Saddleworth Audax Series 13th July 2014

If anyone just happens to be in the area or fancies travelling up to Saddleworth, there will be a warm welcome to greet you.

Club Ride Saturday 31st May 2014

Blogging about a ride over the same route as the previous week’s club outing isn’t easy, but as no two rides are ever the same, even if they do follow the same course, I’ll give it a bit of a go.

The most consistent unknown quantity of any club ride is who will put in an appearance. Rounding the Town Hall you just never know who is going to be waiting outside or who might roll up after you.  This morning we were pleased to welcome Antony. 

When anyone new tips-up you can almost hear the sound of the cogs churning as the regulars scan the rider, their kit and bike, looking for clues as to what type of cyclist they are.

A couple of cloth badges sewn onto a well-travelled Carradice saddlebag said to me that this was someone who had clocked up a fair few miles in his time.

Having arranged ourselves into two groups we set off for Wickwar. I opted to join those taking the slightly longer route, but got dropped by Jamie, George and Antony before we’d even reached Shipton Moyne. I decided to wait for the others, but when there was no sign of them, I retraced my steps and found them with Phil who was mending his puncture just outside of the village.

Mobile once again and making good progress, we passed the grasstrack motorcycle racing on the approach to Leighterton. Tearing around a field on a noisy motorbike, for me, clashes rudely with the normal peace and tranquillity of the countryside. I’m happy to report that the balance was soon restored when we had to wait for a sheep to cross the road.

The bottom of the steep descent to Alderley was the split-point where the longer route took the road to Wotton-under-Edge, whilst we enjoyed the more rural setting across Inglestone Common. 

Arriving in the High Street we found the advance party taking full advantage of Wickwar’s café culture. Bacon sandwiches and toasted teacakes proved to be popular choices. Once suitably refreshed, we saddled up and all rode back together. The general consensus was that it had been a very pleasant trip out.

Weekend Rides

There are plenty of quotes from famous people about bicycles and cycling. One of my favourites is this one from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes novels:

‘When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.’

With a busy weekend of cycling ahead, it looks as though the weather will be kind to us. Whilst we might not need sun block, we should at least stay dry.

First up, is Saturday’s club ride. Howard is away on holiday on Saturday. As a suggestion and unless anyone has a better idea, we could make use of Howard’s routes to the Wickwar Coffee Shop. As readers of the blog will know, our ride there last week was a near-washout with only two members making the trip.

Don’t be put off by the climb up to Hawkesbury Upton on the return journey. The route through Horton means that you join the hill about half-way up making it a relatively short ascent.

Take care around Horton as some sections are in a poor state of repair with potholes, puddles and thick mud running through the centre. They were passable last week in the heavy rain and didn’t go on for too long.

This is the short route, http://connect.garmin.com/course/6663241 it is just over 17 miles to Wickwar. It includes the return leg too. The complete route is 35 miles.

This is the longer route, http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2730547 it is 20 miles to Wickwar and again includes the return journey. The complete route is 40 miles.

The following day we have our monthly Sunday ride. The course is just under 70 miles. Take as long as you need to get around. The last 30 miles are fairly flat, so don’t be put off by the overall distance. For those who would like one, there’s a coffee stop at the Bibury Trout Farm where you can pick up a smoked trout to take home for your tea. 

http://connect.garmin.com/course/6746816

Club Ride Saturday 24th May 2014

Excluding Howard, who had previously ruled himself out on the advice of his GP and so was only present in an official capacity, just three Clarions came to ride.  It might only have been spitting, but much heavier rain was forecast for later. As this thought weighed heavily on our minds, one of the trio took the sensible option and decided to return home.  George and I probably should have done the same, but my sense of adventure wouldn’t let me.  I made a feeble case for having a crack at Howard’s course based on the grounds that we were dressed for a ride and so we might as well go for one.  George said that he wasn’t bothered either way, which I chose to interpret as meaning that he’d really like to go to Wickwar.

With the motion carried unanimously, we headed for the Wickwar Coffee Shop.  When we first joined MCCC during September 2013, Howard told us that there might be occasions when there’d be no other riders and we’d be the official club ride. It had taken a while, but that day had finally arrived.

By the time we’d reached Shipton Moyne the rain had stopped.  Life through a tinted lens was looking pretty good. There was no wind to speak of and apart from our backsides which, were sodden from all of the surface water, we were dry.

Riding through Tresham there was a cluster of bearers struggling to carry a coffin. I don’t know whether it was because it was slippery underfoot or the dearly departed was on the large size, but the coffin didn’t look to be in safe hands.  Casting a watchful eye over the proceedings was the vicar standing at the church gate.  (I didn’t realise you could be buried on a Saturday)

The technical descent to Alderley was something of a white knuckle ride even with both brakes on. Having safely negotiated Wotton under Edge we took the B4058, before turning off at Charfield to Wickwar.

Passing Wickwar’s limestone quarry I was relieved to read that blasting doesn’t take place at the weekends. The remote prospect of being hit by some flying debris was soon forgotten when it began to pour with rain and just when I thought it couldn’t rain any harder, it did.

Tip-toeing into the Wickwar Coffee Shop I immediately apologised for the trail of water we’d left on the floor. The lady couldn’t have been more welcoming and offered us the window seat. Over a pot of tea and scrambled eggs on toast I watched as the rain lashed against the glass. The scene reminded me of childhood holidays spent at the seaside.

With the pot eventually drained of tea it was time to leave.  Rooted to the spot we’d shed an embarrassing amount of water on the floor. I sheepishly drew the lady’s attention to the puddles and we slipped out whilst she went to fetch the mop.

Knowing that I didn’t have enough credits or bargaining chips to persuade my wife to come and collect us, we saddled up and put on a brave, if wet, face.

At Horton the air was heavy with the scent of wild garlic, whilst the muddy narrow lanes were heavy with deep potholes. Unscathed, we then climbed up to Hawkesbury Upton and pressed on to Sherston where we decided to take the most direct route home along the B4040.

This is another route I look forward to tackling again in better weather. The countryside in and around Horton was unspoilt and well worth a return visit.  

Club Ride Saturday 17th May 2014

Some of the Clarions soaking up the sun

There was once a time, and not so long ago, that you could very often fit the entire Saturday club ride around one café table. Other than the occasional blip, like last Saturday for instance, we can now manage to muster healthy numbers most weeks.  As the club continues to expand there might be a time when we have to start pre-warning staff at the proposed café stop so they can cater for us.

The hottest day of the year so far saw 10 riders assemble at our usual departure point. It’s always a relief when someone comes back for their second ride with us and so we were pleased to see Phil return. It must have been like starting all over again for him though as the two members he met last week were missing. Hopefully Linda will revisit us soon.

As is very much the norm now, two groups formed and we set off with the intention of both arriving at the Sweetapples Teashop in the High Street, Marshfield at around the same time. There was a slight variation in the routes with one being longer than the other to accommodate this.

When blogging I always avoid using terms such as the faster group or the slower group as they can be divisive. It’s really just about members being able to ride at a pace, whatever that might be, that best suits them. Westbury Wheelers colour code their different groups: red, purple, blue and green which equates to fast, medium, slow and those just getting started. The beauty of Howard’s ingenious route planning is that at the half-way point we all get to meet up and spend some time together.

I’ll dispense with the usual preliminaries and fast forward to our arrival just outside of the Castle Combe race circuit where a Steam Engine Rally was taking place. Visitors having travelled from the Chippenham direction were queuing nose-to-tail waiting to enter the site and so we rode down the outside of the stationary cars.

Castle Combe was strangely quiet. No doubt some tourists were caught up in the traffic backlog. Whenever I ride through the village I’m always reminded of the 1967 film Dr Dolittle, which starred Rex Harrison.  A collection of cottages and the small river they overlook were somehow transformed into a seafront. Other buildings in the village featured as Dr Dolittle’s house and also a jail. Filming didn’t go well though. The lack of constant sunshine seemed to take the production company by surprise and when the weather worsened, the production was closed down and moved to Los Angeles where it was recreated on a Holywood soundstage. More recently, scenes from the highly acclaimed film War Horse were recorded there.

Back to the cycling. Occupying all but one of the outside tables available at Sweetapples, we were unexpectedly joined by Heather and Simon. The safe arrival of Howard, Dave and Clive meant that we had now equalled our record of 12 riders!

A very pleasant time was had relaxing in the sun, but with domestic chores demanding attention, it was time to head for home. Me and Ted teamed up and took a fairly direct route back. Riding through Sherston we were overtaken by Jamie doing a pretty good impersonation of an Exocet missile hotly pursued by Andy Poolman. I eagerly await news of the outcome of this duel.

Garmin references:

Shorter route - connect.garmin.com/course/6585923

Longer route - connect.garmin.com/course/6584842

Wednesday Get-Together 14th May 2014

Sometimes, in the absence of any topics for discussion, the Wednesday get-together is just an opportunity for friends to have a natter over a cup of tea and a biscuit, whilst on other occasions the room is positively alive with ideas and information.

• With immediate effect, until the darker evenings return, the Wednesday get-together at a member's home will cease. Instead, there will be an evening ride every Wednesday meeting at 6.15pm in The Triangle. The first will be over a 15 mile course. 
• For anyone who missed the last 'Come & Try It' 10 mile TT, Swindon RC are hosting another one over the same course at Latton on Thursday 12th June 2014. www.swindon-rc.co.uk/index.php/time-trialing/club-10-tt-series Have a chat with Tim W or George who took part in the last one if you want to find out more. The TT was also covered on the blog.
• Saturday's ride will see our first visit in a while to the Sweetapples teashop in the High Street, Marshfield. There will be two routes. Garmin references will be posted later.
• Just a reminder to put the date of Monday 25th August 2014,  in your diaries for Ken's Carnival Ride. There are some good photographs of last year's event in the gallery on the website. The easy-paced ride is an excellent advertisement for our club and if it follows the same format, tea, coffee and biscuits will be served at Badminton.
• Brian Urwin, a cyclist from Sydney, Australia has contacted Howard via the website. He's staying in Malmesbury for 3 weeks in June visiting his daughter and son-in-law. Brian is keen to ride out with us during his time in Malmesbury. We look forward to welcoming Brian and showing him some of our countryside and villages.
• Howard is going to order some club kit in a selection of sizes. This will allow members to assess which size best suits them and eliminate the issue of members buying what they think will fit them and then finding that it doesn't.
• If you've ever fancied attending a winter cycle training camp somewhere warm, then this idea could appeal to you. If there's enough interest we could explore our options for say February 2015. Please let others know your thoughts and suggestions. 

South Gloucestershire 100km Brevet Populaire

Riders registering at Marlwood School, Alveston

Bikes and cycling equipment loaded in the back of my car the evening before, me and George set off in good time. My first navigational challenge was deciding the best way to reach the start at Alveston, just south of Thornbury. With this being the weekend of the Badminton Horse Trials, where long queues often form on the arterial routes, I was keen to avoid any holdups.

Throwing caution to the wind, we opted to travel via the M4 and M5 following the directions thoughtfully provided. We spent the last few miles of our queue-free journey behind an immaculate Morris Traveller, the driver of which I somehow knew had to be connected with the Audax event. Admittedly, I fully expected him to produce an equally well presented steel bike, but I wasn’t completely wrong, as resplendent in his Union Jack top hat he later started us off.

With a strong tailwind it made good sense to take full advantage, as we would inevitably be pegged back later, but our being unfamiliar with the roads was causing some hesitancy in our cycling.

As we reached the far side of Inglestone Common disaster struck when I allowed my rear wheel to drift too close to the grass verge. The resulting skid on the slippery mud sent me crashing to the ground. Sprawled across the tarmac, pinned under my Reynolds 520 chromoly frame, I heard the sound of a following car braking to a halt. Bracing myself for the impact I was relieved to see that he’d swerved to his right to avoid a collision. Thank goodness for careful drivers!

Drama over, I remounted and made a quick rolling mechanical assessment. Apart from my bottom two gears, which were slipping and grinding, the bike looked to be in good shape. Rather than trying to make some ill-fated adjustments, I decided to be grateful for those I still had left and to press on. I keep reading that modern day bikes are over-geared, but if I had to surrender some, it definitely wouldn’t be the bottom two.

Of less importance, but still worthy of a mention, was my right leg which was bleeding profusely and making grown men wince. My leather-palmed cycling mitts made a poor job of stemming the flow, but they did rapidly change colour. I made a mental note to shove over the kitchen sink in my saddle bag to make room for a comprehensive first aid kit before my next ride. As for my arm, which judging by the holes that had appeared in my rain jacket and jersey had taken some punishment, I decided to ignore unless any significant amount of blood soaked through.

Arriving at Leighterton meant that we were now well and truly on our home turf. In confident mood we arrived at the first control of the day; Café 53 in the High Street at Tetbury, which was doing a roaring trade. I took the opportunity to clean up my leg and we left promising ourselves we’d have something to eat and drink at the next control.

Leaving Tetbury there was a heavy shower, but by the time we reached Oaksey, not that many miles further on, we were basking in glorious sunshine. Turning north towards Coates we were buffeted by a strong crosswind. Riding sandwiched between fields of oilseed rape we enjoyed the pleasant views, if not the onset of a bout of hay fever.

Riders arriving at the Daneway Inn, Sapperton

We found the Daneway Inn at Sapperton, our next control, nestling at the bottom of a fairly steep hill. Descending, I was concerned to see other riders coming up the hill towards us. My fear that we’d somehow taken a wrong turning was soon laid to rest when I realised that the public house was a bit of a dog’s leg and that post-refreshments, we’d have to tackle the climb too.

The Daneway Inn was a real gem. The public bar was as rustic as they come. The well-trodden floorboards were ideally suited to walkers and cleat-wearing cyclists.  The only thing missing was the yokel with a good line in yarns, but I dare say you’ll find him at the bar most evenings if you care to call.

Fortified by a cheese and onion bap washed down with a pot of tea, we attacked the ascent and headed back to Alveston. Unfortunately someone at Ride HQ had forgotten to switch off the wind machine and we were immediately battered by a very unforgiving headwind. Over the more exposed sections it sometimes felt as though we were being blown to a standstill.

Temporary sanctuary from the wind came when we reached Hunters Hall Inn. With the last section beckoning we wasted no time in getting off. Passing the golf course before the exhilarating drop down to Wotton under Edge, I noticed a stray golf ball at the side of the road and hurried to get clear of the danger zone.

The remaining run-in to the Cross Hands public house and the end of our pub crawl had a few ups and downs. In total we’d climbed just over 4,000 feet without any stand-out killer climbs. One thing I’d learnt from the ride was that I can actually get up hills without having to automatically select my lowest gear. I’ll try and remember that once I’ve got a fully-functioning set again.

Club Ride Saturday 10th May 2014

Not the club ride, but a peloton of LVRC members leaving Little Somerford on Sunday

Given the weather forecast and knowing there would not be a big turnout for today’s ride I was not expecting anything other than the wind in my face for 80% of the ride and to get soaked. How wrong I was. On turning into the car park, I saw Tim H in club colours talking with a cyclist I had not seen before. This turned out to be Linda  from Lea. During our introductions  another stranger turned up – Phil from Great Somerford. Both had seen the website and  had come along to find out more about the club and were looking forward to a ride.  

10 o’clock came and as no other Clarions had arrived, Tim led us off towards Shipton Moyne  enroute to Nailsworth.  After a wind buffeted climb to Kingscote and out to the re-cycling centre, we finally dropped into Horsley then Nailsworth like rockets and ended up at The Canteen, which of late has become one of our favourite jaunts. 

The route back took us out towards the W, but we headed up the gentler Pensile rd towards Minchinhampton and then out of Avening by  another back lane towards Cherrington. At Crudwell I took advantage to get out of the wind and headed home. Hopefully Tim and our guests got home safely and remained dry.  We look forward to seeing Linda and Phil on future rides.

Gary & Tim H

Castle Combe Tuesdays

If an opportunity to improve your speed or just to generally train in a non-competitive way, on a traffic-free road, over a flat course, appeals to you, then the Tuesday evening sessions at Castle Combe could well appeal. Please see the attached link.

http://www.andycookcycling.com/andy-cook-schools-training/castle-combe-tuesdays/

A few of us are going over this week for a ride. We'll treat it as a bit of an exploratory mission and then let others know what they can expect. Feel free to come along. I can't get there until about 6.30pm. Jamie and Verity are going too, and will probably be there earlier.

Sunday Ride 4th May 2014

An audience of one man and his dog (Tim H and his canine companion) witnessed the start of May’s Sunday ride, as a trio of Clarions trickled out of the Cross Hayes car park.  With plenty of climbing ahead, we adopted a leisurely pace enjoying the sunshine as we passed fields of bright yellow oil seed rape.  They must have been sending the pollen count off the end of the scale, as I quickly  developed a running nose which was to stay with me for the rest of the ride. Constantly wiping my nose with the crocheted thumb of a pair of cycling mitts would later result in it becoming red raw.

We had an enforced stop on Hawkesbury Common to repair George’s punctured back tyre.  After Wickwar, we were sailing (pedalling) in unchartered waters. As we became absorbed in our unfamiliar surroundings the miles drifted by almost unnoticed.  I do recall passing the gates of Leyhill Prison at one point, which was as close as I wanted to get.

A large container full of grit placed at the bottom of a hill is never a good sign, although it did occur to me that one only half full is probably worse.  The grit bin at the bottom of the hill up to North Nibley looked well stocked, but as we eased ourselves up the steep climb I could only think that they must have had a mild winter.

Sticking with the nautical theme, having safely reached Cam, we were somehow blown well and truly off-course, as we rode into Dursley and out onto the Uley Road.  Just when an assault on Crawley Hill looked unavoidable, the Garmin took us down a narrow lane to our right. Alarm bells immediately began to ring as I feared this was the one Tim H had previously warned me was steeper than Crawley Hill.

Slowly winching our bikes up the sheer cliff face inevitably took its toll and one rider sensibly decided to forgo the pleasure of a date with the ‘W’ out of Nailsworth, and headed for home instead, still managing to clock up a good 55 miles.

Meanwhile the remaining duo dropped down to Nailsworth for refreshments at the Courtyard Café. Surrounded by ridiculously priced bits of rusty salvage, I enjoyed a pot of tea and a toasted tea cake whilst reference to the Garmin revealed just how far off-piste we’d gone.

The ride back to Malmesbury was one even we would have found difficult to get wrong, but having cut off a sizable chunk of the journey, we had to deviate at Long Newnton to get our mileage up.

Any lingering disappointment at having failed to complete the proper course evaporated when at Garsdon we picked off three unsuspecting Westbury Wheelers.  

Although the leader board remained unchanged by our efforts, it was still a good ride and I’d definitely like to have another crack at the actual course as soon as possible.

Garmin Reference: http://connect.garmin.com/course/6386991