February . . . . . . cold, dark and miserable. For many, a time huddle up to the NetFlix backlog and hide away from the cold. Not for the Phoenix though. February is the month where the regeneration begins, celebrated again in the ostentatious surroundings of Tyrells Wood Golf Club – the setting for the annual club dinner dance. The Solar Bird was summoned from the ashes and duly rose from the flames of 56 candles. A new season keenly anticipated – the old one honoured and the trophies distributed.
Jake and Simon were deservedly awarded lifetime membership in front of an audience containing the largest ever recorded gathering of Powneys. Suggestions for the collective noun for a gathering of Pownii is welcome. At one point the band had a Brian playing drums, another was on the lead guitar and yet another El Presidente on the vocals ploughing through the Osmonds back catalogue.
Among the trophies stood the Rawson Shield – back home – ours once more to defend. With this defence in mind, please clear the week-end of 23rd and 24th March and see as many able bodied riders on the start line for the SCCU Sporting 10 and Sporting 25. The courses are Hilly – levelling the playing field between the road bikes and the skin-suited, pointy heads (ironically). The ten is held on Saturday and kicks off at a reasonable time in the afternoon. For those who prefer a more typical TT experience, the twenty five is held Sunday morning. All Phoenix entrants gain points towards the Rawson Shield competition.
Please register at the CTT web site here, the search facility is reasonably intuitive, drop me a note should you need any further assistance:
https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk
If an early season newsletter were to go our without mention of the CTC Hilly 50 my life would not be worth living. Suffice to say – look for a man in a hat at Rykers car park around 09:30AM on 2nd March. Prepare to have a tenner in cash for a worthy cause and in return - you gain some early season hilly miles. Follow the link for details: http://swlondonctc.wixsite.com/ctcswlondon/hilly-50k
Safe riding . . . . .