Winter Start times

[ron b]

Winter start times are set in Club rules, because of bad light, especially for those riding in from out lying villages. If a new person turns up, they have a choice of three rides. What time do they turn up this Sunday, 8 30, 9 or 9 30, it's too cold to hang about waiting to see if any Amblers turn up at 9 30. Can we stick to one start time please.

[Andy H]

Rules state that club runs are organised at discretion of captains and members.

19. Club Runs
Club Runs will be arranged at the discretion of members, with Club Captains appointed or elected to organise and control such matters appertaining to the behaviour of members on such club runs.
Members MUST observe and obey the Club Captain of the day. On club runs from October 1st to March 1st inclusive, mudguards MUST be fitted to ALL bikes.
The management committee shall decide rules and regulations of club runs.

The forum posts have been read over 300 times so I think that's enough notice.
I can't see any 'official' start times elsewhere on site

[ron b]

Just a thought, I was talking to a potential new member at the Café on Friday, She asked what time we leave, I gave her the wrong info, my mistake, but we really have to take riders safety into account, riding in bad light is not highly recommended. I think a consistent start time and the same start time for all groups would be better for the club. Just read Rule 19, so who decided since very early on that the rides start at any given time.

[RichardB]

Who's going out at 8-30?
Not sure why the start time goes back to 9-30 in the first place? It is the shortest day of the year next week and the light doesn't seem to be an issue for a 9am start.

[ron b]

Dave W is the first to post the December and January 0930 start times on the Dec 4th ride, it was then copied by Mark for the slower group. Somebody must have mentioned it, it has happened since way back, so will someone please post who made up this rule. One scenario, a new young rider asks a OVW member on a Friday "what time do the rides leave and from where" the answer in summer Physiques in Brackla at 0900, 0930 in December and January. The captains cannot change start times at such short notice. We must be consistent with our meeting times and the start places we lose riders during the rides, we don't want to start losing them before. This is Ogmore Valley Wheelers.

[Tom]

It was agreed some years ago Richard as we had a number of regulars riding to the Triangle from Pontycun/Porthcawl etc and they weren't able to get there in time unless they left before official lights off time(or whatever the opposite of lighting up is)-Sunrise on Monday was 8.12 and will get later yet-it's obviously much lighter on some days than others and this step was generally felt to be responsible with regard to members safety

[Teresa]

The website states that times may vary in the winter, and to check the message boards. 

It says to check the message board on the Amblers, Chasers and Pacers information.

There is even a handy link to take you to the message board.

[ron b]

A rider cannot be expected to check the start time at 8 pm on a Saturday night. We need a little consistency.

[Andy H]

I don't see how riding to start of a club run is any different to commuting, chain gang or any other type of night riding. Surely you just needs lights and high viz/reflective clothing.
Avoiding an early morning freeze I can understand but that has led to rides starting later in the morning on an ad hoc basis.
As a final point it is only on rare occasions that the start time is varied.

[Andy H]

Why not, it takes seconds to check on computer or phone

[ron b]

Some people do not have access to their own computer and are unable to check at the last minute. If we had to use lights to get to club runs it would increase the chances of an accident, riding on the roads in daylight is bad enough. Many riders do not have the luxury of owning a car big enough to transport a bike to the Triangle, some members don't even drive. My last point is, members pay money and are entitled to attend a club ride, do they have to turn up in the rain at the earliest and wait until a suitable group turns leaves. Some times we have had a large turn out in the summer rides and perhaps a new rider has monitored his speedo and is confident he can ride at the higher speed of the of Ambler or even Pacer Group. After careful consideration I took the rider out with the 25er's, I reset his speedo to MPH at the Velo. Had he turned up at the earlier Pacers start time we would have lost him. Merry Christmas everyone.

[Tom]

I'm fairly relaxed about this Andy but I think the point was that commuting etc is the individual's choice-if we didn't vary the start time we'd be forcing them to ride in the dark to participate in Club Rides

[Andy H]

All valid points but this is the first variation in time since the pacers did an early start in August. The start time is 'normally' 9:00 or 9:30 but as the rules state is for the members and club captains to decide, with the emphasis on rules
See some of you in the morning!