The inspiration for this week's musical accompaniment comes from the all too brief heatwave and the fact that Sian and Peter C went to see the group in concert in London at the weekend.
Electric Light Orchestra's 'Mr Blue Sky' was written and produced by Jeff Lynne. Released in 1978, it was taken from the group's album Out of the Blue, and peaked at number 6 in the UK Singles Chart.
You can listen and be uplifted by 'Mr Blue Sky' here.
In the garden at the Cat and Custard Pot, Shipton Moyne
The red hot heat of the preceding days was replaced by a much more comfortable temperature on Wednesday evening.
Having reached Minchinhampton via Long Newnton and Cherington, we decided to postpone our planned stop at the fish and chip shop for another occasion. A descent of the 'W' into Nailsworth, was quickly followed by a climb up Horsley Hill. After an energetic run down Bowldown Road to Shipton Moyne, there was no possibility of us passing up the opportunity of a drink at the Cat and Custard Pot.
Having reached Minchinhampton via Long Newnton and Cherington, we decided to postpone our planned stop at the fish and chip shop for another occasion. A descent of the 'W' into Nailsworth, was quickly followed by a climb up Horsley Hill. After an energetic run down Bowldown Road to Shipton Moyne, there was no possibility of us passing up the opportunity of a drink at the Cat and Custard Pot.
Riders: Peter C, Phil, Steve Clark, me, Tim W and guest Simon Vannerley.
Lads and ladies who do lunch!
My thanks go to Lyndon for sending me this photograph taken at The Angel, Sherston on Thursday.Attendees: Bryan, Clive, Chris, Dave, Lyndon, Paul Hadley, Peter C, Steve Cox, Steve M and Sue Alexander.
Our combined Clarion family in the garden of Jennie's Kitchen
Saturday was one of those magic moments when all three groups converged for coffee. First there's a general overview of the coffee stop, followed by individual group reports from Howard and Paul.
Reserved for MCCC
First to arrive, were members of the Sporting Group. Peter C had primed Jennie's Kitchen to expect around 16 riders, and they'd reserved a large table for us.
Leisure and Sporting Group riders get ready to rumble
The second wave of riders came in the form of the Leisure Group. A bit of squeezing-up meant that we were all able to sit together.
We'd more or less finished our refreshments when the Social Group called in to complete the trio.
The alpacas (hairy kangaroos) were keen to join the party too
With our combined cycling family now occupying two tables, we united for a club photograph and mingled long enough to be able to exchange greetings.
Reluctantly, the Sporting Group broke up the party and headed for home, leaving the Social Group to enjoy their food and drinks.
Sporting Group: James H, Mike G, Phil, Steve Clark, me, Tim W and Tommy.
How long is a club ride?
That is the question that got me thinking. Is it 20 miles, 35, or even 45 miles? Our club offers all three distances on a Saturday but check Strava early Saturday evening, find MCCC members’ uploads (or is it downloads?) and a variety of distances show, 40, 50, 60+ miles, from riders purported to be on the same ride! No bad thing, in my opinion.
What I do find frustrating though is that my end of ride mileage is always something like xx.9, it is never an exact number. This, obviously, always forces me to extend my ride to ensure the figure rolls over to a respectable (say) 25.00 miles, rather than an embarrassingly short distance of 24.9 miles (probably 24.99 but there is not enough space to display 100th on my Edge 800).
This then is my brief report on our 24.9 mile leisure ride. I didn’t notice that I needed that 10th of a mile until after I’d put my bike away. Caroline and I set off from the town hall to meet Dave and Sue further in to the ride. The route followed was pretty direct to the cafĂ© and took in Charlton, Hankerton, Upper Minety, a closed railway crossing boasting a passing train, Lower Moor, Derry Fields, ‘Happy Land’ and on to Jennie's Cafe.
Sporting Group: James H, Mike G, Phil, Steve Clark, me, Tim W and Tommy.
Formation riding (or it would have been if I hadn’t slowed to take this photo)
That is the question that got me thinking. Is it 20 miles, 35, or even 45 miles? Our club offers all three distances on a Saturday but check Strava early Saturday evening, find MCCC members’ uploads (or is it downloads?) and a variety of distances show, 40, 50, 60+ miles, from riders purported to be on the same ride! No bad thing, in my opinion.
What I do find frustrating though is that my end of ride mileage is always something like xx.9, it is never an exact number. This, obviously, always forces me to extend my ride to ensure the figure rolls over to a respectable (say) 25.00 miles, rather than an embarrassingly short distance of 24.9 miles (probably 24.99 but there is not enough space to display 100th on my Edge 800).
Looks like a major pile up but just waiting for horses and horse boxes to pass
This then is my brief report on our 24.9 mile leisure ride. I didn’t notice that I needed that 10th of a mile until after I’d put my bike away. Caroline and I set off from the town hall to meet Dave and Sue further in to the ride. The route followed was pretty direct to the cafĂ© and took in Charlton, Hankerton, Upper Minety, a closed railway crossing boasting a passing train, Lower Moor, Derry Fields, ‘Happy Land’ and on to Jennie's Cafe.
Leisure Group: Caroline, Dave, Howard and Sue Alexander.
Howard
An Arithmetic Adventure with The Social Group:
Howard
An Arithmetic Adventure with The Social Group:
We started out with 7. Yes the magnificent 7. A prime number. It had to be a good omen. Bryan was leading and I was riding at the back, as we were the only ones with the route map. After a few miles, I checked the numbers again and, this time, counted 8 riders. Another good number if you are Chinese, but where had the extra one come from? It was Chris. He had simply materialised into the group from nowhere. I must ask him how he does that. Our cat can do it but not with a bike.
The ride progressed well without any further change to the number of riders. As you might expect in a sociable group, we enjoyed good conversation with bike stuff hardly mentioned at all.
We arrived at the coffee stop to find the Leisure and Sporting contingents well into their coffee and cake.
I now return to arithmetic. I had an Americano (£2.20p) plus an egg & bacon roll(£3.50p) = £5.70p ...... but not so in Jennie's Cafe where it evidently adds up to £5.15p. It seems that whatever any of our group ordered, it came to £5.15p. Nice cafe though. Did you spot those hairy kangaroos in the next field?
The ride back was the shorter of the 2 halves and we were soon back in Malmesbury. Bryan set a healthy pace for a windy day and we averaged c 15.5 mph for the whole ride. Thanks go to Bryan for being ride leader and to Peter for another fine route.
Social Group: Bryan, Chris, Karine, Lyndon, Malc, Paul Hadley, Steve M and Sue Akers.
Paul Hadley
Paul Hadley
Bamboo Socks in MCCC colours
Produced by the renowned performance sock maker, Save Our Soles, in Colorado, USA, they're made from a mix of bamboo fibre, nylon and lycra. The bamboo fibre provides excellent moisture management and a soft, yet durable finish.
They were made for Velo Club Walcot, to their own design, and are sold exclusively on their behalf by Green Park Bike Station, Bath. Normally only available to their members, we have VC Walcot's permission to purchase them.
The only thing that prevents them from being the perfect sock, is that the shade of green is a little darker than our own. If you think you can see a pink blush to some of the diamonds, you would be absolutely correct. This puts them 'bang on trend.'
The cost is just £5 a pair. There are limited numbers of medium socks (6.5 - 9), but plenty in a large (9.5 -11.5).
I've already received some orders. If you're interested, please let me know the size and number of pairs you require.
Tim W
Entertaining as ever Mr Monk or should that be the Flying Monk ????
ReplyDeleteA better version of Mr Blue Sky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgdY9k5_nEU
ReplyDelete