Is Ripley the best place to meet. Discus.

[john.t]

Is Ripley the best place to meet. The club membership is now mainly Harrogate based so a more central meeting place may be preferred by many. Starting at Ripley tends to mean rides go to the north of town, roughly in an arc from Nidderdale round to the Boroughbridge area. Moving to Harrogate would open up the Wharfedale / Washburn area and the one to the east of Leeds (to link with the Boroughbridge area. Moving to Harrogate would not add too much distance for the Nidderdale members as they could use the toll bridge and come through Hampsthwaite to town.
Any thoughts on this?

[Lattern_Rouge]

John sounds like a good idea.

Though there is nothing to stop there being an arranged second meet that is more convenient for the Pately based members. If the route is to the south then Harrogate is the most convenient.

[duncan]

My hope is that this forum will get some use so that we can see who is coming beforehand and not have to worry that non-regulars are turning up at Ripley just because it is written in stone that that is where we meet. We've had rides before where we've picked the Pateley lot up at the end of Pennypot and then ventured into Wharfedale but they've not been the designated club rides.

I suggest we meet at the Prince of Wales roundabout at 9 and then venture to Ripley if need be. Details can be put on here beforehand after quick poll to get a feel for who's coming. Assuming the forum catches on. It hasn't yet.

It's not the Pateley lot that worry me though, it those that live in France.

[Lattern_Rouge]

Duncan 9am is a bit late, maybe try for 8am in the summer & 9am in the winter. The extra hour makes all the difference to those that grief about disappearing for the "day". "Down south" they adjust the time between 7am & 9am Summer to winter. This then accomodates for the heat in the summer & the lack of light in the winter. It also means the longer rides in the summer do not end into the afternoon. Normally they are back home for between 12noon & 1pm.

[duncan]

Sounds ok to me.

[john.t]

Though there is nothing to stop there being an arranged second meet that is more convenient for the Pately based members. If the route is to the south then Harrogate is the most convenient.

The problem here is that no one knows where the ride is going until we get to the meet and decide. Do we need to have runs lists? (then who creates them?) Having 2 meeting places sounds good but is not really practical. Meeting places for each ride could be agreed on here, say by Thursday, and then put on the 'Home' page for all to see. This might work.
We still have the problem of members without internet access (there are still some) and those who have not registered on here yet so there needs to be some consistency.
Not sure about 8.00 starts. I spent too long getting up at 6.30 to go to work. I like the easy life now. Make it 8.30 in Harrogate and I may just get there.

[Mantis]

Club rides - I think Price of Wales roundabout is a good meet up spot - I'd suggest 8.45am. This way we can meet up other riders en-route on any route we choose to take on the day.

[john.t]

Club rides - I think Price of Wales roundabout is a good meet up spot - I'd suggest 8.45am. This way we can meet up other riders en-route on any route we choose to take on the day.

Prince of Wales is fine by me. Same distance as Ripley but better range of rides.
Meeting up with other riders means a prior arrangement to do so. This means we need to know where we are going beforehand. So who decides? Single regular meeting place is better.

[Lattern_Rouge]

Those folks down south place a route on the website each week. Anyone can propose a route and basically it is the first one to do so gets to decide. A route is normally posted on Wednesday or Thursday, but if no route has been posted by Friday, the President of the club will post a route. See http://www.veloclub-vitrolles.com/ and look at "Parcours du samedi 11 juin" and you will see what I mean. I will be there tomorrow & there will be between 30 & 60 riders out for the morning. I think the secret is consistancy, they have followed the same method for years & overtime the have built up a good turn out each week.

Cheers.