Welcome to the second lockdown edition of On Your Couch… erm… On Your Bike, Cycling Southland’s weekly newsletter.
Bruce Ross Retires
It’s been a long time coming, but today is officially Bruce’s last day with Cycling Southland. We had all been looking forward to sending him off in style, but that will have to wait until we can hold a gathering with numbers worthy of the work he has done for cycling in Southland over the years. We cannot thank him enough for his tireless dedication, whether working with top professional riders as the race director of the SBS Bank Tour of Southland, working with school children during school outreach efforts, or even lending a hand with CycloFit at the track, helping a wide variety of people discover the joys of cycling.
Thank you for everything Bruce!
Reece McDonald steps down
As announced in a previous newsletter, yesterday also marked the end of Reece McDonald’s tenure as Club President. Thank you so much for your years of service on the board, along with the work you have done with various other cycling projects including Share the Road. At the time his resignation was announced, the following statement was released by the Executive Board:
It is with regret that the Board has accepted the resignation of Board member and club president, Reece McDonald. Reece has indicated that he will step down after the next Board meeting on 30th March because of personal reasons. On behalf of the club and Board I would like to thank Reece and acknowledge the significant contribution he has made over the 4-5 past years to the club. We will call for nominations at the AGM in July to fill the remaining one year of Reece’s term as a Board member and Nicola McAra will continue on in the role of Vice-President of Cycling Southland until the AGM.
Zwift Wednesday Worlds
The first edition of our virtual Wednesday Worlds was a roaring success, with 47 riders signed up, and a couple more dropping in. The group included WorldTour professional and all-round legend Tom Scully, who got up really early in the morning to join us from his training base in Europe.
This Wednesday it will be back from 6:30pm on Zwift. Follow organiser DAVID MCCORMICK - CS on Zwift if you want to join, and enjoy a virtual bunch ride with at least some of the banter (and pain) associated with an average Wednesday night.
For those not yet active on Zwift, some more information on what it is and how it works can be found here, while a list of supported indoor trainers can be found here (although it works with any trainer as long as you have a power meter on your bike). We will work on putting on some more Zwift rides over the next couple of weeks, and feel free to let us know some of your favourite Zwift rides and races just in case there are some other Southlanders who would be keen to join in.
Cycling Southland (virtually) open
The Cycling Southland team is still on the job, even if only virtually, and hard at work planning what the latter part of the year will look like once restrictions are lifted. Please feel free to contact us via email with any queries and we will try and get back to you as soon as possible.
We will also keep our social media channels going, as well as our newsletter, so if you have any information that needs to be shared, like virtual cycling on Zwift or similar, please let me (Eugene) know and we can get it out to our membership. If there is anything you would like to see some more of on our social media channels, please let us know as well and we will see what we can do!
For those looking for some training ideas while in self-isolation, visit our website here.
Cycling New Zealand Covid-19 updates
A number of Cycling New Zealand events have been postponed, including the Vantage Age Group Road National Championships. For more information on this and other events, visit the dedicated Cycling New Zealand webpage here
There is also some good guidelines for cycling under Level 4 restrictions, which we reproduce below:
“With all the uncertainty around at the moment, we recognise for everyone it is vital to look after their physical and mental health. It’s important to look after yourself as well as family, friends and the rest of the community. We know as a cyclist, going for a ride is one of the most important things we do to reduce stress.
However, this pandemic is bigger than sport and bigger than cycling and so whatever you choose to do, please know that Cycling New Zealand absolutely stand by following the Ministry of Health Guidelines found here at https://covid19.govt.nz
Their guidelines are updated regularly and will provide you with the most correct and relevant information around what you can do to keep physically active whilst keeping you and your loved ones safe and healthy.
Alert Level 4 means we must severely limit travel, with driving only permitted for essential travel such as getting food or medicine from your local area. The best way to reduce the risk of exposure to yourself and others is to stay at home. However, we do realise that people will want to get out and exercise.
If you do go out, please limit yourself to short walks or rides, following the government’s recommended hygiene guidelines. Here are some tips to help you protect yourself and others in the current environment
- If you can, ride indoors on a trainer or exercycle
- If outdoors, ride solo or in your family bubble.
- Ride from home. Don’t drive and then ride.
- Don’t ride if you or your family are unwell!
- Ride short and local so that you do not increase the pressure on the emergency services if something goes wrong. This means no long-distance or epic rides away from your region or extreme riding.
- Tell people where you are going and how long you will be.
- Ride sensibly and safely to avoid accidents and putting unnecessary pressure on medical services or expose yourself to the heightened risk of infection
- If you see other cyclists just wave from a distance and do not break your bubble
- Pretend you have COVID-19 (PMs words)
- Avoid touching any surfaces that could be contaminated such as gates, handrails, fences, benches and picnic tables. The virus can remain on surfaces for three days.
- Avoid using public toilets. Go before you ride.
- Don’t touch your face while you’re riding. Wash your hands, disinfect your handlebars and clean your bike when you get home.
In essence, be calm, be kind and patient. Show the community you care and as cyclist let’s all try to create and maintain a really responsible and positive profile for the sport of cycling during this time so we don’t lose the ability to get out and stay active.
Jacques Landry
CEO
Cycling New Zealand”
And with that we sign off for the week - keep safe, keep healthy, and don’t eat the entire lockdown stockpile in one evening of weakness!