Hatch Warren Beggarwood Cycling Club

Two months into the year and the club continues to grow from success to success! The weather got the better of us in January and for the first time we had to cancel a Tuesday night ‘Lights On’ ride because of snow! Whilst we all like to think of ourselves as hardy animals, as a club we do have to put the safety of our riders first so there will come times when rides have to be cancelled!

At the end of 2017 we had what has become a regular ‘Mince Pie Ride’ which ends up back at Immanuel Church/St Mark’s School for mulled wine and mince pies. Nothing is ever simple and the last back were the 30@15 after a fairly hefty mechanical. Despite this, and the enthusiasm for the mince pies and mulled wine, there was still plenty left over for the longer distance riders! As always, there was a fabulous turnout of cyclists dressed seasonally in santa outfits, reindeer antlers, elves outfits etc and tinsel adorned many a cycle!

Not ever needing an excuse for an evening in the pub, right at the end of the year we met at the Portsmouth Arms for our Christmas Jumper evening. A good turnout, a few beers and a ride the next morning to blow the cobwebs away (and perhaps help hangover recovery?!).

At HWBCC we love stats and with much thanks to Paul Byrne our very own Statto, we can look back at the year with great pride in what has been achieved and the miles of tarmac covered!

Over the course of the year there were:

116 club-official rides

A total number of riders for the year: 2367

Average number of riders per ride: 21
Average number of riders on Cake ride 50@13: 26

On Tuesday 4^th July we had the most riders at 48

Our most popular ride distance/speed is the 20@13

We only cancelled 4 rides (due to weather) out of 116

And there were loads of ‘casual’ rides organised by members at other times.

We currently have 170 fully paid up members

Diary Dates:

• 31^st January: Cycle maintenance course at St Mark’s School

• 23rd February 2018: Cycle Social Mingle at Basingstoke Hockey Club

• 19-21st April 2018: Liege-Bastogne-Liege trip

• 12^th May 2018: Big Bike to Big Brekkie (In aid of Christian Aid) to Winchester

• 20^th June 2018: Annual General Meeting at St Mark’s School

• 22^nd July 2018: The Big Wheel at Down Grange

And plenty more besides!

Follow us on Facebook (Hatch Warren Beggarwood Cycling Forum), Twitter (@HWBCylcing), where all our rides and social events are advertised.