British Cycling Updated COVID-19 Guidance

How can I continue to ride?

Under the new restrictions you are permitted to cycle, and we would encourage you to do so, while following these rules:

  • You should only ride alone, with your household/support bubble or one other person.
  • Stay local, ride within your limits and ensure you are self-sufficient. ?
  • Leave the house to exercise only once each day. ?
  • Keep a safe distance from others and practice good respiratory hygiene (i.e., no spitting, use a tissue).
  • You can only leave your home to exercise, and not for the purpose of leisure (such as a picnic or a coffee break). ?
  • If you need to travel, such as to work or go to the shops, you are encouraged to cycle where possible.?

What do you mean by local?

Last month British Cycling, along with British Triathlon and Cycling UK, wrote to the Government to ask for clarity on the use of the world local in its published guidance for the current national lockdown.

In his response, the Minister for Sport reiterated the importance of exercise for our physical and mental wellbeing, and stressed that riders should remain as local as possible while exercising and use their common sense to determine what is and is not a reasonable distance – reflecting the fact that each individual will have different personal circumstances.

As a result of this, our recommendation is that you should ride from your front door where possible, ride within your ability and ensure that you are self-sufficient. If you do need to travel for exercise, you should do this as close to home as possible. We all have our part to play in reducing the spread of the virus, and by riding responsibly and taking extra precautions (such as avoiding crowded areas) we’ll be helping to keep ourselves and our communities safe.

Former IBC member, Joan, to walk 102 laps of local park before her 102nd birthday!

Former NHS worker and WW2 veteran, Joan aims to walk a lap of Allenby Park’s pathways 102 times before her 102nd birthday in September to raise money for the NHS. (Each daily lap is 560 metres door to door.) This Girl Can!

Joan was born in 1918 at the height of the Spanish flu epidemic. There was no NHS to help sufferers then, in fact, no NHS until Joan was 30 years old. She will be 102 years of age on her next birthday. Not only was she part of the generation that that knows what it’s like to be without the NHS, she was an NHS worker herself – first at Hillingdon Hospital, then at Felixstowe General Hospital as an auxiliary nurse in the Outpatient Department from 1964 to 1978. She loved working there, and the inspirational, dedicated people she worked with. She is also proud to have had a great aunt who was a matron at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Joan says: ‘Even behind a mask today’s NHS workers can make people smile, so let’sall smile.’

Joan’s early life: places she has lived

Joan was born in Meriden, as she refers to it: ‘The very heart of England’. She lived in a variety of places as a child – her father was a writer and travelled for inspiration so as well as Meriden, when she was very young Joan lived in Borehamwood, Coombe Martin and Herne Bay, but for most of her life Joan lived and went to school in four different parts of Suffolk: Felixstowe, Hadleigh, Sudbury and Ipswich.

Her first job was in Ipswich, working on a vegetable stall in the Butter Market – cold work, with chilblains on her hands. Later, during the late 1930s to early 1940s, Joan worked as a manager of the Co-op greengrocer on Norwich Road, Ipswich.

In Joan’s spare time, she was a keen member of the Ipswich Bicycle Club. Known at the time by her maiden name, Joan Ashford was joined in IBC by her sister Jean, brother Ted and future brother-in-law Ted Wyard. She still has her club badge!

Joan had two bikes, one she saved up for and had made in an Ipswich bike shop opposite the Regent Theatre. She chose a green frame, which she was very proud of, and cycled in shorts or plus fours with thick knee length woolly socks. Joan enjoyed long trips, time-trials and exploring Suffolk. Every Sunday IBC gathered at The Greyhound pub in Claydon and set off from there on their treks. IBC mixed with the Bedford Bicycle Club too and Joan made great friends in both clubs. She unexpectedly met up with some from IBC in very different circumstances, after VJ Day in 1945.

War years

When war broke out in 1939 Joan was living in Ipswich. She met up with her cycling friends that day. They rode the Suffolk lanes, wondering what the future held for them all, and when they would get the chance to cycle together again.

Joan continued working at the greengrocer, adding voluntary Ipswich fire-watch duties to her weekly routine. In 1942 she joined the Army and was posted to Nottingham, then to the Middle East as a ‘Red Cap’ with the Provost.

Ever a carer Joan’s Middle East military duties included greeting and helping with the rehabilitation of POWs returning from Japanese camps. Released POWs docked in Alexandria and spent time there, before completing their journey home to England. Imagine Joan’s surprise when a new arrival called out, ‘Joan, you’re a bloody Red Cap!’ It was not just one, but a gang of her good friends from the Ipswich Bicycle Club, who had joined the Suffolk Regiment and been captured at the start of WW2.

The significance of Allenby Park(s)

Two Allenby Parks have been significant in Joan’s life because, by coincidence, in the MiddleEast Joan lived close to Jerusalem’s Allenby Gates and the city’s Allenby Park. BothFelixstowe and Jerusalem parks were named after Lord Edmund Allenby, 1 st Viscount Allenbyof Megiddo and Felixstowe. Famous for his military achievements in Jerusalem in 1918, LordAllenby once lived in a large house, called Felixstowe House which, until 1923 stood on thecurrent site of Suffolk’s Allenby Park. For the last fifty-three years, more than half her life,Joan has lived in a house with views of Felixstowe’s Allenby Park. She loves her house andintends to stay there!

Post War Years and NHS Work

In 1947, back in civilian life, Joan returned to Felixstowe with the man she married inJerusalem. In the 1950s, they lived, worked, and raised a family of four in Buckinghamshire.For part of this time Joan worked as an auxiliary nurse in Hillingdon Hospital, her first role inthe NHS.

In 1964 Joan came back to Felixstowe, after her husband died, bringing her children withher. She was a true trailblazer for mothers who are single parents, working hard, again as anauxiliary nurse for fourteen years until her retirement in 1978.Joan often recalls making trips from Felixstowe’s hospital to nearby to Allenby Park in hernurse’s uniform, to retrieve a patient who had sneaked off to sit in the park’s relaxing grounds!

Charity and Voluntary Work

Once retired Joan worked in a charity shop. She also used her nursing skills as a volunteer for Felixstowe’s Mencap Club, Gateway. To celebrate 25 years of voluntary work for Gateway,she held a mini garden party at her daughter’s former house, to raise money for the group. Onher 90 th birthday Joan didn’t want gifts but had a strawberry tea in a village hall to raise moneyfor Cancer Research UK. In 2013, aged a mere 95, Joan completed a 5K charity walk forCancer Research UK.

Present Day

Joan loves walking in Allenby Park, enjoying the flowers, trees, wildlife, and friendly visitors she meets. When the gates reopened, Joan resumed her regular park walks and marvelled at the NHS motive of love mown into the grass. She hopes to raise money for the NHS by completing a daily circuit of Allenby Park’s pathways totalling 102 walks before her birthday. There and back is 560 metres, of course, she’ll keep socially distanced, and only go when weather permits. Although Joan now uses a walking frame, the Allenby challenge should be a walk in the park for Joan! On 22 nd April she walked through the open gates and the countdown began.

Please support former NHS worker, Joan by giving a donation to the NHS, no matter how

small. http://justgiving.com/fundraising/Diane-Rich1

Save The Date!

The annual Ipswich Bicycle Club awards evening will be held on Saturday 21st March 2020 at Ipswich Sports Club, Henley Road IP1 4NJ.

This is set to be a fun evening including live entertainment, a fabulous buffet and presentation of awards. This a fantastic opportunity for members to socialise ‘off the bike’.

Tickets are £10.00 each and payment can be taken via Paypal as ‘Friends and Family’ to ibcsecretary@btinternet.com. Please quote ‘awards 2020’ when purchasing your tickets. If you are not familiar with Paypal you can purchase tickets using cash at Elmy Cycles.

Ipswich Bicycle Club Road Race

Ipswich Bicycle Club is hosting the local road race this weekend (7th July) on the Butley Circuit. Once again using the Community Centre at Tunstall for the HQ.

You can find more info about the event on the British Cycling website, download the race programme for all the details, and download the GPS of the circuit

The National Escort Group will be in attendance for the safety and well running of the event, which forms part of the Eastern Road Race League

Racing starts at 09:30 after a short rollout to the actual circuit.

With riders from all over the East, this is a fast course without too much traffic. The weather should provide dry conditions.

Regrettably the Club had to cancel the Womens race due to the low entrant numbers, but does hope to hold it next year subject to entries.

The Club extends its thanks to all involved, and its appreciation to the riders for choosing this event.


Point to Point Challenge

Bank Holiday Monday 27th May

A team based fun cycling event for a bit of fun to see if they can work out the clues and navigate to each destination by the quickest or shortest route!

Teams will be given their start pub location in he morning on the day. Clues to the following pub destination will be issued.

Teams will have to navigate to each of the 5 pub locations however they like in turn using the clues given, before each team navigating to the final 6th pub.

Maybe finish off with a couple of drinks and dinner with everybody at the end.

Final pub location is within easy reach of Ipswich, so cycling home wont be an issue.

If enough teams enter we will have teams traveling clockwise and anti clockwise around to the destinations

All team members must arrive at each designation together

Clues will be sent to each team via messenger, text or similar.

Proof of all team members being at each location must be given prior to receiving next clue.

All team members must be current members of IBC

All team members must wear club Jersey (if they have one)

Maximum of 10 team places will be available

What do you win!…… The knowledge that you are this years point to point champions

Please get your teams together, appoint a team leader and get in contact with me to book a place timcanham75@gmail.com

Club Ride With GPS Account

We now have a Ride with GPS Club Account. This gives all members full access to the enhanced features of the club account. This allows us to build up a library of routes used by the club. We have already added TT routes, Reliability Ride routes, local sportive routes and many SSR routes.

When joining the club account you will be asked to set up a personal account which will run parallel to the club account. This is a free service.

Click on the club icon within your personal account to view club account GPS routes and Event Information

To use the Club accounts full features click on the Sign in to Club Tab
Once joined permission will be set by account manager to manage routes

Link: Request Access to the Club Account

All active club members have access to premium navigation features on all club routes and events:

  • Voice Navigation in our mobile app
  • Offline Maps in our mobile app
  • PDF Maps + Cuesheets
  • Advanced Turn Notifications with TCX files
  • Estimated time
  • Club Account Member Benefits Page

All route and member managers have access to features only found on the Club Account:

  • Advanced Route Planning Feature
  • Route Changelog with edit history
  • Club Account Route Backups
  • Added ability to add routes to events with filtering and sorting options
  • Add Club logo to PDF Map and Cuesheet

For help with using or getting it setup, get in contact with the club, we also plan to run a demo and Q&A at the June Social Night.

IBC Reliability Ride 2019

The IBC Reliability ride will be on Sunday 3rd March starting from Fynn Valley Golf Club.

We’ve got 3 routes available: 75 miles, 55 miles and 36 miles. £3 entry on the day. Food and refreshments will be available to buy on the day, as well as car parking and showers.

As a bonus too Elmy Cycles Ipswich will be doing free cycle checks for participants in the shop on Saturday and from 8:15 to 8:45 on Sunday at Fynn Valley. GPS files available below

75 miles route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29247652

55 miles route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29239149

36 miles route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29239091

No Helmet. No Ride. More information including target times available from our Facebook page