In March, we held our Annual Dinner and Awards evening. It was the first one that I’d been to as the new Chair of Alton Cycling Club (following Guy Henshaw’s impressive 5 year chairmanship!). We organised a fantastic evening with Kelvin on the saxophone to kick the evening off, tasty catering and great service from Anne at Plan B, and then Alan Jacob, our new President, handed out special thank yous and trophies. The Alton Cycling Club trophy winners from the 2024 Hill Climb (that tough long Brockham Hill Lane out of Holybourne) were Simon Potter and Freja Halliday. Simon also won the men’s Strava segment challenge and Ruth Stratford won the women’s Strava segment challenge. Really impressive efforts!

Our evening was topped off with Josie Dew sharing photos and talking about her cycling adventures over the years – an impressive range of countries, cycling in all sorts of conditions, on her own and with her family or friends, from before mobile phone and GPS navigation days up to recent times with her children. She’s written 7 books and ridden in over 50 countries! So inspirational!

I left full of motivation and appreciation for our cycling community. The event was a real success and great fun, owing to a huge team effort. March is the start of Spring which definitely helps with the motivation – and lots more to look forward to in 2025!