This & That Letter from New Zealand
Greetings from Russia
We have now been in Cambridge, New Zealand for a little over three weeks. Last weekend we went to a book fair in the Cambridge Town Hall, where there were literally many thousand books on sale. Would you believe that on browsing through the second book that I picked up, I found myself looking at a photograph of John Chadwick, from New Mills. The book was a collection of photographs which were taken by the British public on the same day in 1987.
Dear friends randonneurs AUK! I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year and may this festival bring abundant joy and happiness in your life! May All your Dreams Come True! It would be desirable to see you and your randonneurs on our brevet 2014 “Volga-Don 1200”. Valery Komochkov President of Russian Randonneurs http://russianrandonneur.ru http://orionvelo.narod.ru/ mailto:vkvvk@mail.ru
New Wheels for the Winter/Audax Bike. As I spend quite some time on my Winter/Audax bike I decided to treat myself to a new set of wheels that would feel a bit faster than your average hack bike wheels. Also with the Exposure Revo dynamo light being due out in the Autumn I thought it would be a good opportunity to go for a battery free option. http://www.exposurelights.com/product/000098/revo-dynamomk1-(new)/ For many years I have used a Schmidt dyno-hub so despite the expense decided this would be the best option. They have recently updated their units to cope with the latest LED lighting so I chose the Son-delux. ‘Spectator, Tour of Britain Race’ Photo: Rosalind Bramley 10.45 am, Buxton, Derbyshire
I met John on my first Audax 200 in 1978, this was followed by many more miles/km together. Paris-Harrogate in 1978, Chepstow – Lizard 1000 km with Malcolm Jones in 1983, and many rides in between. John also completed Cambridge – Aberdeen with Nick Rosenthal. We have lost touch over the years, I hope that he is still around and perhaps someone will pass on our good wishes to him. Kind regards, Neville Holgate
AUK Strategic Plan Interesting to see the Board’s ‘Strategic Plan’ for AUK, which was published online in November. I was a member of Committee back in 1995 when we had a similar bout of soul-searching, and after an afternoon of to-and-fro discussion decided, and I quote from the Minutes, “to keep things as they are”. This time, there seems to be a clear determination by the Board, to find ways of spending money. There is a disconnect though, between the sums being bandied about, and the small incomes that AUK deals in - £1000 to support a prestgious event - that’s 500 temp membership fees - or if you like 5000 validation fees. To attract how many new riders? Do we have any organisers who can handle events with hundreds of starters? The biggest sums mentioned in the Stretigic Plan are reserved for what might be generally described as ‘marketing’. £5000 to turn the club website into something that is attractive to non-members. Even ignoring the fact that £5000 might well not be enough - that is 355 full membership fees spent. But membership already increases by 100 or so a year, without any marketing drive. And there is no real indication that more members equates to more people riding events. I’m worried that these funds are headed for a black hole. Francis Cooke
Found, a pair of Bloc Stealth glasses, at Fairburn after the events. Contact John Radford 01484 851480. 18
http://www.nabendynamo.de/produkte/sondelux_en.html this unit has a very low “off” drag is like riding up a 1/50 (0.5%) when giving it’s full 6W output. I read somewhere that’s about one digestive biscuit per hour! (I think I can manage that) After a quick chat with Jonathan at Strada Wheels in Lancing I decided to select some Velocity Aerohead Rims (similar in width to others I may want to use on this bike) http://www.velocitywheels.com/store/product.asp?pID=17&cID=18 these are very light at 425g so with some Sapim CX-Ray spokes I was hoping for some light’sh hoops. He suggested we lace them 2 and 3 cross so that if needed I could replace a spoke at any time and supplied a couple of spares free of charge. Being a fan of Chris King components I decided to try out his new R45 Hubs. http://chrisking.com/hubs so far I am not disappointed. (love the “buzz”) Being a “light-weight” I was able to choose 24 spokes for the front and 28 for the rear this has meant that the back wheel is 800g and the front is 950g (if you remove the extra 290g for the Dyno-hub) you get a wheel set weight of 1460g which should give a pretty lively wheel. On the road they feel very quick and you can certainly accelerate back up to your nominal speed with ease. They feel solid and there is no obvious flex from side to side when out of the saddle. The wheels were absolutely true and arrived on time and well packaged so would definitely recommend anyone in the market for some new wheels give them a try. http://www.stradawheels.co.uk/dynamowheels-customer-review/ I rode a 200Km the other week and had to spend around two hours in the dark and can confirm the new light performs fantastically. It gave a wide spread beam with two of the LEDs and a nice spot with the other two. When you stop two go out and the other two remain on for a long time gradually dimming. You can certainly ride at speed with confidence that you can see most obstacles. Even stayed on while riding for a distance of about 200ft in 18” of water (great fun). Only time will tell if they can stand up to the rigours of a winter on our roads but here’s hoping. Colin James Arrivée February 2013