Club Ride Saturday 27th September 2014

Clarions ready to leave Quackers!

It was back on 2^nd March 2014, when we last visited Quackers Café, near Pucklechurch. Then, it was a miserable, overcast day blighted by the cold and drizzle, which towards the end developed into a full-blown downpour.  Six of us were taking part in one of the Sunday rides. With our spirits at a particularly low ebb and seemingly no prospect whatsoever of a hot drink and some cake, Quackers unexpectedly appeared like an oasis in a desert.

On a warm September morning, eight of us set off with the intention of renewing an old acquaintance. As early as Foxley Road we’d divided into three groups, with everyone electing to ride the longer of the two courses on offer. This more or less allowed all riders to cycle at a pace they felt most comfortable with.

The series of country lanes extending from the right turn on the climb out of Castle Combe, all the way to the junction with the busy A46, were an absolute delight. Virtually traffic-free they afforded excellent views of the surrounding countryside. (Note to Howard: Another trip out this way once the leaves have changed colour would be much appreciated).

Malcolm and I, riding with Verity, pre-warned her about what we mistakenly recalled as being an incredibly steep hill skirting Dyrham Park. Having reached the bottom, Malcolm and I both agreed that it was nowhere near as bad as we’d remembered. Unfortunately this didn’t help Verity, who having taken our flawed advice, was now on an unnecessarily cautious descent.

Having ridden around 27 miles, Quackers once again proved a welcome sight. The huge wedges of carrot cake looked big enough for two people. My pot of Somerset blended tea and two poached eggs on buttered granary toast came in at just £4.90, which I thought was excellent value.

The only thing which prevents Quackers from being the perfect café stop is that it’s at the bottom of a hill and not at the top.

With beverages, light lunches and cake (not all mine) gratefully tucked away, we steadied ourselves for the climb up Hinton Hill. With this being the only proper hill of not just the return leg, but the whole ride, we considered ourselves fortunate. 

Not Steve's bike, but the number is tied on with string.

Steve, who was riding his Dawes 10 speed racing bike in preparation for next week’s L’Eroica in Italy, comfortably overcame the ascent, ably demonstrating that the most important component on any bike is the rider. This will be the second time Steve has taken part in the event. He still has the piece of string used to secure his number tied on his crossbar. Steve is going to put something together for the blog, which should be interesting.

Now homeward bound on some fairly flat roads and without even a hint of a breeze, there was a chance to slip into some high gears. The conditions clearly suited Dave and it was easy to see how back in the day he’d been such a formidable competitor.

It might sound a bit cheesy, but this was just one of those days when it felt great to be out cycling. No doubt when the weather takes a turn for the worse, it’ll be a different story, but as always, we’ll simply ride it out in the knowledge that the good times are just around the corner.

Garmin reference: http://connect.garmin.com/course/5593630
Distance: 47 miles

Club Ride Saturday 20th September 2014

A grey, threatening day, perhaps, but still seven members turned up for the ride. Over the last few Saturdays our rides have become distinctly exotic culminating in the 50 miler to Bradford on Avon and it was time to return to basics, maybe. Over the years, we have mainly concentrated on cycling around 30ish miles making our Saturday ride relatively accessible. This year has seen an increase in distance travelled and we are now regularly cycling 40 miles. However, roots are important and a shorter ride was the order of the day.

For the shorter distances it is quite difficult to come up with an original route and this ride was no exception! So, what to do? One place that we rarely visit, for various reasons, is Cirencester so the roads there and back are seldom ridden by our club. Destination sorted. Although there were some speedier riders in our group we did, on the whole, ride together which, given the number of club tops being worn, looked pretty impressive. We made good time to Cirencester and immediately hit one of the problems that usually makes us avoid the place, where to stop for coffee? We settled on the Brewery Arts Centre and opted to stay outside. And this is the problem, very limited outside seating. We like our comforts and we always bear in mind the regime of the professionals who never stand if they can sit down and never sit if they can lay down. There was no sitting space here let alone lying down opportunities!

  

Coffee and cake consumed (standing) we set off on our way. (It is worth pointing out at this stage that if you don’t know the way it is worth cycling behind someone who does. You know who you are.)

With the exception of the climbs, few and not really steep, the group stayed mostly together on the return journey. Back at Malmesbury the group had collectively ridden a total of 231 miles although this was not enough for one member who increased that total to 248 miles by taking a longer route home. Not me, I might add.

Howard

Bits and Pieces

Clarions at Horsley on the ascent out of the village

Just a few points of interest:

Tour of Britain

There were well attended club rides to watch the tour at Horsley on Wednesday 10^th September and Bradford on Avon on Friday 12^th September.

At Horsley we were caught on camera and shown during the coverage of the race on TV.

A highlight of our excursion to Bradford on Avon was when just past the Allington Farm Shop we latched onto an exceptionally large peloton of Chippenham Wheelers heading for Winsley. With the Wheelers currently boasting 450 members, we pondered whether percentage-wise, if we actually had more riders than they did.   

A Night at the Movies

At 7.30pm on Tuesday 30^th September 2014, at The Pound Arts Centre, Corsham, there’s a showing of the film Pantani The Accidental Death of a Cyclist.

In 1998 Marco Pantani, the most flamboyant and popular cyclist of his era, won both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, a titanic feat of physical and mental endurance that no rider has repeated since. He was a hero to millions, the saviour of cycling following the doping scandals which threatened to destroy the sport. 

However, less than six years later, aged just 34, he died alone, in a cheap hotel room, from acute cocaine poisoning. This is the story of the tragic battles fought by the most important Italian cyclist of his generation; man verses mountain, athlete verses addiction, Marco Pantani verses himself.

Standard admission is £6 and concessions £5, with a buy one, get one free offer available.

http://www.poundarts.org.uk/pound/EventDetails.aspx?artid=2838

Free Bike Maintenance Day Courses

Would you like to learn how to carry out basic maintenance on your bike to give you the confidence to know that everything is in good order, or what to do if it isn't? If the answer's yes, this course could be for you!

This is a full day course which will run from 9.30am to 4.30pm and takes place in Swindon. The website does say that it is for residents of Swindon, but I understand that this isn’t being rigorously enforced. The idea is to get people out on their bikes and so reduce traffic congestion in the town.

Topics covered: Cleaning, lubricating, repairing punctures, adjusting brakes and gears, changing brake pads and cables and checking your chain. You will work on your own bike but the trainer will provide work stands, tools and work gloves.

The good news is that there are plenty of dates available, but the bad news is that they are all on a Saturday.

27th September 2014

11th October 2014
25th October 2014
8th November 2014
22nd November 2014
29th November 2014

http://www.totalswindon.com/lifestyle/free-bike-maintenance-day-course/#.VBs_8PldWkE

Malmesbury Clarion Cycling Club Benefits

With a number of new members either joining or about to join, you might not be aware that your membership entitles you to a 10% discount at C.H White & Son in Malmesbury, with no minimum spend. Simply present your MCCC membership card at the point of purchase.

View of the rear of the Peloton

Saturday’s ride was, for me at any rate, something of a dummy run to find out how long it would reasonably take to get to Bradford on Avon. The Tour of Britain passes through there on Friday and a few of us were planning to cycle over to witness this spectacle.  It is due to pass through quite early and we needed to know what time to start from Malmesbury. Well, it looks like 8am!

This ride, just over 50 miles in total, was, I believe, the longest Saturday club ride of the year. I looked forward to it with some trepidation because I hadn’t ridden this distance for over a year and am still recovering from some sort of injury that has prevented me from doing so. However, I needn’t have worried. Having been comprehensively dropped by the group last week, Jim and I had teamed up and made our own ride. During that ride we agreed that we would both tackle the 50 miles the following week and also agreed to ride in support of each other no matter what. And that is what we did. This, in my view, is exactly what cycling clubs are all about; supporting one another to achieve common aims – to do the distance and with company.

So, eight riders set off from the Town Hall, we proceeded through the town and reformed as a group riding in pairs on Foxley Road. Through Norton, over the ford and left to Hullavington the formation continued. Although the pace was steady, it was too fast for me to keep up for 25 miles. I pulled over to let the others through and was joined by Jim, as promised, and Tim W. We watched the 5 riders ahead disappear into the distance and we settled in to our pace. It’s good to know that there are always members willing to support the slowest rider; in this case the slower rider was me.

The ride continued without issue and we reached the halfway stop not 10 minutes after the faster group. It had taken us one hour 45 minutes to get to the Teapot Café and, comfortably seated and replete, Tim reflected that the miles had flown by mainly due to the chattering between us. Would we have gone faster without the chatter, who cares?, but we could easily have gone slower if necessary.

Cake stops are all very well but, when they are followed by an immediate 60 meter climb, take some swallowing! The young(er) ‘race’ snakes shot off and upwards leaving us oldies to grovel in the gutter, well I did anyway. Having reached the top, Tim, decided enough was enough and shot off to join the group in front, and that was the last we saw of him on the day. Jim and I happily joined forces and continued on at our pace.

One of the advantages of not going too fast is that you get to appreciate the passing view and there was one such to appreciate just north east of Chalfield Manor House. In a way it passed us rather than us it, but of our team, the only other member to enjoy the passing beauty was Ted, who had dropped back from the front group to await our arrival. Now we were three.

The return journey from that point was a bit of a blur for me mainly thanks to Ted who pulled the train along nicely and probably quicker than Jim and I would have managed alone. In fact, on my return home my wife declared that I was home earlier than she had expected. Thanks Ted, I think!

Team work and club camaraderie, I love it.

Howard

Club Ride Saturday 6th September 2014

Record breaker John Woodburn sets a new Cardiff to London record on a Moulton Speed

Moving with the times, I’ve been doing a bit of tweeting. Whilst this will be old hat to some, it’s all new to me. Using the club’s twitter account I tweeted that Saturday’s ride would be visiting The Teapot at Bradford on Avon and included their twitter account name.  The Teapot then tweeted us back and said that they would be ready for us, which I thought was a nice touch. A bit of banter then ensued between Howard, a seasoned twitter user and The Teapot. This was all great fun but I couldn't get Eileen Barton's 1950 hit record, 'If I knew you were coming, I'd have baked a cake' out of my head.

Incidentally, we now have 42 followers.  As you might expect, there’s a fair few Clarion branches and some of our own members too, but we’re also followed by Majestic Wines at Cirencester, the Wiltshire National Gardens Scheme and the Vine Tree at Norton!

No visit to Bradford on Avon, birthplace of the mighty Moulton, would be complete without a quick look at the legendary bicycle.

The first of Dr Alex Moulton’s bicycles was launched in 1962 at the Earls Court Cycle Show. The design was a revolutionary fresh take on the classic bicycle. It was an instant success and even though the factory at Bradford on Avon was doubled in size, it still couldn’t cope with the demand and so production had to be transferred to another site.

Within a month of the launch, the Cardiff to London record was broken on a Moulton Speed, with the 162 miles being covered at an average speed of 24 miles per hour.

Looking to gain further credibility within the market, Moulton Bicycles supported some of Coventry CC’s riders. On the track the bikes enabled them to keep in a tight group and out on the road, the smaller wheels reduced the aerodynamic drag. As a result, the riders were unstoppable and with an established reputation, the bikes were readily accepted by club cyclists.

Ah, I hear you say, if they’re that good, how come you never see one being ridden in the Tour de France. Well, following the introduction of the Union Cycliste Internationale, rule 1.3.018 states that Moultons are not permitted in road racing events.

Of course Moultons aren't for everyone and I happen to know that Tim H as a young lad living in Bradford on Avon had been promised a new bike. Tim H had his heart set on a new racing bike, but to his disappointment, he was presented with a Moulton instead. Had it been a Moulton Speed, perhaps it might have been a different matter.

Eight riders rallied around the Clarion banner Saturday morning and enjoyed a very pleasant excursion to Bradford on Avon.

Jim contemplates the impending climb out of Bradford on Avon (Sorry Steve, George's head got in the way)

Agreeable refreshments were taken with our new friends at The Teapot. The large wedges of carrot cake looked very tempting, but I played it safe and opted for a toasted teacake. A pot of Somerset tea made a perfect accompaniment.

If you're planning to catch the Tour of Britain as it speeds through Bradford on Avon on Friday, be sure to visit Winsley to see the 20 x 50 metre cycle sculpture. It has moving wheels made of people and will be set in motion at 10.30am. The human bicycle formed by 200 volunteers and designed by a BAFTA award winning designer will be filmed by a helicopter and broadcast on TV worldwide.

Garmin reference: http://connect.garmin.com/course/7825828