Oak Tree Animal Charity for lunch (10 miles approx). The return to Armathwaite is only 5/6 miles so it isn't a long route, but you can extend it by cycling to and from the start from wherever you wish!