Hi everyone, I'm Callum, the new General Secretary for UoBCC. I have the immense task of living up to Tom Mowbray's incredibly high standards in this role! If there is anything that you feel should be included in the weekly newsletter, do not hesitate to contact me at ch12426@my.bristol.ac.uk.

In the news this week:

• Performance Club Status
• BUCS Road Race
• Odd Down, Cyclocross, Castle Coombe...
• AU Ball tickets
• Giro d'Italia news
• *NEW* Strava Segment of the Month
• Picture of the Week

Exciting news for the club!

Here's a message from outgoing Club President, Mat Mew:

"Over the past couple of months a few of us have been working away on an exciting future for the club. Today we're excited to announce that we have been offered Bristol University Kick Start Sport status for 2015-16.

What does this mean? This puts us on the starting line to the path of becoming a performance club, something only a handful of clubs in the University of Bristol have the privilege of being a part of. It allows us to gain increased resources for our top level athletes, primarily what we are gaining is access to coaching.

Now it's time to iron out the technicalities, but the future is looking bright for the UOBCC! Special thanks need to go out to Fred, Andrew and Cameron for their help putting together the application and support through the presentation process!" 

In other news, on Sunday we had two riders fly the Bristol flag at BUCS Road Race in York. Cameron Toms reports a very tough day in the saddle.

1. BUCS Road Race

BUCS RR 2015 Race report

May 9th dawned grey and rainy for the BUCS road race in North Yorkshire. Luckily by the time the men’s race set off at 2pm, the clouds were beginning to lift and the drizzle and almost stopped. 70 riders started off on 10 laps of the rolling 13.5km circuit followed and then a steep climb in the last 1.5km. After a neutralised start, the speed picked up quickly, leaving the peloton stretched out and riders at the back struggling to hold onto the wheel in front. Cameron and Ryan spent the first hour sheltering from the wind, overtaking on the wrong side of the road and trying and eat a banana at 40kph. As the afternoon drew on the sun came out and the feed zone was a flurry of flying water bottles and rain jackets.

Several attacks were made, including one that got a minute up the road, but these were quickly reeled back in by a determined and aggressive peloton. The high speed was taking its toll though and after 95km cramp caused Cam to be dropped, with no chance of making it back to the peloton. Ryan managed to continue by unclipping and stretching his cramping legs on the descents. By the penultimate lap, the field had been reduced to only 30 riders and the effort was clearly taking its toll.

With half a lap to go, Exeter rider Rory Townsend made a break that nobody was willing to chase, giving himself a 20 second lead coming into the final climb. Behind him the race exploded – Ryan attacked into the foot of the climb but was unable to hold the pace of the strong climbers and came in around 30th. A congratulations to all the riders who made it to the end of such an arduous race.

Final stats: 140km, 1200m elevation, 39.7kph.

2. Click here to see UoBCC battle it out at BUCS Downhill from Innerleithen in Scotland! Thanks Eric!

TICKET SALES FOR THE AU BALL ENDS TODAY!

This will be our last social of the year, and what a social it is:

"The Sports Awards, which is run by the Bristol SU Sports Executive, brings together sports clubs to recognise and celebrate their development, participation and performance in sport at the university."

Venue: The Bristol Marriott Hotel, Bristol City Centre, BS1 3AD

Date: Wednesday 10th June 2015

Time: Drinks reception 6.30pm, Dinner 7pm

Dress Code: Black Tie

For more information, click here.

To buy your ticket, click here.

Wednesday: 1. Bristol South CC Classic League TT:

This week the BSCC TT course is at Aust. There are TT's on every week for the next couple of months, mainly around Chew Lakes and at Aust, North Bristol.

2. The first of the Western Summer Series Cyclocross races kick off this week at Gloucester. These will be held on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer at various locations around Bristol. Click here for more information.

Thursday: Castle Coombe Summer Series 2015 

Sunday: Odd Down Summer Circuits 2015: Round 3

*Please note that there are no guided rides this Wednesday or Sunday due to exams. If you would like to organise a ride, a good way to do this is through our Facebook group.*

Orica Greenedge (OGE) stormed to victory in the opening TTT of the 2015 Giro d'Italia. This gives a taste of what riding along a bike path at 60kph is like, speeds that haven't been seen on such terrain since the 2014 Tour de Burrito.

The hilly first week favours the opportunists and the roulers and we could see some aggressive racing with many teams represented in breaks to try and claim the Maglia Rosa early on. Stages 4 and 5 look particularly intriguing (12/05 and 13/05).

For a much better insight into the Giro d'Italia stages than I will ever provide, try the Inrng. 

The Giro d'Italia is 'inconveniently' accessible to watch LIVE over the exam period here.

"The hardest race I have ever done" - Mr Watts himself, Ryan Witchell, after the brutal hilly BUCS road race in York. His bloodshot eyes speak a thousand words, but only Ryan himself could suitably sum up the race: 'alas, I could not cope'.

A new feature of the UoBCC newsletter for 2015/16!

Anyone who has been out on a club ride this year will have undoubtedly heard about Strava - it's a great way to challenge yourself and your mates on the bike, and provides a bit of healthy competition outside of races.

The new monthly Strava Segment Challenge (SSC) is designed to provide a small goal for each month; to give yourself a chance to push harder than you normally would and to explore new areas of Bristol.

May 2015 Segment - "Promenading"
Description: As exams draw nearer, big rides are off the cards. To keep you on your toes through this period, the May segment is a local one with a sting in its tail.

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.

1. We have a new committee
2. UOBCC MTB Cake Racing Series - Round 3
3. Pyrenees Sign-up
4. Spring Term Cycling Roundup
5. Odd Down Summer Series
6. Severn RC 10 TT series

The UOBCC annual general meeting was held last Wednesday, with the majority of elected positions being filled by new faces.

Club Captain - Fred Cook
Vice Captain Road - Andrew Kirby
Vice Captain MTB - Daniel Morris
Treasurer - Ben Alexander
Race Captain/Track Captain - Ryan Witchell
Road Captain - Sam Maddrell-Mander
XC Captain - Louisa Ramsay
Downhill Captain - Ben Stephens
General Sec - Callum Hunter
Social Sec - Blaine Lambon
Events Sec - Thomas Farrugia
Kit Sec - Sean Polden

Emails have been a bit few and far between lately as final year has taken its toll. This will probably be my last email before I hand over the reins to Callum's capable hands. I hope UOBCC continue to be pushing the boundaries in 2015/16.

Sunday 3rd May - Patchway BMX Track

This weekend, UOBCC MTBers try their hand at BMX-racing. For the uninitiated, this should give you a pretty good idea of what it's about.

Meet at the water tower on the Downs (on the Whiteladies road side) at 10 am.

The annual trip to the French mountains is back!

This year we will be heading to Arreau in the beautiful Midi-Pyrénées region for a week of riding on spectacular, smooth, winding roads up immense Cols and jaw-dropping descents.

The dates for the trip are 14th-21st June, sign-ups will go live here very soon.

There will be TWO options when signing up for the Pyrenees trip:

Option 1: Driving - £220, 10 spaces available. You will leave Bristol on Saturday 13th June and catch a lift in either Tom's or Thomas's car to the south of France, arriving at some point Sunday morning.

Option 2: Flying - £150 + Flights(~£110), 12 spaces available. You will fly from Bristol - Toulouse on the 14th June departing 11:40 and arriving 14:25. We will pick you up from Toulouse airport and drop take you to Arreau. You will return Toulouse on the 21st departing at 14:55 and arriving back in Bristol at 15:45. You must make your bike available to be put in the van on the 13th June. I expect this will be the most in demand option so it is first come first serve! Once booked on you are responsible for booking your own flights at the times described above (easy jet).

We have 5 self-catered studio apartments for up to 6 persons each. Food basics will be included (we will take a load of pasta, oats etc with us for each room) but there's a supermarket nearby for anything fresh. Sign ups will be going live as soon as the union get round to putting them up. If there's demand for more spaces I should be able to find some. More info and updates will be posted on Facebook.

• UOBCC Open TT
• Bristol South RR
• BUCS DH - check out the race report on our website.
• BUCS 10 (race report online), 25, 3-up

Saturday 28th March marked the day of our second ever open 10 TT. Following a fairly optimistic weather prediction, the weather sadly turned gloomy ['stormlike'] shortly after the start. Difficult conditions ensued, which lead to a number of shivering riders reminiscing about the U7b’s ‘graveyard’ reputation. The block headwind on the way back slaughtered times on the day. Nevertheless, we had a large number of finishers with 56 riders completing the course. Following on from last year’s success at our inaugural open 10 TT, we’ve received lots of positive feedback from other clubs following the event which is great. Saying that, any other feedback on how the event went and how it could be improved would be greatly appreciated. Special mention goes out to Ryan Witchell, our fastest rider, who finished in 22:48 to secure a great tied 6th – a higher placing in the U7b 10 TT than Fabian Cancellara has ever achieved.

The next day 4 riders braved the torrential wind and rain in the Bristol South road race, it was a real race of attrition with only a third of the starters finishing the race. Cam and Charlie held onto the front group to take 8th and 7th in a thrilling photo-finish, while Andrew came home in the 2nd group in 20th. Charlie also managed to take 5th in the KOM competition. Kudos to all who finished in the extreme conditions which saw the race length cut short. Read the full report here.

10 mile TT (Race Report)

• 30th Becca Stubbs
• 21st Ryan Witchell
• 92nd Chris Brasnett
• 109th Tom Harrington
• '32nd Andrew Kirby' - unofficially as Andrew missed his start time...

Team TT

• Ryan, Andrew and Ben 9th.
• Kate, Josie and Georgie 10th.

25 mile TT (Full Results)

• 18th Ryan Witchell
• 32nd Cameron Toms
• 38th Ben Alexander
• 91st Thomas Farrugia
• 29th Grace France

A preview from 'Nat “Huck it to Flat” Aaronson'. Sorry this got delayed, I haven't send out an email in a while [Tom]. A gripping race report follows below.

"The final weekend of the Easter break will see the hard core of UOBCC’s knobbly tyred brethren putting their skills to the test at BUCS Downhill. We will be travelling all the way up to Scotland, to see if the gruelling months of winter training have paid off - training such as the propriety UOBCC method of “Cake Racing”, in which the riders effectively have sweet confectionaries dangled in front of their faces in order to try and make them pedal harder. Rumour has it that several top World Cup teams have been experimenting with our novel training methods to try and get the extra edge in the coming hotly anticipated season.

Representing in the men’s category will be myself, Ben Stephens, Dan Morris, and Sam Oliver, accompanied by our two greatest hopes of victory Lawrence “Go Bigg or Go Home” Bigg and Mike “I Could Ride My BMX Down This" Elkington. Representing in the ladies category we have Louisa Ramsay and Naomi Magowan, and the whole team will be under the watchful eye of manager and master tactician Eric Eckstein."

The women's team of Naomi and Louisa took home bronze and Laurence Biggs pulled off a sublime 19th in a race where the top 10 race on the World Cup circuit.

It sounds like it was a fantastic weekend for all. To find out what happened to everyone else, check out the full race report from Nat on our website.

Check out this video for some gnarly action.

Round one of the summer Odd Down race series starts next week. A good way to blow off some exam steam! Sign up here.

2/3 or 4th Cat only.

Run on Tuesday evenings. The next event is on 5th May, with the last event on the 25th August. This will be running on the same course as in previous years (UC186) with the HQ at old Down. 

Events run fortnightly. The next 6 dates (to the end of term) are as follows:

05/05/2015
19/05/2015
02/06/2015
16/06/2015
30/06/2015

(More details on their website).

Sam's game face at BUCS DH

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.

1. Wed 25th - UOBCC Social
2. 8th & 14th March - Track Trips 6-9pm
3. 28th March - Open TT (enter now)
4. 18-19th April - BUCS DH and XC Save the Date!
5. Kit Amnesty
6. Rapha Job Opportunity
7. BC Membership Collection

What's on this Week

Tuesday, 8pm - Spinning (Sign up on the Facebook Group).

Wednesday, 2pm - Road and XC social rides from the bridge (remember your lights)

Thursday, 7pm - Development squad training

Saturday - Road Circuit racing at Ludgershall and Odd Down.

Sunday, 10am - Road and XC social rides from the bridge.

Time: Wednesday, 8pm.
Location: 13 Belgrave Rd
Facebook Event

It's time to give our livers a work out as well as our legs (I think there is a strava option for pint drinking, just after Nordic ski) hence we will be going out somewhere on Wednesday.

Ben has kindly offered pre-drinks round his house (Belgrave road, right by the uni). We will then head to Bunker/Thekla depending on demand

Anyway save the date and maybe do a little light training, see you there!

8th & 14th March - Track Trip. 6-9pm.

Probably ~£15 (depends on numbers).
Beginners welcome.

To show your interest, please use this Facebook poll.

Remember to get your entries in for UOBCC Open TT on 28th March. Join the Facebook event for more updates. Entries open online now.

Go to the CTT website and filter the events entries by:

• Distance: '10'
• Month: 'March'
• District: 'West'

(or this direct link might work...)

18-19th April.

The annual BUCS Downhill championship is happening April 18-19th in Innerleithen, Scotland. We'll announce the cost once we figure out how much subsidy the Club can offer. We're also planning on taking the opportunity to do some XC riding on the nearby Glentress trails. It's the weekend after easter break, so plan ahead and tell your family you're going biking!

The night races on Wednesday evening were a blast, here's the results:

Women:
Naomi "On-three" Magowan: 17.13
Louisa "No fear" Ramsey: 17.17
..That brings Naomi and Louisa to one win each in our cake races.

Men:
Barney "Das Nachtmeister" Butler: 12:35 (On a slick circuit at night!)
Mike "El Diablo" Diamond: 13.01
Cam "More cowbell" Toms: 13:12
Dan "Indefatigable" Morris: 13:15
Eric "20 gearshifts a minute" Eckstein: 13:15
Sam "loads of grip" Oliver: 13:38
Alex "Rainman" Maxwell: 14:32
Frank "Warp speed" Hodgson: 15:13
Alex "Win it or bin it" Persin: 15:57
Ryan "No lights" Witchell: 16:28
Sam "The Chief" Miller: 20:41

Congrats to all finishers, especially the rookie racers. That must have been quite an introduction.

A message from Chris our Kit Sec:

"There's been some confusion as to the whereabouts of some of the club's kit recently, so if you have any, please drop gear.uobcc@gmail.com a quick email just to confirm what you have at the moment. I don't want to have to recreate Act 4 Scene 1 of Don Carlos with every single club member."

However big or small, the club kit has taken several years to amass, so please take a minute or two to double check you're not holding on to anything that you've borrowed from UOBCC.

Rapha Job Opportunity - Upcoming/Recent Graduate?
Rapha are opening a retail outlet, the Rapha Archive Store, at Kilver Court in Somerset in early April. They are currently recruiting for a Store Manager, Supervisors and both full time and part time retail assistants to deliver the legendary Rapha Customer Service experience in our new Archive Store.
It's important to Rapha that their staff are keen cyclists, with a strong interest in the sport of road racing who and embody their core values of passion, determination, creativity and communication.
If anyone would be interested in a position at the Rapha Archive Store, have a look at the job roles on their website. Any applications can be forwarded to retailcareers@rapha.cc.

I have British Cycling race licences for:

Jonathan Pang
Matthew Taylor
Connor Hearn
David Plemming
Tom Hall
Oliver Neale
Georgie Snowdon-Brett
Freddy Carlton
Alice Toms
Will Bourne
Sam Game

Let me know when is a good time to collect your race licence. I'll be in the Queen's Building Foyer at 1pm on Thursday for 15-20mins. I'll also have some UOBCC membership cards.

10 HOURS.
130 MILES.
4 BURRITOS.

Tour de Burrito is back for 2015.

HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?

STEP 1: Register on the union website. Registration costs £5 and means ALL the money raised goes straight to charity.
STEP 2: Set up your personal fundraising page. Go to the IGNIT10N Everyday Hero website, click on 'start fundraising' and set up your personal page.
STEP 3: Tell everyone what you're doing and raise some money for a great cause :)

For more info about the ride see our website. Any queries, please direct them to the Facebook Event.

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.

Bike UK have just launched their CycleFit service. Club members can get a half price fit (from £30 for the express fit and £60 full fit) until the end of March.

A custom fit of how your bike is set up is just that: a custom fit just for you.  What a CycleFit can do for you depends on what you want and can address one or more of…

• increased power
• improve aerodynamics
• alleviate pain
• improve comfort

Head to Bike UK:CycleFit and when booking use the code UOBCLUB. Feel free to pass on this code family members, friends, riding buddies etc…

This Week (16th-22nd Feb)

A reminder that kit can now be picked up from Bike UK. Just head in and tell them your name and what you've ordered.

Tonight - Spinning (Sign up on the Facebook Group).

• 2pm - Social rides from the bridge (remember your lights)
• 4:30pm - Post ride brownies
• 6pm  - Cake Racing II: Leigh Woods Night Sprints

• 7pm - Development squad training

• Road Circuit racing at Ludgershall and Odd Down.

• 10am - Road and XC social rides from the bridge.

Coming up in March:

• 8th - Track Trip. 6-9pm (more details soon)
• 19th - Tour de Burrito (register now)
• 28th - UOBCC Open 10 mile TT (entries open)

18th Feb, 6pm - Cake Racing Series. The next event in our Cake Racing Series will be a lap of the Leigh Woods blue loop.  At night.  Race the clock, and don't get eaten by Sasquatch.  February 18th, the bridge at 6pm.

We'll have club lights available for the non-enlightened. Suitable for all abilities.

For more info, check out the Facebook Event.

10 HOURS.
130 MILES.
4 BURRITOS.

Tour de Burrito is back for 2015.

HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?

STEP 1: Register on the union website. Registration costs £5 and means ALL the money raised goes straight to charity.
STEP 2: Set up your personal fundraising page. Go to the IGNIT10N Everyday Hero website, click on 'start fundraising' and set up your personal page.
STEP 3: Tell everyone what you're doing and raise some money for a great cause :)

For more info about the ride see our website. Any queries, please direct them to the Facebook Event.

Now's the time to get your entries in for our annual 10 mile TT event. Entries open online now.

Go to the CTT website and filter the events entries by:

• Distance: '10'
• Month: 'March'
• District: 'West'

(or this direct link might work...)

Bike UK have just launched their CycleFit service. Club members can get a half price fit (from £30 for the express fit and £60 full fit) until the end of March.

A custom fit of how your bike is set up is just that: a custom fit just for you.  What a CycleFit can do for you depends on what you want and can address one or more of…

• increased power
• improve aerodynamics
• alleviate pain
• improve comfort

Head to Bike UK:CycleFit and when booking use the code UOBCLUB. Feel free to pass on this code family members, friends, riding buddies etc…

Bath Uni CC hosted an afternoon of racing at Odd Down Circuit. After 15 laps of racing, Kate Mactear secured 4th place in the women's event, and in the men's novice race, Chris Parker and Freddy Carlton finished 8th and 10th respectively.

Lots of cheering was had by all. The more experienced guys battled it out head to head with Ryan topping the table and Andrew coming in a close 2nd.

Andrew and Ryan go head to head (video).

Full results available here.

Thomas and Oliver cycled up to Monmouth in Wales for a 75 mile valentines day ride. Here they are finishing up at the Suspension Bridge.

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.

A touch of frost didn't stop several UOBCC nutters taking on over 2000m of ascent across the Mendips on Sunday. Remember that Ignit10n (Tour de Burrito epic ride) is coming up on Thursday 19th March so it's definitely worth getting some miles in now in preparation.

This week we have Racing on Wednesday and Sunday at Odd Down and the MTB taster session on Sunday.

There are a couple of useful links to additional cycling resources on in the left-hand column of this email.

Tuesday: 8pm, Spinning at the Gym (Free + NO gym pass req.). Sign up will be via a post on our Facebook Group. The first 16 to reply will get a place.

Wednesday: 2pm, XC and Road Social Rides. See you at the bridge! Remember to bring lights. Most of the road leaders will be racing at Odd Down in the afternoon. See below for more details.

Thursday: 7pm, Development squad. See respective groups or email Cam (ct13975@my.bristol.ac.uk) for more info.

Saturday: Racing at Odd Down or Ludgershall.

Sunday: 10am, Road social rides from the Suspension bridge. And MTB Taster session! See below for details.

Remember that the facebook group is still available to organise unofficial rides (although try to avoid arranging these on days which already have a ride).

Time: Wednesday, 1:30pm.
Location: Odd Down Cycling Circuit
Facebook Event

Racing starts at 3pm.

Bath Uni CC is hosting the next event in our series of uni races! If you didn't come last time, prepare for a great mixture of men's and women's races, lots of cheering and lots of rivalry! If you've never tried racing before, this is your chance to have a go in a relaxed atmosphere and for FREE.

If you want to cycle down, we'll be taking a group down leaving at 13.30, otherwise grab the train down to Bath and we'll see you there for 3! Afterwards we can head down into to Bath for a bite to eat before riding back.

Date: 15th February
Time: 10am
Meet: Clifton Suspension Bridge
Facebook Event

Jump on a knobby-tyre bike, get some tips from our club's best, and go ride the local trails!

What to bring:
A mountain bike if you have one. If not, post here so I can get a count of our hire bike needs. We'll get them through PedalProgression, their hire bikes are ace.
Some cash, if you need to hire a bike. I'll announce how much it will cost once we get a solid idea of attendance.
Some protective gear beyond a helmet would be nice, but not super-necessary. We can organize some loaner kneepads if requested.
The hire bikes have good flat pedals, any athletic shoe works fine with them.
Pro-tip: Road jersey's are fine, but I'd recommend you wear some shorts over your fancy lycra bibs to protect them in case you hit the dirt.

Sign-up via the facebook invite that's already gone out, or if you don't do facetube, then email Eric (eric.eckstein@bristol.ac.uk)

18th Feb, 6pm - Cake Racing Series. The next event in our Cake Racing Series will be a lap of the Leigh Woods blue loop.  At night.  Race the clock, and don't get eaten by Sasquatch.  February 18th, the bridge at 6pm.

We'll have club lights available for the non-enlightened. Suitable for all abilities.

Check out footage from Leigh Woods Enduro Racing.

TT season will begin with the UOBCC Open TT in its 2nd year. Entries open online now.

Go to the CTT website and filter the events entries by:

• Distance: '10'
• Month: 'March'
• District: 'West'

(or this direct link might work...)

If you haven't yet picked up your membership card or race licence, then get in tough with me (Tom Mowbray) either by facebook or email and we can arrange another time to meet up. (I'll be in Queen's every weekday).

For more info on how to become a member of British Cycling, see our website.

The Mendips Madmen - photo credit: Will Barr

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.

Exams are over (for most people), and it's back to normal for the Cycling Club. We have loads of trips and other events lined up this term. Read on for more details.

Racing Results from Odd Down on Saturday (full top 10s)

4th - Kate Mactear
10th - David Plemming

Training is back to normal this week:

Tuesday: 8pm, FREE Spinning at the Gym (NO GYM PASS Needed). Sign up will be via a post on our Facebook Group. The first 16 to reply will get a place. Anyone who doesn't get a spot will get priority for next week (so if you wanted to go and it's full, post to get on the list for next week).

Wednesday: 2pm, XC and Road Social Rides. See you at the bridge! And, as always, remember to bring your lights!

Thursday: 7pm, Development squad. See respective groups or email Cam (ct13975@my.bristol.ac.uk) for more info.

Saturday: Tbc. Road Racing or development squad. 

Sunday: 10am, XC and Road - social rides from the Suspension bridge.

Remember that the facebook group is still available to organise unofficial rides (although try to avoid arranging these on days which already have a ride).

Dates for the diary. More details to follow at a later date.

Middle of Feb - Cake Racing Series. Details to be announced shortly.

7/8th March - CwmCarn XC & DH

18/19th April - BUCS DH - In Scotland! We'll go up a day or two early to ride Glentress and whatever else we want.

There will be a "Try Mountain Biking" session in mid-Feb sometime, taking place at Ashton Court. We'll start off learning some basic skills like obstacle clearance and cornering, then go on to explore some of the local trails. Cost tbc will depend on how many bikes we need to hire (likely to be ~£10).

Time: Thursday 7pm (29th Jan).
Location: Roll for the Soul
Facebook Event

We hope you have all been revising hard... for the second UOBCC pub quiz! The mildly cycling related quiz makes a comeback, this time hosted at Roll for the Soul. So come along and catch up with all your cycling buds while enjoying a selection of excellent beers as well as chips on the club budget for those who arrive promptly.

Once we've had our fill of quizzing those that are still keen can head round the corner to spoons (Commercial rooms)

Some may still be feeling a bit sluggish after Christmas, but racing has already begun and the TT season will begin with the UOBCC Open TT in its 2nd year. Entries open online now.

Go to the CTT website and filter the events entries by:

• Distance: '10'
• Month: 'March'
• District: 'West'

(or this direct link might work...)

On Thursday 1-1:30pm in Queen's Building Foyer, there will be an opportunity to collect UOBCC membership cards. These get you discounts at Bike UK and Mission Burrito.

I will also be handing out British Cycling Race Licences at the same time.

If you're unable to attend, let me (Tom Mowbray) know by facebook or email and we can arrange another time to meet up. (I'll be around and about in Uni all day and mostly free from 11-3).

For more info on how to become a member of British Cycling, see our website.

Andrew at Odd Down on Saturday before hitting the deck.

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.

We hope you've had a great break from Uni and you're all raring to go for a jam packed term of Cycling.

We'll be announcing the club trips soon. In other news:

Enduro Cake Racing - MTB first ride back (25th Jan) will be some racing for cake in Leigh Woods (more details below)

Tour de Burrito date (potential) change. Now Thursday 19th March.

Brizbikes - A team of students from the Bristol Hub are working on an exciting initiative to encourage students at the University of Bristol to get cycling. 'Brizbikes' is a social enterprise bicycle rental scheme that will allow students and staff to rent a bicycle for a term or a year. Hoping to encourage more students to cycle to university and around Bristol.

They're keen to get as much student feedback as possilbe and would appreciate it if you could fill in this short survey.

Time: 10am, 25th January.
Location: Leigh Woods (meet at suspension bridge)
Facebook Event

The Leigh Woods Enduro has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most intense races in UOBCC’s Cake Racing Series. Steep, gnarly, rooty, rocky, descents pitch undergraduate rookies against lingering UOBCC legends. Here’s the format:

• Ride 3 or 4 off-piste Leigh descents.
• Descents will be timed.
• Riders’ times on each descent will be summed.
• The rider with the shortest overall time wins cake or something…

Meet at 10am at Clifton Suspension Bridge

DISCLAIMER: This is meant to be a bit of fun. That being said, it will be wet and the off-piste Leigh stuff is steep and sketchy. This won't be beginner friendly.

BMX Session at Rampworld Cardiff

2nd February 8-11pm

Elky has booked a private hire session at the awesome Rampworld Cardiff, its a huge indoor park, all wooden, with bowls, big jump lines, and street sections, not to mention a foam pit and resi-ramp. This isn’t a club affiliated trip, but anyone with a BMX or MTB who thinks this sounds like fun, get in touch with Mike Elkington at me6350@bristol.ac.uk to get involved. If you want more info, feel free to contact Nat Aaronson by email or on Facebook.

Unless you hear otherwise, there are no training rides over the exam period. Regular rides will recommence from Sunday 25th January (MTBers see cake racing for details). Feel free to use the facebook group to organise unofficial rides.

In order to race in British Cycling events, you'll need a race licence and to get that you need to be a member of British Cycling.

If it's your first year, get a £20 discount here. (Promo code: NEWCMRA)

Bronze: Provisional licence. This is enough for most BMX, MTB or Cyclocross races, however road or circuit races still require you to pay additional £5/race.

Silver/Gold: Required in order to buy a Full Race licence (extra £35). This allows you to earn points for yourself and the club. More info here.

Options for Insurance

CTC Membership (£18): 3rd Party insurance cover and legal support (on/off-road, inc. sportives and time trialing). Other perks listed here.

BC Silver (£40 or £20 1st year): Liability insurance (inc. racing) and Legal support (inc. racing)

BC Gold(£69 or £49 1st year): Personal accident insurance and Enhanced bike insurance discount.

Here's to a great 2015 full of cycling. Image source.

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.

What a term!
I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone that’s got involved in the last 3 months, it’s been rad. We’ve smashed a chain of new milestones this year, and I’d like to say a few words on what we’ve achieved.
The term started off with a bang, as 80 bright eyed riders came out for the first ride of the year. After a spin around Bristol, this being a first for many, we headed to the pub for some well earned hydration.
The following Wednesday marked the second ride and our first social of the year. After arriving tight and bright, we departed spoons with clouded vision and stumbled onto the triangle. Lounge.
That weekend the roadies furiously pedalled to the Forest of Dean, meeting up with the MTB crew who had hitched a free lift there to experience the fantastic trails it has to offer. The sun shone and we couldn’t have had a better time.
After first weeks heavy night in Lounge, we opted for a calmer array of socials over the following month. With a trip to Roll for the Soul for some mechanic coaching, a Bike Polo taster session, a meal at sponsors Mission Burrito, a brilliantly curated quiz, a film night and quote Callum Hunter “the best night of my life”: SCORE. The participation of these nights has been great as has the quality of their delivery, thanks Andrew for the fantastic work.
With the club progressing so well over the last few years, it was time to give back to the cycling community. This term marked our FIRST EVER open hill climb. It was a great success with a huge field of riders; thanks Tom Hall and Connor for doing such a good job in organising.
To finish the Hill Climb season our fastest vertical ascenders headed up to the BUCS hill climb in the peak district, returning with a plethora of great positions. The following day alumni member Will Bourne placed an incredible 14th in the National Hill Climb Championships. Chapeau!
We’ve had loads of away trips that have all been great fun. Travelling to the Brecon Beacons, Afan, Bike Park Wales and Snowdonia. Conquering some of the best climbs and descents this country has to offer.
Our development and performance teams have gone from strength to strength taking part in interval sessions, spinning sessions and saturday training rides. The training has proved it’s worth with fantastic results coming from both cyclocross and closed circuit racing.
One further notable milestone from this term has been the creation of the Western Universities Race League. Cam has done a great job of getting local Universities together and the first event two weeks ago was a great success.
Next term holds a multitude of exciting events. Look out for more away trips, Tour de Burrito, our open time trial, loads of racing and there’s even rumours of THE PYRENEES.
So once again, thanks for getting involved. This club solely exists because of people like us that enjoy riding our bikes, and we’ve had a lot of fun doing just that!

Kit note: No news as yet on the kit. Keep an eye on the facebook group for more info.

Tuesday: 8pm, FREE Spinning at the Gym (NO GYM PASS Needed). This is now a regular session. Sign up will be via a post on our Facebook Group. The first 16 to reply will get a place. Anyone who doesn't get a spot will get priority for next week (so if you wanted to go and it's full, post to get on the list for next week).

Wednesday: 2pm, Last ride of 2014. See you at the bridge! And, as always, remember to bring your lights!

Thursday: 7pm, Development squad. See respective groups or email Cam (ct13975@my.bristol.ac.uk) for more info.

Odd Down Racing
A big weekend for UOBCC's road team who were down in Bath on Saturday for the first round of the Odd Down Winter Series. The nice weather was a good omen of things to come as we had five top-10 finishers across the three events. Special mentions goes to Barney and Becca who came 6th and 9th respectively in their first ever closed-circuit race. A fantastic effort from all involved - we're in for a good year!

Cyclocross
Two of our riders visited Lockleaze for Round 11 of the Western League this weekend. The course was all but relentless, with thick soul-sapping mud that had both Cam and Callum off their bikes and pulling clods from their brakes. Cameron, who after running over a Bath Uni CC rider, had a healthy 20 second lead in the first half of the race. However the sticky mud meant he had to stop and eventually finished in 3rd. Congratulations to Callum for pushing through to complete his first race in 16th.

We will be handing out membership cards on Tuesday (16th) and Thursday (18th) lunchtimes 1-1:30 in Queen's Building foyer.

Time: 8pm, 17th December.
Location: Beerd
Facebook Event

Thanks to all those who signed up to our Christmas meal. See you at 8 on Wednesday.

The menu includes: antipasti on arrival, a selection of Beerd's pizzas, salads, sweet potato fries and onion rings plus a good dashing of mulled wine.

For those of you hard core cyclists who can even manage more than one night out a term, we will probably be heading to Bunker for the last sports night this year.

Sign-up on British Cycling. Odd Down racing December 20th - (next weekend) if you're still in Bristol. Pre-entry closes on Thursday.

Want to race? You'll need a race licence and to get that you need to be a member of British Cycling. If it's your first year, get a £20 discount here. (Promo code: NEWCMRA)

Becca in the women's peloton at Odd Down on Saturday.

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.

Tuesday: 8pm, FREE Spinning at the Gym (NO GYM PASS Needed). This is now a regular session. Sign up will be via a post on our Facebook Group. The first 16 to reply will get a place. Anyone who doesn't get a spot will get priority for next week (so if you wanted to go and it's full, post to get on the list for next week).

Wednesday: 2pm, social ride from the bridge. (Bring lights!)

Thursday: 7pm, Development squad. See respective groups or email Cam (ct13975@my.bristol.ac.uk) for more info.

Saturday: 11am, performance/development squad training.

Sunday: 10am, social rides from the bridge.

UOBCC Does Coast-to-Coast

"Early on Sunday morning nine UoBCC members set off into the mist to ride the fabled Coast to Coast. Starting down at Clevedon with the compulsory back wheel in the sea photo, we rode past Cheddar and over the Somerset levels all the way down to Weymouth, clocking in at just over 90 miles. Stopping for coffee atop the local "mountainous" outcrop of Ham Hill with excellent views before heading to East Coker for a T.S. Elliot themed cultural moment. Some surprisingly steep climbs towards the end made us all feel like we'd earned the decent down towards the sea, and after the second (albeit dark and blurry) photo with the front wheels in the sea a hearty fish and chips.
One final challenge remained, getting all the bikes onto the train, but after sending the girls to sweet talk the conductor we all made it back to Bristol.
Thanks to all of you that came along and made for an excellent day of riding." - words Sam Maddrell-Mander

Time: 8pm, 3rd December.
Location: O2 Academy
Facebook Event

It's the season to be jolly so let's all follow Tom Hall's example and make merry for Christmas Score.

Pre-drinks to be confirmed. Tickets on sale at all social rides from your committee for £5. Only a limited number so get yours quick!

Theme is UOBCC Father Christmas' so we're thinking red jerseys and santa hats.

Stolen Bristol Bikes

CLUB BIKE STOLEN!

One of our hire bikes has been stolen from one of our members homes. Please keep your eyes peeled and if spotted (online or out on the streets) please contact the police immediately.

The bike is our 54cm Trek 1.2. Stolen from Montpellier on 28/11/2014.

Distinguishing features: No bottle cage and flat pedals (not up to the standard of the bike).

Facebook Event.

Here is the plan: We are going to be getting trains from Temple Meads, with the first leaving at 12.54. The trains run every half an hour, and hopefully they should be empty at this time of day however we will most likely have to split up to get all the bikes on. Please comment on the facebook event what time you can make the train.
We'll be organising teams when we get there, based on who turns up.

Aleksa being Rad in Snowdonia!

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.

Tuesday [Tonight]: 8pm, spinning. (more info)

Wednesday: 2pm, social ride from the bridge. (Bring lights! Buy some great value lights at 11am-2pm on Wednesday outside the Hawthorns)

Thursday: 7pm, Development squad. See respective groups or email Cam (ct13975@my.bristol.ac.uk) for more info.

Saturday: 11am, performance/development squad training.

Sunday: 10am, social rides from the bridge.

This weekend saw Roadies and XC head to Snowdonia for the annual mega trip for some epic days in the saddle. The roadies tackled the formidable Bwlch y Groes, a ridiculous wall of pain averaging 12% for almost 3km along with numerous other climbs for the day. The following day saw the roadies climbing up to the base of Snowdon in glorious sunshine and relishing the breathtaking views.
The knobby-tyre crew took on the boss level of Welsh mountain biking with a weekend of riding Coed-y-Brenin's Beast loop, as well as the classic Marin trail at Betws-y-Coed. Adrenaline and altitude were traded back and forth throughout both days, yet everyone managed to make it home with all body parts still attached. Along the way, we met a friendly trail cat who liked our energy bars, and a film crew doing some sort of dodgy medieval sci-fi scene in the middle of the woods. Wales never fails to amuse.

That wraps up our MTB trips for this term, though weekly rides will continue throughout the winter. Another fantastic UOBCC trip, many thanks to Eric for organising.

Meanwhile, in Newport (rarely a great start to a story), several of UOBCC’s track team secured accreditation on the track. The general council of British Cycling has seen it fit to allow them to race and train in all indoor UK velodromes in future. Ryan, track captain, reported: “I am very pleased with this result. Through hard work, we have achieved the first and foremost aim of my 5 year plan of world track cycling domination. Long live UOBCC!”

Time: 8pm, 3rd December.
Location: O2 Academy
Facebook Event

It's the season to be jolly so let's all follow Tom Hall's example and make merry for Christmas Score.

Pre-drinks to be confirmed. Tickets on sale at all social rides from your committee for £5. Only a limited number so get yours quick!

Theme is UOBCC Father Christmas' so we're thinking red jerseys and santa hats.

50+ refurbished bikes for sale next weekend (29th/30th November) in Bishopston/Horfield (and collection of unwanted bikes to recycle).

Prices ~£80-120. More info on the Life Cycle UK website.

Facebook Event.

Cardiff University Marmots are kindly hosting an afternoon of racing at Maindy Track. This is a great chance to come and race guys from Swansea, Cardiff and Bath in a fun and relaxed environment. The event runs from 15:00 until 18:00 on a Wednesday afternoon, so hopefully you'll be able to head on over to join in!

More details to come soon, but the afternoon will probably consist of a series of short races; a scratch race, elimination, team pursuit, sprint and maybe a small crit at the end.

Enjoying some afternoon rays in Snowdonia.

See our website for more info about our sponsors and what special deals they can offer.