A fantastic 42 riders took part in last weekends rides across both Saturday and Sunday. Thank you all for your support and willingness to ride under all the new restrictions.
We continue to learn each week and review/update the protocols and risk assessment accordingly. One of the key recommendations is that everyone should wear a neck buff for those emergency situations, such as swallowing a fly, where rapid access to something to cough into is needed.
As we get used to these new protocols, please ensure you carry your membership card, face covering and hand sanitiser as a bare minimum.
As we will meet in Peoples’ Park again, please ensure you do not cycle in the park and be respectful of other users of the park.
Do not gather on pathways as this causes others issues in trying to pass us.
You must not take part in any club ride if you feel unwell, have any Covid-19 symptoms or suspect that you may have been exposed to someone who has, or if you live or work with someone who has started self-isolating in the last 14 days. This is the primary means of not infecting other riders or volunteers and must be adhered to.
As a club we have prepared a new set of ride protocols which must be read by all members and particularly those wishing to take part in weekend rides. Link to New COVID-19 Ride Protocols
Before the Weekend Ride
1) There will be no “on the day” entry to any weekend rides until further notice. We have to manage the size of the groups as per government social distancing guidelines and Ride Leader availability
2) For the foreseeable future only club members will be allowed to go on club rides.
3) All members wishing to ride will have to complete an online registration form, the link for which will be published here on the website, on the club’s Facebook group.
Pre Registration Link for July 18th and 19th
3) Pre-registration will be open from the Tuesday before the weekend in question and will close Friday at 10am for Saturday rides and Saturday 10am for Sunday rides. Late submissions will not be accepted.
4) If you have pre-registered but are unable to ride, you MUST email rideleader@banburystar.co.uk and president@banburystar.co.uk as soon as you know to allow your reserved place to be assigned to another rider. Failing to do this and not turning up may prevent you from being accepted on future weekend rides.
5) If more than the permitted number of riders have registered, the Ride Secretary will allocate spaces by randomising the names on the list using the Google Sheets RANDBETWEEN function and select the top riders based on this random order. It will not be a ‘first come, first served’ approach and this will then be published back to the event.
6) You will be notified in advance if your registration has not been successful due to over-subscription. Unfortunately Riders must be prepared on occasions to miss out if there are too many people for a group and the Ride Leaders will not lead oversized groups. Please do not turn up “just in case”.
7) All club rides will now meet at the People’s Park, at the Bath Road entrance
On the Ride
Whilst on the ride there are a number of new protocols that have been introduced for riders, officials and general public safety which must be followed. It is your responsibility to ensure you understand these and abide by them. Your Ride Leader will remind you of them before and during the rides. Failure to comply will result in removal from the group and potential exclusion from future rides. Link to the new protocols can be found here
Some of the key protocols are:
1) Social distancing must be maintained throughout the ride and at the coffee stop
2) All riders must bring the necessary PPE as defined by the Government
3) Absolutely no spitting or nose clearing by anyone will be tolerated unless it’s into a tissue
Summary
Your familiarisation, understanding and cooperation with these new rules is both appreciated and essential if we are to comply with the Government’s legislation, British Cycling guidance and club rules.
The changes may seem onerous but are required if we want to return to some kind of club rides whilst managing the risk of the transmission of Covid-19 to members, Ride Leaders and members of the public and a lot of work has taken place by the club officials who organise weekend rides to ensure we can get back to doing what we love in 2020.
So with that, there’s only one thing left to say:
“Remember, it’s always downhill after the coffee stop!”