Click below to download the ride manual for Sunday 27th June.
The Lakeside Cafe at the Hospice have kindly extended the breakfast menu for us until 11.30
If anyone can add more information about the club photo (such as confirming its date or the event it was taken for) or about the medal send a message to info@willesdencyclingclub.org.ukI only remember the Digger of the late fifties, teamed with John Blunsdon. I rode with/against them many times, often chatting. RIP Digger.
Hi. I am Paul’s younger daughter, Lindsay. Thank you all for your kind words. Cycling was Dad’s life-long passion and he was never happier than when out on his bike. He made lasting friendships through cycling and in recent years was President of the Ratae RC. He enjoyed the social side of the Club after he could no longer cycle. He will be greatly missed.
Dave Binks replied
Author
The photo is just as I remember him, Lindsay, even down to the LRC/Medella jersey! It was sad to see his health deteriorate in the latter few years, but it didn’t seem to affect his sense of happiness. A life-long cyclist in the true tradition of someone who really liked just riding his bike.
The first Time Trial star of the day I met. It was in a field on Pangbourne Lane. Being a Junior I was in awe but still remember that he took time out to talk to me and wish me all the best in my cycling future. I remember his nick name was “Digger”. RIP Paul.
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Paul was a true gentleman.Was a regular on the Wednesday run which met at the Durham Ox at 10.00 on the way to Sedgebrook or Margaret’s cafe at Redmile. This was in the 1990’s.Paul was a member of Willesden CC that held the 30 mile team competition record in 1954 that was not broken until 1963.RIP Paul.
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I remember Paul on the Wednesday runs to Sedgebrook & Redmile in the 90’s -he was good fun and always enjoyed a blast back after the cafe
AuthorI first saw Paul in the late 70s when he was riding the Leicestershire RC club events. He was, of course, well into the Vets category at that time. I knew nothing of his race pedigree when I commented on his wiggly line when racing. He just laughed and said he had always ridden like that. I said he would go faster if he rode in a straight line. Imagine my embarrassment when I found out how good a rider he had been! -
TTLEGENDS.ORG
Men Cyclists | Time Trial
Very sad news, Paul was such a nice man and a super cyclist ,with an immaculate pedalling action.condolences to the famiy
Rip Paul x
Oh that is a great shame. Have a lovely story about Paul circa 1967. I rode the Milk Race crit at Blackpool, a nocturne sponsored by Camping Gaz. Got home in Peterborough about 1am and at 6am I reported to the Sans Souci F1 25 tt. Shocked to see my gear mech crushed in boot of car. Paul the absolute gentleman proffered me his bike as he just finished and I had enough time to lower saddle (he was taller than me) and put my pedals on his cranks. Think I finished 5th that morning rudely beating Paul’s time. I then met up with again at Baz Clarkes funeral a few years ago. Great rider, nice guy RIP.
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That’s a shame, he used to come over and ride the wvw tens afew years back.I didn’t realise at the time what a great rider he’d been.RIP Paul
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Digger Baulch
Gladys Purdy writes:
It is with great regret that I have to report the death of Digger Baulch. I have known him for over 70 years. He was a great club mate. In the 1950s he finished in 2nd place in the Best All rounder competition, was part of the winning team that took the National 30 mile team record in 1954 (which wasn’t beaten until 1961) and he held most of the club records and riding with John Blumsden the tandem records too.
When he settled in Leicestershire he joined the Ratea and took on many of the posts needed in the successful running of the club.
He still maintained his connections with the Willesden however, and met up with the Old Timers section to enjoy a chat about “old times”.
R.I.P. Digger.
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A Virtual Reliability Ride
Harp RC came up with the great idea of a virtual Reliability Ride and Willesden CC, along with the other Chiltern Classic clubs, has been invited to join in.
“As we cannot run the Harp Hilly in it’s usual form we have set up a virtual event for the short 555km route on RGT Cycling. There are two events over the weekend of 30 / 31 January, a 2:30pm event on the Saturday and a 10:30am event on the Sunday.
The events are free to ride as RGT Cycling is free to join and it is free to ride events that have been set up on their ‘Magic Roads’
In case any of your members are interested the RGT Cycling events are:
Saturday, 30-Jan-2021 at 14:30:
http://app.rgtcycling.com/event?code=Q3EE0oqQV9
Sunday, 31-Jan-2021 at 10:30 :
http://app.rgtcycling.com/event?code=tCVA3xy2p5
best regards
Richard Hutt”
If you want to ride and need to install RGT then you need two apps, one on your phone and another on a PC/MAC/iPad. The web page that explains it and tells you what to do is https://www.rgtcycling.com/get-started/.
It might just be my PC, but when I tried a “direct” Windows install of the PC App it did not work, but using the Microsoft Store worked fine.
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RIDE 500km IN 8 DAYS FROM XMAS EVE TO NEW YEAR’S EVE FOR CHARITY
RIDE 500km IN 8 DAYS FROM XMAS EVE TO NEW YEAR’S EVE FOR CHARITY
Our friends at Westerley are organising a Christmas season event and they are inviting Willesden CC. Even if the full 500 is impractical, you can do a bit and give something for a very good cause.
This is what Christmas is all about, getting out on the road to play with your new toys and burning off some calories. Did anyone mention that the weather can be unpredictable? No worries, just ask Santa for a rain jacket and thermals. Even better, get a smart trainer and do all or some of the rides indoors!
The Festive 500 is designed to get us out on our bikes during the festive season holidays and started as a marketing ploy by Rapha. However, after 2019 Rapha decided not to award any of their sought after sew on patches to folks completing the challenge. So we have created our own version just for you.
Westerley CC’s Dave Morrison has combined a few things to rectify the Rapha retraction, and hopefully rectify a nasty disease along the way. Ride a Festive 500 for Harrison’s fund and raise money for research into Duchenne Disease and you can have one of these special badges. SIGN UP HERE
You may not have heard of Duchenne, it’s not the most prevalent disease, but it is a very nasty and cruel disease. It only affects boys, and kills most of them before adulthood. Victims are born with it but decline and wither away during their teens. There are no survivors. The pain is intensified by the fact that, as a rarer condition, public funds for research are directed at more prevalent diseases. This just adds to the despair endured by families with affected sons.
Dave has done a number of long distance rides to raise money into research for Duchenne with his friend film producer Nick Taussig (BAFTA nominated McQueen last year). Nick has two sons with Duchenne. Nick and Karla only found out when their second son was born, that the first already had this fatal disease.
So, whether you just want to ride, want a badge or want to help fund some research into this disease, why not sign up for the Festive 500 Challenge?
You can sign up with Harrison’s Fund, named after Harrison Smith, a Duchenne victim. It’s a small charity and your money will reach the front line, rather than get absorbed in big charity overheads. You can also link your STRAVA account so that your Kilometres are logged with the charity. It’s as easy as that, plus of course getting a few friends, relatives, clubmates and sympathisers to help you raise £500.
Westerley have a selection of local rides which you may choose to use to build up your distance. In fact, we are contemplating doing club rides using these routes over the holiday. You can also ride your own routes of course. But the real challenge can be the unpredictable weather…which may dictate how many kilometres you may choose to do on any given day. Non-members are welcome to join us on these rides but remember, if the weather is bad, unlike the Rapha non-patch version, the Harrison’s Fund version allows indoor rides! You are welcome to ride both challenges simultaneously but only the Harrison’s Fund version offers the finisher’s patch.
Here is our Westerley CC Festive Fayre:
Christmas Eve Ride 151km
Filler Fifty 50km
Westerley Xmas Fat Burner 85km
Wing Tring Thing 201km
Forty miles of fun 64km
PLUS The Box Hill New year’s Eve Fleche.
We suggest that routes are allocated to particular days nearer the dates, based on weather conditions and general consensus if group rides are the order of the day. We are also contemplating a ride to Box Hill on New Year’s Eve where Nick Taussig and his family will meet us will refreshments. Anyone can ride to Box Hill on the day from any start point, a Fleche /Arrows as Audax riders will know, is a ride starting anywhere with a common target, in this case Box Hill.
HOW TO SIGN UP
Once you click to register it will take you to a more detailed event page where you can complete your registration & it will automatically set up your fundraising page.
There is an option to link your Strava account to your fundraising page. You can then publish your rides to your page. Here is an example for you to see what it looks like
https://giving.harrisonsfund.com/pf/georgiana-robitu
Watch out for developments on www.Westerley.cc nearer the time for details of club rides.
Dave Morrison’s tips:
I’ve done the Festive 500 three times and tend to be weather watching all throughout Xmas. If Christmas Eve has nice weather I try and do a long ride to knock out as many kilometres as possible in case the rest of the week is miserable.
I get up early on Christmas morning and do a short urban ride around Harrow. You’ll find very little traffic about and can get back early to be with the family.
Similarly on Boxing day I get out for a ride as early as possible to be back in time for whatever is planned in the afternoon with the family (or football)
The following days I pick the length of ride according to the weather conditions.
I always have a short back up urban ride for really bad days, just to score some kilometres and avoid piling on the pressure towards the end.
But of course, it will be so much more easily planned with Harrison’s Fund as they allow indoor rides to count.
What’s stopping you? SIGN UP HERE
FOOTNOTE: The spirit of the Festive 500 has always been about getting out on the bike over Christmas and the New Year. However, in the modern world of smart trainers it seems a bit unfair that everyone needs to suffer all weathers so, subsequently, it was decided to allow participants to include indoor rides logged on Strava towards their total. This will also allow a few evening rides to count if you have family or work commitments. Whilst some may lament this shift in ‘derring-do’, we would suggest that anyone who wants to do all of their rides outside, still can. More importantly, it may help raise more to fight this deadly disease, which we are sure you’ll agree is far more important. Thanks for your support. If you can’t ride, please sponsor a mate.
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Pictures of the 1950 Willesden Dinner
Following up her chat with club members at the end of our Maidenhead mini golf championships, Janice Halter, Fred Everett’s daughter, forward some pictures to do with the club’s 1950 dinner to us. If you want to share reminiscences please email info@willesdencyclingclub.org.uk or use our facebook page.
Janice with her parents
The dinner cover
Results
Prize winners
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Chance encounter with the daughter of a longtime member, Fred Everett
Just after the club mini-golf championship, a couple on a walk came up to talk to us. Janice Halter is the daughter of a longtime member, Fred Everett. She sent the following message to the club yesterday.
On a walk along the Thames at Maidenhead last Sunday (11th October) we came across a group from Willesden Cycling Club at Jenners Riverside Gardens. I had to speak to them as my Dad – Fred Everett – was a very keen member of the club for a number of years and also their Treasurer for many years. One member – Ray Kelly – had certainly heard of my Dad and may have met him. I still have the many medals Dad won over the years including the Life Membership he received in 1968 for 21 years of continuous membership.
Ray mentioned the name of Gladys Purdy – a name I instantly recognised. Sadly Dad passed away in December 1996 and a few club members very kindly attended his funeral in Reading where we live ( Dad was in a care home nearby in Shiplake).
It’s good to know the club is still going.
Best Wishes to you all especially anyone who might have known my Dad or heard of him.
Good luck for the future
From Janice and Peter Halter.
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