Fun Tours Begin - Saturday 8th

Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The popular Ballymena Road Club – Chain Reaction Cycles - series of fun cycle tours commences this Saturday 8th September from Rex Bonar House at 9.30am.Once again the tours will receive support from Ballymena Borough Council who will host a presentation at the end of the series.The normal well tried and tested format will continue for this year’s series. The participants will be divided into at least two groups with the more experienced riders scheduled to cover about 50 miles on their tour.Club members will welcome newcomers to the touring section’s group where the average speed will be kept to around 15mph. This speed isn’t exactly slow for novices so anyone who turns up needs to have been doing some training in preparation for the event.Experienced club members are asked to make themselves available as "travelling marshalls”. They need to be fit to do this job as it means riding ahead of the group, to cover junctions and corners and then staying in position until everyone goes past, and then cycling back up to the front again ready for the next turn. This will certainly be good training for those volunteers!Certificates and medals will be awarded to the successful participants with five tours earning bronze, eight for silver while eleven wins gold. Participants are advised that crash helmets must be worn. They are also advised to dress appropriately for the weather conditions and to bring a rain jacket, spare tube, food and money.
 
"Jim will fix it”
It goes without saying that bikes must be fully road worthy. With this in mind club Chairman Jim Burns has offered to do a "bicycle health check” and basic rider induction prior to Saturday’s first tour. Jim’s induction will also include instructions regarding rider safety and basic does and don’ts of group riding etc.If you are a newcomer and aren’t sure about the road worthiness of your machine then please contact Jim on 07838 193 888, before Saturday, and he will look over your bike, and carry out any minor repairs or adjustments. There is a minimum one off entry fee of £5 to cover the fun tour series with the donations going to the Chernobyl children’s appeal NI.