News for May 2017 Thursday 4Th May 2017. Bitton to Shoscombe
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
News for May 2017 Thursday 4th May 2017. Bitton to Shoscombe. Report from Pete Campbell: So, summery weather is virtually here. I know this because at Bitton station this morning there were nineteen BTOTC riders with almost all in shorts or else those long shorts which go over your knees which I suppose have a name but I don't know what it is. And summer bikes are appearing with no mudguards. Mike Finch led today's ride and he'd engineered a route which included old familiar lanes and some places I don't remember ever seeing before. The cycle path in the Bath direction led into Saltford and straight across the A4 without stopping - the traffic lights had just changed from red but cycle-friendly motorists waved us through. I've been due south into Marksbury lots of times, but Mike took us west via Compton Dando and Hunstrete before going back east to Priston. Years ago I went to Priston Mill with my primary school-aged children and I've not been back since. Today we slowed at the turning to the mill as the police were there, looking after a driver who'd left the mill, turned into the lane to Priston, and stranded the car on a grass bank. It was an off-roady Volvo which was clearly not off-roady enough. They didn't need our help, so onwards. We'd already had one climb out of Hunstrete, and we had more to look forward to. East out of Priston is always a bit of a challenge getting to the top of the rise. Then its a bit up and down going past Nailwell (somewhere I can't remember seeing before, but I know I've been along that road a few times), Inglesbatch and after Dunkerton a killer climb into Carlingcott, followed by two minutes recovery time. And then a steep downhill took us into Shoscombe to the Apple Tree exactly on 12:00. And we all know what a steep downhill means. The Apple Tree has a similar ambience to next week's lunch spot, the Hunters Lodge, although it is clearly more upmarket. I've only ever sat outside, and today I sat outside again. Nisha sat inside and her assessment was "cold". They didn't have a fire lit; we must hope for one next week on the Mendips. A few Easy Riders doing their own thing in Dawn's absence and a few others put the numbers up to around twenty-eight. Back to Bristol for most of us was back up the steep downhill, then via Wellow and the Two Tunnels. How did we manage before the cycle path was put through the old tunnels? Its always such a great ride. For some of us the speed seems to increase all the way to the linear park and indeed through the park. And today the speed on the path back to Bitton was noticeable by its relentlessness. Summer is definitely here. Touch here to see the ups and downs to Shoscombe. Thursday 11th May. Ashton to Priddy. Report from Bill Balchin: What can you do with a weather forecast predicting scattered thunderstorms that will be hit and miss? I took the cavalier attitude that they will probably miss so brought the summer bike without mudguards but with a thin rain jacket rolled up in a bottle cage. And that was fairly typical amongst the twenty riders at Ashton Bridge for Mark Brough's ride to the Hunters Lodge at Priddy. Mark has been on the CTC ride leaders course so we will be expecting some super service today - especially with Phil Hodgson on back marker duty. Under grey but dry skies we went out on the Festival Way and Wild Country Lane. Then we turned into Hobbs Lane for the first time in a long while - I've not been along it since Peter Hobbs was riding with us. Whereas most lanes have clear edges and a dirty strip up the middle, this was the other way around. Maybe it is because the lane is only used by tractors and bikes - could make a good PhD project for a keen student. Getting up to Dial Lane our leader called a jacket removal stop for those who were overheating before we descended through Winford to Winford Manor. I took the chance to sneak ahead and grab some photos, including Catherine on her Eroica bike riding with Andy and Sean who managed to escape from his new job at SJS cycles in Bridgewater. Always good to see you pal. Taking a generally due South route towards Blagdon Lake we cheated the curse of the Butcombe Triangle by safely negotiating the long and steep descent including a wicked left hander that fell away as you turned. Of course we had a warning from the leader before the descent. Once down to lake level there was some flat riding past Ubley and West Harptree before we hit East Harptree and took the Smithams climb to reach the top of the Mendips. Did you know that half way up the climb is a 70 foot tall grade two listed chimney (the only one in the South West) called the Smithams Chimney. It was used for lead smelting in the mid nineteenth century. I've never seen it myself. If I'm not looking at my front wheel I'm looking at the views over the Chew Valley or taking a photo of cyclists battling their way up. Once over the top and at the Castle of Comfort junction it was just a couple of miles to the Hunters Lodge - reached at smack on noon. The Bath riders got there with us but maybe a queue of twenty people was too much for them and they did not stop. Alex Rendu said to me "I would never go past this pub without stopping" and many of us are of a similar mind. I don't know when it was last altered, probably not in the last hundred years, but that's just fine with us. And today it was warm enough to sit in the garden and enjoy your Cheddar Ales Potholer, a local cider that looked like custard and a choice of meals all at a fiver. As well as being a ride leader of professional standard Mark Brough is a canny customer. He noticed that a pasty on it's own was two pounds twenty or with baked beans and bread for a fiver. No prizes for guessing what he chose. Before leaving I had to get a photo of David Clegg with his fancy new titanium Burls. He did not admit to having a hidden motor but the way he shot up Smithams made me wonder. There was a 50/50 split in the peloton for the homeward leg. Some wanted to get back towards the Keynsham area but Mark had his heart set on the descent through Blagdon and back via Flax Bourton to Ashton. Naturally both Pete with the mapping and me with the writing stayed with Mark as he had done such a sterling job and we hammered down into Blagdon nudging forty mph eventually passing through Wrington and getting held up for ten minutes by a team of workmen repairing potholes on the way to Yatton. Well if you want the lanes looked after you have to let them get on with it. Apart from a few spots of rain we had stayed dry all day, although the jackets went on and off a few times. Stopping for the traditional ice cream at Aimies at Backwell the rain got a bit more serious but again was short lived. As I got within six miles of home there was still no rain but the roads were showing signs of a previous soaking. I hope that means the garden got some rain. Four miles to go and still wet roads, two miles, and when I got home - YES a good few puddles on the ground. Plus I passed a line of vehicles over a mile long crawling up to some temporary traffic lights. All in all I would call that a result. Follow the route through the Butcombe triangle and the blast down through Blagdon here. Monday 15th May. Newport Velodrome. Report from Pete Campbell: BTOTC's second outing to ride on the Newport Velodrome, the first time being three years ago. Sixteen people turned up at around 9:30 at the track and were fitted for one of their bikes. Just getting on is difficult (with no freewheel, no brakes, toestraps to be tightened), but coach Steve Miller emphasised that if we all did as he told us, we'd be okay. And we are all old enough to know when we don't quite know what we are doing. Steve eased us gradually into riding on the banking, starting at a gentle pace on the concrete at the bottom of the track, and moving up onto the wood and seeing how the effort needs to go up just to ride around the slope. Then the real work started with us split into two groups of eight, and each group riding in line (almost but not quite like you've seen the team sprint being ridden). On Steve's whistle the lead rider had to accelerate and catch the back of the group which took maybe three laps of flat out pedalling. I'd forgotten quite how hard it is compared to our Thursdays. Finally a 500 meter time trial, with each of us doing a lap to build up speed, then twice round the track being timed, then slowing down on the final lap of the day.