Denis Mérigot likes to attend the general meeting of the Club des amis cyclos de Châteauroux (Cac). He knows he will be well received there, and the deputy mayor in charge of sports is sure to find a lot of people there. This was the case recently at the Maison des sports, where around sixty cyclists held their 79e general meeting.
Part of the Cycling Friends during the stay in Samoëns.
© Photo CAC
This season, the Cac records eighty-six licensees. With membership cards participating in other activities (walking in particular), the club has more than one hundred and ten members.
Great moment in the Alps
We found the Cac jersey in the organizations of the FFCT clubs in the department, at the regional concentration of La Châtre and at the Argenton cycling weekend, the François-Gangneron in Levroux, but also at the European week organized in Portugal and then of course at the federal week in Roanne. The Castelroussins cyclos also participated in the organizations of the neighboring Ufolep clubs, Le Poinçonnet, Montierchaume, Déols, KSB, Harrys.
The Creuse Valley hike passed through the rain in May, yet the disastrous weather conditions dissuaded many distant cyclists from making the trip.
The highlight of the season was the club's trip to the Alps, sixty cyclists set off to attack the Joux-Plane or La Colombière passes…
An accident that could have had a catastrophic outcome
This season could have had a catastrophic outcome for the club. Two cyclists who were traveling in single file were hit between Diors and La Martinerie by a car. The motorist “did not see them”, despite perfect weather conditions and the clearly visible color of the club's outfits.
Result, a week in hospital for the most seriously affected and the cessation of the practice of cycle tourism for the second, shocked by this accident. “We don’t have the same body as you”, reminds Pascal Lorilloux, the club's safety delegate, to motorists who often forget safety distances, unaware that a road surface problem sometimes forces the cyclist to leave their path.
Cycle paths
The presence of Denis Mérigot once again led the audience to ask questions about the development of cycle paths. “What about the development of avenue Jacques-Chirac? What do the technicians who deal with cycle path exits think? Why are cycle touring clubs not invited to discuss these trail developments in the city? »
Denis Mérigot will transmit, but he is well aware of these difficulties and, when he takes his FFCT license, “in two years” he promised, he would opt for gravel instead. That’s good, this is the specialty that the FFCT is seeking to develop.
The new office
Meeting on December 9, the board of directors reappointed Lionel Franchaud and Pierre Belsoeur co-presidents of the club; Pascal Petit, secretary and Christian Beaufrere, treasurer. Françoise Gallois, Évelyne Mallard, Christiane Brunelli, Francis Rivière, Christophe Sabard, Jack Masset, Jean-Paul Jourdin, Thierry Guerin, Pascal Lorilloux, Philippe Richard and Dominique Laurent, distribute the roles at the head of the different commissions.
