Lunch, Speaker's Host Stewart Wilson 14th June

P.P. Sandy Leven welcomed members to our Friday meeting.  The planters at Stirling station are now filled with Summer bedding, which will require regular watering.

Our speaker, one of our own members Stewart Wilson, has cycled all his life including competetive cycling and several trips round New Zealand. He was  therefore well placed to talk about the present state of doping in cycling. 

The use of performance enhancing drugs is well known and is now much more strictly controlled. Less well known is the recent development of "mechanical doping" , which is enhancing the performance of the bike using an illegal  source of power hidden within the structure of the bike. Unlike the power source in a normal electric bike, these units are inevitably small, not for continuous use, but providing a short burst of power at a crucial stage in the race. The exact nature of these units is not clear, but Stewart showed us a number of video clips of events during races which were hard to explain without some extra source of power being involved. 

This is clearly an area which cycling authorities will need to address, and we will no doubt hear more of it in the future. The subject was of great interest as none present had heard of it before. 

Next meeting 21st June, speaker's host Tom Wilson,