Page 4 - PBCOctober2020

Pickwick Bicycle Club Magazine Volume 17 No.2 October 2020 4

Your President has some words to say……..

How very unfortunate it is that, aFer all our preparaHons to celebrate the 150 th Anniversary of our
Pickwick Bicycle Club, that in this very year, we should be laid low by the effects of some foreign illness!
Our Club suffered the Spanish Flu of 1918-1920, and we will survive this Asian Flu of 2019-20, and we will
meet again soon, to celebrate even more hearHly this centēsimus quīnquāgēsimus anniversary of our
Club, even if we have to wait unHl 2021! Our thanks to Samkin and his team for the excellent beer, badge,
glass and He to mark our 150 th Anniversary, and I trust that you have enjoyed reading through our
Membership Book 2020? Thank you for your contribuHons, and apologies for some inevitable errors and
omissions – it will be beYer next Hme!
The big posiHve from lockdown for our members has been that so many have taken to cycling, fuelling a
boom for the cycling industry although sourcing product has been an inevitable challenge. Riding on quiet
roads was an unexpected pleasure, but it did not last long enough!
Importantly, we did celebrate the day of our 150 th with a splendid, socially distanced meet at the Downs
Hotel on 22 nd June, followed by a ride in the tracks of the Club Founders, kindly organised by our new
member, Phil Saunders. You can read Mr Grundy’s report on the event in this magazine on pages 6,7 & 8.
With conHnuing restricHons on large meeHngs, it is possible that we will be unable to hold our planned
AGM and Garden Party on 3 rd December 2020. The Club Officers will discuss this at a virtual meeHng on
6 th October and advise you soonest.
The one Club event that is sHll hopefully running is the Club Hampton Court ride on Thursday 8 th October
and our thanks to Hunt and Pruffle for their tenacity in making this happen – I look forward to riding my
1870 Velocipede, made in the same year as the Club was formed!
It has been an honour to represent you as Mr Pickwick during this
special year, even if I have been furloughed! I have been touched by the
suggesHon of a number of members that The Club should consider
extending my posiHon as your President for a further year, and I believe
this proposal will be tabled at our AGM on 3 rd December 2020. My very
best wishes to all our Members as we learn to adjust to a new way of
living - keep safe, stay alert and keep cycling

Your humble servant,

Samuel Pickwick (Mr Watty)