APM and the bling award
Findon Gentlemen’s Cycling Club held our annual planning meeting on Friday 5th January.
Libations commenced at the bar in the Findon Manor Hotel with excellent pints of Sussex bitter being savoured. A hushed silence came over the group as Team Cartographer, Mr P Topley, then announced (in no particular order) each Gentleman’s number of rides during the previous year, leading to our Team Chaplain, Zachary Allen, yet again being presented with the much coveted “Bling Award”. Stats are below showing that Rev Allen was out for 50 Saturday rides out of 52 in the year climbing an impressive 1.9 Everests, closely followed by Mr Mead with a total of 47 Saturday rides.
This led to a serious (!) discussion of the rules of the Bling award, which having been relaxed to cope with Covid will be tightened up for 2023 to those who join the Saturday peloton or those who ride on Saturday mornings abroad – the emerging effects of Sussex bitter left an uncertain outcome on the definition of “abroad”.
As usual full reports of Saturday rides are reported within this blog – see pages on the right – with records of distances and heights climbed as well as TAMITS (incidents for which “There Is A Medal In There Somewhere”, possibly. Medals are awarded at the Not-Gala-Night.
Fully refreshed Gentlemen then moved on to the Tajdar Restaurant within the village for the APM itself and the APM commenced while tasty victuals and libations were ordered. With much of the usual interruptions, diversions, changes and calls for “one meeting” the revised calendar for 2023 was knocked into shape and is now to be found on the FGCC website in the “Events” section.
Another quality meal was enjoyed along with gallons of Indian beer and Indian wine (aka water) and whilst some retired home others retired to the Village House for post-prandial beverages during which Mr K threw down the gauntlet for Gentlemen to join him on the next morning’s ride 08.00am ride with foul weather forecasted. In the event 5 gentlemen turned up for the ride but Mr K was nowhere to be seen – good example of a TAMITS.