Weekly Roundup

Cotswold Discovery Centre, Northleach

Wednesday Mike and me rode to Northleach as part of our preparations for the Sunday ride on 20th December 2015. Our brief for this current series is to visit places the club hasn't been to before, but to keep the overall distance down to under 60 miles. Unfortunately Bourton-on-the-Water tipped the scales closer to 70 than 60, so we're off to Northleach instead. 

Our cafe of choice on the day was the one at the Cotswold Discovery Centre at the Old Prison. However, the Ox House in the town square caught our eye afterwards. You can follow the link here to watch a short video about the Ox House, which should make for an enjoyable stop.

There's just a little fine-tuning required before the course can be released. And don't forget we'll be setting off at 9.00am.

Peter dims his lights

Two Knight Riders, Peter C and Simon S, took to the streets on Wednesday evening. Air Traffic Control say that rumours that pilots flying over the Cotswolds in to Staverton Airport, Gloucester, were being distracted by Peter's front lights, are completely unfounded.

Quackers Farm Shop & Cafe, Hinton Road, Pucklechurch

(Click once to enlarge the photographs)

Undeterred by the BBC's prediction of heavy rain of biblical proportions, seven riders mustered in the Cross Hayes. In actual fact, we never saw a drop of rain all day.

Malc, Peter C and me (Tim W) headed off into the wind, with Andy Poolman, Mike G, Atherton and Steve Cox making up the other group.

The Fosseway was busy with mounted members of the Duke of Beaufort's Hunt gathering for the start. The usual courteous pleasantries were exchanged and we passed without incident.

Negotiating the A46 was a little trickier with the endless stream of Christmas shoppers flooding down to Bath. Running across the junction whilst wheeling your bike seemed to be the safest option.

Having descended Hinton Hill, we arrived at Quackers. Malc and Peter C went for doorstep bacon sandwiches and I had scrambled egg on toast. Judging by the clean plates, there were no complaints.

A neighbouring table was vacated just in time for the other group to take residence when they arrived and we were able to share our experiences thus far.

Andy needed to be back in Malmesbury fairly sharpish and so he left with Malc and Peter C. They charted a course into Pucklechurch, up towards Westerleigh and then turned for home through Codrington to Tormarton.

. . . . . which left Mike, Atherton, Steve and me to assault Hinton Hill. Approaching it from the side certainly made life a bit easier and once we'd reached the summit, the tail wind and gradual descent meant that we barely had to pedal.

Back on the Fosseway the hunt looked to be winding down when we arrived, but the other trio were in time to see it in full flight, with the hunt thundering across the road in front of them. 

And finally, here's a link to Cycling Weekly's quick-quiz aimed at determining which kind of cyclist you are.

I'm not taking the results too seriously though, as apparently I'm a commuter!