Christmas Eve Ride & Other Festive Rides Planned

Before we get onto the Christmas Eve ride, here are the details for the next two rides over the festive period:

·       Boxing Day meet outside of the Jackdaw Café at 10.00am for a chance to work off some of the Christmas pudding. Four MCCC members have already confirmed their attendance.

·       Saturday 28^th December 2013, meet outside of the Jackdaw Café at 10.00am for the usual club ride.

Undeterred by the heavy overnight rain, a hardy group of Christmas Eve riders set off from Mission Control (outside of the Jackdaw Café) intent on traversing Foxley Road come-what-may. With the River Avon having burst its banks in a number of places, the fields had taken on an unfamiliar appearance and been transformed into lakes. Foxley Road was passable with care, but the ford at Norton was a raging torrent of water and saw us having to dismount and use the very slippery wooden footbridge to get to the other side.

We then rode into Sherston, out towards Westonbirt, before turning for home via Shipton Moyne. A short, but most enjoyable ride of around 15 miles.

With the Jackdaw Café closed and others doing a roaring trade, we convened at the Whole Hog along with MCCC members who hadn’t ridden.  

The Cycling Monk

Avon Valley Railway Cycle Ride Sunday 22nd December 2013

You’re right, this is the MCCC blog, but in the absence of a club ride on Saturday (to the best of my knowledge) I thought I’d let you know about mine and Geoge W’s ride on Sunday. The same goes for anyone else. Just forward your article and it will be a pleasure to post it on the blog.

I’d written off Saturday because of the heavy rain that was forecast. In the end the weather was nowhere near as bad and I could have gone after all. I was determined not to make the same mistake twice.  And so it was that we set off with grey clouds gathering.  Our destination was the Avon Valley Railway at Bitton on the outskirts of Bristol. I’ve always been a steam railway enthusiast. Before you ask, no, I don’t collect train numbers. When my children were small I used to enjoy the Santa Specials. I think they did too, but that wasn’t important.

A strong headwind which lasted for most of the outward journey did its best to halt our progress. Mid-way between Hullavington and Grittleton we were caught in a brief hailstorm.  Finding a roadside tree with any foliage left proved an impossible task and so we ploughed on down through Castle Combe to Ford where we joined the A420 road to Bristol.  I’m not a huge fan of cycling on main roads, but this one never gets that busy.

Having struggled against the wind on a steady incline for quite some distance, coasting down Tog Hill to Wick came as a welcome relief.

Arriving at Bitton Station we found the Santa Specials in full swing. The buffet has been a popular watering hole for cyclists using the Bristol to Bath railway cycle path for quite some time.  There was a good selection of homemade cakes, all at £2.50 per wedge. The cake portions were so big they could no longer be properly described as slices. The very reasonable cake and a hot drink offer meant you could have both for just £3.50.

We left just as the train was leaving and so decided to cycle alongside it as it made the short trip to Oldland Common. We continued on the cycle path as far as Warmley where we rejoined the road and headed north to Pucklechurch. From there we travelled further north to Westerleigh before turning east for Tormarton and up to Acton Turville.

Just when it looked as though we might manage to get home in the dry, the heavens opened shortly before Sherston.  I did think of seeking refuge in the High Street bus shelter, but by then it was too late. With my supposedly waterproof overshoes reduced to soggy sponges we persevered with the prospect of a hot bath getting ever closer.

Distance travelled: 52.8 miles

http://connect.garmin.com/course/5322327

The Cycling Monk

Weekly Chat Wednesday 18th December 2013

Just a few points of interest arising from this evening's weekly chat:

• The weather forecast for Saturday is heavy rain. Coupled with the fact that this will be the last weekend before Christmas, the number of members wishing to ride this Saturday could be limited. As a result there isn't a designated route. It would be helpful if any members still intending to ride could let others know by global email.

• There will be a short 'social' club ride of around 15 miles on Christmas Eve meeting at 10.00am outside of the Jackdaw Cafe. Refreshments will be taken in Malmesbury at the end of the ride at a venue to be confirmed. 

• Subscriptions will be due on 1st January 2014, from anyone wishing to renew their MCCC membership who hasn't paid since 1st September 2013. All paying members will be issued with a MCCC membership card, which will entitle them to some exclusive offers and discounts negotiated with local businesses.

Club Ride Saturday 14th December 2013

On 12^th October, the Daily Express reported that record-breaking snow was predicted to fall in November and that this would be the worst winter for decades. They followed this up on 17^th November with an article warning that we should prepare for 100 days of snow and the worst winter in over 60 years.

I was reminded of these scare stories, as we mustered outside of the Jackdaw Café on a very mild, bright December morning.  The only snow on display being the imitation stuff they stick in shop windows.

Grateful not to be in the grip of an artic freeze we set off for the National Trust Café at Lacock, our happy throng once again boosted by Howard who accompanied us as far as Norton.

Apart from Stubbs Lane at Kington St Michael, the outward bound roads were mud-free and made for good, fast riding.  In what seemed like no time at all we arrived at our destination. Too cold to partake of our refreshments outside, but without our cycling locks, I abused my parental authority by tasking George W to remain with the bikes. He had a hot chocolate (pictured) to keep him company and so had no reason to complain.

Time and tide waits for no man and neither does Bowden Hill. George W set off at an electric pace intent on improving his Strava ranking for this climb. We were joined on the ascent by three riders from the Chippenham Wheelers.  At first it looked as though they were going to steam straight past us, but keen not to let ourselves and the MCCC down, we dug deep. In an exchange of friendly banter I invited them to have a crack at our lead rider, but they politely declined.  Tetbury Andy led our loose mixed pelaton up the increasingly steep hill and we managed to keep the third Chippenham Wheeler detached at the back of the pack until just before the summit. In fairness to the Wheelers they had just peeled off from a chain gang after a decent ride and were heading back home to Calne, but you have to take life's little pleasures when they present themselves.

Garmins and Bontragers were then put through their paces as we enjoyed the exhilarating ride along the Devizes to Chippenham road before turning into the village of Derry Hill. In a narrow lane on the other side of the village, Tetbury Andy sensibly shouted 'walkers.' Now as anyone who has ever watched the long running television series, The Walking Dead, will know, this can only mean one thing; the presence of zombies. Not so in this case I'm happy to report, just a bunch of ramblers.

Having scaled the tricky short hill that finishes at the Dump Post Inn, Bremhill it was all plain sailing back to Malmesbury and as we used to say in a previous life, back for tea and medals.

Mileage 36.3 miles

Garmin reference:  http://connect.garmin.com/course/2358293

The Cycling Monk

Weekly Chat Wednesday 11th December 2013

A quick update from this evening's weekly chat which saw a record 6 members in attendance:

• Two dates for your diaries; 13th to 16th February 2014, The London Bike Show at Excel, London http://www.thelondonbikeshow.co.uk/ and 11th to 13th April 2014, Bespoked 2014 - The UK Handmade Bicycle Show, at the Lee Valley Velodrome, Olympic Park, London http://www.bespoked.cc/index.html

• Saturday's ride will be to Lacock for coffee at the National Trust Tea Room.

• The order for club kit hasn't been placed yet, so there's still time. Contact Howard with your requirements.

• In addition, there was a very amiable chat about the use of winter tyres and tyres in general, as well as mastering the finer points of the Garmin.

Howard will be playing host next week. All members are welcome to attend.

Club Ride Saturday 7th December 2013

Five riders, making two groups possible, or was it 6 riders allowing 3 groups? I’m not sure, but I do know that 5 riders set off as one from the town hall at just after 10am. It had been my intention to ride part of the way to Coots (now Relish)  in the Water Park and peel of early, at Minety, on my own if necessary, and complete about 20 miles. The furthest I would have ridden since my comeback! The full ride was due to be around the 35 mile mark, to much for me at this stage.

 The peloton proceeded in fine formation in the tradition of many cycling clubs. ‘Attacks’ did happen but were soon chased down or ignored and either way the riders regrouped and rode at a pace that the slowest rider, i.e. me, could manage. However, in time honoured fashion, rises (not really hills) in the road were ridden at a pace comfortable to the individual and the pack regrouped as the road levelled out. At an average pace of between 10 – 12 mph Minety was soon reached and the group of 5 split in to two. In fact 3 elected to do the shorter distance and two, the hard men of the bunch!, pushed on to the café.

 For now I am unable to comment on the rest of the longer route due to the fact that I haven’t spoken to either of the riders, but I hope that they had better luck than did one of our riders.

 Still at a comfortable pace, we headed through Upper Minety and up and over Flisteridge and on to Eastcourt where we turned left and headed towards Hankerton. It’s funny (and not in the ha, ha sense) how these things work. All along the route there had been various mutterings about the state of the roads surface. It was damp and in places the roads were liberally splattered in mud. Not wet, sloppy mud you understand or very dry mud but gloopy, slippery mud. The sort that the professional peloton refer to as ‘Belgium Toothpaste, (see how informative these blogs can be?). It is true, the state of the mud is critical to the well being of riders. Very wet mud can pretty much be just ridden through, no problem. Dry mud likewise can be ridden over, no problem. It’s the sticky, gloopy stuff that causes the problem. And it was one such patch that was to have its way with us this day. One of the main purposes of the social ride is to swap stories and to exchange tales of woe, usually of a cycling nature. As fate would have it, one of our riders went down just as he was relating the tale of a crash in similar conditions. It has to be said that the road surface was like ice and it is a wonder that the 3 of us didn’t slide off in unison. But with consummate skill (read luck) the other two riders stopped rubber side down and hurried to the aid of the stricken rider. Luckily the damage to both rider and bike appeared minimal and we were able to proceed. No head bashed. All three of us agreed that we needed to proceed with caution and continued on foot pushing our, um, push bikes.

 As luck would have it the mud slick soon petered out and bikes could be remounted. I’m pleased to report that the rest of the ride was completed without incident.

 In total 20 miles was covered and hospitality provided courtesy of Ken, Thanks.

 The existence of a third group was made evident via a Strava report. In it Simon reports that he did in fact make Coots and completed 55 kilometres. Whether or not he met the ‘hard man’ group remains a mystery.

 Mention should also be made of John, our associate Clarion from Swindon. He set out from Swindon with the intention of intersecting the route and, hopefully, joining the others along the way. Was he successful, I don’t know, but hopefully he was. Please let us know, John. If not I hope you enjoyed the ride and that we will see you again.

Howiecycles

Performance Cycles Sportive Sunday 8th December 2013

I didn’t make the club ride on Saturday and so for a change I thought I’d tell you about the sportive that Ken, George W and me did on Sunday instead.

The event was organised by Performance Cycles and based at the Cotswold Water Park. This was the third in a series of six stripped-back winter sportives. The remaining ones are due to take place on 12^th January, 16^th February and 16^th March. There’s no electronic timing or feed stations and that’s not surprising given that entry is just £7. However, there are some freebies when you sign-in and having completed the ride there’s free hot drinks, biscuits, cake and bacon rolls. They’ll even slide in a fried egg to keep your bacon company if that takes your fancy.  There’s a choice of 45 or 65 miles. Entries for this ride officially closed on 4^th December, by which time 100 people had entered, but you could still register on the day.

Okay, that’s the administration covered, so let’s get onto the actual event.

Ken had already said at the Wednesday evening meet-up that he was planning to tackle the 65 mile route.  I lamely mentioned that I would be doing the 45 miles and somehow felt the need to tag an excuse on the end, but couldn’t think of one. I was well and truly on the ropes, the knock-out punch was on its way, I just didn’t know it yet. How was I getting there, Ken enquired. By car of course, was there any other way. I should have guessed.  Ken was cycling over adding another 20 miles.

All of this has everything to do with my inferiority complex as a recent returnee to cycling, as Ken is an extremely modest man and not at all boastful.

My only saving grace in all of this is that I didn’t see Ken on the day. Recognising people in their cycling helmets can be tricky, so perhaps I missed him.

Any lingering doubts as to whether I should have a crack at the 65 miles were quickly dispelled when during the pre-ride briefing we were informed that although it was just an extra 20 miles, it was best suited to accomplished riders.  I made a quick mental note of this one for any future conversations with Ken.

My fatally flawed plan was to average 15 mph and so finish in around 3 hours.  What I completely failed to take account of was that we would be cycling in the Cotswolds, which as every small child knows, can be hilly. Performance Cycles’ website had said that there wouldn’t be any of the gut-busting routes you’d expect at the height of summer. All I can say is that there must be different levels of gut-busting.  We scaled three consecutive category 4 hills, plus the never-ending one up to Rendcomb College and beyond which according to Strava doesn’t even merit a category. I did manage to drop a couple of poor souls who were pushing their bikes up this particular hill though, so it wasn’t all bad.

Average speeds were also severely hampered by the often treacherous muddy lanes. We were told at the pre-ride briefing to restrict our speed to 20 mph on the descents, which was good advice and certainly heeded by the riders I saw.

Salvation arrived as we headed south and back to the start. Even I know that it’s pretty flat around Cirencester and so it was time to open up the throttle.

I can’t remember a cup of tea tasting so good, as the one I had at the finish.

Overall this was a great event and represented excellent value for money. The route was well signed. Staff and helpers were very friendly. It’s right on our doorstep too.  No one said it was going to be easy and if it was there’d be no sense of achievement.

Just for the record George W finished in 3 hours 2 minutes (some riders it would seem were less affected by the road conditions and gradients than others) and my time was 3 hours 24 minutes.

The Cycling Monk

Weekly Chat Wednesday 4th December 2013

Just to keep MCCC members up to speed with what was discussed this evening.

• Next week when Ken plays host to the weekly chat, there will be a wide selection of MCCC clothing for members to try on. The clothing in medium and large sizes belongs to Tim H and Howard. The idea being that anyone who is unsure as to what size they require can come along and get a better idea.

• Saturday's ride will be to the cafe at the Cotswold Water Park. With some members taking part in Performance Cycles' sportive on Sunday and Howard not yet up to full speed, this promises to be a fairly relaxed ride, but with the option of mashing things up with Tim H on the return leg.

• Next year the Saturday ride will be designated as a social ride. There will be a faster paced Sunday ride and starting in January, a monthly reliability ride held on a Sunday. During the summer months there will be mid-week faster paced evening rides. Participation will be key to making the club activities a success.

Club Clothing

To assist you in choosing your MCCC clothing, please find the images below in the new design. The original design is also still available.

If you click on the images they will increase in size.

MCCC Club Kit Order

From Howard:

It has been decided to try and put in an order for club kit before Christmas. However, if enough people want to wait until the New Year, the order can be delayed. Please let me know if you want to delay the order.

I have recently circulated pictures of the new kit and, hopefully, you are familiar with the original. You can order either design, or both!

 In order to make this as pain free as possible please follow the steps:

1)      Decide on which design you want.

2)    Check the sizing here  http://www.forcegb.com/size-guide.html  It is vital that you go by their sizing and not be led by the sizing of garments you already have but from different manufactures. Items ordered cannot be returned just because you have ordered the incorrect size.

 3)     Check prices here  http://www.forcegb.com/price-list.html there will be a small addition for P&P.

 4)      For the jerseys there is a choice of short or long zip, please say which you want.

 5)      The prices page also lists the items available to us although I’m not sure about leg and arm warmers. All the tops, shorts and longs can be purchased.

6)      Finally, email me your requirement and I will place a block order. Don’t worry about paying me at this time.

 It would be good if I could get this order in by the end of the week, so let me know asap.

Also, I have a new large, short sleeve, short zip, original design for sale or to try on for sizing purposes.

Club Ride Saturday 30th November 2013

Planes, Trains and Ice Skates

Blessed with perfect cycling weather we set off down the High Street, our ranks swelled with the much awaited return from injury of Howard our illustrious leader. Even his puzzling choice of legwear couldn’t tarnish our delight at seeing him back on two wheels. (Perhaps rolled up denim jeans are the new look for 2014). We were soon joined by Alison who had sensibly waited outside of the Rose and Crown for us. (There’s no point in cycling up a hill that you’re only going to have to ride back down a few minutes later).  All too soon though it was time to wish them both bon voyage, as they turned for home at Dauntsey and we steadied ourselves for our assault of Lyneham Bank.

There’s an eerie silence these days in the skies around the Dauntsey Vale now that the Hercules planes have moved from RAF Lyneham to Brize Norton.

Lyneham Bank has something of a chequered history. It caused Brunel no end of problems with land slippages when he brought his railway through. In more recent times subsidence has resulted in road closures and in order to alleviate the pressure on the Council to carry out immediate repairs, it has been downgraded to a B class road.

Having conquered the hill we cranked up the gears and made good progress over to Royal Wootton Bassett via Bushton.

Flexibility is very often the key to success and this was certainly the case where our coffee stop was concerned. After a couple of enforced switches, we visited the café at Lydiard Park. A temporary construction had been erected to house an indoor skating rink for Christmas, but fortunately for us, it looked as though it was having a quiet start. A pre-packed slice of moist fruit cake, a latte and a hot chocolate weighed in at a very reasonable £5.20. For those not familiar with Lydiard Park there’s also a tea room on the other side.

Andy’s suggested return route quickly won universal approval and suitably refreshed we made our way to Purton turning into Pavenhill and then following the quiet, well surfaced rural road that leads all the way to Garsdon and beyond.

I understand from MCCC HQ (Howard's house) that he and his wife Alison managed to rack up 13 miles without so much as a sniff of a cup of coffee. A very promising start given that this was Howard's first ride for nearly 3 months and Alison's in over a year.

Mileage: 38.6 miles

Garmin reference: http://connect.garmin.com/course/5226121

The Cycling Monk