Blog Bulletin

The impressive water pumping station on the Tickenham Road

This week's musical accompaniment is provided by Tanita Tikaram. 'Twist In My Sobriety' was released as a single in 1988 and came from her debut album. Unusually, the record features the oboe, an instrument rarely used in pop music. It's inclusion provides a very distinct sound.

The tenuous-tune-link comes from Saturday's Sporting Group ride. Tanita's song came into my head, as we were riding through Tickenham, just outside of Clevedon.

You can twist in your sobriety (unless you've been drinking) here.

Clevedon's promenade 

With the sun shining brightly, 10 members rolled out of the Cross Hayes at 8.00am on Saturday for the Sporting Group's visit to Clevedon and Portishead.

After Pucklechurch we joined the Bristol and Bath Railway Path, which safely delivered us to the very heart of Bristol's city centre. A string of so many riders can make it difficult for vehicles to overtake. Peter C hatched a cunning plan whereby we would split into 2 packs and reconvene at the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Castle Bridge, Bristol

Those of us in the second group waited in Castle Park while the others pushed on. This view from the park across the river features Castle Bridge on the left.

Mark and Paul Hudson climbing Park Street

We unexpectedly found our progress up Park Street thwarted by barriers placed out in preparation for the Bristol Grand Prix cycle racing taking place later.

Whilst our advance party made alternative arrangements, the rearguard took advantage of a gap in the barriers and ploughed on up Park Street. 

Peter C crosses the Grade 1 listed bridge

This resulted in some minor confusion with the advance party waiting, as arranged, at the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the rearguard continuing to the coffee stop believing they were ahead of them.

Paul Hudson and Peter C waving to the camera

Refreshments were taken at the Ashton Court Golf Cafe. Whilst it might sound like a 19th hole setup, it actually gets its name because it overlooks a golf course. The connection with the game of golf begins and ends there.

 The advance party finally arrive

The cafe was an instant hit. Most of us took advantage of the egg or bacon bap with a tea or coffee offer, for the bargain price of just £3.50. The baps came with either 2 eggs or 2 rashers of bacon.

Roles swapped, this time the rearguard set off first and promised to wait near the pier. True to our word, we arrived at Clevedon's seafront and spent some time admiring the views across the estuary.

Reunited, members mingle on the promenade

Before taking the coast road up to Portishead, there was time for a group photograph. 

Lunch was enjoyed at the Portishead Marina. The construction of Hall and Woodhouse incorporates no less that 27 shipping containers. These doors are at the bottom of the stairs up to the toilets.

My fish finger cob was accompanied by a generous portion of French fries and was an absolute triumph. Steve Clark gave his the thumbs up too.

Pete B, Peter C and Steve Clark watch the water filling the Marina's lock

Mark and Matt do likewise

Our route home took us back over the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Steve Clark dwarfed by one of the bridge's mighty towers

Our final group photograph of the day taken by the bridge

Members marvel at the amazing feat of engineering

With the cycle racing now in full swing, Matt put his knowledge of Bristol to good use and piloted us back to the Bristol and Bath Railway Path.

For some of us, an extremely enjoyable outing was rounded off with a relaxing cup of tea and a slice of cake at The Angel, Sherston.

Our thanks go to Peter C for planning and leading the trip. His preparations involved a test-ride of the complete course with Mike G earlier in the week.

Riders: James M, Mark, Matt, Mike G, Paul Hudson, Pete B, Peter C, Phil, Steve Clark and me, Tim W.

Clarions at Clevedon Sunday 3rd August 2014

There's a second opportunity to visit Clevedon and Portishead with the club, on 17th September, as part of the 2017 Sunday Series being run by Tim H. It's over a different course, so whilst the destination might be the same, it'll definitely have a different feel.

I'm very grateful to Sian for the photograph above and the following report:

The variously named, but frequently referred to, as the Leisure Group, rode a lovely route, which was just over 23 miles. We stopped at Lyndsey's in Tetbury. This was a first for many of us. 

We pushed the bikes through the shop to sit outside. 

Suitably refreshed, and just as we were ready to depart, Caroline arrived. After a quick hello, we cycled back to Malmesbury.

There were 6 riders: Howard, Steve M, Clive, Paul Hadley, Katie and me (Sian).

Editor: For those who don't know, Katie is Howard's daughter and one of our latest members. We're delighted to have her join us. 

I've also received this photograph from Howard, sent via Sian, of latecomer Caroline, whom I'm told promptly fell asleep.

Monday 28th August 2017, sees the annual running of the Malmesbury Carnival cycle ride. Organised and led by our very own Ken MacLennan, the event starts at 10.00am from outside of The Old Bell. Entry is £5.00. Just turn up and pay on the day. The cost includes tea, coffee and biscuits served on the 20 mile course at Badminton. This is a family-friendly excursion ridden at a relaxed pace.

It's the turn of Estate Agents Henry George to step into the spotlight, as the latest in our occasional series of 'Surly It Can't Be Coincidence Alone That So Many Businesses In Malmesbury Are Decorated In MCCC Colours.'

In addition to their Malmesbury office, they also have branches at Swindon, Marlborough and Cirencester.

Blog Bulletin

Phil's holidaying on the Isle of Wight (about which, you can read later) set my mind racing for an Isle of Wight related piece of music. San(Down) San(Down) by Status Quo, was one of three rather feeble efforts. I won't subject you to the other two equally cringe worthy attempts. Fortunately, Phil came to my rescue with a far less convoluted connection. 

Released by Status Quo in 1979, 'Living On An Island' reached number 16 in the UK Singles Chart. The first 100,000 copies were issued with a picture sleeve featuring penguins. This continued the penguin theme started with their previous single 'Whatever You Want.'

You can imagine yourself living on an island by listening here.

Peter C has filed the following report regarding the Sporting Group's ride to the Allington Farm Shop Cafe on Saturday 12th August 2017:

It was a little overcast, but overall dry and relatively low winds, with a lot of road traffic around Marshfield for some unknown reason.

The new diversion around Wadswick proved a great success avoiding the very busy road between the 5 Ways junction and the A4 at Corsham. We were also rewarded with a fantastic view looking over to Westbury.

The cafe was good, as always, and we met Paul's old club Ride 24/7 outside for coffee.

Talk of the day was of Lyndon's new rear cassette on his Trek road bike, which looked like a dinner plate boasting a range of 42/11, with the rest of the drive chain being standard. He is trialing this set up, but I think he will need to speak to Mike G on this, as he appears to be our resident guru on non-standard set ups!

Riders: Lyndon, Mark Jones, Paul Hudson, Peter Baptiste and me.

I'm grateful to Phil for this very entertaining review of his cycling on the Isle of Wight last week:

On our first proper visit and family holiday to the Isle of Wight I thought it would be remiss of me not to load up our bikes and tackle the Island on two wheels. A number of fellow cyclists had mentioned a round the island route and after a bit of web searching I found the following site http://www.cycleisland.co.uk which had details of the annual 100km Randonnee held on the island. 

Having already got a couple of 100km rides under his belt, James was keen to tackle this ride with me, so we set off in a light drizzle unsure of how wet we would get on the way round. We selected the clockwise, road only route (there are a number of cycle trails and paths which can be used to circumnavigate the island) and headed from our holiday home in Gurnard (West of Cowes) to the official start point in East Cowes. This required a short trip on the chain ferry to cross the River Medina (Tim - insert chain ferry history here!). 

The cycle route does its best to track the circumference of the island avoiding most of the busier roads and town centres. It does however go through numerous pretty villages, small woodlands and open coastal roads so offers a bit of everything. 

About a third of the way round I called James to a halt to take a picture at the sign to Alverstone. This was after the blog article released that day linking Glen Campbell’s 'Galveston' to Alveston on our trip to Chepstow. Sorry I couldn’t resist it. 

At the half-way point James and I decided to stop for refreshments and happened across an interesting concept. Where many village shops and post offices have closed down and moved in to the pub, in Niton they have decided to add a real ale bar and cafe to the Post Office - Excellent! I think this concept should be adopted in all villages all over the land. I believe it would encourage many men to write more letters - just off to post a letter love….. back in an hour or two. 

Okay, back to the ride. After our lunch & ale at the southern tip of the island we headed North West on to the fantastic Military road which travels up from the lowest point of the island along the cliff tops and ending at Freshwater Bay.

From here we headed due North arriving in Yarmouth before the home stretch, mainly through farmland, on the way back to Gurnard. A nice round 65 miles/100km. 

I enjoyed it so much that two days later I tackled the ride on my own in reverse. I must admit it did seem more challenging (hillier) this way around, or maybe it was because I didn’t have James to pace me, who knows? 

This weeks musical accompaniment which I sang to myself on my anti-clockwise route - Status Quo’s 'Living On An Island' of course.  

Phil.

Floating Bridge No 6 out of the water

Without wishing to appear a smarty pants, as I only know this after a bit of research, the chain ferry is actually a floating bridge. Established in 1859, it's one of the few remaining floating bridges that haven't been replaced by a permanent structure. Although officially known as Floating Bridge No 6, a petition in 2017 to name it Floaty McFloatface attracted over 2,000 signatures.

Editor

We're delighted to have received the account below from John Shephard regarding his cycling tour of Snowdonia:

John's trusty steed

In May six of us from Minety spent four days cycling around Snowdonia. We drove to Welshpool and parked up there. We averaged about 60 miles per day and stayed in bunkhouses along the way. (Editor: I bet the mention of bunkhouses has grabbed Mike G's attention).

Stunning views abound

We incorporated the Dave Brailsford Way [http://www.visitsnowdonia.info/ffordd_brailsford_way-294.aspx]

within our route shown at the top of this article.

We also used some of Lôn Las Cymru (Sustrans route 8). The hill South East of Machynlleth is really, really wonderful. It's a monster of a hill - probably the toughest any of us have ridden up fully loaded. Great to get to the top!

Snowdonia is highly recommended for a cycling holiday. It's very accessible from Malmesbury. The routes are quiet and beautiful. The accommodation is cheap with an average price of £23 per night.

Please follow this link for an album of photographs taken during the holiday.

You can also watch a short video of our adventures here. 

If anyone wants further information, please feel free to contact me.

John

Bibury looking stunning

Further to Tim H's recent email, a reminder that the next ride in the 2017 Sunday Series, will be to the very picturesque village of Bibury, on 27th August, departing at 10.00am.

You can see and download the 55 mile course here.

Absent in 2016, Bibury featured in the 2014 and 2015 Sunday Series. To whet your appetite for this year's outing, I thought it would be interesting to look back at our previous visits.

Sunday 1st June 2014, saw Andy Poolman, Gary, George, Tim H and me, Tim W, complete the excursion. 

Andy and George at the Trout Farm Cafe

Clarions saddling up for the ride home

Our peloton weaves its way through Bibury

Coincidentally, five members made the trip on Sunday 12th April 2015. They were Alice, Karine, Steve M, Tim H and me, Tim W.

Our peloton waiting to join the Whiteway at Cirencester

The fish counter at the Bibury Trout Farm

Steve M came up with 'The Famous Five's Foray to the Fish Farm' as a fitting title for the blog piece about the ride.

Ready to head for home

Blog Bulletin

This week's musical accompaniment is provided by the legendary Glen Campbell. Born in 1936, Glen released more than 70 albums during his career. The reason for his artist-of-choice status, is because of his fondly remembered record 'Galveston.' On our recent outing to Chepstow, Peter C and Tommy burst forth with a few lines from 'Galveston', which was a clever play on words, as we'd just left Alveston.

You can listen and sing along here.

I thought I'd just mention that it was actually a toss-up between 'Galveston' and the theme tune to the American epic war drama film 'Deer Hunter' released in 1978.

This was after one of our members was unfortunately felled last week by a deer who failed to observe the highway code during the Wednesday evening Knight Rider session.

Here's a very atmospheric photograph from Des taken on the Sunday Series Ride on 23rd July 2017, when Bryan, Des and Tim H braved the wet weather to cycle to Bradford on Avon.

There's definitely something about the medium of black and white photography, which can make a very powerful image.

Actually, it's given me an idea that just for fun, the blog could have its own annual photography competition.

Back to the cycling, Des reports that they swam most of the way there and back. The trio stopped in Westbury for a cuppa, then headed on to Bradford on Avon for lunch. Having waited a while to see if the rain was going to halt, and finding that it wasn't going to, they headed for home. Brian had already done his miles, and so turned off at Grittleton. Des and Tim rode the last few miles back to Malmesbury, where surprise, surprise the sun was shining.

Well done lads. A great effort in very challenging conditions.

If you haven't already seen these pictures, they're from the club run to Chepstow on Saturday 29th July 2017.

The top one was taken after our refreshments at Pye Corner on Chepstow's impressive cast iron bridge, which crosses the River Wye and links Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. The other was of course captured on the Severn Bridge. 

Although the two bridges were built 150 years apart, they're both Grade 1 listed buildings.

Pictured in the foreground on the Severn Bridge, alongside James M, is our new(est) member, Matt from Malmesbury, who we're delighted to have join us.

Riders: Andrew, Chris, James M, Matt, Pete B, Peter C, Phil, Tim W and Tommy.

Des has very kindly shared with us his experiences taking part in Prudential RideLondon on Sunday 30th July 2017:


Thanks to everyone who was able to sponsor me and my work colleagues, we ended up (last time I looked) raising £37,000 for our charity Aspire.

As for the ride, I went up on the Saturday by train with my bike booked on, as I firstly, needed to register and secondly, I thought it better than getting up at 3.00am. 

Oddly, having to ride across London from Paddington to Docklands was slightly impeded by the Saturday RideLondon event, as they were going in the wrong direction for me. I needed to get registered before 5.00pm. That was easy enough in the end and I headed to the hotel. It was then straight out to find some pasta before trying to get an early night. 

That didn't happen, but I was up at 5.45am, to ride the 4 miles to the start. I didn't want to get there too early and then have to wait a long time before our turn to go.

                         

We were off the line at 8.24am, and I was surprised by how much space there was once we were away on the closed roads. I met with one of my fellow riders and paced with her to the first water stop, where supposedly others would be, but they weren't, so I took off trying to see if I could catch them. 

It was a great day for the ride. I hit Surrey Hill, which was a long drag and was slightly worried when I felt a twinge in my thigh. I hoped I wasn't going to pull a muscle. I kept my head down and passed a few of my other colleagues before riding with a couple of them for a bit, then moved on to Leith Hill, which I didn't realise I was on for a while, but made it to the top without stopping, even though it was quite congested. 

I pushed on through the Surrey Hills to Box Hill, which was fantastic to ride up, as there was a bit more space compared to Leith Hill. From then on, I knew it was basically a run back into London. Strangely, at this point I felt strong enough to power up the small rollers on the way back. 

At 85 miles I started to feel pain in the backside and shoulders, but I knew that it wasn't anything that was going to stop me. The small bump that runs up in to Wimbledon was the last one, so I just ground that out and then felt like I was just going down hill from there. I tried to keep the pace up to the finish line, and crossed over it with an average of 16 mph, and a riding time of 6 hours 23 minutes, with only 37 minutes cafe time. I was so was pleased about that.

I had a hour or so rest in Green Park hosted by Aspire before jumping back on the bike to ride the couple of miles back to Paddington.

I'd like to thank Tim H and Brian for going out on the last Sunday Series ride the week before with me. The weather was awful to Bradford on Avon and back, but I knew that as we'd ridden 80 miles, I wouldn't have a problem on the RideLondon 100.

Finally, I think I'd be happy to sign up again for next year's RideLondon, as it was enjoyable and being able to ride on closed roads is a great experience. So, anyone up for it?

Des

Editor: On behalf of all of your club mates, excellent work Des.

                  Clarions at the front of Crowns Cafe, Lyneham

Sian has thoughtfully sent in the above photograph with a ride report, for which, I'm very grateful:

Saturday 5th August 2017, saw the Sporting and Social Groups meet up at the Crowns Cafe at Lyneham. This new venture is linked to the REME Museum just inside the main gates.

With 17 of us, we felt the group was too big to go back as one together.

We managed to get back to Malmesbury with the thunder rumbling in the distance and thankfully dodged the rain.

Sporting Group: Andy Poolman, James M, Lyndon, Mark Jones,  Peter C, Phil and Tommy.

Social Group: Bryan, Chris, Colin, John, Paul Hadley, Sian, Simon Akers, Steve Cox, Sue Akers and Tim H. 

Howard and 3 members of his Leisure Group brought the total number of riders up to an impressive 21.

Editor: A warm welcome from the blog is extended to Mark Jones, who we'll hopefully see a lot more of over the coming weeks and months.