The Findon Gentlemen's Cycling Club

Chairman of the school governors reports that the FGCC Monarch’s Way ride has raised more than £600 with hopefully more coming in as articles are published in local press. As previously reported this will go towards playground markings which are desperately needing improvement.

Mr Topley ensures that an environmentally friendly FGCC sign is seen in the Rockies;

FGCC logo in the rockies

Another splendid annual gathering of the FGCC was held at the Village House Inn on Friday 1st February, with our hosts, Paul and Amy, and chef, Did organising a choice of delicious Thai curry all washed down with gallons of excellent Harveys bitter in the restaurant. Whilst there was a moment of reflection on the demise of our usual NGN location, the Gurkha Tandoori at Thomas a Becket following the fire there and a wish for their recovery, all had a hilarious and entertaining evening naturally focused on the serious matter of “celebrating and commemorating such feats, exploits, alarums and excursions as have befallen, overtaken or blessed the assembled host” (as the invitation carefully crafted by Mr Topley had stated).
In a break with tradition the privilege and duty to be the first to propose a toast and decorate his chosen colleague fell upon Team Chaplain, the later consequence being an interruption to the sequence, though the continuous flow of Sussex bitter ensured that most were unaware of what had happened. A series of fine awards were presented, from the “Derriere Mal Anusol” award for one member’s statement at the end of one day’s riding in France to the effect that “my arse knows it has been for a long ride” to “The Faffing Tsar smelling the roses” award for another member for taking almost 40 minutes to fix a puncture. As ever the medals list is being updated as a record of the fine achievements of gentlemen of the FGCC.
There was no break in tradition when it came to toasting the FGCC, it happening every time the club was mentioned in speeches and along with the usual heckling and banter made for a thoroughly enjoyable and companionable evening, thanks to all.

Not-Gala-Night dinner speeches

NGN dinner speeches

Another successful planning meeting held in the Tajdar followed by a nightcap at the Village House.

The first item on the agenda was the hotly contested bling award for attendance on rides, with statistics meticulously collected, prepared and presented by Mr Topley. Keeping everyone on tenterhooks Mr Topley advised the number of rides, total distance and heights climbed in ascending order, finally revealing that the latest winner of this coveted award was Mr Thomas, retrieving it back from Mr Kruger (who probably would have retained the award had he not been involved in so much regime change around the world during the year). The runner up was Mr Roche who had apparently climbed around 17,000ft more than Mr Thomas, leading to debate about the need for algorithms to be included in the detailed calculations for the award:

2018 FGCC rides stats

Presentation of the Bling award

The next item was the long ride for 2019. Mr Kersley had undertaken extensive and impressive research into a ride on the Oxford Ridgeway (aka the Halloumi ride) and after some debate it was agreed that this would take place in April rather than May. A show of hands indicated that there would be around 6 or 7 up for the ride and TK agreed to continue to be the Project Manager.

The remainder of the calendar was completed in time for the arrival of the meal – yes it took that long – and the calendar updated and posted on the website prior to the next morning’s ride – see FGCC 2019 calendar.

Welcome to the weblog for the Findon Gentlemens’ Cycling Club.
The blog pages report on all the rides for each month, with separate pages for each of the major event rides.
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