Author: Aynsley Brown

Changes to the Moulton Bicycle Club Committee – a statement from the President

 
At the committee meeting held on Sunday 19th March a number of changes to the committee membership were agreed by the committee.
After 22 years as Chairman, Aynsley Brown has stood down. Arthur Smith was elected in Aynsley’s place. Twenty-two years is an extremely long time in any voluntary role and the club owes a debt of gratitude to Aynsley for steering it through many changes.
In taking on the chairmanship, Arthur Smith has relinquished the role of Technical Adviser. Paul Lancaster was elected as Arthur’s successor. There are many MBC members who will be grateful for the advice provided and the knowledge shared by Arthur over many years as Technical Adviser.
Finally, Zoe Martin stepped down as secretary and Mark Taylor was elected to that role. Zoe will now be concentrating on organising the club events at Bradford-on-Avon.
In my purely honorary and non-executive role as President of the Moulton Bicycle Club, I’d like to express my thanks to all the committee members, old and new, for giving up their time to help run what is one of the oldest and biggest single-marque bicycle clubs in the UK. I’m sure MBC members will join me in thanking those committee members who are stepping down and wishing all the best to those who are taking up new roles.
If any member has any concerns about the club, they are welcome to email me at tony.hadland@gmail.com

Alex Moulton Memorial Birthday Weekend ~ April 8th/9th 2017

The Moulton Bicycle Club would like to welcome members to the Courtyard at The Hall, Bradford on Avon in April to remember Alex Moulton at this, the anniversary of his birthday, and enable members to have a springtime gathering, including a Bring and Buy sale, refreshments, a raffle and rides.

Important Notes:

a) This is a Club members only event.

b) There is No Camping available on the grounds for this event (unlike the September event).

c) The Bring and Buy Sale will finish at 12 noon.

d) The site must be vacated by 12:30 on Saturday afternoon.

e) All rubbish must be removed. (We are guests of the Moulton Bicycle Company and the Alex Moulton Charitable Trust).

 

Saturday 8th April - The cost will be £1 to all members whether they are attending and/or selling which will be collected on the gate, this covers members entry and free access to the Bring and Buy Sale.

 

As there is no advance booking, it is essential that you provide proof of your current membership at the gate to gain entry.  All being well, the car parks at Anthony Best Dynamics Factory should be available on a first come, first served basis. Otherwise, you will have to leave your vehicle outside the Hall grounds.

 

The Bring and Buy Sale will be held in the main Courtyard and will include Moulton Preservation, Regalia and The Moulton Bicycle Company.

 

For the first time, we are opening the Bring & Buy for members and traders to come and have a pitch at this April gathering. For those wishing to sell, the price will remain the same as in the September gathering.

Members selling - £5 per pitch.

Traders selling - £10 per pitch.

Note these costs will be in addition to the £1 entry for all. Please remember that you need to bring your own table as these will not be provided. It is one table per seller only.

 

The timing will be 9am for sellers to set up and 9:30am for the start of the Bring and Buy Sale.  It will finish at 12 noon.  There will be a refreshments stand selling teas/coffees and breakfast/cakes.

 

This is a time for socialising so let’s hope the weather will be on our side.  Arthur Smith will be leading a memorial ride taking you to the sites relevant to Alex Moulton’s life. This will start at 2pm from the factory gates.

 

On Sunday 9th April, Arthur has kindly offered to lead a longer ride of approximately 23 miles. This will leave at 10am from St Margaret’s car park in town.

 

 

Opening the doors to selling at this April gathering,  provides an extra opportunity to find necessary parts to preserve or keep your bikes running smoothly, so you can enjoy your riding in the warmer months ahead and be ready for the September gathering. Look forward to seeing you there!

Increase of Membership Subscriptions from 1st Jan 2017

The last time the Club increased subscription charges was September 2007 and the costs of running it have increased significantly since then.  The main cost items for the Club are:

- The Moultoneer magazine

- The Annual Meet at BoA in September.

The costs of producing The Moultoneer have risen to the point where its annual cost (to produce and to distribute) is more than the income we have from membership subscriptions.  To illustrate this:

Costs of The Moultoneer as a percentage of annual subscription income.

2007      43.2%          2008     48.9%                                  2009      63.2%          2010      80.4%                                  2011      78.3%           2012      41.4%                                2013      87.5%           2014     91.5%                                  2015      109.2%

An increasing use of colour in the magazine since 2007, (all-colour from 2015), has been popular and benefits all the membership. The Committee wants to continue with this.

Printing costs and distribution costs have increased since 2007.  Second Class UK postage then was 24p. It is now 55p, (nearly 2.3 times the cost in 2007).  Costs of posting The Moultoneer to our European and Rest of the World members have also substantially increased.

The cost of the September BoA Meet has also gone up quite dramatically in recent years.

Up to and including 2011, BoA was run close to ‘break-even’, with the evening meal being usually held at St. Margaret’s Hall in the town. From 2007, with increased membership subscriptions, the Club’s reserves, increased from £14,654 to £29,912 in 2012.

For 2012, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the F-Frame launch and with Alex Moulton’s decreasing mobility, the Committee decided that we would hire a marquee for the evening meal to be put up on the camping lawn and more shower/toilet capacity. This allowed the entire weekend to be held at The Hall. Members who preferred to BBQ on the lawn could feel part of the gathering.

For 2013, 2014 and 2015 (the Club’s 50th Anniversary), the Committee decided to use the healthy reserves for the benefit of the Club’s Members and continue having the marquee, shower and toilet block hire at The Hall.

For 2016, The Committee wanted to return to a lower cost weekend. Unfortunately, St Margaret’s Hall was unavailable. The Moulton Bicycle Company offered to substantially contribute to the costs of the marquee, so it was decided to continue as for the previous recent years. For 2017, we will return to St. Margaret’s Hall for the Saturday evening meal.

Moulton owners are increasingly relying on the Internet for their fellowship with other Moulton owners.   This has meant that Membership numbers have decreased and the Club’s reserves have reduced. The Club still has substantial funds (£19,500 at Nov ‘16), but needs to increase its income to ensure it can continue in good health.

So, the Committee, voted unanimously at the 6th November Committee Meeting, to raise the Membership subscriptions from 1st January 2017 to:

UK £22.50,                          Europe £25.00                    Rest of the World               £30.00

With the increased income we can continue to offer members the fellowship that brings us together to enjoy our love of our Moultons with like-minded members well into the future.

 

A sad and cautionary tale.

Hi,

I am a Moulton fan but have also been after a Rohloff bike for some time too. I thought I'd end up with a Thorn of some description so got quite excited when this TSR popped up, until I saw where it was located! The thought of sending a load of cash to some bloke in Eastern Europe didn't really appeal.

I sent the listing to a friend of mine who replied, mainly joking, asking if I won it was I going to ride it home?

To be honest, I wasn't even sure where Lithuania was, other than "somewhere in Eastern Europe". So, I brought up Google maps and had a look. I drew a line from Vilnius to Amsterdam, (from where I could get a ferry back to Newcastle,) and it came out at 850miles. However, what really drew my attention was the fact that if you head almost due west from Vilnius then you hit the Baltic coast of Poland, which I had heard was really nice. Follow that along as far as Lubeck in Germany and then turn south to skirt Hamburg and Bremen. I figured that would be maybe 900. I could do that in 3 weeks.

The seed was planted and I started emailing the seller who seemed like a genuine bloke.

Cutting a long story short, I won the bike, (after a few shenanigans at the end,) took 3 weeks off work and flew out to Vilnius with camping/cycling gear on the 3rd Sept to be met by the seller, who took me to a bike shop where I picked up some stuff I hadn't wanted to lug out there, then for something to eat and then back to his place where we prepped the bike. He then left to head back to Riga, where he was working, leaving me the key to his house, the only stipulation being "no parties"!

I stayed there for the rest of the weekend, having a good look around Vilnius, (nice city,) before starting the ride on the Monday. I'd got a bit of a late start and by 1700 I was at a small town about 30 kms away called Trakai when a thought struck me, "where was my wallet?" I didn't need look for it as I knew I'd left it on top of his fridge!

Luckily, I was able to get a bus back, (with bike,) for just EU1.80 and it was back to his place for another night. In the morning I got a bus back to Trakai and resumed the ride.

It was a brilliant 2 weeks across Poland with weather that couldn't have been any better. I had several great swims in lakes and the sea and the bike was brilliant. I loved the Rohloff and the load arrangement of bags on the front with tent and sleeping bag/washing on the rear.

The bike got loads of interest and people were amazed when they learnt I was riding it back to England. "What? This bike, with little wheels?"

I had dropped a bit behind schedule across Poland and did think that I might end up having to get a train in Germany of Holland but when I got into Germany I turned left a bit earlier than planned and that, plus the fact that I started doing 140/130km days made it look as if I could have reached Amsters by Thursday at the latest.

Then it all went pear shaped just outside a small quiet town called Molln. I'd done 130kms by 1800 and felt that there was enough light and time to do another 20. I was feeling great. I saw a Shell station and, thinking that it might be the last place I'd see to get anything, (not much open in Germany on Sundays,) I decided to stop for one last coffee.

Parked the bike just outside the door and put the lock through the frame and front wheel. Went in and sat at a table facing the door but the bike was just out of sight. Had my coffee, looked at the map and 10/15 mins later left to discover the bike gone. I ran around the building thinking someone might have moved it because it was in the way or maybe even "for a joke" but no, I knew that I was screwed. I was stranded at a German filling station with only what I was stood up in plus, thankfully my wallet. Everything else had gone.

Yes, that was last week, the 18th of September. If I'd still had my passport I might have made my way up to Berlin and hung around the second hand bike markets for a a few days.

So that's the story. I had taken out a specialist cycle tour insurance policy so I'm waiting to hear what they say.

On the Monday morning I went to the local newspaper office who put it out as a story. I hoped that if people saw a pic of the bike then, as it's so distinctive, someone may have seen it.

Obviously that hasn't happened yet so I'm kind of hoping now that the police, perhaps following up a completely different lead, come across a garage full of stolen bikes, mine among them. Slim chance, I know.

Clearly very, very gutting. To own for 2 weeks my dream combo, just to let it get stolen. I keep asking myself why I had to stop in the first place, why didn't I chain it to something or why couldn't I have gone out just as they were moving it? One of the things I'm most upset about losing is my Brooks saddle. 20 years I've had that and done 10s of thousands of miles on it. I'd practically worn the word Brooks off the side. No one is going to want to keep that. It will probably be uncomfortable for anyone else.

3 or 4 days from Amsterdam.

Lawrence O'Reilly.  sm4cv603sec@hotmail.co.uk