Bigfoot MBC

Merry Christmas all,

Woohay, so to kick off a very big thank you to everyone who came along on Saturday Dec 15th to the George, Birdlip for our Christmas party and awards night.  Following on from recent years, again it was great to see such a superb turn out and to say hi to all, I think I made around 40 in all with riders and their long suffering partners and spouses!  For those who had prior engagements or hangovers, there will be another year but hopefully these few words will fill you in on what went on.

Before we get onto the winners on the night a few thank you’s are in order, first to Janet for organising the party at the George and ensuring we all (in the end) got what we ordered; second to Susanne for coming up with the James Bond theme (there was a clear 50/50 spilt on who did and did not dress up) and last but not least to Michael K and his wife for being (very) fashionable late

Many guests

More many guests

Many more guests

As well as the riders within the club we also must say a thank you to the local shops of Graham and Shelia at Slam69, Gloucester (http://www.slam69.co.uk/)  and Leisure Lakes, Cheltenham (http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/) for their support and contributions over the years, as well as their contribution to the nights award prizes.  Please keep popping into these local shops for support, spares and new bike bling and remember wave your Bigfoot membership card for even better deals.

I have been Chairman now for over a year and a half now and (honestly) it still brings me the same great pleasure when I see how the club has continued to thrive over the last 3 years.  I say it time and time again so sorry to harp on, it is a credit and a joy to see the enthusiasm and willingness of committee members (Paul W, Susanne K, Steve R and Mike P), the expanding ride leaders, organisers and fellow riders which has made the club what it is today…tear rolling down the eye and a sniffle   Interest in cycling in all its forms is growing and the club is the ideal conduit to encourage more people to ride bikes…..and with many more going down the road route, this is no bad thing either, considering the appalling weather we have had this year and are still having.

On the night I mentioned a few highlights from 2012 year which I have (copied and pasted) below to share with you all:

Club summary of the year

• Members touching 90 and considering the horrid weather is excellent.
• Weather
• Road bike explosion in the club

New Club kit for 2012 – looks da boom, road and off road cuts and Lycra lovers accommodated.

Buckholt Wood Access Agreement – a potential disaster was looming for Bigfoot and the local mountain biking community.  Mike P took the lead with Roger from CCCC and formed an alliance.  Discussions with Natural England, landowners and other interested parties, taking part in working groups as well as keeping the mountain biking community up to date and pacified whilst all the hard work took place.  Agreement reached in Easter this year.

JOGLE – 13^th May started from North to South 950 miles in 10 days unsupported.  Mike J had to battle with horrid weather, south westerly wind,  got 600 miles in 6 days to Telford but knees gave up, but I am sure he will be back to complete.

Katie’s charity ride -23^rd June – XC ride raising money for Tim’s close friend Katie and her husband Ewan.  Katie had been diagnosed with cancer of the bowel and liver at the age of 29, tragic and very rare and upsetting.  XC ride around our local haunt raised over £1000 just from the club and their friends which was astonishing.  Katie lost here battle with cancer this year in September but over £100K has been raised to help fund others caught in same situation.

Bristol Bike Fest Summer and Autumn – summer a few teams checked in and the sun shone on the day and then came the Oktoberfest.  Considering the dire weather we had some 15 riders spread over 4-5 teams with great results.  Ladies coming 1^st and the mixed team coming 5 behind sponsored teams.

Strava – well where did that come from and didn’t we all get on board.  A great way to beat your mates and other local riders.  We now have 38 on our club Strava account and now running as well.  Here’s to owing it all next year Bigfoot MBC

Rides with other clubs – Cheltenham Cycles through Buckholt Agreement, mbSwindon, The Black Canon Collective

Trips Away – Wales weekends, Alps road Trip, Scotland, Trail Addiction as well as away days to Quantocks, Mendips, Cannock Chase and recently Swinley Forest.

Bigfoot BBQ and Fun Day – another great day of cakes and some bike riding

So moving back to the task in hand and the winners of the awards on the night.

The first award is for Club Contributor of the Year - the person that has put the most effort into putting the Big into Bigfoot.  This year’s voting was again a very close call, so close again it was difficult to call a winner with the usual names in the mix of Jason, Susanne and Mike P, but on the night Mike P deservedly took the award.  This is due to Mike’s continued hard work and effort as Treasurer for the past two years but more importantly his hard work securing the agreement with various parties to allow us to continue to ride Buckholt (Cranham) Woods….…well-done in winning £20 of Leisure Lakes Vouchers.

Next up we have the Racer of the Year award – for the person (or people) that made the most effort to go faster.  There were really only two candidates for the honour this year, and that was John L for representing the 4x and downhill arena and the Bigfoot Storm (the Ladies crew from the Bristol Oktoberfest).  The winners on the night were Susanne, Janet, Ali and Vicky aka Bigfoot Storm from their superb first place at the Bristol Oktoberfest (http://www.bigfootmbc.co.uk/2012/10/oktoberfest-what-a-day/ ).  As well as winning £20 of Slam69 Vouchers, the girls were presented with the Racer of the Year trophy.

Rears of the Year..sorry..Racer of the Year, Bigfoot Storm

Spanner of the Year is always a hotly contested category – for the most impressive mechanical or (comedy) crash and this year’s award was no exception.  Really there were only two people in the running and for differing reasons, first Tim K for STILL being completely inept when it comes to any form of bike maintenance and second Paul W for his horrific crash back in the summer and his subsequent recovery processes with the support of his wife and his young boys, friends and fellow riders.  Paul W took this year’s award and as well as a new helmet and lube courtesy of Leisure Lakes, Cheltenham, Paul was presented with the Spanner of the Year trophy.  Paul is keeping us updated on his recovery on Facebook and the website and we all hope to see him out on a (road) bike by the summer.

The Bionic Man – Paul W

Most Improved Rider of the Year was surprisingly close in terms of voting with four people heading the charts.  These riders have put in the hard work over the last year to improve their fitness, stamina and biking skills and showing to us that the effort you put in will be rewarded with your fellow piers seeing you improve.  Those riders that were in with a shout for this year’s title were Dan W, Mike H, Adam H and Ed W but winning by a nose was a well-deserved Mike H.  As well as Mike’s continued hard work and massive improvement over the year, we also cannot forgot about his brother Adam who is closely snapping at Mike’s heals, maybe next year eh Adam!  Mike H was presented with a Camelbak courtesy of Leisure Lakes, Cheltenham and the Most Improved Rider trophy.

Mike H, stationary for once!

On the voting form there was an optional field where club members could name someone they think deserved extra recognition and why.  There were some amusing recommendations which I will share with you all including:

• Best Riddle or comical quote – Andy B aka the Riddler
• Riders to Aspire Awards – for not having a life Jason A and Dan A
• Jackanory Award – Tim K and his stores, they are legendary – nudist beach
• The Bill Odie Wildlife Award for Services to Wildlife  -Tim K for the badger incident
• Mike P – for his work on securing access to Cranham
• Welsh coach at the Velodrome (Muppet of the year)
• Environmentalist : Tim K for his Badger culling even when the government delays their decision
• We’d best give the girls the team award, or Susanne will never shut up about it But then again if she wins it, it will probably be worse
• Outrageous stories/life events: Tim K
• Paul W for continued contribution whilst recovering from the crash

The winner (due to the most mentions) was Tim K.  Well done in winning £10 of Leisure Lakes Vouchers.

Anyone seen a Badger?

The final award on the night went to the best dressed Bond Character.  Looking around the room we could see plenty of “Pussy Galores”, “Odd Jobs” and smoothly dressed ladies and gentlemen.  But the winner on the day went to Ed W for his impression of Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day.  I will leave you all to guess the scene, as me be completely useless didn’t!  Ed won some lube and Nuun tablets for his efforts.

Shaken not Stirred!

The night ended with the obligatory raffle with prizes (both good and bad) donated by Bigfoot members and Slam69.  We raised £92 on the night which is great.

Two final mentions, before I sign off, need to go to Andrew for his effort behind the scenes keeping the web site online and to Janet for her work with the CTC membership and insurance for club riders.

So that’ll be that for another year then Bigfoot MBC, really looking forward to another 12 months of riding, fun and frolics.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year all.

Jason
Bigfoot MBC