Club Ride Saturday 9th August 2014

Where's Howard, Dave and Linda?

I’ve had a new set of pedals for ages and could have fitted them at any time, but for some unknown reason I chose to do it at 5.15pm on a Wednesday evening, just an hour before the start of the mid-week ride.  The old pedals weren’t giving up without a fight. By the time I’d removed them, the immortal words of Corporal Jones were ringing in my ear, ‘Don’t panic, don’t panic.’ Too late, I was already in full panic mode. I then proceeded to cross-thread both of the new pedals leaving them sticking out at a jaunty angle. I decided to take them off and put the old ones back on. The old pedals had obviously taken umbrage and were having none of it. They eventually conceded defeat around 7.00pm. The relevance of my pedals will become clear later.

Nine riders assembled, which considering we’re now in the middle of the peak holiday period, was very good. As promised, Linda made a welcome return and we were joined by Mark for his first outing with us.

Equipped with rope and grappling hooks, six of us set off to tackle the longer route to the Sweetapples Tea Room in Marshfield, whilst Howard conjured up something on his Garmin slightly less arduous.

It’s only fair that I mention that Howard had in fact test-ridden the hillier route by himself earlier in the week and had given it a cautious thumbs-up.

With a lively headwind and some dark clouds gathering we wove a path through the road works in Bristol Street and out into the countryside.

Having left Hullavington, we were passed by a couple of packs of Chippenham Wheelers riding in the opposite direction. This has occurred on a few occasions at more or less the same spot and as per usual we were labouring up the incline against the wind as they flew past.

The arrival of the rain coincided with our reaching the Salutation Inn at The Gibb. Fortunately the thick canopy provided by the trees along the Fosse Way kept us dry and by the time we had emerged at the top, the rain had stopped and the sun was out again. The lumps and bumps along this section had tested our ability to change quickly from top to bottom gears, but weren’t so severe as to necessitate the deployment of the rope and grappling hooks.

Crossing the Bristol Road at The Shoe we then undertook the toughest climb of the ride up to Colerne. Here, we deemed the rope and hooks to be unnecessary baggage and instead chose to use a winch. Howard had earlier said that when he reached this point, it had flashed up on his Garmin as being a site of ‘Special Interest.’ As we edged our way up the hill I wondered what could be so special about a road passing through a wood.

After a short breather at the summit we turned to our right and rode along a very pleasant lane that eventually brought us out into the High Street in Marshfield.

At the back of the Sweetapples Tea Room were three bikes, but not as I’d first assumed, those belonging to Howard, Dave and Linda. A text from Howard revealed that in view of the rain, they’d taken refuge in Sherston and so wouldn’t be joining us.

After hot drinks and in some cases, a slice of cake, we headed northwards.  By now, my left foot felt as though it was sliding around on the pedal. Misdiagnosing the problem I concluded that the metal cleat must have worn at the edges. Some miles later I realised that the pedal was actually coming off.

At Alderton, a decision unrelated to my pedal problems, was made to cut short the ride and to return to Malmesbury by the shortest route. Sensing an opportunity to gain a few valuable miles on the Strava Leaderboard,  George  rode alone to complete the full course.

Shortly after Norton my pedal dropped off leaving a hole the size of a small telescope. Someone more resourceful  than me (Ken) would no doubt have been able to rig up a makeshift pedal from some twigs and a length of bale twine, but I had to contend with cycling one-legged.  Amazingly my average speed picked up, but that had more to do with the tailwind than the strength in my right leg.

Garmin reference http://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/7340580