News for September 2013

Transcription

1 News for September 2013 Tuesday 3rd September - report from Alan Partridge: The route used for this longer ride from Northleach to Hook Norton Brewery was originally devised by Tony Conibear and was last used three or four years ago. Six riders assembled in the Market Square for the start; this included Nigel Gunton who this time, wisely decided to drive to the meeting point rather than giving himself the extra cycling miles as he did on the longer ride from Wedmore. The conditions were perfect for cycling, no wind and warm enough for short sleeve order. We hit the first hill within 300yrds of the start and continued up and down the Cotswolds through Bourton- on- the Water, past Donnington Brewery and Bourton-on- the-.hill then proceeded to climb the long driveway to Batsford Arboretum for coffee.the nice little cottage coffee shop has now been replaced by a fully blown cafeteria/restaurant incorporating an indoor garden centre. We sat out on the patio comparing notes on the Bristol Grommit Trail, Rob Searle being the expert in the group having tracked down over 30 of them. The start of our next leg was slightly delayed by the three chefs taking 20 mins to toast 4 pieces of bread and Dave Woodward taking half as long again to eat it. We set off through the busy market town of Morton-in -the Marsh, through the picturesque villages of the Wolfords and Cherrington and on to Traitors Ford. We successfully negotiated the ford, unlike a previous ride where Winona, an American guest rider, keeled over with cleats firmly locked into her pedals! After a guided tour through the village of Hook Norton we arrived at the Pear Tree for lunch.the Pear Tree sits within a stones throw of the historic brewery which was established in If you are ever cycling this way, the brewery has a coffee shop and if you have 2 hours to spare you can have a guided tour, visit the museum and sample the ales. The Old Hookey served up in the Pear Tree was great and we had no complaints about the food which we ate outside in the sun. We set off towards our tea stop at Burford via Great Rollright, Chipping Norton and Bruern where we encountered a deer ambling across the road. It looked a bit unusual but we were reliably informed by Rob that it was a Muntjac, apparently introduced from China. The rolling hills were starting to become a bit of a drag before we arrived at Hufkins in Burford High Street. The choice of cakes is wide ranging and extends into their adjacent bakery. They serve pots of tea along with these strange little chrome things with perforations, sitting in their own little bowls. Yes Dave, they are called tea strainers and you use them over your cup to prevent choking on tea leaves!!! Only 13 miles to go following the Windrush valley back to Northleach. Within 3 miles of the finish I am thinking how unusual it is to have an incident free ride, then heard Brian Trott shout puncture. After the repair we also had one of those little unplanned route diversions. Nevertheless we all arrived a little tired but safely back to a sunny Northleach after an enjoyable 69mile ride in the Cotswolds. Thursday 5th September - report from Bill Balchin: I had three objectives in mind for today's ride from Amcor to the Royal Oak at Wotton under Edge. First was to make it suitable for everybody and get away from the fast group/slow group business that is creeping in. Second was to find some roads that we don't usually go along - preferably without big hills. And third to add some items of local interest. I first encountered this when John Bishop diverted the group into the alms houses in Wotton a few years back, before that I never knew they existed. The weather played it's part with a warm, dry, bright day with light winds so it was heart-warming to see twenty riders at the start including Dawn and Colin plus a whole bunch of Johns including Bishop, Huish and Tyler. Just down to the leader to do his bit now then. We started on the route that used to be favourite to get to the Severn Bridge, along Hortham Lane, Moor Lane and into Olveston. Our first stop was between Olveston and Elburton to mention the power station. Yes there is a landfill gas powered plant on the site of the old Harn Hill quarry. Nothing is visible from the road but it typically produces about 30,000 of electricity each month. We then followed Mumbleys Lane and Kington Lane to arrive at Thornbury Castle - once a manor house but extended with castle-like features in 1511 by the Duke of Buckingham. He made such a good job that in 1521 his distant cousin Henry VIII had him beheaded for treason and confiscated the house.

2 We continued through the back streets of Thornbury into Rockhampton and crossed the A38 at Stone onto Middle Lane. The worst parts of this lane have been resurfaced, and they must have been dreadful judging by the sections that remain. That took us past the back entrance to Michaelwood services, over the M5 and down through Damery. We have been along there many times from Tortworth but I suspect for many people this was the first time in this direction - a very pleasant descent on a tree lined lane alongside a stream. Huntingford gave us a final pause to look at Swinhay House, the modern equivalent of the ancient manor house with all the bells and whistles you would expect for thirty million quid, but I would rather be cycling than in his 80 foot swimming pool. Past the toll house and up the final drag and we made the Royal Oak by twelve fifteen to find more of the regulars already enjoying the food and drink in the garden. Despite twenty of us arriving together they coped well although nobody was in much of a hurry - it felt special that we had ridden together as one big happy family, nobody got lost or blew up and now we could sit in the sunshine and chat about it. Just don't expect such easy terrain if you join the Tuesday ride on 17th September from Dursley when we will be climbing some hills around Stroud. The route of our gentle ride in the sun - click here. Thursday 12th September - report from Bill Balchin: Last week we were in shorts and short sleeves in the sunshine all day - today was more like an Autumn day with cloudy skies and wet roads after overnight rain. Nearly all the fourteen starters at Bitton were in shorts and long sleeves for our ride to the Bell at Yatton Keynell. John Turton dismissed notions of local history talks and unexplored lanes before leading the bunch along the track to Mangotsfield and branching off towards Coxgrove Hill. But he could not resist stopping by the big chimney at the trackside to point out the architectural whimsy where the square section structure changes to octagonal for the top couple of yards. And Alex could not resist offering the information that MG cars were well known for octagonal wheel nuts and other features, leading him to believe that the chimney was part of an abandoned MG car factory. You heard it here first (and probably last). After grinding up Coxgrove into Pucklechurch we carried on past the Crematorium where John Killick picked up the first of today's punctures and signaled for the rest to carry on. As it turned out his tyre casing was split so he turned for home. By now the sun was out, drying the roads and causing many riders to remove layers by the time we got to the Cross Hands at Old Sodbury where I got the second puncture. I say puncture, it was actually a patch that came unstuck - note to self, get better patches and new glue. So I sent the depleted peloton on, glad of the chance to slow down and picked up Mike Whiteman as we made our way along the main Castle Combe road. John took the bunch on a much more scenic and quiet route through Badminton, Alderton and Grittleton. Despite Wayne having to replace a tube on the way they still got to the Bell before I did - and they had a longer journey. When the big Bath group arrived to join the official peloton and several independent travelers, the numbers were up to around thirty, many outside in the sunny garden watching the antics of the adult and baby chickens. The Bath boys were unable to get any lunch at the Royal Oak last week but the Bell always seem unfazed by whatever number we land on them and soon had everybody fed and watered. Just the homeward leg to finish the day and it was the standard fare of Castle Combe, Burton, up to the crossroads then straight on for Hinton or right for Tormarton, in a nice bit of afternoon sunshine to finish the day. see today's route by clicking here

3 Thursday 19th September - report from Pete Campbell: It's been cold since the start of the week, and so the promise of slightly higher temperatures by Thursday was enough for me to dust my bike off after a couple of weeks without any action so that I could sample the lunch menu on offer at the Burrington Inn. There was a possibility of rain, or so the Met Office would have us believe, so I packed a jacket which was once waterproof but is now not quite. At Ashton, most of the nine riders who turned up clearly thought that we were deep into autumn, as the majority had longs and various jackets (and this when there was still a possibility of a few rays of sun). So off we went with John Killick leading through Long Ashton, Flax Bourton and Nailsea before heading south into Chelvey, then west to Claverham and a short stretch of the A370 (all flattish so far). I'd already asked John if his plan was to climb Burrington Combe straight after lunch, and he'd told me that was not what we'd be doing. But he did promise a hill. Which one, I wondered. Well, the answer was Cleve Hill which was steeper than last time I went up it. I had to get off and push (as did a few others) and I put this down to being unable to engage the granny. It needs a bit of adjustment, so now all I have to do is remember which screw to turn, and which way. It was still dry at the top of the hill (see the picture) but we could see rain clouds approaching from the west, so we all made sure we were wearing some sort of rainwear before heading down into Wrington and on to the Burrington Inn, by which time we were all as wet as we were going to get today. We arrived before noon but no problem about getting in out of the rain, as the pub doubles as a cafe and had probably been open since Many of us ordered lunch from their Yellow Plate menu which is basically a limited choice of normal pub lunch meals at a price of bargain, as well as being good quality. I can recommend the chicken and mushroom pie which certainly seems to be home made. A pint of Butcombe Bitter brought the cost to less than 10 which is almost unheard of these days. Another five riders arrived (George Martin and four of the Bath boys) so with fourteen cyclists not a great day for the pub, but they had a reasonable turn out of civilians.

4 Then it was time to head for home. John took us through Lower Langford and back to Wrington before the usual route to Yatton and Backwell, and then back onto the cycle path into Long Ashton. By the time I reached the centre of Bristol, the rain was stopping and the sun was out. Another good day out with the BTOTC. Tuesday 24th September, Arnold's Gloucester Ride - report from David Woodward There were three participants drying their cycles from the condensation caused by the early morning mist on the drive to Coaley. After a few minutes Alan Thomas rang having passed what he thought was Coaley Church but unfortunately he was in Cam! No worries, as by 9.10am he had arrived and we started the ride through Coaley, then onto Frocester before crossing the busy A419 and on through Stonehouse. It was still cold with a low mist, and in spite of our 14 mile an hour pace there was not the expected disrobing stop I was still in three tops. The pace did not slacken, as we continued along quiet lanes, then on the A4173 to Tuffley on the edge of Gloucester. Alan mentioned that his son was working locally, and as we spun along there he was carrying a washing machine out of a house. Just helping the neighbour he explained. We continued on and crossed the A38 before arriving at The Trojan café. Malcolm and I had bacon sandwiches, but Alan and John only toast they regretted this later. We sat outside waiting for Mike Finch who planned to take a train to Cheltenham and ride in from there. He arrived at 10.30am having alighted at Gloucester station. Around the docks, onto the cycle track, under the A40, through Higham before joining quiet rolling Gloucestershire lanes towards our lunch stop at the Lower Lode Inn. This is where I failed the Tony Conibear route planning test as they were not serving lunches. Did I check NO! Never mind just pass onto the next pub, and after a few miles we saw a sign to the Yew Tree Inn, and after a mile off course we were there only to find they had no food! After a pint of Old Hookey and a bag of crisps the sun broke through, so with a couple of tops off we pressed on through Hartpury, over the only hill of the afternoon. The only incident to mention was when I ducked under a low bridge, through a narrow barrier I caught the handlebars on a post, which caused me to fall off the bike. No real pain so onto the Sainsbury s café in Gloucester for a well earned mid afternoon meal, which was eagerly consumed on the balcony over looking the Sharpness canal. Mike had accepted Malcolm s offer of a lift to Ashton, so he continued with us on the return to Coaley. After about 4 miles along the canal cycle path we joined the lanes again, and passed Elmore, Longley and Saul before crossing the A38 at Whitminster. It was now close on 20 degrees as we carried on through Eastington and onto Frocester where we followed the now familiar lanes back to Coaley. The ride can be viewed here. Thursday 26th September - report from Pete Campbell: We had to change the lunch venue from the Lammastide at Brookend as they had a long-standing lunch booking for around thirty people, and they couldn't cope with a bunch of cyclists as well. So we switched to the Salutation at Ham which is close by. Fourteen people turned up at Amcor which I thought was pretty good as rain was forecast. By 10:00 it was already starting to drizzle. We've had a few new riders recently, so I was pleased to see recent retiree Anthony back after trying out a ride recently (I think it was to the Plough in Congresbury, but maybe it was to Shoscombe - sometimes these rides all seem to merge into one). Anyway, he must have liked it as he came back with a friend (Roger) who has also just retired and who seems to be enjoying not working. Also at the start was Tony, another new group member who is obviously very keen as he's bought a new bike which everyone was admiring. And another old new boy appeared - Dennis Harris arrived after spending the last six months in his camper van travelling across Europe watching all the cycling highlights of the season and riding some of the mountains. I guess too much sunshine gets on your nerves

5 after all that time; he mentioned a few times how cold it was so I suppose he'd been craving some English autumn weather. There are not many routes you can take from Amcor to Ham and I've done them all a few times. So today I picked a flattish route north through Tytherington and Tortworth, skirting the west side of the hill up to Wotton and Dursley before going west across the A38 to Purton for a look at the canal. This was where the slight drizzle was getting heavier, and by the time we had gone through Sharpness we were properly wet. We turned in to the Salutation at noon where a few other riders had already arrived, and by the end of lunch about thirty five cyclists were there. The pub is under new ownership since we were there last. Like the previous owner, his focus seems to be on the range and quality of the beer and cider although there seemed to me to be even more choice of obscure labels. I tried the Treeboom Yorkshire Sparkle which turned out to be a very pleasant light ale which is maybe more suited to a warmer day, but went down well with my sausage egg and chips. The menu is all basic pub food, but everyone's view was that it was good quality. The only problem was the speed of delivery from the kitchen. I talked with the owner about how most people seemed to like the place, the drinks, the food quality, the prices - shame about the slowness, which he agreed with. When we go there next time (in March) I will talk with him about how we can improve things. Shortly before 2:00 we were back on the road. Some of the morning's group had decided they didn't want to wait, so the afternoon group was down to eight. We took the short route back via Thornbury, across the A38 and south to Amcor mostly in the dry. Autumn is definitely here - you wouldn't want the sun shining all the time, would you? And the route? Click here.