This yearâs Reliability Ride broke recent records
¡ It was sunny!
¡ We tripled the level of funds we raised for our club charities compared to 2024.
¡ Numbers were up for total participants and for total miles ridden.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the new routes and sitting around in the sunshine afterwards at Raphaelâs Restaurant, www.hamptonferry.co.uk/restaurant.html. For data enthusiasts, here are a few facts and figures:
Participation:
¡ Total riders: 57 – up nearly 20% on 2024
¡ Routes available: 25 miles, 50 miles, 80 miles
¡ Most popular route: 50 miles (75% of riders did the 50 mile route)
¡ Least popular route: 25 miles (nobody chose the 25 mile route this year).
Distance Covered:
¡ Combined mileage ridden: 3270 miles- 28% up on 2024
¡ Average distance per rider: 57 miles
Fundraising:
¡ Total raised: £346
¡ Compared to 2024: Up from £110 (more than a 3x increase!)
A huge thank you to everyone who took part and supported our nominated charities. Weâre already looking forward to planning the 2026 eventâstay tuned for updates!
A group of 22 cyclists from the club made the trip out to Chipping Campden to Jeccaâs House, the home of Campden Home Nursing, to make a donation to this worthy charity. The Campden Home Nurses provide end-of-life nursing care, bereavement support and counselling services. They provide nursing in patientsâ own homes across Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire with a base in Chipping Campden at Jeccaâs House. The club made a donation of 350 pounds, which was well received by their Communication Manager who even donned one of our new club jerseys for the cheque presentation. Furthermore, they laid on cakes a refreshments for us for which we further contributed another 114 pounds.
Whilst at Jeccaâs House we took to opportunity to present our own club member Robin Walker with a cheque for 500 pounds for the Cure Parkinsons charity. Last year Robin was part of a team of 22 cyclists taking on a challenge which saw them cycling in Norway from Bodo, the Northernmost city in the world, to Tromso, The cyclists, 14 of which were living with Parkinsons cycled 635km over eight days in August 2024. In total Robin raised over 3,000 pounds for Cure Parkinsons and is continuing his charitable efforts and this year with a further ride for the same cause but this time in Portugal with an 820km ride from the North to the South of Portugal. Donations can be made through Just Giving â here.
The donations to our charitable causes come from events such as the Reliability Ride and the Audax Rides that the club holds. This allows us to give back to the communities in which we regularly cycle and to donations that our club members have a tie to. Members can propose charitable causes for consideration by contacting the committee, ideally around the time of the club AGM in November each year as this is generally when the decision of the charities is made.
The Club Committee has noticed that the take up of the new club kit has not been high as anticipated. To help the Committee understand why this has been the case and help inform any decisions going forward we have prepared a short survey that we would ask members to complete. The survey is anonymous and should take less than a couple of minutes to fill in.
Over the coming weeks the existing Whatâs App group used by the club will be migrated into an EWCC Whatâs App âCommunityâ. As the groups are migrated you may see a slight change in how these are shown in your app but it will make no changes to the individual Whatâs App groups themselves. The advantage of moving the various Whatâs App groups under one Community is that all members will be able to see all the groups that are used by the club and, where wanted and appropriate, are able to request to join the various groups. This will provide further transparency in the club communications by allowing all members to see the various Whatâs App groups that are used by the club.
Evesham Wheelers Charity Reliability Ride â 6th April 2025
Reliability rides are non-competitive training (or social) events where participants choose a distance and target time at sign-on, aiming to complete the course as close as possible to their chosen time.
This ride is open to all Evesham Wheelers members, local cycling clubs, and anyone else who would like to join. There are distance and pace options to suit all abilities:
đ´ 8:00 AM â 80 miles in 5 hours (16 mph) đ´ 9:00 AM â 50 miles in 4 hours (12.5 mph) đ´ 9:30 AM â 50 miles in 3 hours (16.8 mph) đ´ 10:00 AM â 25 miles in 2 hours 30 minutes (10.1 mph) â Ideal for first-timers đ´ 10:30 AM â 25 miles in 2 hours (12.6 mph)
For more details, visit our website. Evesham Wheelers will not be putting on a Sunday ride on this date.
Evesham Vale Road Race â 100km on Sunday, 16th March 2025
Evesham Wheelers put on the above local race, this event attracts a high-quality field of riders. We need volunteers to assist with marshalling or other event duties, your support would be hugely appreciated.
đ Location: Inkberrow Circuit đ HQ: Inkberrow Village Hall, Sands Rd, Inkberrow, Worcester WR7 4HJ đ Plenty of free parking and toilet facilities available
The race consists of four and a half laps of a 22km course, making it a challenging yet exciting event for all participants.
Club Membership Fees Due
A quick reminder that annual club fees were due in January. If you havenât yet renewed, please submit payment as soon as possible to remain an active member.
New Website â We Need Your Feedback!
Weâd love to hear your thoughts on the clubâs new website. Is it easy to navigate? Is there anything youâd like to see improved? Let us know!
Thank you for your continued support, Evesham Wheelers Committee
The time had come to cycle to Wales, Hay on Wye to be precise, meeting up âcoffee#1â in Pershore for a 4-day adventure.
As I hate being late for anything I arrived 30 minutes earlier than the advertised time, at least I could have a nice coffee and settle down in the relaxed seats waiting for the others to arrive, everyone turned up on time (Colin, Tom, James, Chris, & Henryk). Drew, who only lives around the corner decided to wait until the last minute to turn up at the coffee house to see if the rain would stop. It did not!
Brief introductions over, Liquid refreshments finished, and we were on our way, it was very wet on the road, but the group soon got into a rhythm staying more or less together with the grumblings about the rain being the main topic of conversation, time passed accompanied by the constant squealing of disc brakes!
After a few hours on the road and a couple of refreshment breaks later, we were at Baskerville house, time for a clean-up, shower, and a quick hose down of the bikes, before dinner and beers.
Mileage for me that day was approximately sixty-three miles, including four thousand feet of climbing.
Day 2
After a great nightâs sleep, Tuesday’s weather looked dry and & slightly warmer so after a fantastic breakfast we all ventured out on the bikes- it was hilly, and soon most of us were using our smallest gears, double-digit percentage gradients were the norm in this part of the country, itâs funny how everyone stops talking when you go uphill! The downhills were equally fantastic and exhilarating. Following a couple of breaks throughout the ride we were heading back to Baskerville for dinner and beverages.
Mileage that day, was forty-eight, including three thousand four hundred feet of climbing.
Day 3 – The big one. The Gospel Pass â Walesâs Highest Road.
I canât comment much on this one as I had developed a small back issue (yes, I know what youâre thinking!) as the rest of the crew cycled off in the morning sun, I took a day of rest & waited for the magnificent 6 to return, more beers & dinner followed while listening to the dayâs tales, with a slightly envious feeling.
No Henryk had not fallen off the edge, he was taking the picture!
Please note that 2 VIPs (John & Pam) joined us to enjoy a couple of drinks.
Day 4
Leaving Baskerville house
After another great breakfast, we said our goodbyes to the brilliant staff & set off on the final leg of our adventure. There was no flat route back, but the weather held up and a couple of leisurely coffee stops later we were back home safely.
Mileage for the day, seventy-four miles with four thousand feet climbing on sore legs!
Things to note.
Amazingly no punctures in the group over the 4 days (a combination of luck & the heavy rain which seemed to have washed all the hedge cuttings away).
One broken wheel rim, and potentially a cracked titanium frame while enjoying the government-maintained roads in Hay on Wye.
Baskerville House accommodation, I give the facility five out of five stars, I enjoy the quirkiness and personable service.
Big thanks to Colin for organizing the event along with the transport provided to get the kit down & back to and from Baskerville house to make it happen.
And finally, to a fantastic bunch of riders (listed above), whose comradery and cheer made the event enjoyable for all of us.
We have talked about defining a direction for the club articulating how we would like to see the club develop over the next 5 years or so. The committee spent a day earlier this year brainstorming and evaluating all aspects of the club. After several iterations, this paper outlines our proposal in terms of what we are trying to achieve, how we think we can move the club in that direction and the values we aspire to encourage in doing so.
The Future: As a club, we aspire to bring people together through cycling in the Evesham Vale and surrounding area of outstanding natural beauty. To do this, we believe the clubâs mission is to: 1) Provide a regular and highly social leisure activity and a fun way of keeping fit – in body and mind 2) Provide personal challenges through both formal and informal rides 3) Provide opportunities for the local community to enjoy cycling, across all age groups
Everything we do should embody these core values: 1) Support each other â help, guidance, technical & local knowledge 2) Respect â for each other and particularly for our volunteers and ride leaders. 3) Inclusive â with a particular emphasis on communication
Having a clear vision of what we want the club to be is of little use unless it helps us identify and implement practical projects and changes that deliver our aspirations for the club. After an extensive review of the clubâs strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis), we have defined the following priority programmes, which we believe are essential to both delivery of the mission and improving the way the club operates. 1) Communications â including new website 2) New Activities and Events 3) Age Profile 4) Partnerships 5) Committee Structure and Processes 6) Finance Policy 7) Risk Management and Compliance â Privacy Policy
These seven programmes will all be clearly defined with a very simple âTerms of Referenceâ (TOR) Document which will scope out each programme in terms of specific objectives, deliverables, resources, etc., to help us all understand exactly what we are trying to achieve. We will share these as they are developed. It will all take some time, and we will need volunteers to help make things happen. So, once you see the TORs, please contact a committee member if you feel you can help. Communications (including web site development) is our initial priority. If anyone is interested in the SWOT analysis or any further background, please ask. Later in 2025, we plan to try and define a set of measures (KPIs) to track our progress. This is your club. If you have any comments or suggestions on the plans outlined in this paper, please channel them through Colin Chapman.
