In the
immortal words of the Two Ronnies, 'It's goodnight from me.'
It
has been an absolute pleasure and an honour to hopefully have been of
some service to the club and its members.
My first
blogging effort was posted on 20th November 2013. After 220
weekly blog updates and bulletins, and if the provider's statistics are to be
believed, an incredible 27,000 views, this will be my last blog post.
Blogging is a
very time consuming business. Hours spent at the laptop can sometimes equate to just a few miserable lines
going into print. I've decided to convert the hours spent writing into riding some extra miles.
Thank you
to those who sent me articles and photographs, and who by doing so, helped make the blog so successful. I couldn't have done it without you. Also, to the readers for viewing the blog in such numbers.
After last week's rather moody piece of music from Tanita Tikaram, I thought we would have a complete contrast with something uplifting. What better then, than Van Morrison's 'Bright Side Of The Road.' Recorded in California and released in 1979, it rather surprisingly only ever reached number 63 in the UK Singles Chart.
'Bright Side Of The Road' was however performed by Shakira at a ball for Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration ceremony celebrations. Maybe, like wine, some songs improve with age.
I've gone with Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison's own version, which you can sing along with here.
Saturday 9th September 2017, sees the club heading to Bourton-on-the-Water to watch the Tour of Britain. Departure will be at 9.00am. There's a stop planned at Northleach along the way for coffee. Then it's on to find a good vantage point and to soak up the atmosphere. The riders will be coming through at about 1.40pm. The out and back course is 67 miles. There are already members signed-up on Strava for what promises to be a great day out.
Unfortunately, the 20 cycling teams taking part doesn't include Caja Rural. As Howard quite rightly brought to my attention, this professional team clearly take their kit inspiration from the amateur Malmesbury Clarion CC.
There's the odd retweet, but otherwise the tweets are all our own work. Most relate to the club rides. Advance notice is given weekly of the destination and times we're setting off. Cafes are included in the tweet as a backup to Peter C's emails and Facebook contact. A followup tweet after our visit, with a photograph of members at the establishment, is always well received by the cafe. This is all part of the good relations we're trying to build with the owners.
If you're a Twitter user and not already following us, please give us a follow.
Leighton Buzzard Railway Station - the start of our undoing
Tommy and me left Malmesbury at 6.50am on Thursday morning. Our challenge was to complete the 600km (372 miles) Exe-Buzzard Permanent Audax in under 42 hours. The course conveniently passes through Malmesbury on its way to Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. It then heads South to Chandler's Ford in Hampshire, before turning West to Exeter and back up via Taunton and Bath.
At stake was the covetted Super Randonneur award given to Audax UK members who ride a 200, 300, 400 and 600km event in the same AUK calendar year.
Tommy outside of Brackley's Traditional Family Bakery
A light tailwind and warm weather meant that we were able to make good progress over the first 90 miles to Leighton Buzzard. Our only proper stop was at Brackley in Northamptonshire. A savoury offering and a cup of tea at a bakery in the High Street there, certainly hit the spot. We left promising ourselves a more substantial meal once we reached Leighton Buzzard.
Leighton Buzzard though is where things started to unravel. We had to control at the town's railway station. Whilst virtually every junction had a brown information sign pointing the way to the narrow gauge light railway, the whereabouts of the one managed by London Midland remained a close-kept secret. We eventually discovered it hiding at the end of a cul-de-sac in a residential area.
Keen to make up lost time we abandoned all thoughts of a substantial meal and headed for Pangbourne in Oxfordshire. Running on a less than full tank, we found ourselves on an unbearably busy A class road, full of lorries travelling far too close to us. We also had the additional burden of a headwind. The only respite came when my back tyre punctured opposite a garage, which at least allowed us to buy some snacks.
At Aylesbury a new housing estate thrown up overnight had transformed the road layout and left us floundering. After riding around in circles, we eventually found the road we were looking for to Chinnor.
Disappointingly, the 60 miles to Pangbourne took all afternoon. Pangbourne wasn't exactly awash with eateries. We had fish and chips and had to sit on the pavement to eat them. Yet more precious minutes were lost, as they were cooked to order.
Tommy waiting for the train to pass
Determined to claw back some time, it was a case of heads down and high gears, as we thundered out of Pangbourne. I must have spent too long looking at the road surface, as I overshot a left turn by 10 yards. Although I quickly corrected the error, it was too late to avoid being held at the railway crossing.
The evening ride down to Winchester involved some big climbs, which saw our average speed drop to around 13mph.
Standing on a garage forecourt at Chandler's Ford at 9.50pm, with the kiosk's shutters making their slow, rumbling descent, we had some hard decisions to make. Our overnight farmhouse accommodation was over 60 miles away in Sherborne. We were expected there between midnight and 2.00am. As things stood, we were unlikely to reach there until after 3.00am.
With the temperature having dropped, the prospect of a night ride along the A30 didn't appeal to either of us. The availability of a double room at the nearby Eastleigh Travel Lodge, was just too tempting.
We crept out of the Travel Lodge at 5.30am and with the fuel tank needle on red, rode the 36 miles to Salisbury. Over breakfast there, with too much time lost, we decided to abandon the ride and return home. Disappointed, but not too downhearted, we crossed the Salisbury Plain, passing through Shrewton and Tilshead.
We stopped briefly at Devizes for a cup of Greggs' finest tea and returned to Malmesbury with our Garmins registering 400km.
I've since used the product on some long rides and have been impressed by how much it reduces friction when riding. It also aids recovery afterwards. It hasn't eliminated soreness altogether, if that's even possible, but it definitely makes life a lot more comfortable in the saddle after the first 200km.
For a longer and much more in-depth analysis of its natural, chemical free, vegan friendly ingredients, this is the very favourable review carried out by road.cc.
The small pots cost £3.50 and the larger ones, if I remember rightly, about £18. Don't be put off by the cost though. It spreads very thinly and so provides plenty of applications. I think you'll find this is money well spent.
Caroline has asked me to let everyone know that Gary currently has a stock of handy cafe combination cycle locks, on sale for £11.
Bikes, as we know, can be stolen in the blink of an eye. I'm as guilty as the next person of not locking my cycle up on club runs. We haven't lost a bike yet, but why take the risk. Don't be the first to have theirs stolen.
