Category: NCCC News

MINUTES FROM COMMITTEE MEETING OF NORTH COTSWOLD CYCLING CLUB: 7PM ON THE 3rd

NOVEMBER 2025 REVOLUTION CAFÉ, STOW ON THE WOLD

Introductions & Apologies

Attendees: Jeremy Griffiths, Henry Eve, James Barlow, Rachel Davies, Marcus Hearle, Simon Taylor, Laura Baskeyfield, Andrew Bray, Martin Lewis (Ride Captain), Simon Jones, Will Biggart, Simon Richards, Martin Angell.

Apologies: Paul Flint, James Garstin

Chairman – Jeremy Griffiths (JG)

Last committee meeting before the AGM on the 23rd November, as to which a number have comms have been sent out. All committee roles are available, should any club member wish to stand.

However, the current chairman, treasurer, youth chair and social secretary have all indicated they will not be re-standing and these positions will be vacant.

JG to confirm availability of Dekomte for the

AGM to take place and send out the agenda. A number of items belonging to NCCC (incl. trophies, water containers, paperwork, clothing) from the closure of Cotswold Cycles to be collected and stored

by the existing committee members.

JG noted he was out of touch with the current physical activities taking place within the club and this was a good time for him to hand over the baton to someone else.

Secretary – Laura Baskeyfield (LB)

Expecting to run the ladies C250K again in January 2026. LB to explore options for the rides to remain running from Moreton in Marsh. WB to provide an introduction to the team at the White Hart.

The monthly ladies ride are still well attended, but it had been noted that no access to toilets at the start of the rides was proving difficult for some. LB to approach Jake / Dekomte with regards to potentially gaining a key for access for these particular rides.

Youth Secretary – James Garstin (JG)

No update from contact at Fire Service College, but JG will follow-up.

JB had expressed that a Group 2 rider (Mike ?) may be happy to take on this role. ST offered to discuss this with him during a club ride.

Ride Captain – Martin Lewis (ML)

Rides seem to be well attended by club members, despite the relocation, although numbers generally determined by the weather. It was noted that group 2 had been a little thin on the ground.

After discussion with the committee there did not seem to be any clear reason for this, other than holidays etc. ML proposed to introduce the mud guard rule for the upcoming weekends rides, given

that road conditions were starting to deteriorate. The committee were in agreement with this.

Ride leaders would be asked to help to enforce this rule amongst the clubs riders.

Stopping at the White Hart on Sunday rides had been working well, although was taking a little organising in terms of orders. WB offered to check in with the pub and check everything was running smoothly on their side. Saturday rides had been stopping at Bakery on the marsh, and currently this format was running smoothly for club rides with the Bakery also offering 10% off.

TY Cycles have offered to stock the NCCC mudguard extenders, although a payment message needs to be agreed with them – perhaps a QR code. ML will order some more for purchase at the AGM.

SJ confirmed that club kit orders will also be delivered to TY Cycles for collection, in agreement with them.

Treasurer – Marcus Hearle (MH)

Clubs balance stands at £8,132. Up slightly due to the increase in member fees and due to not running the picnic ride or sponsoring a young rider in 2025.

Payment to British Cycling for 2026 affiliation had been made and confirmed. However, NCCC no longer has a club coach. AB reminded the committee on the lengthy process for obtaining this qualification, and asked that this be considered when looking at future Go-Ride opportunities.

As part of the handover process, ML will run through a 5-year financial projection for the club.

Race Secretary – Henry Eve (HE)

Unfortunately the planned away day to Wales did not happened, but will look to postpone this until 2026 when the weather is likely to be better. JG suggested that this happened early in the year, then could be rolled out further in 2026 if successful.

General Committee:

James Barlow

No longer publishing Tuesday winter ride group, there is an internal WhatsApp group should anyone wish to join.

AOB:

Chairmans closing remarks: In the coming months, the committee will need to work hard to maintain the club’s membership to the numbers at what they currently are.

NCCC had built a great facility alongside Cotswold Cycles / Revolution café, but it is the people, not the venue that have

driven the numbers to what they are. There is no doubt that the club can continue to grow without Cotswold Cycles, but it should not be a given that we keep on adding members each year and the committee will need to work hard and generate new initiatives in order to not see a decline in numbers.

Next Meeting / AGM = Sunday 23rd November @ Dekomte, Moreton-in-Marsh

What an absolutely fantastic Heritage Ride today! These monthly bonus rides are proving to be very popular and today was another example with a fab turnout of 13 club members taking part.

Today’s ride was a tour around some wonderful War Memorials which the members found very interesting and at times it was nice to take a moment to reflect and remember those many people that were sadly lost.

Another bonus today was the glorious sunny autumn morning that we had throughout the entire ride.

The three fascinating locations are below, please do check them out they’re all most fascinating places in their own right 👇

Farringdon Old Town Hall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Town_Hall,_Faringdon

13th Century Buscot St Mary Church

https://ohct.org.uk/church/buscot-st-mary/

Westwell War Loot Memorial

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westwell_War_Memorial

This ride really was brimming with history so rather than make a very long post we’ve added the link from our website below for more detailed information of the fascinating places that we visited on our wonderful day of riding.

https://northcotswoldcc.org.uk/event/isobels-war-memorial-heritage-ride/

As mentioned it was purposely arranged to commemorate and reflect on the many lost during the wars.

The ride was approximately 41 miles today with 2,080 miles of climbing and started at 9.00am depart from Milton-under-Wychwood village green.

Oh yes we almost forgot!

The refreshment stop today was the Lynwood & Co Cafe in Lechlade where I can confirm some delicious cakes, bakes and drinks were very much enjoyed by the group.

https://www.lynwoodandco.com/

Another huge NCCC shout out once again to Isobel Hunter for not only putting all our Heritage Rides together for us but leading the rides too.

Isobel plans all of our Heritage Rides for us throughout the year.

Her work is all voluntary and we’re so fortunate to have such brilliant enthusiastic members like Isobel, we’re truly grateful to her for everything that she does for our us.

Below are some sample pictures of today’s fascinating ride.

👀 Watch out for the next fantastic Heritage Rides to Christmas Corner – Fancy Dress optional!

Find out more information about joining visit our website link below .

Be great to see you!

www.northcotswoldcc.org.uk

Find us on the following links:

Instagram www.instagram.com/northcotswoldcycling/

Facebook www.fb.com/NorthCotswoldCC

Strava https://strava.com/clubs/4582

Website www.northcotswoldcc.org.uk

NCCC members explore Mallorca!

Flying the NCCC flag whilst sporting their club kit last week in Mallorca were fab members Alan, Carrie, Challise, Victoria, Mel S and Mel W as they enjoyed the varied cycling that Mallorca has to offer: dramatic coastal views, turquoise coves, iconic climbs, churches, monasteries, switchbacks through pine forests, and spinning through old lanes criss-crossing the flatter agricultural areas.

A few highlights:

*Cap de Formentor* (and the infamous lighthouse)

Distance: ~40 km round trip

Elevation Gain: ~960 m

The initial climb to Coll de la Creueta is approx. 4km long  @ 5% gradient, there are some steeper sections, up to 12%.

*Sa Batalla* (and the infamous Repsol garage)

Length: ~7.8 km

Elevation Gain: ~395 m

Average Gradient: ~5%

The group’s favourite ride: switchbacks through pine forests, followed by expansive views over the valley before the final push up a series of 180-degree bends. And then the long descent via Coll de Femenia to Port de Pollença.

*Puig de Santa Magdalena*

Length: 4 km (depending on start point)

Elevation Gain: 196 m

Average Gradient: 5%

Max Gradient: Up to 13.5% in short sections

A few other climbs were ‘bagged’ including Coll d’Honor (7km, 390m elevation gain, 6% average gradient, the last km includes tight hairpins and gradient over 10%).

The intrepid group of NCCC members quoted. “Sa Calobra is top of the list for next time!”

The group chose their routes well and somehow dodged almost all the showers earlier in the week! It was predominately blue sky and sunshine the last few days in Mallorca and a nice 23 degrees.

Below are some sample pics that the group have kindly shared with us of the great time they all had in Mallorca, check out the fab picture of Mel W and Carrie on the final bends up to the famous lighthouse climb (captured by Mel S)

So, on behalf of all your buddies at NCCC a huge well done to all of our fab members who completed their amazing challenges last week.

ISOBEL’S MONTHLY HERITAGE RIDE 

It was another most interesting and enjoyable club Heritage Ride today which once again proved to be another real treat for the members that took part!

This month’s ride headed out to the Charterville Allotments at Minster Lovell and the Swedish Timber Houses in Temple Guiting.

The Charterville Allotments were built by the Chartists in the 1840s, and the Swedish Timber Houses were built in the 1940s from flat packs.

Both incredibly fascinating places to visit and more information can be found on the links below .

https://minsterlovell-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MLPlanningPolicyStatement2020.pdf

https://www.prefabmuseum.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/SWEDISH-PRE-FABS-Location-List-115.pdf

The ride was approximately 49 miles today with 3,018 miles of climbing. It started at 9.00am depart from Milton-under-Wychwood village green.

The cafe stop was at the fabulous Old Post Office in Guiting Power.
 Another huge NCCC shout out once again to Isobel Hunter for not only putting all our Heritage Rides together for us but leading the rides too .

Below are some sample pictures of today’s fascinating ride.

Watch out for more of our fantastic Heritage Rides before the end of the year which include a War Memorial Ride and a visit to Christmas Corner 

Here’s your chance with the following vacant roles

 

Here’s some great tips for everyone.

Below is where you can have your bikes checked and prepared for the months ahead and ensured that you’ll get the best advice possible!

TY Cycles

telephone 01608 238150

website https://www.tycycles.co.uk/email

Address:
Units 39 & 40

The Spinney

Elmsfield Industrial Estate

Worcester Road

Chipping Norton

Oxfordshire 

OX75XL

Hi all, due to high winds predicted for tomorrow, I’m afraid all Saturday club rides are cancelled.

Continue reading“All Saturday Rides Cancelled this Weekend!”

Hi everyone here’s your chance to be part of a great team. We’ve got some great opportunities coming up .

Watch out for full information via email shortly.

 

Hi everyone, this is not one of our normal club ride event posts but something that we very much wanted to share with all of our friends, followers and supporters.

We received a most touching, moving and powerful message from one of our new female members recently and with her permission we wanted to share this with you.

Di Kavanagh joined our cycling club earlier this year.

Her story below is very sad, very humbling and incredibly inspirational especially for women cyclists and believe us Di is a real  inspiration and extremely positive person.

As a club we have a fabulous thriving women’s section that represents over 30% of our total memberships. We make great efforts to build a strong inclusive and supportive environment for everyone.

So please if you could read this wonderful message and even better check out Di’s fundraising link below to read more about Di and her husband Michael’s story please do so, of course any donations would be even more appreciated but this post really is about sharing a most amazing story of two amazing parents . Here’s the link below.

https://www.givewheel.com/fundraising/9936/the-eleanor-challenge/

Here’s Di’s message.

A quick thank you to the club! We moved to the Cotswolds in march following the tragic and sudden death of our two year old daughter in January. I was lost with no routine, but knew I enjoyed cycling (on a peloton!!) and decided to sign up for London to Paris challenge to give myself something to work towards this year and raise money for child bereavement charities in the process. This club has been so warm and welcoming, and taught me how to road cycle. It’s been a joy to learn to ride at a comfortable pace and improve my technique with such great people. 

Thank you to Tom Yeatman⁩ at TY Cycles (link below) who has been incredible at getting me kitted up and having lots of conversations about padded shorts and chammy cream (!!) and my excellent bike fit. Again blessed to have such a wonderful cycling shop on my doorstep with professional knowledgable people giving great advice.

https://www.tycycles.co.uk/

I did the London to Paris! 350 miles in 4 days, hilly and very windy. It was tough but kept pedalling, and pretty darn proud of myself! So just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your support, youve been amazing and look forward to joining on a club ride after my legs have recovered xx

Below is a picture of Di after completing her incredible challenge in Paris.

MINUTES FROM COMMITTEE MEETING OF NORTH COTSWOLD CYCLING CLUB: 7PM ON THE 15TH

SEPTEMBER 2025 REVOLUTION CAFÉ, STOW ON THE WOLD

Attendees: Jeremy Griffiths, Henry Eve, James Barlow, Rachel Davies, Marcus Hearle, Simon Taylor,

Laura Baskeyfield, Andrew Bray, Martin Lewis (Ride Captain), Paul Flint, James Garstin, Daniel Bell

Apologies: Simon Jones, Will Biggart, Simon Richards

Chairman – Jeremy Griffiths (JG)

JG commented it was great to see membership numbers continue to grow and the club moving in a positive direction despite the closure of Cotswold Cycles. Unfortunately the picnic ride did not go ahead due to several factors, JG apologised for this as due to the time of year it was unlikely to happen now.

JG also expressed his thanks to Jake Waterhouse at Dekomte for offering the building / parking facilities as a base for club rides. This option had allowed the club to move forwards, with rides operating as normal and minimal change following this format. JG will continue to explore options for a café as an end destination, and will meet with Alex @ Bakery on the Marsh next week.

JG announced that he would be happy to step down as Chair at the next AGM if there was a volunteer that was elected into position. He noted that bringing in new people also bought in fresh ideas and a different perspective, which is positive for both the committee and the club.

Treasurer – Marcus Hearle (MH)

Clubs balance stands at £8,208. Funds are a little higher than usual as the club has spent less due to

not hosting the picnic ride or sponsoring a young rider this year. MH also stated that he was happy to stand down from the treasurers position on the basis at the upcoming AGM, provided someone volunteered and was elected into the role.

MH stated that his week’s gravel ride would be the last one of the year due to the shorter daylight hours.

Social Secretary – Paul Flint (PF)

PF provided an update on the British Cycling South Meeting held in July. NCCC presented on Women’s cycling alongside club representatives from Poole, Swindon and Cheltenham. PF offered to share the slides with anyone that was interested.

Representation of NCCC on social media channels is at an all time high. The recent post highlighting TY Cycles offers generated over 1.5K views and upwards of 68 interactions. Not all social media posts have been about club rides, PF stated that he had tried to promote the clubs inclusivity. This has resulted in interactions across all age groups and genders and with NCCC membership at an all time high of 227 members. PF had also been in touch with one of the NCCC members who had recently posted in the club’s WhatsApp with regards to promoting a charity and the reasons why she is raising money for them. PF will try and link them with British Cycling South to potentially promote this. The committee agreed that Paul has done a great job of social secretary and promoting the club.

With the upcoming AGM, PF wanted to agree on a date to ensure communications were sent out as early as possible. The committee agreed this would be held before the club ride on Sunday 23rd November. The committee agreed to actively push the AGM to ensure that all club members were aware it was taking place. In parallel, PF will put together a summary of all committee roles and vacant positions for distribution amongst club members to encourage them to consider taking up a committee role.

Ride Captain – (ML)

Club rides had been extremely well supported with lots of rides going out regularly throughout the summer. Recent “one-off” rides, such as the Tour of Britian and Isabelle’s Heritage ride had been popular and offered something different to the usual club rides. Current set-up at Dekomte was working well so far and despite the change of weather, still getting a good turnout. The “shed”which currently holds the first aid kit will be moved round to the front of the Dekomte building. ML noted that despite the large number of riders some of the groups were still struggling for ride leaders despite the ride leader training course.

LB will send a reminder to all those who went encouraging them to put their names on the ride on the spreadsheet.

Implementation of the mudguard rule was imminent! ML offered to speak to Tom and Rob at TY Cycles with regards to holding stock of the NCCC Mudguard extenders.

ML stated he was happy to stay on as Ride Captain at the next AGM.

Youth Secretary – James Garstin (JG)

Still lots to do with regards to getting Go-Ride up and running. JG apologised for not being able to give this as much time as originally anticipated and will see if other club members would like to step forwards ahead of the next AGM and the lead the charge. Now the Fire Service College is back open to public (i.e Parkrun) this could be an option for a location.

JG raised the issue of group discipline within the club rides, especially as the club had grown in size and the groups were larger. It was noted that as a club, we don’t often ride as tightly as we can / call

out etc. The committee agreed that the ride captain would brief riders at the start to encourage better discipline and each group would nominate a ride leader for the ride.
The ride leader would be responsible for mandating discipline within the group and ensuring the advertised pace and group remained together.

Secretary – Laura Baskeyfield (LB)

Given the closure of Cotswold Cycles the club would need to find a new location for the C250K series continue. LB indicated the preference would be to remain in Moreton as the format for the routes had been established and the location was central for a lot of riders. Will look to see how the discussions with Bakery on the Marsh go before making any decisions.LB indicated she was happy to stand down from the secretary role at the next AGM should someone wish to stand. However, would like to stay on the committee from a women’s ride perspective.

Race Secretary – Henry Eve (HE)

HE wanted to organise a trip to Wales before the winter season kicked in. Date to be agreed, but likely October / November timeframe. MH offered to support him on this.

General Committee

Simon Taylor (ST)

This years longer rides and been successful with the decent weather that we have had. Overall the format had worked well and Simon had proposed running them again next year starting one month earlier. This would allow more day light as we got closer to the end of the year and would fit in 6 rides over the course of the year.

James Barlow (JB)

JB agreed with the points that JG had made with regards to ride discipline and was in agreement that a designated ride leader should take responsibility to instil etiquette within the group. JB also suggested that we should encourage all riders to take a turn at the front, which MH agreed should be best practice. There was a long discussion on both points, but JG noted that this should all fall under the ride leader to manage the group effectively.

JB commented that this years chain gang and paceline rides had been good and well attended. JB proposed a winter training ride to be held on a Tuesday in replacement of the paceline. Route is still TBD, but possibly from Shipston on Stour as the roads were a little better. Given that most riders would likely drive to the start, the location of the winter training ride didn’t seem to matter.

JB also commented on future club trips (i.e Mallorca) , JG said this could happen but someone would need to take the lead on organising.

AOB

1. There was an inaccuracy reported in the last meeting minutes (07/07/2025). Ian had made contact with the club with regards to long standing committee members, but it was reported that there was no proposal to change anything. This is incorrect, and the proposal to limit terms in any one role to 3-4 years had been put forward.

The committee agreed with the upcoming AGM and likelihood of new committee members this proposal would be discussed in future meetings. JG stated that limiting the term of committee roles is difficult as people need to be prepared to step up and put themselves forward and historically this hadn’t happened.

2. It had been noted by a club member that the speeds for the two Saturday café rides had changed from 15-16mph and 16-18mph to 14-16mph and 16-18mph. This had been discussed between committee members and changed to align with speeds across other group rides within the club. It had been suggested that we run three groups on the café ride to align with Sunday group 2,3 and 4 rides due to the popularity and number of riders turning up.

The committee agreed that moving forwards that Saturday café rides won’t be amalgamated and two groups will be run due to difficulty in finding ride leaders for group 4 pace. The Saturday café ride will consist of two groups; group A (group 2 speed, 16-18mph) and group

B (group 3 speed, 14-16mph). If there are riders turning up and potentially struggling outside of the advertised speeds, the designated ride leader of the group (or committee member) will offer guidance and steer that member to the most appropriate club ride to match their ability.

Next Meeting = 7pm Monday 3rd November @ Revolution Café, Stow

AGM = 9am Sunday 23rd November @ Dekomte, Moreton in Marsh