Dear Wakefield MAG member,
Welcome to the Wakefield MAG e-newsletter. If you can’t attend our Wednesday meetings regularly, it’s the next best thing to keep you up to date with what we are up to.
CONTENTS
1) Fred Hill Run Report
2) Post Christmas Auction IV Update
3) Wakefield MAG website
4) MAG member Mortgage Deal
5) Raise money for the MAG Foundation
6) Wakefield Hospice 10K Race Marshalling
7) Wakefield Hospice May Day Gala Bike Show
8) Farmyard Party Competition
9) Wakefield MAG Products
10) Yorkshire Pudding Rally
This years Fred Hill Memorial Run was a Cracking event. We were getting some keen winter frosts coming up to the run and the morning of Sunday 10th February was no exception. The roads were clear but the pavements were white with frost and it was somewhat cold riding the few miles in to our meeting point at 09:00am. Even with winter gloves and the luxury of heated grips, you still got cold hands.
Eleven Wakefield MAG members and one Barnsley MAG member met up at the Stork Lodge Tea Rooms in Thornes Park ready for the run. Hot teas and coffees did a grand job of thawing us out prior to setting off for Squires at 10:00. Twelve of us had a nice leisurely ride over to Squires, taking the scenic route through Stanley, Methley, Castleford, past the ducks and swans at Fairburn Ings, then onto the old A1 route at Fairburn, through Ledsham village, then the back roads route to Squires, arriving at 10:45. The back roads were still a little slippery so we took it nice and steady but by the time we got to Squires, the sun was out and it was warming up nicely (or maybe it was the second large coffee at Squires which did the trick).
At Squires we met up with a further 6 Wakefield members, so 18 on the run in total, a brilliant turnout from the branch. An excellent turnout at Squires too as we had well over 150 bikes set off on the run at 11:30. We followed the same route as previous years through Sherburn-in-Elmet, Tadcaster, Boston Spa, Harewood, then the picturesque country roads to the Sun Inn at Norwood, Nr Otley, our destination. It was a lovely run on a now nice and warm (for February) day, no off-road adventures this year (Allen, not mentioning any names), and we all arrived in one piece with surprisingly clean bikes. More coffees, a catch up with old friends and the obligatory group photos.
A huge thanks to all the Wakefield MAG members who attended and they are all duly rewarded with 75 branch points (as opposed to 10 for a normal ride-out) as this counts as a MAG demo run.
A very fitting memorial to Fred Hill, a true MAG hero. Terrible the circumstances he died in, but it could have been in August and not February!
2) Post Christmas Auction IV Update
Following yet another excellent Post Christmas auction (as reported in last months newsletter), we rounded up the £280 raised, to £300 from branch funds. This amount allowed us to nicely split the proceeds into a £200 donation to MAG, and £100 to charity, as part of our advertised 2/3 & 1/3 split. This now takes our total donation to MAG this year to £700, which is a truly impressive amount as we are only a couple of months into the year.
We took a vote at the Branch meeting on the 6th February as to which charity to support. This year, the Post Christmas Auction charitable donation goes to the Brain Injuries Rehabilitation Trust, based in nearby Garforth. This charity was nominated by Wakefield MAG Political Officer Ian Whittaker, as he has done some work with them recently as part of his 'day job' with the NHS. The Brain Injuries Rehabilitation Trust help an awful lot of bikers following serious accidents, so this worthy cause certainly gets our vote.
The Wakefield MAG website is currently undergoing a major revamp, the first in the five years it's been online. The site has been updated with the new MAG logo, new styling, and lots of new and updated content. It's still a work in progress so lots of new content is still to be added over the next few weeks. The ultimate aim of the site is to be a portal to everything MAG and bike related in the Wakefield area. Add it to your favourites and make it your browsers homepage!
Let me know if there is any content you would like to see on there (that isn't already) and in the meantime, keep checking cyberspace for those new updates !!!!
Wakefield MAG member Neil Liversedge has provided a blinding new MAG member offer. Neil is the Director of Castleford based West Riding Personal Financial Solutions Limited, an Independent Financial Advisory company with the Motto "Honest Advice in Plain English". West Riding offers advice on mortgages, life assurance, pensions and investments throughout the UK.
The member offer is that the normal £295 mortgage arrangement fee, is totally waived for MAG members and MAG members only. Whether you are a first time buyer trying to get on the property ladder, or need to remortgage to save money and buy that Blackbird you’ve always promised yourself, West Riding can help, and save you money to boot.
To take advantage of the deal, ring West Riding on 01977 808600 or email advisors@wrpfs.com and quote your MAG Membership Number. Website: www.wrpfs.com
If you are not a MAG member (and shame on you), simply join MAG to take advantage of the deal.
5) Raise money for the MAG Foundation
You can now raise money for the MAG Foundation every time you search the web. Everyclick is a great new search engine which works just like the other major search engines but with the added bonus that it also generates cash for the charity of your choice. They have already raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for a wide range of charities.
The full link to use is: www.everyclick.com/mag-foundation-limited/376619/0
There is also a link, from the links page (where else !?!), on the Wakefield MAG website.
6) Wakefield Hospice 10K Race Marshalling
Wakefield MAG will be marshalling the 13th Annual Wakefield Hospice 10K Road Race on Sunday 30th March. Marshalling this charity event involves providing an escort for the races wheelchair competitors (1 bike per wheelchair competitor), plus a back marker. The bikes provide protection to the wheelchair competitors from traffic, as the race is held on normal open public roads. This charity event is very well attended, and attracts some seriously good athletes.
We do have a number of volunteer marshals already, but you can never have enough so if you would like to volunteer, please let me know.
The majority of the route is the same as last year but the start is moving back to Gill Syke Road and the finish is in the arena at the top of Thornes Park. This should make things a bit easier as the entrance to the stadium has been one of the problem sections for the last few years. There is also a small change in town so that the runners will go along Kirkgate and up Westmorland Street to Northgate rather than going up Marsh Way. Check the map below.
There is also an excellent guide to the route with on-line maps at this link
The 10K Race will start at 10.00am on Gill Syke Road, with the wheelchair competitors starting 30 minutes earlier at 09:30am. The Wakefield MAG race marshals therefore need to be at the Gill Syke Road start point for 09:00am.
7) Wakefield Hospice May Day Gala Bike Show
Following the resounding success of the Wakefield MAG Bike Show at last years Wakefield Hospice Summer Fayre, Wakefield MAG have been invited to host a bike show at the forthcoming Wakefield Hospice May Day Gala.
The Gala is to be held on Bank Holiday Monday (5th May) at Clarence Park (Thornes Park) in Wakefield. We therefore intend to put on a cracking bike show as a Gala attraction and fundraiser for the Hospice.
The format will be the same as last year (why change a winning formula):
Free Bike show entry (but a donation to the Hospice would be appreciated), Prizes for Best Classic (Pre 1980’s), Best Modern (1980’s onwards) & Best in Show. Show to be judged at 15:00, Entry into show from 09:30 onwards (Gala officially opens at 10:00).
Last years Summer Fayre bike show was very well attended and we had entrants from as far afield as Manchester. This year, we would like to make the show even bigger. Wakefield, unlike a number of other local towns & cities, doesn't have it's own bike show, well, it didn't until now !!
Please tell all your mates about this one as we need a good turnout to make this a success. All are most welcome to come along and show off their pride & Joy. Let's put Wakefield on the map with this one. Hope to see you there.
A competition is being launched on the Farmyard Party website from 3rd March until midnight 31st March. The competition is simple. All you have to do is log onto the competition page on the www.farmyardparty.com website and answer one easy question about MAG's premier event, the largest motorcycle only rally in Europe, the one and only Farmyard Party. The answer is on the website so it shouldn't be too difficult.
Ten Lucky winners will receive a pair of tickets to each of the 4 Yorkshire MAG events (ITV, FYP, Ganton Gathering & YPR). That's a whopping saving of £190 per winner and it could be yours. It's pure madness!
Go to the Farmyard Party website from 3rd March for a chance to win. Got to be in it to win it as they say.
Our new Products Officer Mick Culpan has been busy sourcing suppliers for our new range of Wakefield MAG products. Coming soon will be Wakefield MAG branded pendants, bandanna's, T Shirts, Baseball Caps, Window stickers, enamel badges and numerous other items. Keep an eye on the products page on our web site for more details as and when we have them. As demand is likely to be high, drop me an email now with any requirements you have, and we'll make sure your order is in the first batch.
The 2008 Yorkshire Pudding Rally is at a new site this year. The sad reason behind the move is the age old one that we have suffered time and time again. The owners feel that we should pay much more than last year and have in effect priced us out. They also imposed a lower limit of attendees to 900 including all site staff. Last year we had 1000 tickets with the 100+ staff and marshals on top. In real terms that means over 200 less tickets available to an event that sold out within weeks of going on sale last year. We simply cannot afford the 110% price increase and the limits that they have demanded for 2008.
The new site is Hesley Wood Scout Camp, Chapeltown, Nr Sheffield, and is just a few miles south of the old one and boasts the same facilities and in a remarkably similar woodland setting. For a sneak preview of the new site, check out this web site link
That's all for this month and I hope to see you all soon.
Ride Safe
Steve Travis
Chairman
Wakefield MAG
0772 078 4734
Wakefield MAG meet at the Grey Horse, Kirkgate, Wakefield at 8:30pm every Wednesday. New (and Old) faces are always welcome.