This Charity Ride is run by the Rotary Club of Mardyke Valley and is a regular item on the local calendar. It would be good to see as many club members there as possible – both as riders or as helpers in our club tent to advise interested parties about the club. It would also be nice to see as many non-members as possible.

Further details may be obtained from:

www.thurrockcyclemarathon.co.uk

or

http://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page.php?PgID=250490&ClubID=1419

• 10 Jun 2012 - Sustrans Family Ride: Davy Down to Rainham Marshes RSPB and back
• 8 Jul 2012 - Sustrans Family Ride: Ride around Rainham Marshes RSPB
• 12 Aug 2012 - Sustrans Family Ride: Grays Beach to Chafford Gorges and back
• 9 Sep 2012 - Sustrans Family Ride: Davy Down to Rainham Marshes RSPB and back

Click on an item for more detail.

Our first stop, albeit brief, was the Canvey Lake Local Nature Reserve.  At the east end of the lake sits the Oysterfleet Hotel which was built on the site of The Oysterfleet Country Club, home of Dr. Feelgood.

A short ride further on and we reach the Castle Point Transport Museum where we are shown round by Marian Pattern.  We all enjoyed the tour, learning about the history of some of the buses, viewing the exhibits and seeing the model railway.  I’m sure sitting on these old buses brought back memories for us all.

Castle Point Transport Museum

Back on the bikes we made our way down to the seafront for refreshments.  Sitting in the sunshine next to the sea wall we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

Tea and cake stop on the seafront

Seven teas, one Tango, four cakes, four ice-creams and a sausage sandwich later we were refuelled and ready to continue.  We made our way west along the sea wall and then turned off to join Thorney Bay Road.  Following Bob we road on to Roscommon Way.  The wind was against us down here but luckily just a light breeze.  We stopped to admire the Occidental Petroleum jetty at Holehaven Creek and then rode to the RSPB Nature Reserve at West Canvey Marsh.

A rough ride through the stony car-park and a quick lift of our bikes over the bank and we were on the smooth reserve path.  We stopped in the reserve to look out over the marsh and enjoy the scenery.

West Canvey Marsh

Once we left the nature reserve it was time to head back to the train station.  A rutted ride down the cycle path next to the Canvey Road, back over bridge and our journey was complete.

You can view the route we took on Strava.com

If you are interested in taking part in a future recreation ride then keep an eye out on this website.  Information about our next two rides can be find in the Event Calendar and here.

Saturday 26th May. ’Kent Ride’.
Due to the distance involved and the fact there will be some hills, this ride is suitable for the more experienced cyclists.
Ride Leader: David. Contact on: 07803662340.
Meet at Tilbury Landing Stage 10.00am.
We will cross over to Gravesend and cycle off-road for the first few miles to lower Higham before heading northwards passing through Cooling and Lower Halstow before reaching the Thames estuary at Allhallows on sea. Heading inland again we will make our way via Upnor to Rochester and back to Gravesend. This will be an all day ride of about 50 miles at a gentle pace of 8-10 miles per hour. There will be time for a few refreshment/comfort breaks along the route.

Saturday 16th June. Regents Canal & Central London.
This ride is suitable for moderate to experienced cyclists.
Ride Leaders: Bob & Jon. Contact on: 07778533633 or 07845928596
Meet at Grays Station 10.00am. Travel by train to Limehouse.
The ride will include cycle paths adjoining the canals and some roads. Riders must be able to cope with busy roads/cycle paths. The terrain being mostly flat with good surfaces means that all bikes are suitable for this ride. The distance is about 20/25 miles at a pace of 7-9 miles per hour.  It will be an all-day ride with a couple of refreshment/comfort breaks. The ride will include the areas of Camden Lock, Regents Park, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, The Mall and the Thames Embankment.

All of these events can also be found in the Event Calendar.

Please ensure that you are familiar with the recreation ride rules, before taking part.

Location: Orsett Churches Centre

The Club Membership Subscription is due on 1st January.
Please can you ensure that your subs get to me as soon as possible.

Please remember to bring payment or your cheque book to the first club meeting of the year at Orsett Churches
Centre.

Subscriptions are:

Individual          £ 20
Family               £ 30
Second Claim   £ 15

We are a small club with an urgent need to process club funds when they are due.
Please help by being prompt with membership subscriptions.

Noel Edwards
General Secretary

Ben Lamb showing club colours

Chapeau to l’Aigneau

Gateway Cycling are proud to congratulate Ben Lamb on his attainment of a contract for the coming year with Wilier / Live2Ride based in Frome, Somerset. Ben has been a member of Gateway Cycling for less than three years and has risen from having little knowledge of road  racing to his first major step on the way to a professional cycle racing career.

Led by former Olympian Ben Luckwell the Wilier / Live2Ride team are excited to announce its expansion to eleven riders with the signing of six new riders which include current Junior National Champion Dan Pearson to assist with building on the team’s success in 2011. All of the riders will be racing on the prestigious Italian Wilier Cento 1, equipped with a Campagnolo 11 speed Super Record Groupset, Fulcrum Racing Zero Wheels and Schwalbe Tyres. The team kit is provided by Kalas Sportswear, Met Helmets and Sunwise sun glasses. The stated aim for the team throughout 2012 is to compete in the top UK Road Races and Criteriums. The riders are excited and optimistic at success throughout the season and are looking forward to kicking the season off with The Perfs Pedal Race in February and Severn Bridge Road Race in March.

More information at:

http://www.wilierbikes.co.uk/wp-wilier/?cat=4

Out with the old and in with the new…

If you are a club member you will need to register to the site to be able to use all the functionality available.
You can register by either using the Register link in the ‘Log In’  box to the right of this message or by following this link.
If you are eager to go register then please make sure you come back and read the rest of this article after!

 This website has been been built to enable us to share our news and events with each other and the wider community.  And it NEEDS YOUR HELP!

We want your Gateway Cycling stories:

• taken part or going to take part in a cycling event?
• want to share some Gateway Cycling News?
• Photos or Video you want to share?
• Organising a race?

Anything that club members and especially non-club members would be interested in.

Our new home will let us tell the world what we are all about.  It doesn’t have to be a major event.  If you think last Sunday’s group ride is worth writing an article about we’ll publish it.  If you have photos or maps to add to it then all the better!

This is not only going to be a website about the club, the content will be written and managed by the club members.  There are two types of article on this site.  Pages and Posts.  Pages are for our static information, like who we are and how to contact us.  Posts are our news items, which we give focus to on our homepage.  The more often we add Post items the more interesting our site will become and the more visitors we will get. This will lead to more interest in becoming club members.

If you want to write a news article then let me know and we’ll give you the access to do this and any help or guidance you need.

Working with this kind of website will be new to many of you and likewise is also new to the admins.  We’ll be working together to make this website easier to use.  If you find a problem or want to suggest an improvement then please let us know at webmaster@gatewaycycling.org.uk.

I think the conditions were different for Russell since he started some time before everyone else to set a benchmark. It is a well known fact that the density of air is much greater before 10am than after.

Thanks guys for taking part, thanks to Chris Edwards for organising it and thanks to the weather for being just right.

Little Warley Hill Climb Results

You can find more images for this event on the flickr photo sharing website.

From there we rode along the bumpy off road cycle lane up to Lower Higham before heading northwards to the bird sanctuary near Cliffe.
We had a short stop to admire the views over the Thames estuary before cycling to Cliffe  with another short stop to look around this picturesque village.
Retuning to Lower Higham. where we decided to return to Gravesend via a different route. It was not too long before we were enjoying much needed refreshments at a cafe along the riverside promenade in Gravesend before taking the ferry back to Tilbury.

All told it was a ride of just under 20 miles at an average pace of 9mph.