We return for 2021  for our familiar tight and exciting crit race series.

Entries are almost closed for this coming Friday 23rd July. Men’s 3/4 is full and there are only a handful of places remaining in the men’s 2/3’s. Youth U16 is looking a bit sparse so if you are , or know any U16 riders get your entry in before Wednesday at midnight to be guaranteed a race and a podium finish. , Women’s 2/3/4 currently has 8 entries so if you want to earn those all valuable BC points and havnt entered yet then get in fast so you can make the number up to 10 riders on the line and everyone gets points.

Race 2 23rd July

Watch the 2019 Race promo

Aerial view of Hove Park Crits – pretty cool!

We will be able to return to group riding from the 29th March. We are still limited to maximum groups of 6 riders and must not meet or congregate in groups larger than that prior, during or after a ride. Sunday CaTi and Steady Social rides for the 4th April are live on LoveAdmin for booking now. Please don’t sign up if you are not going to come and if you cant make it please let us know so your spot can be released to the waiting list as they will no doubt be massively over subscribed.

Saturday rides will be posted soon.

Sunday Rides

We will be resuming our Sunday led rides for new and prospect members from Sunday 5^th July.

There will be a maximum of 10 places for the ‘Come & Try it’ and 10 places on the ‘Steady Social Rides’ on a Sunday and you need to sign up in advance on the google doc here. In order to add your name against the ride you will need to click on ‘Open with Google Sheets’ to enter your name, and contact details for your next of kin, and then close it again when you have finished. If you have any problems, please email chair@brightonmitre.co.uk with your name and next of kin contact details to book your place. If a place is available you will receive a confirmation email. The Sunday rides are prioritised for new/recently joined members and also prospect members who want to come along and try a ride before joining. Regular club members are being encouraged to self organise rides during this time.

We cannot accommodate any more than 5 riders plus a leader on any ride so when a ride is full please do not turn up, you will be refused a ride with the group. We will monitor demand and also any changes to government and British Cycling advice on group activities.

Saturday and Thursday night Rides

There will NOT be a return to organised Saturday or Thursday evening rides for club members until we can meet safely in larger groups. We realise how keen everyone (including us!) is to resume normal club rides, so we will obviously try to reintroduce these as soon as practically possible. Please use Facebook and your existing social networks to arrange meet ups and group rides amongst yourselves and do not use St Ann’s Wells Gardens to meet up for the time being.

Guidelines for all riders.

 Participants must not attend a ride or session if they have Covid-19 symptoms, have someone in their household who does and are in the extremely vulnerable category or if they have been asked to remain at home by the UK Government track and trace system. Stay local, cycle to your activity where possible and avoid public transport if you can.

You will see on the sheet that start times are staggered, please do not turn up early or late for your allocated ride so as to avoid more than the maximum allowable number to congregate.

There will be no sign on sheets on the day, you will need to submit your next of kin details when you sign up. Ride leaders will do a verbal safety briefing before you set off and all riders should conduct a pre-ride check of their bike. Do the M check.

Participants must practice good respiratory hygiene during the activity (i.e. coughing, sneezing into a tissue or the crook of an elbow and no snot-rocketing)

Ensure all those involved maintain social distancing at least 2 meters. As we know 2m is an arbitrary distance when it comes to fast moving cyclists so consider the need to leave greater than 2 meters depending on wind direction etc. Try to avoid drafting. Riding 2 m apart and 2 abreast will cause problems for other road users so consider the road and act sensibly. When slowing or stopping at lights or junctions riders must remain 2 meters apart.

Don’t share food, snacks, water bottles or handle each others bikes.

Carry hand sanitiser with you to use at any stops

FRANK BLAKE,  1930 – 2020

Very sadly, Frank, a life member of the club for at least five decades, passed away recently.  He joined the club in April 1945, when one had to be 16 years old to apply, by being economical with his age.  National Service saw him with the R.A.F. in Yorkshire and riding time trials with fields of over 200 riders.  After resuming a civilian life and marrying Sally, they moved to Suffolk Street in Hove and was the owner of the first car in the road.  Forty years later, he remarked how he had trouble finding a parking space in the same road.  He worked in Queens Road, Brighton in the 1960’s and 1970’s selling and repairing typewriters prior to starting a bike shop, Kingfisher Cycles, in St. James Street, Kemp Town in 1980.  This was a tough time for the trade and he did well to survive almost two years.  After that, he drove taxis until his retirement.

Frank raced in time trials in the early 1950’s including a 2-8 “50” and 4-32 “100” before stopping racing in order to care for his father who had carried a shrapnel wound from WW2 and latterly worked on the local buses.  Frank seemed proud that he never had to pay a fare when his father was the conductor.  In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Frank organised a popular 4-up team time trial around each April, running for several years.  He was the club’s secretary for many years, including the early 90’s, which were a lean time for clubs in general and the Mitre in particular had only some 30 members – it was said we could hold a committee meeting in a telephone box but the Mitre still managed to run a National 24 hours Championship in 1994.  Deservedly he was club President for several terms and, quite simply, without him the Mitre would not be in existence today.  He would always be found at club events until becoming poor of health, about three years ago, and every Wednesday evening during the track season he could be found at Preston Park dressing room corner cheering on the competitors.

Frank recently reached the finishing line of life and he will be greatly missed by his widow, Sally, and children Stephen, Martin and Simone, plus anyone that had the pleasure of knowing this very kind and genuine man.

AGM notice

Brighton Mitre CC will be holding its annual general meeting on Wednesday 26th February at 1930 at The Nightingale Room, Upstairs in the Grand Central Pub, Brighton. 

Please do come along and have a say in how your club is run, or just join us for a few beers and catch up with friends. We will keep the business side of the proceedings short and sweet, promise…

Agenda

1. Chairs welcome address & Review of 2019
2. Highlights of the year from each of the committee officers
3. Introduction to safeguarding in the club
4. Exceptional items for membership vote (Adoption of the club constitution) Please read the club constitution before coming along. you can find it here
5. Election of the Committee
6. AOB 

Committee roles up for re-election:

• Chair
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Club Ride Road Captain
• Road Race Officer
• TT and Hill Climb Officer
• Communications & Media Officer
• Women’s Development Officer
• Track Race Officer
• CycloCross Development Officer
• Membership Secretary
• Social Secretary
• Club Kit Officer
• Volunteer Coordinator

We are looking for an additional Social Secretary to aid with the organising of an ever increasing number of social activities and also a volunteer coordinator to help the event organisers throughout the year. 

Events are very time consuming to organise but volunteering is a relatively small time commitment to help in the running of club events.  This year we will also be honouring those volunteers who do give up their time with something of a treat… We look forward to seeing you all there