Chair’s Chatter

Hello Fellow LAMkins,

Well, summer is well and truly here, when the sun comes out it’s more tempting than ever to get the bike out of the garage and rack up some miles.

Riding in hot weather is great but you and your bike need to be prepared. This is especially important if you haven’t had your pride and joy out for a while.

Your tyres go through a lot whatever the weather but when the temperatures soar, your rubber can really suffer. When the tarmac gets hot, so do your tyres which makes it crucial that your tyres have the correct pressures. Ensure you do your POWDERS before setting out.

Wear the correct bike gear for the weather conditions, if you don’t yet have summer gear, now is the time to buy it. A lighter vented jacket, shorter gloves and possibly some riding jeans with the appropriate protection in them, these will keep you a lot cooler and more comfortable for your ride.

Failing that, you can confuse your dog by standing in his paddling pool confusing the hell out of him!

On the ride, have more frequent breaks (more ice cream stops!) and if possible, park your bike in the shade. Don’t forget to apply sunscreen when you stop for your breaks or you might come home looking like the Mega Bus logo! – Enough said!

A couple of weeks ago we had our Machine Control Day which was a big success as usual. I believe everyone enjoyed themselves, learnt lots and had fun doing it. We had a lot of people having a go at picking up a bike and we had several volunteers to pick their own bike up, so hopefully they are now more confident than before if the occasion should arise.

Coming up in the next week or so we have our Kent Training Weekend, a non-residential weekend of training with a choice of either the Saturday or Sunday, I have high hopes for this event, one which would have taken place by the time you read this.

At the last Banstead I think we had a record number of both Associates, Observers and Trainee Observers which was great to see, and we were able to accommodate everyone. I think the warm weather brought everyone out, it was a great day for biking.

Look out for the Wales Training Weekend which will shortly be advertised for 22-24 September, this will be the final push for a test pass before the end of the year. Obviously we are still encouraging people to pass their test between now and then, but you may want to start earning your brownie points or bargaining for your weekend pass now.

Jane