A Year of Chan ge Well it cert ainly has been an exciti ng y ear! Change has b een in the air with Brexit, a ne w Pri me Mini ster and n ew US Pre sid ent. You ma y r em ember th ere was a ref ere ndum in the Summ er – no not th at o ne – about t he tr adi ng n ame of the CTC whic h is n ow Cycli ng UK. Read t he s ecr eta ry’s re port for more d etails but let’s ju st sa y th at as far as t his club is con cer ned we re main Black burn & Distri ct CTC! But ch ange has co me to t his magazine as Helen Daws on -Sm ith has st epp ed d ow n as Edit or aft er ei ght yea rs. T han ks aga in to Hel en for all her hard work over the yea rs – we ha ve ga ined a n ew appr ecia tion for j ust how much effo rt it ta kes !
Ta ndem St yle Ta nde ms s eem to me more and mo re p opul ar at t he moment and ce rta inly are in ou r Club. So it is appr opriate th at your magazine is no w edit ed in ta nde m by Anne Stott and Rich ard John. Anne is in t he dri ver’s s eat ste ering the cou rse and Richard i s pr ovi ding the w att age f rom t he b ack seat .
Cl ub S piri t One t hing that nev er s eems to chan ge, h ow ev er, is the spi rit a nd enth usia sm for cy cling and for the CT C sh own by our mem ber s. This has ag ain been in evid ence at Club e ven ts b oth on a nd o ff the bike – many of whi ch y ou c an r ead abo ut in t his ed itio n. T he k eys tone of o ur cl ub will al ways be the Sun day Club Run a nd y ou will fin d the all -im porta nt ru ns list for Janua ry to July in t he cen tre pages.
This Yea r’s Mag azin e In t his year’s mag azin e you will fi nd all the l atest Cl ub news, i nclu ding anoth er ex cell ent Ann ual Report fro m the Club Sec ret ary. In t he to uring se ction you will b e tr ans port ed and in spi red by r epo rts fr om Britai n, E uro pe a nd e ven f arther afi eld. We ha ve al so i ncl uded a f un s ect ion to (h opef ully!) ke ep y ou e nter tain ed.
Thank You Many tha nks go to all who h ave con trib uted to t his y ear’s is sue. T hanks also must go to our adv erti sers – bo th o ld a nd n ew – that make t he mag azi ne p oss ibl e. In c om pilin g this editi on, we h ave been in spir ed by lo oking th rough all pr evi ous ver sions of t he cl ub maga zin e, ri ght back to t he f irs t one in 198 2. Anne has put t ogeth er a brief hi sto ry o f the ed itor s and fro nt co vers ov er the yea rs, so th at is our f irst artic le ...... We ho pe y ou e njoy this ye ar's mag azi ne.
Hap py & Safe Cycli ng in 2017 Anne & Rich ard
1 A Br ief History of the Club Magaz ine Covers and Ed ito ri als by Anne Stott
The id ea to produ ce a cl ub magaz ine fir st ca me fro m Jimm y Booc ock, who was a mast er pr int er and de dica ted cyc lis t. He asked t he lo cal b ike sho ps to spo nsor th e maga zin e to cov er t he c osts. One of t he a dve rtis ements in t he fir st maga zine was fo r Ew ood Bikes – a nd y ou will still find their ad vert in t his edi tion of our magazin e on pag e 4!
The fir st cl ub mag was print ed in Oct ober 1982 and the fo unders were J ohn Dewhur st, Ken Hartl ey and Ji mm y hi mself. The first fro nt co ver was a bl ack -and-white pri nt of c lub memb ers mee ting und er the ar ch at Whalle y Abbey We st Gate for the Sunday cl ub r un, whi ch Ken Hartl ey h ad ta ken yea rs a go. The mag com pri sed of 10 pa ges, t he fir st pa ge w as the ru ns li st and soc ial pr ogramm e, a nd t he r est was ma inly to uri ng a rtic les plu s the ad vert ise men ts. There were 4 editi ons a year, Spri ng, Summ er, Autu mn, and Winte r. The fir st e dito rials were written in 1988 by the sec ret ary at th at ti me, David Brayl ey -Will mett s and th en l ate r, in 1 994, Sam Bid well to ok o ver t he t ask until t he A utu mn of 1995.
In 1989 cart oon sket ches on a colo ured backgr ound wer e int roduced to r epl ace the Wh all ey West Gate f ront cov er, an d the ru ns lis ts a nd so cial pr ogr am were pri nted in th e middl e, so you co uld pull the m out for yo ur o wn u se. In 19 92 the fro nt co ver c han ged ag ain to bla ck-an d-w hite pri nts of club rid ers on t our in the Alp s. This on ly l ast ed f or t he y ear' s fo ur e diti ons.
Fr om 1993 until 200 2, t he fro nt co vers were sketc hes fro m chi ldr en, and our go od fri end Geoff Ma tth ew s. Bar bara Bell to ok o ver t he mag azi ne in t he s umm er o f 1 995, and th e ed ito rial slot sw itc hed back and fo rth bet ween “ Barba ra' s Bee Stin g” a nd T ony's “Ti ger Spo t”.
Th ere were mo re cha nges when I an Stott t ook over the mag azi ne a nd the edito rial i n 20 02. He c han ged t he c over back to t he o rigi nal – Ken’s bl ack -an d-white pri nt of Whal ley Abb ey West Gate. At the sa me time , Chris E dmund son t ook ov er writi ng th e ra cing r eport secti on fr om Ken Har tley who h ad d one such a s ple ndid job of it ev er sin ce the club mag sta rte d.
2 We mov ed with t he ti mes and in 20 05, when I an Y ates desi gned a new fr ont c over fo r us, it was more mode rn feat uring fo ur c olo ured pho togr aph s. It s howed members ra cing, to urin g, ca mpin g, and ridi ng on a Sund ay club ru n, a nd boa sted the club l ogo i n ce ntr e. It sp orted ev ery thing our club repre sent s. At t his t im e, Dave Collin ge to ok ove r Chris 's racing re port secti on, and co ntin ued doi ng a gr eat job unt il 2 007, when Ian to ok the ra ce r epo rt o ver again.
In 2007 we went down to tw o ed itio ns. I an h avi ng d one the mag f or 7 y ear s, w as r eady for a chan ge and so in April 2 008, Helen Dawson bec am e the ne w editor of t he club maga zin e. The raci ng r epo rt was re pla ced by n ew s sni ppets and Helen wr ote her gr eat edit orials for the next 8 y ear s. We co nti nued havi ng t wo magaz ines (Spri ng an d Autu mn ) until 201 2, wh en t here was anot her big cha nge.
In July 201 2, in ste ad of a sec ond cl ub mag, we c reated a col our le aflet fe atu ring a n ew design - thr ee boys in b lue lo oki ng t ow ar ds P en-y-Gent with our wing ed whe el an d in spi ring words acro ss the fr ont. I nsi de w ere t he r uns lis t and soci al pr ogram alo ng with pi ctur es of club rid ers an d fu rth er c olo ur pict ures on the ba ck. It was just what we ne eded - a r efr eshing new app roach to o ur cl ub a nd th e club maga zine. So we used the fro nt de sign of t he le aflet for the next is sue of the mag whi ch c am e o ut in Ja nua ry 201 3.
This s ystem has be en in use f or the past 4 y ears a nd works very well - one magazi ne a nd o ne s umm er le aflet a y ear .
Th is y ear, we dec ided to r ede sign the fro nt cov er ag ain – movi ng b ack to multi ple ph otos of cl ub r ides on the f ront c over with a l arge wing ed wheel a nd, y es, even th e ne w Cycl ing UK log o! We h ope you like it.
Th anks to a ll our adv erti sers and c ontri buto rs, especi ally t he ed ito rs, f or m aki ng th is maga zine so suc ces sful f or t he la st 34 y ears .
3 Now loc ated at : 283 Bolton Rd, Blackburn, BB2 4HL. (w ith car parking facilities) The Bike shop with the Bi gge st selection of Bicycles and Accessories in Town . Our after sales se rvices a re Reli able, affordable and Fast so we can get you ba ck on the Road.
Touring B ike s Mos t R epairs Shi mano Sora and wheel bu ild s Triple Mavic in 24H Wheels
Custo m Built Tou ring Bike s Hand Built Whee ls St ocki sts o f: Ca nnondale, Merid a, Gho st Tel: 01254 55515 Email: [email protected]
4 SE CRE TAR Y’S ANNU AL REP ORT 1st November 2015 – 31 st October 2016.
Member shi p: 355. 16 members a tte nded the AGM where Ken Hartl ey s tep ped down as Pr esi dent after 16 years and David Collin ge to ok o ver, possi bly o ur yo ung est ever pr esid ent. Dave is ex peri enced and enth usia stic, but not new, ha ving been in t he cl ub for 35 y ears (he joi ned t he s am e ti me as Paul Smith).
We ar e Blac kburn & Distri ct C.T. C. Th is y ear t he cl ub re -br and ed t o “Cycli ng UK ” witho ut c onsult ation of the tot al membe rshi p. Cert ainl y as Memb er Group secre tary I was n’t c onsult ed, and the chang es ca me in reg ardle ss. A petiti on en sued a nd to my sur pri se o nly 9,000 mem bers voted (1 3% ?) f rom which the re was a 66 % maj orit y in favour of the ch ang e. Origin ally, t he hist ori cal l ogo “the Winged Wheel ”, a nd t he more r ece nt “fu nny bik e” lo go (in tro duc ed ab out 10 y ears ag o) were sch edul ed to b e sc rap ped, b ut it l ooks l ike only “the fun ny bike” has be en s cra pped no w, whi ch must be re ally ann oying to clubs like Burnley & Pendle CT C, who se club clo thing is of bl ue and yel low col our with that lo go. Cycling UK has t aken t he wor ds “ Touri ng” and “Club” ou t of t he CTC. So, where do we sta nd no w? In the sam e pl ace. We are Bla ckburn & Distri ct C.T. C. with ro yal bl ue cl ub c lot hing embla zon ed with t he Win ged Wheel .
More r ece ntly, with the Cycli ng UK “Boa rd of Trust ee” e lec tio ns 2 016, an oth er co ntr ove rsy has a ris en. Any c andida te must ha ve b een a member of the cl ub for at le ast a yea r. Of the 10 can dida tes, 5 a re n ot ev en membe rs; of the ot her f ive, the lo nge st se rvi ng h as b een a member for 4 year s. A f ormal c om plai nt has been sent in, but Dan Howard, Cycling UK Chair of Nomina tio ns Comm itte e, h as d ecl ared th e el ecti on pr ocess is c ont inu ing as p lan ned. So, who do we vote for now? ( Clo sing dat e 9. 00am , Mond ay 3 1st Octo ber, 20 16).
We are Bl ackbu rn & Dis tri ct C.T. C. a nd we’ve had a gre at y ear. Once more, th e clu broo m has be en a ph eno menal suc cess, with att end anc es of over 30 membe rs p er ni ght seei ng s ome te rrif ic show s – John Cowburn’s “Cano eing down t he Zambezi” (I can still hear the music !); Jas on Whi tele y’s “ Where Eagles Dare”; Ian Stott’s “Fire and Ic e” (I cela nd); Anne & Ton y’s “ Ribble Wa y”; Steve Fle min g’s “N ew Zeal and ”; Rich ard Dugd ale’s “C hin a”; t here were Ma rk Sm ith’ s “Misc ella ny” a nd Geoff Duc kw orth’ s “Curio sitie s”; DC ’s “ Alpi ne Tou rin g”; Tom Melli ng’s “Nor way ”; Ste w and Sue’s “Tan dem Style ”; Rich ard Joh n’s am azi ng q uiz; and la st but not lea st, t he Pre sid ent s’ re marka ble s how: Dave Colli nge and Ken Har tle y’s “ the Leg end of Ji mm y Boocock ”. Great tha nks go to Anne f or pr odu cing su ch a c ompelli ng so cia l pro gra mm e, enabli ng the cl ubr oom to st op ru nning at a lo ss. Add to t hat, 39 members at tended the Priz e
5 Prese ntati on, to see Stew art a nd Sus an Clark re cei ve t he Rich ard Rawcli ffe t rop hy f or the fir st ta nde m couple to ach ieve a Gra nd Sl am . Than ks to Car oline and A nne f or or ganisi ng a s uperb eveni ng, a nd to all w ho h elpe d.
Th anks also goes to Helen Dawson Sm ith f or e diti ng the cl ub magazine all t hes e ye ars, at a ti me when ot her clu bs are los ing th eir magazin es eit her beca use of a la ck of i nte rest or mon ey. Our new, e nth usi ast ic mag azine edito rs a re Anne Stott (co - or din ato r) and Rich ard John (te chni cian ).
As usu al, the Sund ay c lub runs ha ve h ad t heir ups and downs, but numbers ar e impr ovi ng a nd n ew me mbers are coming out. T here have be en s everal rid es with a do zen or so rid ers. When thr ee ta ndem s co me out the num be rs c an be in sta ntl y do uble d! The rid es h ave i nclu ded Nor ber Boulde rs, Tro llers Ghyl l, Coc ker sands, Salfo rd Qua ys a nd Sha king Moss. New caf es se em to be spri ngi ng up every where, which gives an add ed p urpose for our d esti nati ons .
43 16 12 7 – if it’s all ab out n umbers then th ese are the fig ures for the reli abili ty ri des. W hat a tu rno ut for Paul’s 50 mile /kil ometre rid es and th anks to Burnl ey & Pendle CTC for supporti ng bo th e vents. Rich ard J org anis ed the cl ub 1 00 ov er B arb ondale and at this point it mea nt that 16 were on for a Gra nd S lam – t hat number cam e do wn to 12 after the 200 km. and then dow n to 4 aft er the 200 mile s. Comm iser ati ons must go t o Ryan and Sus an Howar th who h ad to t urn back a t Le vens (th ey st ill did 100 mile s!) , to An ne w ho co uld n’t s tart bec ause of a medi cal pr obl em, and to John Cowburn who miss ed the 200 km. Nev er mind, there’s al ways ne xt ye ar! Con gra tul atio ns to th e Grand Sl amm ers who were S tewar t and Sus an a gai n, a nd fi rst ti me rs Paul Melli ng a nd Chris Fit zer. We ll d one! The weat her was go od for all the events.
The weat her was not good for the Xmas Y HA wee kend, org ani sed by DC . Seve re flo oding did not deter two ta nde ms, (Ste w and Sue, John and Ja nic e) a nd th ree sol os (Rich ard, Anne and Tony) getti ng to Haworth. Biblic al ti mes! Lakes ap pea red in t he val ley s. We met Caz a nd DC , Helen and Paul Riley at Hawor th. Seven of us ro de bac k via Wycoll ar for Xm as din ner at Gree ndale Kitch en. 18 membe rs at ten ded t he meal in clu ding the Que en a nd King of all comeb acks – Anne and Jo hn Yat es. A fe w da ys ea rlie r, 26 membe rs a tte nded a g reat Xm as Par ty at the clu bro om .
Only 5 rid ers t urn ed up for the f irst ever Sunday T reasu re Hunt (to Dunsop B rid ge) won by the We lsh wizard – Ric har d. In t he S upe rto urist Competiti on, Tony St ott l ook ed like he had an u nassaila ble le ad g oing into the photo competiti ons by vi rtue of a Gra nd Sla m and wins in 3 of the counti ng e vents. But how go od was it to see new winne rs o f the ph oto gra phic tro phies – J ohn Cowburn won t he Digit al a nd Hel en Lang won th e Print, both en tries be ing of Blen cath ra! T han ks to Har ry T ayl or (B &P CTC) for j udgin g. To ny went on to win the Sup ert ouri st Comp for the 3rd cons ecut ive yea r.
6 TOUR S Ste w and Sue cyc led fro m Europo ort, Rott erd am , thr ough Utr echt and Dus sel dorf to Remag en in t he Rhin ela nd, t hen ba ck t hro ugh Lux em bo urg. Also t hey’ve been up a nd do wn Bri tain loo king f or cl ues on t he Cyc le Que st. Ja nice and J ohn Cowbu rn cyc led on s olos for a ch ange alo ng t he b anks of t he Dan ube. The y al so w ent to uring in Shr opshi re (b ack on the ta ndem) and h ired a t andem to ri de a cro ss th e Gold en Gate Brid ge in San Fra nci sco. Ian St ott with Chris Ed mo nd son r ode t he E tape st age o f the To ur de Franc e, and th en th rou gh m ore of the Al ps.
Anne a nd Tony cau ght t he t rain fro m Manc hes ter to Pembro ke a nd t hen r ode h om e via Harl ech a nd the Peak Distri ct. Their next t rip was to Berwic k-o n-T weed a nd b ack via t he North Yorks hire Moors. DC and Caz a lso went e xpl ori ng in the North Y ork Moors (B ilsd ale a nd Carlt on Bank) and also Centr al Scot lan d.
Nick Mackey g ot a li ft with P aul Mel ling wh o was goi ng to Aris aig. Nick pi eced t oge ther more of his rou nd Britai n ji gsa w with ri des f rom Fort Willi am to Glasg ow, and also Hull to Nor wic h.
Rich ard Bro omhead al so went to Norf olk on a fa mily cycli ng ho lid ay, and t hen abr oad to Ann ecy, in t he R hone A lps .
Has a nybody seen Steve Hod gso n? Whe re’s Ste ve b een? B asi cal ly, h e’s b een ev ery where every body el se h as b een to! He’s cra nked up more miles on tour th an an ybo dy. He t oo h as been in Fra nce, fr om the Pyr ene es to the Rhone, pl us Dors et, S hro psh ire ( with Nick ), the Nort humbr ian Borders, and the We st Coa st of Scotl and. Welc om e ho me, Stev e!
RACES Anne o rga nis ed t he 10 mile t wo -up a gai n, a nd si ster Hel en or ganis ed h er fir st e ver ra ce, the Spoc o. Well do ne, l adie s, and t han ks to eve ryone who help ed. J ames Gull en won b oth r aces with e vent re cords. He did 23. 30 r ound B ashal l Eaves, knoc king a minute off the rec ord. With p artn er David Allon by, he did a 1 9.27 in t he t wo -up, and won the £50 event rec ord p rize th at’s been on off er si nce 2003. Tha nks to Da ve Bro wn and Pete Brisc oe f or t im e-k eepi ng a gain. Dave Col linge and Paul Sm ith were first off and did a 23 minute ri de. John Cowburn and Chris Fit zer a lso rode (27 minu tes) a nd co ntin ued th eir r aci ng car eers in the NLRC ev eni ng eve nts. Ia n’s ra cing year had a go od en d, pe rhaps becau se of his t rai ning for t he Alpine Etap e. He won t he la st t wo NLRC ev ening 10’s n ear Bas hall Eav es, pl us the la st t wo 1 0’s on Tarl eto n. He al so re cor ded 53 minut es for 25 miles. Many t han ks to Dave ( DC ), who c ont inu es in his role of Club Even ts Sec ret ary on the CTT North Distr ict c omm ittee .
7 SU PER TOU RI ST In t his year’s S upert our ist Competiti on th ere are s till 5 events sti ll to be c ont est ed. Ste wart is cu rre ntly lea ding by 50 pt s from his wife and t andem pa rtn er, Susan. The y were 1st and 2nd re spe ctive ly in the Supe rst ars whi ch h ad 13 entr ants (s ee ar ticle in the ne xt maga zine f or a fu ll re port). The club hill cli mb was i nco rporat ed into the NLRC ev ent on Close Brow , and we had anot her fi rst ti me winner – Ryan Howart h. Run ner- up was Jo hn Cowbur n, and An ne Sto tt was f ast est l ady .
IN CONCL USI ON , the cl ubr uns are get ting bett er a nd b ette r, with t he ri ders ge ner atin g an i nfec tio us e nthu sias m. T he cl ubr oom co nti nues to t hrive – Sean Car us is ba ck (h e’ll be bac k!) af ter s everely hu rti ng his knee; Ken Hartl ey is still an in spir atio n, st ill ridi ng his bik es and coming on Thur sday ni ghts, despi te ill ness; but t he b est news of all is the r etu rn of Mike Br adbur y, ba ck on his bi ke, b ack at the cl ubr oom, aft er be ing ho spit aliz ed a fter hi s ho rre ndo us cra sh in Febru ary. Thank-you, ever ybody, for maki ng this cycli sts’ t ouring club so gr eat.
WE A RE B LACKBURN & DIST RICT C.T. C.
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The Club hol ds a sm all a mount of cl ub t ops in st ock – a nd a l arge amount of cl ub c aps! When there is en ough demand we will pl ace a cl othi ng or der with I mpspo rt. In dic ati ve pri ces are bel ow but ple ase n ote t hat p ric es a nd a vail abi lity are subje ct to cha nge. For any queri es on Club Clot hing plea se c ont act Ric hard J ohn – ri cha rd@rj ohn .co. uk
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Windp roo f Gilet with Full Bac k - £48 Available in Me ns’ and L adies’ sizes
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8 CLUB TROPHIES
TOURIST COMPETITION The John Warland trophy. John ran a family cycle shop for many years on King Street, Blackburn, Awarded to the winner of the annual map- reading/questions competition. Current holder: Tony Stott (Mike & Sylvia Jay’s event).
JUNIOR TOURIST The Ian Colthurst memorial trophy. Ian was a young member of our club who died tragically. Awarded to the best junior (under 18 ye ars old) in the Tourist Competition. Current holder: John Yates (a retrospective winner from 1966!).
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY The much coveted club trophy (previously for slides) aw arded to the winner of the best single digital photograph which must have been taken in the current year. Current holder: John Cowburn (St. John’s in The Vale).
PRINT COMPETITION The Jimmy Boocock trophy. Jimmy was a touring legend in our club who loved tak ing photographs. Awarded to the winner of the best set of three prints plus a caption (at least one of the prints should have a bicycle on it). Current holder: Helen Lang (England’s Green & Pleasant Land).
TREASURE HUNT Formerly a competition around Rishton (from the clubroom), now a cycle q uest on a Sunday ride. You need to collect clues, fit them all together and work out the quest. Current holder: Richard John (King Arthur, round Dunsop Bridge).
SUPERSTARS A trophy w orth winning (!) donated by Ian Yates. A fun competition for all ages, at the clubroom. Current holder : Tony Stott (organised by Anne Stott).
SENIOR HILL CLIMB The Robert Livesey Trophy (1964). Bob was an ardent member of the CTC. Now awarded to our fastest rider in the NLRC event on Close Brow, Rishton. The last time this was competed for (prior t o 2016) was in 2013.
JUNIOR HILL CLIMB A shield awarded to the fastest junior (under 18’s, over 16’s) in the club hill climb. Last won by Adam Pinder in 2008.
JUVENILE HILL CLIMB The Goodhill Cup, presented by P. Goodhill Esq. in 1962. Pete was a keen club cyclist in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Awarded to the fastest juvenile (under 16’s) in t he club hill climb. Last won by Adam Pinder in 2005
9 FREEWHEEL Awarded to the rider who freewheels the farthest up the dip on Marl Hill. Saddlebags and diver’s weights must be removed! Tom Melling made this much coveted trophy and the first winner was Dave (Haggis) Hargreaves in 1970. Tony Stott freewheeled the furthest in 2015.
SUPERTOURIST The old 1929 DA Shield, awarded to the club member with the most points gained from our annual events. Any riders who achieve a Grand Slam (500 points ) are usually favourites to win this trophy. Current holder : Tony Stott.
THE RICHARD RAWCLIFFE TROPHY is awarded to the most meritorious achievement of the year. Richard went out on his bike one morning in 1986 and never came home. He was competing in a time trial round the West Pennine Moors, age 16. The trophy is awarded by a sub -committee, comprising of our club president, secretary and treasurer.
Current holders : Stewart and Susan Clark (first tandem couple to achieve a Grand Slam).
20 16 R oll of Honour
The fo llo wing 2016 Club e vent winn ers will r ecei ve th eir a wards at the Ann ual Clu b Prese ntati on ni ght on Thur sday 26th Janua ry 2 017:
Hill Cli mb: Ryan Howarth & Anne Stot t Fr eewheel : Chris Fit zer & Anne St ott To urist Comp: Dave Col lin ge Tr eas ure H unt : Dave South ward Su pers tar s: Ste war t Clar k Digit al Comp: Jo hn Cowbu rn ( Fleet wood Wrec k) Print Comp: Anne Sto tt ( Sky Hig h) Gr and Sla m: Ste wart Cla rk, Sue Clark, Chris Fi tze r, Paul Mellin g Su pert ouri st: Ste wart Cla rk
10 11 Riding Through the Storm by Stewart Clark
As an yone who has cyc led ye ar-ro und in t he UK will kn ow , the sun doe sn’t a lw ays shi ne a nd t he win ds are n’t u sually gen tle zep hyr s. And so it was last Dece mber f or t he clu b’s a nnual host elling week end. Our v enue was Haworth and members were ge ner ally making th eir o wn ways o ver to the Wo rth val ley. On ly a f ew actu ally ele cted to r ide over. Ric hard [e dito r: se nsibl y] took t he d ire ct ro ute via Lanesh aw B rid ge. Tony & Anne rode out via Skipt on a nd t he Aire v alley while Joh n, J ani ce a nd o urs elv es to ok a sl igh tly alte rnative ro ute …… If y ou would c ast y our mind back to th at wee kend in early Decembe r 20 15, y ou s hould re call t hat Sto rm Des mond was ragi ng a cro ss t his sc ept red isl e. As it u nle ashed its f ury up on u s, ga les blew wi ldly abo ut a nd rain ca me down in to rre nts. Ma ny was the ro ad th at was sub me rg ed (h ence Tony and Anne’s Aireda le ro ute) and wi th the knowle dge tha t our ro ute could well be i mpass able, we hea ded out i nto the te mpe st. Le aving Clith eroe via Chat burn & th en Riming ton, we were soon onto the Cold weath er r oad. T his was quite ha iry at ti mes as it is quite ex pos ed to ra gin g west erly gale s. Pa ssi ng veh icl es would of fer some s helt er b ut a s soon as t hey pas sed by, we were b uff eted ab out by the winds. The r oad onto Brogden lane was s oon u pon us t hou gh a nd the two ta nde ms made quick pr ogr ess, with a t ail wind, to Bar nol dswic k.
Our fir st ob sta cle c am e al ong Greenberfi eld l ane, where a lo ng an d deep loo king f loo d lay in wait f or us. We st opped and po nde red the sit uati on for a while but J ohn and Ja nice to ok t he plu nge (al most lit eral ly) and went f or it. We s tood and watch ed as th e water rose up ov er th eir a xle s. T here was no way we were going thr ough th at s o do ubli ng b ack and d iverti ng v ia Skip ton road, we met t he i ntre pid ta nde m by Ghyll Bro w. Appar ent ly t her e’d b een a co uple of e ncor es f urt her a lon g. If the ir fe et were wet be for e, they were complet ely s odd en n ow. It was far t oo late to be b oth ered abo ut ge tting wet a nd so on we went. T he l ow level route v ia t he A59 to Carlt on wou ld b e flo ode d, we c orr ect ly s uspecte d. T his was the wa y T ony & A nne tri ed b ut as t hey wer e ridi ng much l ater th an us, t heir most direct way was us ing main r oad s. But o ur ro ute t o Carlt on was via Elsl ack and Moor lan e. We sh oul d’ve go ne st rai ght over at t he cr oss roa ds at the top but we were getti ng c old a nd hun gry. Unf ortu natel y, Carlton ha d no caf és to off er us so we car ried on, hea ding South to Con onle y. The ro ad was flo oded here also f or a s hort way but the fo otp ath alo ngside was above the wate r. Th is sa ved an other dip in t he c old wat ers. As we cli mbed up the vall ey sid e, th ere was a sc ene of a water world sp read bef ore us. Field aft er fi eld was under wat er with dr yst one (w etst one more l ike!) walls t aking on the app ear ance of weirs as t he fl ood wate rs fl ow ed o ver the m. Again no café was availa ble in Cono nley but Cross hills is a more s ize able t own and we s oon had t he bi kes par ked as we made to a s uita ble c afé. Suita bly r efr eshed and con side rably war me r, if not much d ryer, we pr ess ed on fo r 12 Hawort h. Le aving Cros shills and the Ai re v alley behi nd, t he r oad reared up bef ore u s as we cli mbed up onto t he moo rs b rief ly b efo re a rap id d escent to Goo se Eye. Alas we di dn’t have the ti me nor the inc lin ation to l ing er in this cu rio usly named villa ge; i t de fini tely loo ks worth maki ng a noth er vi sit in bett er co nditi ons. Cli mbing on ce more to ski rt a rou nd Oak wor th b efore dr opp ing down to cross the riv er Wor th at Lord brid ge and th en making our en tra nce into Hawort h. It was on th is cl im b th at a g ust of win d to ok h old of our tande m and we e nded up across the wro ng si de of t he ro ad, on a 1 i n 7 cl im b. Quite a scary moment and it was all we c ould do to regain cont rol. Tha nkf ull y we were soon parki ng our bikes in the gara ge at t he h ostel and settl ing down for a pl eas ant e vening with s om e go od fo od a nd c om pa ny. We’d ri dden 31½ miles at an av era ge of 9.8 mph but due to t he wea ther, it r eal ly fe lt as tho ugh we’d do ne muc h more .
What a diffe rence a day mak es, as the sayi ng g oes. An d it was with reli ef for t hos e who were cycl ing back that Des mond h ad made his way a cro ss to the North Sea ov erni ght, lea ving a dry day for the ret urn l eg. But b efore we co uld sally fo rth t here was ca use for a bit of a cel ebr atio n. It was 40 ye ars sin ce A nne and To ny h ad ti ed th e kn ot a nd a few of us j oin ed t hem in the member s’ ki tch en to wish t hem well. Due to some m ix up soon aft er le avi ng th e ho stel, we were split fr om the g rou p. It to ok us som e ti me b efo re we f oun d ou rselv es ‘ gru po c ompacto’ and ready to he ad off pro perl y. N ot long aft er m ovi ng off, John and Jani ce’s tandem thr ew it s main c hain off. Somehow the mid dle chain ring had b ecome sli ghtly bent, thus ca usi ng t he chain thr ow. With out any to ols for such a r epair, we pr essed on wi th J ohn tak ing care s hifti ng ge ars. The dire ct ro ute ba ck to Clit her oe fr om Haworth, when vi ewed on a map is fai rly s tra ight and is muc h le ss t han 30 miles. It di dn’t t ake us lo ng to re ach Lan esh aw Bri dge so with pl enty of ti me in hand, a div ersi on to Wycoll er was d uly made. It was in ter est ing to walk over th e an cient pac khorse br idge and lo ok ar ound the rui ns of the old hall. It is sup pos ed t o ha ve b een t he in spi rati on for Fer nde an man or in Charl otte Bront ë’s Jane Ayr e. Am ple ph otog raphs were taken reco rding the vi sit, with a te am photo on s elf- timer. Time al so for a br ew in the caf é/sh op b ut as we made t racks once mor e, we sta rted to rea lis e th at we’d bet ter get a shift on or ot herw ise we c ould be l ate f or t he c lub ’s Chri stmas pa rty bei ng h eld at Green dale, abo ve Cha tburn. But it di dn’t t ake t oo l ong and we had left Colne behi nd a nd were in t he s had ow of h oary old Pe ndle once mor e. J ust anoth er ha ndful of ups and dow ns b efo re we were making a la st minu te d ash to a rri ve f or th e pa rty j ust on the stro ke t wo. Now th at’s what we call good ti min g.
Not su rpri sin gly, we did n’t c om e a cro ss many ot her cyclis ts d uri ng th is wee kend to a nd fr om Ha wor th b ut they mis sed out on a l ittle bit of adven tur e. Yes , it was c old a nd ver y wet at ti mes but as we try to re mind ou rsel ves when t hings ar en’t goi ng quite to pla n, if you do n’t h ave so me bad da ys, how do you kn ow when y ou’re ha ving a go od o ne?
13 Supers tars 2016 org anised by Tony Sto tt
Havi ng c om pe ted in the cl ub S upe rst ars f or the la st 20 yea rs, I r eally lo oked f orw ard to org ani sing this y ear’s even t. T wo dec ades ago al l so rts of t ough phy sical and skilf ul c hall enges were the or der of th e da y, as org ani sed by Ian Yates (Yeti ). We had such great f un, out side on t he N ord en te nnis co urts, colli ding on bik es whil st pl aying ball tig , pu shing bi kes bac kwards a nd b ike slal oms.
One r ainy eve nin g, we had to do the Super stars in side the club room , and Ian rose t o the oc casi on by intr oduci ng a cont rapti on th at co uld only be call ed “t he f ront end of a bi ke” – a fr ont wheel in for ks with ste m and h andl eba rs a tta che d. But cru ciall y, thi s co ntr apti on h ad a computer fix ed to it, a nd so by ru nni ng with it f orwar ds and ba ckwar ds a nd n egot iati ng an assault ar ound the club room, poi nts were a warded fo r the hi ghe st sp eeds and the fa stest ti mes. Wh at a la ugh! Ano ther y ear, Ian t urn ed u p with a t eenag er’s s coot er – an even bi gger la ugh! All t his was a far cry f rom the ve ry fir st S upers tar s, org ani sed by Anne and Ken at the Sale sbury c lub roo m 40 yea rs a go.
Our fir st Su perst ars was loose ly b ased on the TV se rie s; do you re member it? – Kevi n Keeg an a nd especially Brian Jac ks ex cell ed at it. I th ink t here were 8 events in t he T V se ries. Our compe titors had to sprin t, s kip and do pu sh-u ps etc. and it was won by th e yo ung al l-r oun der Alan Kemp. Nice lad .
When Anne to ok o ver organ isi ng fr om Ian, 10 ye ars a go, the emphasis was still on f un but less on phy sic al abil ity. The a ssa ult c our se w as ev ent ually ab and oned. Ski ppi ng and ho psc otch we re i ntr odu ced, b ut th en scr apped, as not ev ery one could do them - Anne t hou ght th ese t wo dis cipl ine s mig ht g ene rate a la dy win ner, but it wasn’t to b e. Going into the 2016 Sup erstar s, An ne was s till waiti ng f or th at to h appen.
Orga nisi ng the Supe rst ars 2 016, in Septe mber, was e asy bec ause I si mply inheri ted Anne’s fa ir pl ay eve nts, b owls and go lf, a nd a dapt ed her th rowing eve nt in to a n ew ga me call ed “ Bill a nd Ben”. It was ti me for our l adies to excel.
BOW LS You ha ve to r oll 8 pla stic bowls into an e xer cise c radle with a fri sbee i nsi de it, e ach bo wl poten tial ly s coring 1, 2 or 3 poin ts d epending on where it la nds. A gam e in whi ch the old master, Ken Day, a lw ays excel s.
Step up ev ery body and ev eryb ody did. Thirt een members con tes ted the even t. How go od was it to see Mike Bra dbury ba ck at the clu bro om , and ste ppi ng up to the mark ? Mike, who’s gra dua lly reco ver ing fro m a ter rible accid ent la st Febr uar y, s cor ed 2 and ca me joi nt 1 1th with Sylvia (h elp ed of c our se by Geo ff). Syl via must ha ve in spir ed th e re st of t he la dies – Helen Lang and Rita Whit eley both scored 3 p oints (pl us 2 in th e tie -br eak) and c ame joi nt 6t h; Sue Cla rk s cor ed 4 p oin ts ( plus an e xtra 5 in t he ti e- br eak) a nd c ame 2n d; Anne Stott sc ored 5 p oin ts a nd won t he e ven t. Best of the men? Ken Day, t he master bowler came 4 th a nd Ste w ah! ah! a h! ca me 3rd .
14 BILL AND BEN You ha ve to t hro w 10 te nnis bal ls at the 2 flo werpot men or int o the whe elb arr ow . If you kno ck a flo wer pot man over y ou s core 3 po int s, a nd y ou sc ore a poi nt for ea ch ba ll la ndi ng in the wheel bar row. A ga me that is n ot ne cessarily for gar den ers, or is it ?
Fo ur men sc ored 7 points which led to a ti e-br eak. Nerv es must have g ot the bett er of hot favou rit e, Ken Hart ley, who fa iled to s core in t he ti e-break but sec ured 6th pl ace overa ll. Th ree pot enti ally gr eat g ard ene rs t hen all s cor ed 3 p oints in t he ti e-b reak – Bill Whit ele y, Mike (he is a g reat ga rde ner) and Stew (ah! ah! ah!) Clark all came j oin t 3r d. So who ca me 2nd and 1st? La dies ag ain. Obviou sly both gre at gar dene rs. Sylv ia and Sue b oth scored 9 p oints which led to a t ie-b reak in whi ch Sylvia sc ored 3 but Sue got 4. Syl via came 2 nd, and Sue won the even t.
GO LF You ha ve to p lay tw o hol es of golf, ac ross the club roo m and b ack. Th e pl ayer ta king the le ast sho ts wins. Unfor tun atel y, the flo or of t he r oom is v ery u nev en! I won’t b e in clu ding golf n ext year! A game in which Tom Melli ng, a pre vio us win ner, and dark ho rse Sean, a re e xpe cted to do well. Most of our g olf ers sco red bet ween 3 a nd 6 sho ts per ho le. Sur prisi ngly, Tom and Sean b oth f ailed to make an im pac t. Unfo rtun atel y, Sue dr opp ed s hots on the fir st gre en, l andi ng in a bunk er and then the wate r! Rita t oo dr opped a lot of s hots and end ed up with a double qua dru ple b ogey! But h er pa rtn er Bill did co nsi der ably bett er, s coring a 3 and a 6 to come j oint 4th o ver all. T hen came the ch arge of the ladi es. What I d idn’t expe ct was for anyone to s core a h ole-in -on e, but Anne di d, lif ting her to j oint 4th with Bill. Then Helen scor ed a 3 and a 4 to co me 3rd ov erall. Bu t in t he e nd, it wa s t wo mas ter gol fers who won the spoils – Ste w and Rich ard both sco red 3 per ho le, t here was n’t ti me f or a ti e-b reak (it had gone dar k!) and so they were decla red j oint win ners of t he g olf.
SU PER STAR 201 6 You add yo ur po siti ons tog eth er for the th ree e vent s. The pe rson with t he l east nu mb er wins . Unluc ky Rita sta rted so well in t he Bowls. T om and S ean s har ed th eir di sap poin tm ents to geth er and ca me joi nt 1 1th o ver all. Past ma st er Ken Hart ley re cov ered fro m a dr ead ful Bowls to cli mb to 10th pla ce. Surp ris ing ly Syl via, afte r al most winn ing Bill and Ben, c am e 9th ov erall. Bowls let Mike do wn, Bill and Ben le t Helen down, th ey c am e joi nt 7t h. A 4th, an 8th and a 5 th in the eve nts gave Ken Day a go od 6th pl ace overa ll. Bowls sli ghtly let Bill down, with a 3rd a nd a 4th in the ot her ev ents to gi ve a gre at 5th pla ce. A pre vious Supe rst ar, Ric har d’s golf ing exp eri enc e lift ed him to 4th po sition over all. With a win in the Bowls a nd a sal vaged rou nd of gol f, Anne c ame a cr edit able 3r d. 2nd in Bowls, 1st in Bill and Ben, 7 th in the Golf, t his ga ve S ue a super 2nd pla ce.
And the winn er? Mr Con sis ten cy – 3rd in Bowls, 3rd in B& B, 1st in the Golf –
Ste w ah! ah! a h!
15 16 Cyc li ng t he Dan ube – by J ohn & Jani ce Cowbu rn
Ja nice and I had n ever been on a c ycli ng h oli day and deci ded to cha nge that in Jun e by booki ng a self -guid ed to ur on t he Dan ube f rom Pas sau to Vien na – t here coul dn’ t be many hil ls c ycl ing down a r iver! We were j oined on the t rip by t wo fr iends who were al so lo oking for an e asy cycle h oli day .
The fir st q ues tion was h ow to or ganise it – do we ta ke our own bi kes or re nt th em lo call y? The question was e asily an swered by RFH Holi days who adver tis es in the Cyc le magazi ne. He or gani ses self- guid ed ho lid ays, in clu ding bo oking the hotels and ar rangi ng c ycle hir e. He pro vid ed e ver ythi ng in clu ding gu ide books, bus ti cke ts a nd fe rry t ickets to c ross the river at a very reasona ble c ost. We were pr ovid ed with a book of v ouc hers for hot els a nd c ycle rep air s hops en route (w hich I nee ded for a mi nor re pair ). The hote ls were ex celle nt and we opt ed to bo ok our evening meals in adv ance to save the hassle of trying to fi nd r esta ura nts. Our b ags were tr ansport ed by cour ier . Two of the hote ls were up o ut of t he Dan ube v alley and we j ust h ad to c all th em to col lect us with a minibus and tr ailer – what l uxu ry!
The to tal l ength of the ro ute is 200 mi les sta rting in Pas sau, th rou gh Linz and on to Vienn a. We t ook 10 d ays with two r est d ays a t Li nz a nd Wachau so a very l eisu rely tri p co mpa red to our Sun day rid es.
We ar riv ed at the hot el in P assau where our tr avel doc ume nts w aiting for us and instr ucti ons for coll ecti ng the bi kes. The bi kes were r ead y for pick up when we ar riv ed, e ver ythi ng went like cl ockw or k. The fi rst d ay was 30 miles via a Trapp ist mo na ste ry at Engelh arts zell s elli ng h ome br ew ed b eer to Schl ogener Schli nge where t he riv er makes a fu ll 180 -degr ee be nd.
We had a s uper hot el up in the hill s, all we had to do was call for the mini bus to coll ect us f rom the ri ver ban k. The next day was 38 mil es to Linz, the bigg est ci ty b etwee n Pass au a nd Vien na. The days st art ed wet b ut s oon cle ared with s om e pi ctu res que ridi ng th rou gh s mall vi llag es. Linz is wor th a day to lo ok a rou nd. There’s a gr eat muse um and huge ch urch hi gh up above the city that is re ached by o ne of t he ste epe st tr amw ays in Euro pe.
17 Grein was the ne xt de sti nati on, 40 mile s fr om Lin z. One of the more memor able pl aces en -ro ute is t he con centrat ion camp at Maut hau sen where o ver 1 00, 000 Jews were kill ed.
The ri de c ont inu es t he ne xt day into th e vi ney ards of Wach au, 31 miles downstre am pa ssing the en ormous mon eta ry at Me lk, a EN ESCO world heri tage si te a nd well wor th the vi sit. More cas tles fol lowed as we fol lowed the riv er to Spitz .
More v ine yards and mona ste ries fol lowed the n ext d ay as we passed t hro ugh Durn ste in whe re Rich ard t he Li onh eart had a c astle to T rai sm au er, a dis tan ce of 25 mi les .
The la st d ay was t he l ongest – 50 miles i nto Vien na a nd was t he wor st for weat her wit h no n-st op h eavy rain for mo st of the rid e. The rain st opped when we ar riv ed b ut b y th en we w ere t oo ti red to h ave a go od l ook ar ound. It was just as well we plan ned to h ave a day to l ook ar ound V ienna t he ne xt day be for e de parti ng on the eveni ng fli ght. We left the bikes at t he h otel f rom wher e th ey wou ld be colle cted and sen t ba ck to Passau.
I would re comm end RFH, ev erythi ng went to pl an, t hey pro vided som e gr eat tips on what to see and do en-route and the pr ice of the ho liday was v ery re aso nab le.
18 The 40 His toric Coun ty Tops of Eng land by Anne Sto tt
When Tony and mys elf were sat on the top of Ki nder Sc out la st ye ar, I ask ed “What co unty are we in? ”, “G ood qu estio n” he r epli ed, “Derb yshi re, I thi nk.” “Woul dn't it be go od to go to t he t op of eve ry co unty in E ngla nd,” I re plied, and th at's when o ur a dve nture be gan …... which to ok us to pla ces we ne ver dre am ed to go.
Previ ous ly we'd alr eady be en up the hig hest po ints of L anca shir e, Wes tm orla nd, Surrey and Kent .
In Mar ch on a week end bre ak we di d Notti ngh am, Lei cester, Rutla nd, Huntin gdo n, Nort hampt onshi re a nd War wickshi re.
In April duri ng a wee k’s cycl ing a nd wal king ho lid ay we did Shro pshi re, Worcest ers hire, Glou ceste rsh ire, Wil tshire, Hamp shire , Berks hire, Susse x, Ox for dsh ire , Bucki ngha mshire , Hertf ord shi re, B edfo rds hir e, Middl esex, L ondo n, Cambri dge shir e, Esse x, Su ffo lk, Nor folk and Lin coln shi re.
In July on o ur way to Devon we did Somer set, Dors et, a nd Cor nw all .
In Sep tember we did Staff ord shir e, North um ber lan d, Dur ham and Cumbe rla nd.
In Oct ober we did Che shire and Her efor dshi re, Devon, and fin ally Y ork shir e.
Here are some of the County t ops we v isit ed...
Notti ngh amshire - Newton Wood L ane, 6 37ft. 205 m An ins ign ific ant road su mm it n ear the M1 at Te vers al, on the ed ge of t he Derb yshire Dales, but it's Robin Hood a nd D.H La wre nce count ry, so we ha d lots of l egend and lite rary expl orin g. We di sco ver ed t he Tev ersal rail way which us ed to li nk up the old coal mines, n ow a brill iant cycle network and n ature re ser ve. You could see Lin coln Cath edr al fr om the summ it 32 mil es aw ay.
Le ice ster shire – Bard on Hill, 912 ft. 2 78m We pa rked at Bea con Hill (na ture tr ails and cycl es tr acks) in Char nw ood For est ne ar Lo ugh bro ugh a nd ro de th rou gh sil ver b irch wo ods a nd ro cky ou tcr ops, t hen
19 up a ste ep n arr ow road to Bar don Hill. The hill h as t wo di sti nct f aces, t he e ast side is a pr ote cted site of s peci al s cie ntific int ere st, while the west is sc arr ed by a pi nk g ran ite qua rry (B ard on Aggr egat es). It is a mix tur e of ig neous and volc anic ro ck formed in Pr eca mbrian age, ( 600 milli on y ears ol d). The hill is the re mains of an extin ct vol cano and sits on top of the old Th rin gst one f ault l ine which ru ns fr om Der bys hire to Ger many. We were st ayin g in Leic ester th at ni ght, and arri ved at t he s ame ti me as Richa rd the Th ird 's r eburi al p ara de. At ni ght, we wal ked t o the ca thedr al. B esi de the guar ded cat hedral doo rs, sto od a gol den stat ue of Rich ard, his a rm str etc hed hig h, h oldi ng up his l ost cro wn of E ngl and.
Wor ces ter shir e – Worc est er Be aco n, 1, 394f t. 42 5m We st roll ed up a p rehist oric t rack way whi ch l ead to the lo ng whal e-b acks of t he Malv ern Hill s. On the su mm it the re is a ca irn comm emor ati ng Que en Vi cto ria 's Dia mond Ju bilee (1897) and a p ano rama d isp lay of the excep tio nal vie w. T he spa to wn of Malv ern sits pe acefully bel ow , ho me of t he f am ous bo ttled water . The Malv ern hills are a ha ven f or cycl ists and wal ker s: th ey e voke a g reat fe eli ng of li ght and air and a sen se of fr eedom. T he mus ic of Edward Elgar ech oe s th rou gh th ese hills with br eath taking vi ew s of E ngla nd's cou ntr ysi de b elo w.
Wilts hire – Milk Hill, 967f t, 2 95m Acco mpani ed by my sist er Mari on and her h usb and Roger we wal k al ong The Pews ey Downs, u nder whit e gall eons and blue ski es, ab ove a pat chw ork of fiel ds - vibr ant yel low ra pes eed and soft gr eens. I n the su n, the chalk and f lint glin t, th e white hor se of Pewsey st ands p roud and the Angl o-S axon Wan sdyk e ru ns off in to the milky di sta nce.
Lo ndon – Hamps tead Heat h, 44 0ft, 134 m A mandar in d uck sw ims no nch alantly ac ross Whit est one Pon d, the hig hest poi nt of L ond on, una ware of t he h eavy tr affic on t he ri ng of bu sy cr oss roa ds. Here Dick Whitti ngto n turn ed, the Kin ks s ang, and the old gh osts of Lo ndon li ved (H igh gat e ce meter y). We wal ked t hro ugh Hampst ead Heath 's massi ve par k, an enc lave of pe ace, with b eaut iful t rees a nd g reen s pac es.
Suss ex - Bla ckd ow n, 9 18 ft, 2 80m We ro de a long sandy tr acks win ding thr ough wooded gl ades – b eec hes, ye ws and Scots pin e. We sat in “T he Temple of the Winds” where Alfr ed L ord Tenny son con templ ated the vi ew . He lived at ne arby Alworth House. We watc hed the bla ck a nd w hite bell ied Aberd een Ang us c attle for agi ng in the wood s. We sa w in credi ble v iews of The Nor th Downs, the Weald a nd t he lo ng line of The South Downs - “ Green Sus sex fa ding into bl ue” .
20 Corn wall – Bro wn Willy 1, 378 ft, 4 20m Bod min Moo r, the pl ace of the to rs, t hey stand like al tars in t he s un. Weird- sh aped ro cks li ke ani mal fa ces o ver hang and bal ance pr eca rio usl y. P oni es an d cat tle r oam fre ely. The Corn ish c oast dis ap pe ari ng in to t he h aze.
Staff ord shire - Chee ks Hill, 1, 705ft, 520 m On Ax ehead Mo or, wedged b etween Derb yshi re a nd St aff ord shir e, lies Che eks Hill – a p lace of peat bog and h eat her. Ju st a mile a way is “ Thr ee Shir es Hea d\” where Ches hire, Derbysh ire and Sta ffo rdshire meet at a p ict ure sque pac khors e bri dge. Not far aw ay is t he hi ghest villa ge in Engla nd, F lash, where every Autu mn they cel ebr ate t he s tory of Gawain and t he Gre en Giant. - an an cien t pa rade t hro ugh the vill age that we w ere priv ile ged to s ee.
Durh am – Burnh ope Seat. 2 451 Ft, 7 47m Burnh ope Seat sits at t he h ead of Tee sdale in t he re mote a nd bl eak Penni nes , which are o ften kno wn as “ Engla nd's last wilde rness ”. B etween Al ston an d Middl eto n-i n-T ees dale, we park ed in a pull- in a nd l ooked out at the thi ck mist. I t lo oked b rig hter ne ar the summ it, so we decid ed to 'ni p' up Bu rnhope S eat. With no thi ng with us, we tr udg ed t hro ugh peat, turf and mossy bogs to a f alse summ it - it was t hen we s aw Bur nho pe S eat in the dis tan ce. We'd go ne up t he wrong hil l! La ter, thi rsty and hu ngr y, in t he s uns hin e, af ter we'd cr ossed the open m oorl and to t he r eal Burnh ope Sea t, we were rewar ded with une xpect ed vie ws of the wil d North Pen nin es.
Yorks hire – Mickle Fell – 2 585f t, 7 88m Mickle Fell is part of the Warc op t rai ning area on MOD land and acce ss is he avily restri cted - you ne ed to ap ply f or a per mit in ad van ce. We went up fro m the Grai ns-of-t he- Beck Road ab ove Broug h. It was a v ery h ard wal k, a b oot ca mp ov er milit ary bog s. There was no disti nct f ootp ath o ver t he heat hery ter rai n, whic h culminat ed in a v ery st eep cli mb to the cairn on the su mm it. We got gr eat vie ws of Dufton Pike and Cow Green Res erv oir. It was the hard est of all t he co unty tops we had do ne.
21 22 Blackburn & District CTC Cl ub Room Dates - Social Programme 2017
Pri meti me Cen tre: Norden Scho ol, Sto urt on St, Rish ton, La nca shir e. Th ursd ays b etwe en 7 :30 pm and 9:3 0pm, e ntry £1
The Clubroom is an integral part of our club. It serves as a meeting place during the winter months with various activities. Please support your clubroom, especially the events where people have put themselves out to organise something (slide shows, superstars, quizzes etc.). Brews are readily available…. (Ken Day will alw ays be on hand to wash up), and you can catch up on all the latest gossip and stories from club members.
PL EASE SU PPO RT YOUR CLUB RO OM! EV ERY ONE WE LCO ME ANY TIME
Jan uary 2 017 Happy New Year Ev eryone and W elcome back to the Club Room
12 th Pem broke to the Pe ak Anne and T ony St ott Also signi ng up for all cl ub ev ents in 20 17 ( £5 for all event s) 19 th Lofot en Isl ands, Scan dinav ia Carol ine and Dave Collin ge 26 th Pot ato Pri ze Pr esen tation Even ing 7pm start Tick ets £6 from Anne S tott (01254 2325 37) or Caro line Collin ge (0 1200 4452 45)
Febr uary
2nd The Big R eview of the Year 201 6 Anne, Tony, Stew art & John 9th It's T he W aal not The Rhin e Ste wart a nd S ue C lark 16 th Club Room Closed for Ha lf Ter m 23 rd The Beer and Bratw urst T our of Ger many Jim Duer den
Marc h
2nd The Clar ion Cy cling Club & Move ment Charl es Jep son 9th Thail and Ian S tott 16 th Moto rcycle Diari es: M ad Man on t he Ro ad to Recov ery Stev en Cl ark 23 rd The Glory of La kelan d Mem bers P ictures (digi tal & s lides) 30 th Let's get Quizzi cal Richa rd John (Fun Digital Qui z)
The Club Room will cl ose for the s umm er after the 30th March and reop en for Autu mn 2 017 on 28th Sept emb er when it wi ll be the S upers tars. Thank you all f or sup porti ng our club room . This winter has b een o ne of t he be st for a ttend ance a nd pic ture s hows. Have a go od sum mer, and hope to see you all again this wint er. If yo u, or an yone y ou know would like t o show pictures at o ur cl ub room please conta ct me (An ne 01 254 2 32537 ). I would be ha ppy t o hear from them .
23 55 45 50 45 50 50 60 45 60 60 50 50 55 65 Approx Distance (miles) Tea Slaidburn Bashall Barn Pendle Heritage Centre Dunsop Bridge Lunch Feizor Wycollar Airton Wheelton Gargrave Clapham Knott End Settle Glasson Ingleton Settle Hebden Bridge Applestore 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.30 9.00 Leaving Time Meet Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Brownhill Roundabout Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Ribchester Car Park Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Blackburn & District CTC Runs List - January to July 2017 Mothering Sunday * Start of BST - one less hour in bed Destination Bowland Knotts Bronte Country Malham Tarn White Coppice Lothersdale Clapham Tunnels The Great Sea wall Langber Lane Cockersands Great Stone of Four Stones Car Assisted Run Meet Pateley Bridge, Southland's Car Park50 9.30 Miles (£1.80 or parking 50 charge) Kilometers in 5 Hours StandardTed Ride* Hughes and Sylvia Plath Country Trough Of Bowland (joint run with Burnley CTC) Date 01/01/2017 08/01/2017 15/01/2017 22/01/2017 29/01/2017 05/02/2017 12/02/2017 19/02/2017 26/02/2017 05/03/2017 12/03/2017 19/03/2017 26/03/2017 02/04/2017 24 65 70 70 70 90 80 85 100 100 125 100 200 100 Approx Distance (miles) Tea Knight's Table Bolton by Bowland Gardenmarkers Rivington Tosside Settle Airton Knight's Table Scorton Gargrave Kirkby Stephen Hebden Bridge Embsay Lunch Irbey Ingleton Storiths Mere Brow Beetham Dent Horton Katie's Kitchen Sedbergh Staveley Hawes Coniston Dobcross Stump Cross 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 5.00 8.00 8.00 Leaving Time Meet Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Brownhill Roundabout Ribchester Car Park Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Whalley Bus Station Accrington Town Hall Whalley Bus Station Easter Sunday May Day Bank Holiday Weekend Spring Bank Holiday Weekend Fathers' Day Destination Turbary Lane Ribblehead The Stridd Ribble Estuary Fairy Steps 100 Miles in 10 Hours Standard Ride* Youth Hostel weekend – Dufton TBC Darnbrook Shaking Moss 200 Kilometers in 12 Hours Standard Ride* Semer Water 200 Miles in 24 Hours Standard Ride* Tunnel End Snowden Crags * Event counts towards the Supertourist Competiton Riders are reminded that itproblems is when advisable club to runs carry visit maps unusual - or even new the destinations. more experienced members of the club sometimes encounter route finding Date 09/04/2017 16/04/2017 23/04/2017 30/04/2017 07/05/2017 14/05/2017 21/05/2017 28/05/2017 04/06/2017 11/06/2017 18/06/2017 25/06/2017 02/07/2017 09/07/2017 All rides LEAVE at the time stated. Please aim to arrive 15 minutes earlier to allow for mechanical or other problems.
25 DIARY DATES 201 7
Look out for hostel w eekends on the club room notice board, or see Stewart Clark for information.
Thur sday 1 2th Janu ary Sign ing on for r acing and touri ng ev ents, Club Room
Thur sday 2 6th Januar y Prize Pres enta tion Eveni ng, C lub R oom
Thur sday 3 0th Mar ch Last Club room befo re su mmer brea k
Sun day 19 th Marc h *50 miles or *50 km in 5 H ours
Sun day 14 th May *100 Mil es in 10 hour s
Thur sday 1 8th May 2 up Team Time Tri al
Wed nesday 7th June Spoco Event, Basha ll Ea ves
Sun day 11 th June *20 0km in 12 hour s
Satu rday 24th June *20 0mil es in 24 h ours
Wed nesday 16 th Aug ust *Club Hill C limb, Close Brow 7pm
Thur sday 2 8th Sep tem ber Club Room o pens for winter with *Sup erstars Compe tition
Sun day 5 th Novem ber *Trea sure H unt m eet W halley 9.30 am and *Free wheeler Marl Hill 2. 30 pm
Thur sday 9th Nove mber Ann ual G ener al M eeting (AG M)
Thur sday 3 0th Nov ember Closing date f or club magazi ne articl es
Satu rday 2 nd Decem ber Christ mas Youth H ostel w eeken d
Sun day 3 rd Decem ber Christ mas D inner
Thur sday 2 1st Dece mber Christ mas Party at C lub R oom
Thur sday 1 1th Janu ary 201 8 Club Room o pens
* Event count towards the Supertourist Competition.
Entry fee for the Supertouri st events are £5 in advance (for them all) or £2 on the day for each event.
26 Berw ick -Upon-Tweed YHA by Nick Mackey & St eve Hodgson
Sund ay 2 3rd Octo ber: We arr ived at t he Y HA Berw ic k-up on- Tw eed after l unc h. Chec k in was offic ially between 2p m and 10. 30pm , but we manag ed to access the room str aig ht a way. As p art of a 20 % disc ount of fer I mana ged to book a tri ple en- suite ro om , which was ex cell ent val ue. The car p ark was in fr ont of the Host el was f ree on Sund ay, a nd free 4. 00p m – 1 0.00 am week days. The re is a fr ee 2 4-h our car p ark ar ound t he c orn er, with a ccess to t he YHA thr ough a sm all e ntry. The YHA was a re cent con versi on fro m an old Gran ary, and h ad a c afé on the ground floo r, an d confer ence and an art ex hibi tion on the 1st and 2rd flo ors. It was a bit damp when we set off for a ride so we he aded out of Berw ick on NCN 1/68, whi ch avo ided the main ro ads. We s oon pic ked up NCN 76 a nd opted for a loc al r oute which to ok us in t he dir ecti on of a fo rd. This was not pas sable due to rec ent r ain, so we r etr aced our ro ute and did a 20- mil e ci rcu lar tour ar ound Paxto n. The bike sh ed was well p ositi oned i n fr ont of the Host el, a nd had a cyc le map on t he wall, with a s tirr up p um p and pape r to wels to wi pe bi kes if necessary .
Getti ng f ood f or the eve ning meal was a bit of an is sue, as ev eryt hing clo sed at 4.0 0pm. W e ev entu ally f ound a s mall Spa r th at was in Twee dmouth which was more of an off lic enc e, bu t we man aged to g et en ough f or th at ni ght and for sandwic hes t he ne xt da y. T here was a short c ut ba ck to t he Hos tel t hat Stev e sp otted acr oss t he old bri dge. The se lf-cate ring was on t he 5th flo or of t he Y HA , with a separ ate eat ing area a nd s epa rate lo unge. We f ound a micro- br ew ery call ed T he Curf ew near ly o pposite the Host el, whi ch s erv ed pl easant drin ks th at w as very wort hy of sup porting! !
Mond ay 2 4th: I opt ed f or the YHA bre akf ast as I g ot 1 0% dis count when I bo oked th e ro om . These are exc elle nt v alue, and well worth i nve stiga ting !! The f ree WIFI was o nly in t he d ownst airs are a, b ut had enough sig nal st ren gth on my Ki ndle to p ow er Netf lix and BBC ip lay er!! We r ode north a gain, using the NCN ro utes to get us out of Ber wic k, th en h ead ed to cr oss the A61 05, p assing th rou gh A yton to Eye mouth. We th en h ead ed for Coldi ngham, a nd Col din gham Bay where Ste ve h ad s tayed at the YHA. The su n sh one and we ate our lu nch at t he Bay, th en to ok t he B64 38 t hro ugh Auch enc row and Prest on (a diff erent on e!!) to Duns for a br ew sto p. We th en to ok s mall la nes usi ng th e B6460 back to Ber wic k, maki ng a ni ce 50- mil e da y.
We were in ti me for supe rm ar kets this ti me, so I i ntr odu ced Ste ve to the deli ghts of B & M’s where we bou ght the even ing me al, f oll ow ed by a walk alo ng t he T weed to get so me go od pho tos of the rai lw ay a rch es. Agai n, the micr o-br ewery was su ppo rted an d dif fer ent dri nks were sampl ed.
27 Tu esd ay 2 5th: After anot her YHA brea kfa st, we s et o ff on the NCN 1, but this ti me south on the off ro ad c oast al ro ute t ow ards Li ndi sfar ne & Bambur gh. T his t ook us o ver tr acks and l anes p ast t he g olf co urs e, b ut a l ot w as on rutt ed tr acks th at w ere only pa ssa ble wit h gr eat car e. Of c our se t hat d id n ot apply to me, as I fell off t wic e!! Prog ress was r eal ly sl ow, and afte r ha ving made a mad dash to get ph otos of the Holy I sla nd Pri ory fr om t he d unes on the i slan d, w e ro de b ack to the mainl and just as the waves st arted to cover t he Caus eway . We fol lowed t he c oast to B ambur gh, a nd ate lu nch i n a park opposite t he ca stle. Fro m Belfo rd we work ed o ur way north t hrough the la nes t owards Berwick, a nd man aged to find a n ice brew stop just n or th of Scremerst on, next to Go Out doors. Just off the A1167 Steve spo tted a s mall la ne on the rig ht th at led us over the rai lw ay to Spittal and the co ast r oad to T weedmou th a nd back to t he Host el. T he wea ther this day was j ust as nic e, al tho ugh t he s low goi ng th rough t he NCN 1 tr acks made it se em long er th an 55 mile s.
We ca lled into The Barr els on B rid ge St for a pr e-meal r eal ale a ppet ise r, and the la st ni ght meal was in the Magna I ndi an r est aur ant on Brid ge Stre et. Whil st it was nic e, be aware th at the menu disp lay ed o utsi de has ta kea way pric es o n, and the eati ng i n pri ces are a lot d ear er!! This nee ded a re turn vi sit to T he B arrels for f urth er di scu ssio n.
Wed nesday 26 th: We dro ve h ome usi ng t he A 698 and A7 to pick up t he M6. T his was sli ghtly lo nge r, b ut f ar ni cer t han the A1 ro ute, and is worth co nsid eri ng if you are not bo thered ab out a ddi ng 20 mins to you r jour ney home.
28 Etape du To ur 2016 - Someth ing Old , Something New - St ill in Blue ! by Ian Stot t
I’ve been cycli ng to the Alps num ero us ti mes pre vio usl y. The all ure of the magnit ude and gr and eur of th ese gr anite gi ants is siz eable. I’ ve d one most of t he famous p asses but all ha ve be en ful ly l aden wi th c amping gear, 4 pan niers and all day to g et to t he ne xt ca mpsite. Great ti me s! 2 016 o ffe red me a dif fer ent holi day f ormat in the Alps with a ri de with some f rie nds in the Etape Du To ur. I’ m not su re if I sho uld s ay th is but the Etape is…. I n eed to just ch eck who is r eading thi s… the Etape is …this is d iffi cult f or me say … but t he Eta pe is a spor ti ve eve nt. T here I sa id it. I ts o ff my c hest now! I ha ve be en qu ite criti cal of sporti ves in the past and avoided d oing th em f or va rio us r eas ons but you can ’t ar gue with t heir pop ulari ty a nd t he n um ber of n ew cycli sts it has bro ught to t he s port and this was s ome thi ng d iff ere nt so I to ok t he p lunge .
Every year the org anis ers of the Tour de Fran ce c hose the be st, most a ppr opri ate sta ge a nd hold the Etape. It is al ways on the ne arest Sund ay in July to t he actu al st age of t he t our cho sen. 16, 000 p eople ri de. Try to im agine th at n umber of peo ple, on b ike s. Its i mm ense! T he T our de Fr ance pel oton is 200 rid ers – so th at’s 80 Tour de Fra nce pe lot ons! It t akes near ly 2 hours to set e ver yone off, 1000 ri ders every 7.5 mi nute s. It is li ke the Lo ndon Mara thon on bi kes with an ar my of hel pers, c losed roa ds, a nd p len ty o f fe edi ng a nd w ater st ati ons alo ng the ro ute if you ne ed some su ppli es. 55, 000l of wat er ( Vittel of co urs e), 11 t onnes of ba nanas and 22,00 0 made lin es ju st s ome of t he f ood sta tis tic s re quir ed f or t his never end ing swa rm of h ot sweaty Etape rs. The s ucc ess of this ev ent and si milar mass partic ipat ion clos ed r oad eve nts i n Europe ha ve led to r epli cas all o ver t he world and ple nty in the UK . Top pr ofe ssio nal s (who are not in the ac tual Tour of c ours e) r ide. Ex-st ars such as Magnus Back ste dt and Jean nie L ongo were in th is y ear’s e vent. At the o ther e nd of t he s pec tru m a ‘c ele brit y’ te am of non -cy clists were t rai ned up to ri de th is e vent with si mply fini shing a major goa l. I’ ve j ust s een t he fi rst epi sode of Celeb de Tour on Cha nnel 5. Ple ase do not watch if you are expe cting a cutti ng e dge dra ma on the comm it ment and hard work ne eded to tr ain for this even t. Do watch if y ou li ke c om edy and cele briti es y ou h ave ne ver h eard of mak ing f ools out of th emsel ves !
My gro up of f rie nds were al so mix ed a bilit ies ran ging fro m peop le who se big ch alle nge was ju st fini shing to peo ple who wanted the fas test ti me p ossible and a high ove rall po sitio n. A bit li ke t he L ondon Marat hon there is a la rge number of p eople who j ust want to fini sh b ut al so e veryo ne ge ts a positi on a nd a t ime so it is a r ace at the end o f the da y, the high places get in ter nat ion al ku dos. Ini tially I ju st w ant ed to get a round but after some d ecent miles and s om e g ain ed fi tne ss I h ad ai ms a bit more t ow ards th e fr ont of the pa ck.
The big day ar riv ed s oon enough a nd with enough m iles in t he le gs, lo gisti cs for aft er the ride sort ed (t he fi nish wa s 50 miles f rom the sta rt!) and a VER Y ea rly get up to rid e
29 15k to t he 7 o’c lock st art ( yes in the mo rn ing) ev eryt hing was in pla ce. Eve ryo ne g ets pr e-a llo cat ed a number and to o ne of t he b loc ks of 1000 ri der sta rter pen s. Lots of cr ow ds li ned the st art b ehind barri ers and a comm ent ator was c hatte ring away over the lo uds pea ker in Fre nch. It w as a g reat at mos phe re a nd a b ig b uild up. Every one had to have a n umber on the fr ont of the bike, an el ect ronic ti ming s plit a nd a body nu mb er. The cho ice of b ody number pla cement was in ter est ing – half of the cyclis ts waiti ng to sta rt with me h ad n umbers on t he b ack of th eir bo dy (li ke a racing cycl ists – me inc lud ed) and the oth er ha lf wore t heir n umber on the fro nt of the ir bo dy. To me it in dic ated peop le who had rid den r aces in t he p ast a nd th ose who had ju st d one sp orti ves, or ru nning (in cide ntally th ese were al so t he ones I tri ed to avoid ridi ng nea r!).
Mege ve was a gre at s tart town with Mont Blanc and oth er white top ped mou nta ins lo omi ng o ver hear pun ctu ating azu re b lue ski es. N ot so cold even at si lly o’cl ock in t he morni ng b ut f ore cas ts were for a rat her b almy 37 d egre es l ater in the da y. This was n’t the lo nge st Et ape du to ur e ver at 87 miles none the less it was still f ear some with 4 bi g al pine pas ses and 430 0m of ve rtic al cli mbi ng. I h ad b een p repar ing mentally for thi s but a fe w days bef ore t he st art the penu lti mate pa ss h ad b een removed fro m the r out e for safe ty d ue to rec ent r ock fall s. I was a bit di sap poin ted at t his n ews in a weird way but at the fini sh I was qui te gl ad! T he r oute was s till fo rmida ble at aro und 85 miles and 35 00m of cl imbin g.
07 .22 and 30 s eco nds was my gro up’s start time a nd we ro lle d away pro mp t. My a ctu al re cor ded time di dn’t s tart until I pas sed the elec tro nic s ensor und er the start gate a min ute or so lat er – still well in the middle of my 10 00 rider bun ch! Almost imm edia tely the Col d es A ravis s tar ted, a 2 nd c ate gory cl im b ta king ar ound 30 mins, stri ngi ng t he ri ders into a l ong snake windi ng up the gr adu al h airp ins. A quick descent foll owed into th e Ski vil lage of Le Grand Born and bef ore t he 1 st c ate gory Col de la Colo mbi er. I was t ryi ng to pace my self e arly on and not get too gi ddy – ‘r ace head! !’ – b ut it w as d iffi cult to hold b ack with the ot her co mpet itors aro und and all t he t our his tory on t hose r oads – the na mes of T our de Fra nce sta rs p ain ted in the ro ad fr om pr evi ous v isits of t he to ur. I h ad a q uick one min ute s top on th e Obligatory start line way up to t ake water f rom a f eed sta tio n, on ly j ust o ver an hour Photo. My actua l int o the ride and I was alre ady l ow on wate r. T he l ast f ew start po sition wa s kil ometres are qui te steep and hai r-pi nned and an appr ecia tiv e about 3000 rid ers furthe r back! cr ow d ga ve e nco ura gement and t ook ph otos. No ti me f or ph otos and the usual t op of pass ph otos and coff ee!
The desc ent on c los ed r oads was fast and exhil ara ting but care was need ed with ot her cy clis ts with mixed han dling abi litie s. ( numbe rs on t he f ront of jer sey !). With the Ramaz re moved and rep lac ed by a 20 -m il e vall ey road to the bot tom of the fin al cli mb a re aso nably la rge b unch f ormed – a couple of loc al Fr ench h ero es dr aggi ng e ver yone al ong at a d ece nt s peed. It was a ti me for rehyd rat ion and eati ng b efo re t he fi nal ob stac le, t he s teepe st, lo ngest a nd hi ghest p ass of the ride. The f ear some C ol de J oux pl an. 1 0k lo ng a nd a ver agi ng 1 in 10. Scene of La nce Arms tro ng’s famous h unger kn ock bl ow up in 2000 and many ano ther fa mous Tour de France batt les. This regi on 30 Thinning bunch on se es a lot of British holi day make rs and the Col De ex -pats so th ere w ere l ots of Bl ackbu rn lo ve on the way up. It was sta rting to get VE RY hot! Locals spr ayed hose pipes over the cy clists which was a welco me res pite. I had paced myself pr evi ously and kept en ergy lev els hi gh so I mana ged to ri de t he cli mb well and pa ssed a lot of slo wer ri ders fr om t he e arlier gr oups – al ways a goo d fe elin g. A s tin ging ste ep s tra ight sect ion ha lf w ay up ne arly put my li ghts out and I was q uite glad to r each the top knowi ng it was a f ast desce nt str aight to the finish in Mor zin e. Unlike the t our I d idn ’t h ave to go flat out r aci ng f or t he w in on this te chni cal ste ep d esc ent – a f ew d ays l ate r, on the ac tual To ur de Fra nce sta ge it was rai ning – I d on’t envy th ose gu ys ra cing in the wet do wn th ere! The finish line wa s a mazing – l ots of cr owds c heerin g. Comm enta tors ur ged you ho me , a big finish barr ier and due to t he el ectr onic t im ing and i nsta nt re sult. My name and ti me fl ash ed up and abso lute po sition ov er the lin e. 4 h ours 33 and 1 100th to fin ish – not b ad b ear ing in m ind I set off in a rou nd 3 500 positi on – all be for e 12 o clo ck! My n et po siti on on actu al ti me was Obligatory 96 0th w hich I was p ret ty h appy a bout. The finish and winn er was a lmost an h our q uick er th oug h- a medal photo! French pr ofes sion al. Chris Edmonds on fi nish ed ha lf an hour q uic ker t han me and in t he t op 1 60 rid ers whi ch was brilli ant. My frie nds who s tart ed lat er ju st m anaged t o get aro und and wer e de lig hted to fi nish – es peci ally a fter end uri ng t he ho tte st p art of the day on the Jo ux Pl an. T hey said the re were sc ores of com peti tors ta ken to walki ng – and the guy s elling ca ns of coke o ut of a st all for £3 was doi ng a roa ring t rade. !
The or gani sat ion was top no tch, I en joy ed do ing somet hing compl etely diff erent and be ing part of so met hing bi g. An eve nt to put in the diary and pr epa re for – a nd tr ave lling all that way mea nt you want ed to make the most of it even more and do t he be st you co uld .
Almost i mm edi ate ly y ou c ould go onto the websi te a nd fi nd a ll to ur ti mes for vari ous se ctio ns of t he c ours e, t he clim bs and sp lits alo ng t he r oute so you co uld c ompar e yo ur pro gre ss with frie nds and all t he pho tos of you alo ng t he cou rse had be en up loa ded to the web site in sta ntly – s ome fan cy n um ber re cog nition tec hnol ogy an d au tomatic uplo ads – very im pre ssi ve.
The beer in Morzi ne, al though costi ng a f ortu ne, was we ll worth it a nd v ery muc h en joy ed! So was t he n ext f ew! In 20 17 t he E tape is again in the Alpes. Fro m Bria nco n and fin ishing on the top of the Col de Izoard – a nd y es we h ave all en ter ed a gain !
31 Piccad illy to Pembroke by Tony Stott
Havi ng per fected a q uiet, of f-ro ad c ycle ro ute to Manch est er, and ha ving di sco ver ed th ere is a t rain fro m Pic cad illy to Pembrok e, we went f or it! The jo urn ey, with no ch ang es, is six ho urs l ong. The tra in s pee ds t hro ugh t he be auti ful, gre en c oun trysi de of England and Wa les, passi ng ma ny to wns, s top ping at a list of s tati ons that is as l ong as your ar m. The list of pl ace- names is li ke o ne of t hose “l ine poem s” by the art ist Ri chard Long, s een h angi ng in t he T ate .
Th is jo urn ey is, of c ours e, lit eral ly a li ne …..
The tr ain c ros ses roa ds and la nes t hat we h ave c ycl ed in the past, n ost alg ic ju nct ion s, an inter sec tion of memori es, i nter stic es of hist ory, the cross ways of t im e. T he tr ain sli ces thr ough a p atc hw ork of “c olo ured co untie s” ( AE Hous em an) on its way to t he te rm inus at Milf ord Haven - Cheshi re, Shr ops hir e, Here for dshi re, Monm ou ths hire , Gla mor gan, Car mar the nshi re a nd P em br oke .
It was a bea utif ul day in mid -March and it s eemed a sac rile ge to be pu shing our bi kes inside the stati on at Manc hes ter to sit on a tra in al l aft ern oon. We s hould not ha ve worri ed so muc h. The jo urn ey was a co mplete pleasur e, the vie ws stu nnin g, the pla ces mesmeris ing. It was a t rip wor th ta king j ust for th e sa ke of it – one of t he G reat Briti sh Railw ay jo urn eys .
Arriva Trains Wa le s, a s ubsi dia ry of Deuts che Bahn (f ormerly Germ an State Rail way), are smooth, f ast, cle an a nd e ffic ien t, wi th a gre at o n-b oard sn acks and be ver age se rvi ce. Our tic kets co st £36 ea ch, bik es f ree. We left PICCADILL Y bang on t im e, 12 33 ho urs. We ar riv ed at eve ry st oppi ng st ati on e arly and dep arted ex actly on s che dule …
1310. CREWE. Nostalgia starts to kick in. In 1976 we left Crewe station and cycled to Chesil Beach and back – “the Downs South” tour.
1321. NANTWICH. We left our car nearby in 2008 (Ian picked it up later that day) and rode through mid -Wales, eventually over the Devil’s Staircase. My frame snapped at the rear drop -out and I had to walk to Borth! We had to catch the train home from Aberyst wyth via Shrewsbury.
1344. WEM. We stopped in Wem in both 1976 and 2008. I remember having a great hot chocolate there 8 ye ars ago at a garage, and a couple of jam butties there 40 years ago!
32 1359. SHREWSBURY. Where the longest river in the 2 countries winds under the English Bridge and the Welsh Bridge, the serene Severn (after the floods).
(CRAVEN ARMS). Stunning views of the Long Mynd, memories of the 2005 club tour to Wales that Chris Miller and Adam Pinder came on, to name a fe w. Also, we came here with Brayley on the 1997 club trip to Clun when Ken H made pancakes for all the Norden lads and the Stott girls. I remember Brayley taking us to visit Stokesay, a mediaeval moated castle. Ah look! It’s Stokesay Castle!
1428. LUDLOW. Where Brayley recommended we buy the best chocolate cake in Britain, and where he promptly bought the last piece before we got there! 1997.
1438. LEOMINSTER. Jenny caught the train here to meet us at Kington YHA on the 2005 tour. The lads (Dicko, Chris and Adam) rode down the valley to escort her.
1453. HEREFORD. We rode through the city on our way back to Crewe on the 1976 tour. We bought a book there, Alfred Watkins’ “The Old Straight Trac k”.
1518. ABERGAVENNY. We had lunch here on the glorious 2011 Easter tour of Wales with Tara, Richard, Sarah and Carl. I had a blow -out, I patched it with a piece of old tyre, and Carl assured me it would get me home. Then Sarah had a worse blow -out and I leant her my “old faithful” – a 20mm folding race tyre. We went to the bike shop and I didn’t buy the Schwalbe Marathon for £30! Sarah had to buy one. When Paul Melling punctured at Whalley on this year’s 200 k m event, jeopardising his Grand Slam ambitions, guess what I leant him? “Old Faithful”. Yeah! Paul got his Grand Slam!
1546. NEWPORT. On the 1998 club trip to Brecon with the Norden lads, Jo e Lofthouse, Ken Day and Dennis Walsh to name a few, we went to the swimming baths here. We’ve passed the half -way point of our rail journey, bang on time.
1607. CA RDIFF. We have had so many good times in Cardiff over the last few years, where Captain Scott set sail for the Antarctic on the Terra Nova, where the Wales Millennium Centre, built of grey slates, proudly displays the words “Crev Gwir Fel Gwydr O Ffwrnais Awens” – “In These Stones Horizons Sing”.
1721. SWANSEA. Dylan Thomas’s birthplace and start o f the inspiring Gower Peninsular. In 1987, our 3-year-old Rosie moaned incessantly for 2 hours “I want an apple” as we drove to Laugharne in torrential rain. The windsc reen wipers broke and Rosie forgot what she wanted but kept on moaning as the rain persisted – “I want a ….. I want a ….. I want a wanta”.
1750. LLANELLI. Beautiful vistas across Carmarthen Bay, the sun dazzling the sea, with elusive views of Rhossilli Down on the Gower.
1819. CARMARTHEN. The railway follows the shores of the estuary of the River Towy for ten sublime miles up to Carmarthen. We cycled through here on the 2005 tour.
1833. WHITLAND. We alight the train after a mammoth journey, the platform deserted, night setting in. The train pulls away, bang on time, like a friend leaving for a foreign land. We look at each other, just Anne and me, in the gloomy dusk. Wind chills this lonely country station on the Pembrokeshire border. All we have to do now is to cycle round the Welsh Coast to Harlech, then to Craven Arms in Shrops hire, then the Peak District, Manchester and home.
33 34 South Kor ea by Steve & Ann i Gregson
Ko rean tr ans port is e fficient and pl enti ful. 10 minut es af ter ` ARR IVALS` in Seo ul, bu ssed acr oss ne w, hi gh, b rid ges to the east coast to av oid b usy ca pital city roa ds. Wh at i nfra stru ctur e. Tw o an xiou s da ys fol lowed, ha rdly any GLOBA L AT M`s. Fin ally headed so uth alo ng t he East Sea coa st, hea vily ba rb wired (too n ear Nor th K .). L ooki ng for earl y morni ng c offe e, fo llo wed fan cy d ress fo lk, c ame ac ross a str eet f est ival inc luded a rice harv est da nce, North Kor ea t wirli ng bi g- ski rted dance tr oupe (pro pagan da?), 30 man Tug -o- Wa r, c omical hi sto ric d anc e, si de stalls with f ood and heal th c hecks (B .Pres s. b oth 120 /80, OK ), a lo vely day of f. Roc k`n `roll ed, b usked for 1000 WON ! A fe w da ys l ater at Hahoe Vill age, gu ide t here by a lo vely Korean c ycl ist f am ily t hat pi cked us up in a ro ad-s ide c afé! A liv ing museu m, t wo won derf ul mask ed d anc es; t hey are pro ud o ur Que en h ad v isit ed the hi sto ric al h ouses, still li ved i n.
Conti nued thr ough hea vily decid uous woo ded mo un tain va lley roads. Tr affic f ast movi ng b ut not he avy. Veh icl es h ave pri ority ov er p ede stri ans and cy clist s! What `s ne w? It can get h airy. Old lad ies crouc hed, backs bent te ndi ng to th eir pl entif ul cr ops- ric e, b urd ock, g ree ns. Leaves tur ning red and g olden es peci ally up at a ski re sort . La rge ar eas of cos mos and lot us fl owers l ook so b eau tiful. Otters pl aying in a riv er, pe ering cu rio usly at Anni. Mar vell ous .
Acco mm od ati on OK - hot els and motel s, all en -sui te, r e-vital ising bo dy s cou ring clot hs, bi cycles in r oom or r ece pti on a rea s. Even a bea utif ul te mple w hen, at d usk, escor ted by f rie ndly Pol ice. The re, dru ms and cha nti ng la te at nig ht a nd e arly in t he mor nin g, fo od h ealt hy a nd s mall porti ons OK. Towar ds B usa n, mostly Lo ve Hote ls. Ubi qui tou s un der -flo or h eat ing so cozy (and dri es t he c lot hin g). A Hom est ay- we sa w ho w Ko rea ns liv e.
Korea see ms to do lots so ciall y, wel l-u sed outd oor Gyms, board wal ks in the ma ny pa rks. Health and s afe ty ti ps on TV. All thin and fri endly but q uite u ntid y! Agri cult ural but huge citi es. T V: n ews has China f ishing boats being re pell ed at t err itory li mit s, N.Ko rea thr eats are daily news, Tru mp v Kli nto n. Pr em ier L eag ue f oot ball.
After 10 da ys, fr om And ong we s tar ted t he 38 5km. Nak don ggang River Cycle Path , away f rom traf fic, rel axi ng a nd fla t, an i nspi ring id ea fr om the g overn me nt when th ey th ought t heir pe ople were getti ng u nfit. Lots of cyclis ts d oing it in 1 50km days, tr ave lling li ght, cre dit c ard t ouri ng. Top of r ange b icycl es. Fully mask ed ( again st s un?). The Path is ea sy to foll ow, W.C.`s eve ry 3 0m ins., good sur face a nd f ully sign ed. I n Korea food so metimes a stru ggl e, da rk at 6p m so a be er a nd ` sur pris e` menu fo od, spi cy, c abba ge, p ork/ chic ken. Some liv ely nigh ts, t he f irst ev eni ng, manag ed to pe rsuade the (i neb ria ted) ne xt ta ble n ot to p ay o ur bill. App lau ded a noth er ti me - ` (ol d ag ed E ngli sh) c ycli sts `.
35 Rode up c oast f rom Busan a cou ple of days to find lob ster to eat and r eturn th ere t o ta ke a f erry to J apan for the fin al t wo wee ks. Left a vi brant, i ncr easing eco nomy f or pe rhaps one past i ts p eak ( like UK ?). We at her had been war m/coo l, sh orts and 2 la yers pl us Gore tex mo rni ngs. Damp tw ice onl y.
Fi nall y, ne ar Bus an, we fo und some Rou gh- Stu ff ri din g. J ust when we th ink to h ave a rel axi ng d ay off si ght-se eing in a c ity, the cycli st/ hotel owner real ly wan ted to cycl e with us, so were dri ven ov er to his birt h-pl ace and rode narr ow tra cks bet we en all otments a nd st ream s, o ver ste ep b rid ges with out si des, t hro ugh sm all villa ges and fa rm s, hi sto ric al int ere st sit es. His o ld fr ien ds o wned p ersi mm on sheds, with fi rewood bo ilers supplyi ng u nde rflo or h eat ing to upst airs livi ng a cco mmodatio n.
By the end of Oct ober, it was bec oming c ool er but Kyus hu, Jap an is more s out h, sh ould be a bit war mer and we can see Aut um n tin ts a gain. That and eating whale meat is an oth er s tor y. Korea had b ee n a good des tin ation for an Octo ber t our, enoug h of i nte res t, e asy cyclin g, go od a cco mmodation and ci vili sed.
NJD Sports Injury & Phys ica l Therapy Cli nic
Members of The Society of Sports Therapists (SST)
Nick Dinsdale MSST, BSc (Hons) Nicola Dinsdale MSST, BSc (Hons) Executive Committee Member of SST Sports Therapist to Blackburn Ru gby Club
We treat muscle & joint pain e.g. low back, neck, shoulder, hips, legs etc
Treatment by: heat, remedial massage, ultrasound, laser, biomechanical assessment, foot orthotics, & specific rehabilitation programme s
E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01200 427457 www.njdsportsinjuries.co.uk
36 A Wedd ing Weekend by Stu & Sue Clark
We’d r ecei ved our i nvi tati on to our fri ends Jane & Simon’s wedding in l ate Wint er 20 16. J une the 4th ‘ 16 w as the date set f or th eir big day but in clu ded in the in vite was to arri ve for a meal t he e vening befo re; to all ow the g uests to acquaint t hemse lves with ea ch ot her. The venue was to be the Crag side Country House Hot el, o verlo oki ng Wind ermere with t he wed ding ta king over the whole hot el. We b oth d eci ded ‘in ta ndem ’ to c ycle up to the la kes, tak ing the Frid ay o ff wor k. T han kfull y, Si mon’s pa rents had kin dly offe red to t ake our l ugg age for us, so we need n’t b oth er a bout ca rryi ng suits and fro cks on t he t ande m!
As the big d ay ap pro ach ed, we were kee ping a cl ose e ye on the weat her f ore cas t. It was d ue to be war m on t he Fr iday and S unday but overc ast f or the weddin g. We’d n o ne ed to set o ff e arly on t he F riday morni ng as our pl an was to ri de le ss th an 70 mile s. We us ed the us ual r oute out to wa rds Se ttle via Wig gle wor th & Rat hm ell, but we th en he aded off to wards the Lakes cycling th rough Eld roth and Clap ham st atio n. T he r out e I’d pla nned t hen thr ead ed a way be tween the two B ent hams and Burt on- in- Lonsdal e, to wards Tun sta ll. It was along th is s ect ion that we ro de s ome deli ghtf ul la nes we’d not rid den be for e. As the day unf olde d, the te mperat ure cli mbed st ead ily but it was prett y well p erf ect f or c ycli ng with lo ts of late Spring sun shin e, ve ry lit tle wind and gr eat vi ews un fol ding all aro und us as our tyr es r olled over the ta rm ac. Our lunch -stop was at Kirkby Lo nsd ale a nd h ow grat eful were we of the old co ver ed cro ss in the mark et pl ace? The sun was n ow be ginn ing to b eat down u pon us a nd o ur r ese rves o f su nscre en were perilo usly low, so a q uick nip a rou nd t he ch emists to sto ck up was cal led for.
Once ref reshed it was onwar ds a gain, with the int ent ion of f ollo wing the 200k m sta nda rd r ide rou te f or a while but I lo st th at and en ded up w and eri ng a round and over th e dr umlins th at litt er t he la nds cape in t hese pa rts. Still, th ese byways were very q uiet mu ch more p ref era ble to a main road with t raf fic th under ing past. A las the peace didn ’t la st as we ap proac hed Kendal via Oxen hol me, with the br akes un der p ressu re p assi ng the st atio n. We qui ckly weaved o ur way th rou gh K endal’s one-way syst em and by u sing the very usef ul co ntr aflo w la ne in t he to wn cen tre, we were soon heading off to Bur nesi de. Our next st op was in St ave ley . The appr oach ro ad fr om the S outh was bl ock ed d ue the bri dge bei ng d amaged in t he flo ods ear lier in the year but as we were on t wo whe els, this di dn’t del ay us lon g. Rath er th an ha ving somethi ng fr om the b ags, so aking up the sun, it was ti me for bre w and bi te in a cafe. This gave us a r espite f rom the he at which we were n ot re ally used to quite yet. A li ttle fur ther al ong, at I ngs, our route r eally was bl ock ed. T he cou ncil h ad ta ken the opp ort uni ty a ffo rded by the fine weat her to d ress s om e ro ads. As th ere was no roo m to pass the ma chin ery, we had to p ress on alon gside the bu sy A59 1. A righ t tu rn s oon had us a way fr om that mania a nd c limbi ng u p, with Orr est Head off to the West, with gr eater La kela nd vi stas co ming a ll the while. Sto ppi ng f or a d rink by a field ga te, we s pott ed s om e u nusual cattle in t he di sta nce. A few Lon ghorns were r elax ing in t he h eat; no s tre nuous cycl ing for t hem! It was still quite early as we dr opp ed d own to war ds t he T routb eck vall ey b ut this was p art of t he pl an. 37 The Mort al Man is fe atu red in o ne of Alb ert Win sta nle y’s Gol den Wheels books and it was hi gh ti me we p aid a visit. Negot iati ng the path down to the beer garden with o ur ta ndem , t wo pin ts of beer were v ery gra tef ully quaf fed. Fr om the Mort al Man, it was a sh arp downhill to the Am blesi de ro ad a nd at l ast, a ref res hing show er q uic kly f oll ow ed by a fish su pper with t he o ther g ues ts.
As per the f ore cast, Sat urd ay st arted off v ery o verc ast but by the ti me J ane a nd Simon had tied the knot, t he sun was c oming o ut on ce mor e. Not re ally ide al weat her f or weari ng a 3 -pi ece suit b ut bet ter t han r ain. T here were plen ty of phot ogr aphs ta ken, as would be e xpe cted but we h ad to g et our tande m out as t he newly weds want ed a f ew pi ctu res of it as well as our sel ves. Not to be o utd one, Chri s, who h ad al so c ycl ed up the day befo re, sne aked her bi ke i nto t he p hot os as well. The wedding day was pretty much perf ect with a crui se on Winder mere a nd pl enty of g ood dan cing so ngs bei ng a co uple of hig hlig hts. Alas a ll g ood thin gs e ven tual ly come to an end and so it was for Ja ne and Simon’s wedding da y. But we still had to r ide home.
Fo llo wing a s plen did br eakf ast on the Sun day morni ng, it wa s ti me to head ba ck to Clith ero e. At t his p oint, you mig ht ex pect us to t ake an e asy, lo w le vel rou te h om e. B y coi nciden ce, t he c lub was ri ding to S edb ergh th at lu nch time a nd in- spite it b eing o ut of our way, o ff we went. There i sn’t a flat route bet ween Win der me re and Sedbe rgh but we must’ ve ta ken abo ut the hill iest th ere i s. Str aig ht a way al most the ro ad re ared up t o 1:6 befo re us but u nde ter red we dug i n. It was s omewhere al ong t he Old Scot ch ro ad th at A nne’s t ext message came th rough. T he cl ub were abo ut ½ an h our fr om Sedb erg h. Oh de ar, we’ re g oing to be la te. Min utes lat er and anot her messa ge b eep s its arr iva l; A nne, we’ re t her e. Now we ARE la te. Nev er mind. They we re wait ing pa tie ntly for us o utsi de the Spar as we ro lled in h ot a nd a l ittle bit s weaty. The runs lis t had the ride ‘d est ina tio n’ as Gallo way Ga te a nd if y ou a re f am iliar with the club run s, yo u’ll be aware whe re t his i s.
We left Sed ber gh al ong the Garsdale road, whi ch g ent ly winds its way up this plea sant val ley. It’s not un til tu rni ng o ff for Garsd ale stat ion do y ou r ealise what’s in stor e. The un clas sified ro ad q uic kly r am ps up as it p asses under t he rai lw ay. Steve soon dr opp ed ev ery one as we all ma de our separ ate ways to t he t op. T he ro ad e ven tua lly cli mbs t o ar ound 1 755’ ab ove sea l evel and so fr om such a v anta ge p oint, the vie ws wer e ex cell ent f or us on t his fi ne S und ay a fte rno on. Y ou d on’t enj oy t he h eig ht for t oo l ong th ough. The road q uic kly h eads b ack downhill, pas sing over D ent s tati on al ong th e way. Eve ryb ody ’s bra kes were com plai ning by t he ti me we r eac hed the vall ey flo or of Dent dal e. F ollo wing the ri ver Dee ups tre am to Dent head we had anot her bit of a dra g to r each the Haw es to Inglet on r oad. Tha nkf ully it ’s more or l ess do wnhill fr om here al l the way h om e. We s topped at Kni ght Sta inf orth for tea as eve ryone was fe eling a bi t ja ded by the he at.
I h ope t his a cco unt has given you an in sig ht to our long wee kend a way. It was a really en joy able and dive rse weeke nd. But it sho ws t hat with a litt le ef for t, bi kes can be used where most might n ot bot her t ryi ng. For us, it ’s al ways pr efer able to g et out and ride our ta ndem.
38 All or Noth ing Qu iz
All the ans wers to the clu es c ont ain the word “ all”. The re will be a p rize for the f irs t co rre ct e ntry dr aw n o ut of a hat at t he Pres entati on Night (2 6th Jan uary 20 17). Entri es to Tony Stot t.
Q1. Song by the Kinks, reached No 2 on the UK Chart in 1965.
Q2. The first day of November.
Q3. The motto of the Four Musketeers.
Q4. A song from “My Fair Lady.”
Q5. A village in “Under Milk Wood” (read backwards!).
Q6. Ringo Starr’s contemporary band.
Q7. 1966 film about Sir Thomas More.
Q8. T hey sang about “Martha’s Harbour” in 1988.
Q9. In Higham, an inn built in 1792 with an intriguing sign.
Q10. Large, rectangular bag with handles and a shoulder strap.
Q11. A play by William Shakespeare.
Q12. Frankly, the Best Original Song at the 1957 Academy Awards.
Q13. Bertie Bassett is made of these.
Q14. A synthetic area for the multiple use of sports.
Q15. Song written by David Bowie, recorded by Mott the Hoople.
Q16. TV series about the vet, James Herriot.
Q17. A thing or person re garded as being the ultimate or utmost.
Q18. Anglo -Canadian female pop group, formed in 1993.
Q19. The second day of November.
Q20. Cycling Time Trials competition involving average speed. 39 40 Bike Lingo – An Essent ial Gu ide for New (and some old) Members
Behind! Person in front is stopping suddenly. Bonking up . Running out of energy and getting really hun gry. Burning it up . Setting a faster pace than the group is riding at. Burnt off . Not being able to keep up with the riders (who have burnt it up!) Bit an’ bit Working together at the front of the group sharing the pace. Blown up. You’ve actually run out of energy and food! (your legs are like jelly) Big ringing it Riding in the big chain ring giving you a big big gear.
Car down . A vehicle approaching from the front of the group. Car up ! A vehicle o n the road directly behind the group. Coming through A vehicle or rider passing the group from behind. Cruising. Riding with hands on top of your handle bars nice and relax enjoying life.
Easy Potential hazard! Riders in front of you may brake. Evens. 20 m.p.h. average speed.
Getting it rolling. Starting to get a steady smooth fluent riding pace. Granny ring . Smallest chain ring, (easy peasy gear for BIG up hills.) Got a knock on. Getting hungry and knackered.
Honking . Riding out of the saddle. Hammering. Riding really fast. Half wheeling. Riding a foot (or can be half a bike!) in front of the rider next to you.
Just pottering on . You’re knackered and don’t want anyone to kno w, so you set off first! Kick back. Rider in fr ont gets out of the saddle and jerks backwards nearly running into you. (scary eh?)
“Knock a rev off!” Telling the front riders to stop riding faster and fast er and faster.
Left! A pot hole (or dangerous object) on the left hand side of the road. Line out. Riders one behind the other (back wheels almost touching front wheels) going a fast steady pace. (well exciting).
Middle. Pot hole or danger ous object in the middle of the road.
On the hooks . Riding with hands on the drops of your handle bars. Off back. Dropping off the back of the group, not managing to keep up.
Right. Pot hole or dangerous object on the right of the group. Rider thro’ Rider coming past on the outside of the group.
Single out . Go from riding two abreast to one. Sitting in. Riding in the middle or the back of the group, not doing any work.
Twiddling. Pedalling really really fast in a low gear. Tempo climb. Turning the pedals nice and smoothly up a long drag.
Underneath. Pot hole or dangerous object directly underneath where you are riding.
Wheel sucking Staying behind a rider and not going to the f ront at all.
41 Member Prof il e – Tom Melling
The fo llo wing ar ticl e, writt en by Henry Gregs on, a ppear ed in the April 1984 E dition of the Club Magaz ine. We th oug ht you would appr eci ate a r emind er of t he d edi cat ion and achi evem ents of o ne of our l ongest se rvi ng (ie ol dest!) memb er s:
Se cti on Vi ce-Pre sid ent, T om M ell ing, w as pr ese nted with the C.T .C. C ert ificate of Me rit at t he C lub’s National D inner, h eld at Sa mle sbu ry in F ebr uar y. He re H enry Greg son gi ves an a pprec iat ion of To m’s services t o the Sect ion and the C.T.C.
Way back in t he 1 950’s a sm all g roup of me mbe rs fr om the Audl ey a rea made s porad ic ap pea ran ces on clu bru ns – usually the re lia bil ity r ide s. One of these members was Tom Mell ing who joined the s ection in 1954,
It was obvious then t hat cycling in g eneral and the C .T.C. in p articular were to be a ma jor fac tor in T om’s l ife. It w as a f ew ye ars bef ore Tom was riding r egularly w ith the sect ion but then he was soon l eading r uns and Y.H .A. and ca mpi ng week end s.
In October 1961 T om f irst a ppeared on the Sec tion Com mit tee as Y. H.A Sec ret ary a nd as far as I am awa re has se rved on t he co mmi ttee ever since, for m any years as R uns S ecr eta ry.
In the 1960’s, when t he S ecretary h ad to ret ire, T om c arr ied the ma in b urd en of running the Sec tion on his c apa ble s hou lders for se ver al ye ars. Not being a cle rical man how ever h er preferr ed ot hers to look a fter t he s ecretar ial sid e! Th ese were d ifficult ye ars for the Section and it w as v ery much due to To m’s de dic ati on in c has ing a ven ues of pu bli city and s ear chi ng f or wa ys of bringing in new members that t he S ection ca me sa fel y th rough th em.
As a very f it c yclist T om w as a lways leadi ng t he w ay on runs a nd we eke nds a nd pa rti cul arly in lea ding tou rs to many pl aces at home and abroad. B eing f it a nd c omp eti tive Tom h as a lso had a go at t ime-trialing with the North Lancs Road C lub, p utting u p so me extrem ely g ood tim es a nd e xcell ing in hill climb s. In qu iet er ve in Tom has a lso enjoyed much succ ess in ph oto gra phy. His superb slides have entertain ed ma ny a udiences, both c yclis ts and non-cy cli sts a nd ha ve b rou ght n ume rous awa rds in bo th Se cti on and op en c omp etiti ons .
42 Un for tun ate ly an acc ide nt, lea ving h im w ith a dam aged ank le ha s sl owed him down a bit but his d edi cation to cyc ling a nd t he Se ction re mai ns the sa me. W hen these facts were p ut to the Na tio nal C oun cil of the C.T. C. in Novem ber last year they w ere un ani mous in award ing T om t he C lub’s Certificate of M erit, the hi ghe st aw ard a vai lab le to an o rdi nary me mbe r. Th is a ward was not made public until F ebruary when t he C ertificate was pr ese nted at the Nati onal Di nner by C lub Presi dent Ivy Th orp e. In the meantime t he s ame ded ication that T om b rings to ev ery thi ng he d oes bro ught him the award of t he B. E.M. in th e Ja nua ry Ho nou rs Li st for his work with the N orth West Mus eum a nd Art Gall ery Ser vic e. Th is r ounded off a v ery even tful year for Tom as in S eptember he got m arr ied! So to Tom and Ruth go our he arty co ngr atu lations and best w ish es f or a l ong and happy ma rri ed li fe. On behalf of the Sec tion, Tom, t hanks for all y ou ha ve d one for us.
He nry Gre gso n Ap ril 1984
Caro li ne Co llinge asks - Why ca rry a sadd lebag ?
Th is is a que stion a l ot of cycl ists ask t hem selv es as they p ark up on th eir li ght weig ht ra cing bi kes next to y our t ouri ng bi ke. But for a t ouri ng cyclist the sadd leb ag is th e ult im ate in provi ding you with fr eedom and a co mforta ble way to c arry your kit on yo ur bi ke.
Yes, y ou c an man age with a small ruc ksa ck (if you don ’t mind the wei ght on your bac k and the swea t) or poc kets st uff ed to t he max but f or the ult im ate in com fort and re ass ura nce t hat you h ave got e ver ythi ng y ou n eed with you, you can ’t be at a tr ust y sa ddl eba g.
A sadd le bag is li ke a comfo rt bl anket or an ins ura nce pol icy to gi ve y ou s om e pi ece of mind when out on a ri de. I feel a bit vul ner able if I set o ff with out i t, with it I’m co ver ed for the foll owi ng e ventu aliti es…
• Fix run ning rep airs ( and not j ust p unc tur es) – I’ve seen/h eard st ories about most ty pes of mech anic als b eing f ixed ( or at l east allo w you to make it ho me ) with th e co nte nts of a sa ddl ebag and the in gen uity of a cl ub member or t wo. Ju st a fe w ex ample s:-
o Ripp ed sid ew all – ca rry a sp are nar row pi ece of tyr e o Sn apped cha in a nd da mag ed d era ille urs – c arry link extr act or o Sn apped bra ke a nd g ear c abl es – c arry spare cabl es o Br oken sp okes – carry sp are spo kes
43 o Snap ped fo rks – fix ed by whitt ling a pi ece of wood with a p en k nife and slo tting betw een brok en f ork sec tion s o Soles coming off sho es – t ape up with i nsula tion tape
• Preve nt t heft – c arry a lo ck. Unl ess you do n’t care if someo ne nic ks your £5 ,00 0 Pinar ello - pe rhaps the f act t hat a saddl ebag would ju st ki ll yo ur str eet c red is a risk wo rth t aki ng? • Pr eve nt blo wing up – car ry fo od. • Pr eve nt get ting so aked – c arry c ag. • Preve nt o ver hea tin g – st ore excess clot hes when the sun co mes out and la yer s ne ed to come off. • Preve nt h ypo the rm ia – car ry extra lay ers, gl ove s, h at, buff, etc when the te mperatu re pl umm ets. • Pr eve nt get ting kn ocked off – ca rry hi- vis v est • Pr eve nt get ting sun bu rnt – c arry sun cre am • Carry une xpect ed p urc has es h om e – eg che ap s con es/ bre ak fr om Lune sdal e Bakery in Kir kby Lon sda le!
We are al so f ortu nate enough to have o ne of the old est mak ers of s addle bags – Carr adi ce of Nelson – on our d oor ste p. Check th em out f or th eir la test styl es, i ncl udi ng one th at in cor por ates Harris Tweed f abri c. [ed ito r: Is Caz on comm is sio n?? ?]
‘Desert I sla nd S addl eba gs’
I a sked som e cl ub members what th ree ite ms t hey would not be with out in th eir sa ddl ebag and what ‘l uxur y’ it em they would l ike to have with th em ? Can you gue ss the member f rom th eir re plie s? A nswers at the bot tom of p age 48.
A) 3 Ite ms: Glov es, Food, Money Lu xur y: Camer a
B) 3 Ite ms: Fo ld-up Tyre, Tyre Leve rs, Spare Gla sses Lu xury : Bilto ng air dri ed bee f! (y ou’ll have to ask hi m/h er ab out t his! )
C) 3 Ite ms: CTC Lon g-Sleev ed Ja cke t, CTC Hat, Glove s Lu xur y: No lux ury it ems!
D) 3 Ite ms: Lo ck, I nner Tu be, T yre Lever s Lu xur y: Su rgi cal Glov es ( for s oft del ica te, oil fr ee h ands)
E) 3 Ite ms: Fo od, Cag, Map Lu xury : Camer a
So don’t be sc ared of the saddl ebag, it could be a lif esa ver !
44 Zodiac Dr inking Code
In ste ad of givi ng up alc ohol for Len t, fo llow this sim ple zod iac drin king code to c ont rol yo ur al coh ol inta ke th roughout the yea r:
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If yo u hav e an y article s yo u wo uld lik e to featu re in th e nex t issu e of th e Cl ub Magazin e or hav e an y comment s or idea s abou t th e content s pleas e e-mail the m to: [email protected]
45 46 Fe bru ary t his y ear I came o ff my bike on a club run due to a step in t he r oad fr act uri ng my hi p. It h as n ow reco ver ed well enough for me to e njoy cycli ng a gain with all my fri ends – j ust bril lia nt!
I al so h it my he ad on the road, bro ke my he lm et, a nd a ppa rently slid f or a round t hirt y fe et, t his I have no re col lection of. The good news is t hat I did not suff er any head inj uri es, however I do won der what the re sult would have been had I n ot be en wear ing on e......
I k now this ca uses st rong f eeli ngs ab out f or e xampl e, fr eed om of c hoi ce or pu ttin g pe ople off t aki ng up cycli ng. The CTC (sor ry Cycl ing UK!) h ave their o wn opi nio ns ab out hel mets and so mewhat p erv erse vie ws r ega rding the cu rre nt fad many cycli sts ha ve for wea ring bl ack j ack ets .
La st ye ar o ne of our g roup w as ar ound 200 -300 yards ah ead of us on win ding lan es, ev en th ough we k new he was the re we were una ble to see hi m in his very dark blu e to p. Of co urse hi -viz cl othi ng a nd h elmets sh ould not be co mp uls ory, I j ust have a sn eaky s uspi cion th at wear ing a hel met and making yo urs elf more visi ble to ot her roa d us ers if you are vul ner abl e, not only cyclis ts b ut al so m oto rcycli sts a nd h orse rid ers, makes a l ot of sen se, t he fl ash of a b rig ht c olo ur w ill al ert a driv er to a ho rse rid er/ bik er in t he d ist ance.
I a m su re many of you, l ike me, will have not se en a c ycli st or hor se ri der u ntil q uite clo se to th em – t heir dark cl oth ing mergi ng i nto t he h edg ero w.
Back to helmet s, if o nly we were like Holla nd or Den mark who a ctiv ely i nvest ed in a safe cy cling infr astr uctu re I wouldn ’t be writing this and the last thi ng we want is to p ut pe ople off w ith l ots of ru les, the more cycli sts are on t he r oad t he s afer it is for u s, b ut he re is somet hing to p erh aps per sua de y ou th at wear ing a he lm et may be a good id ea: -
The Univ ersi ty of New South Wal es pr esent ed a paper in Fi nla nd to the Saf ety 2 016 co nfe ren ce whi ch anal ysed 40 se par ate world wide st udies det ailing inju ries to 64 000 cy clis ts. This stu dy s howed that wear ing a he lm et g ave an o dds r educti on o f: - 51% for a head inj ury 69% for a seri ous he ad inj ury 65% for a fat al h ead i njur y 33% for a facial i nju ry.
47 You can re ad an art icle on t he Guar dian website about the anal ysi s, th ere is al so a li nk th ere to the fu ll re port availa ble f rom Oxfo rd Uni versity Pres s.
I k now you can find arg uments to suppo rt a ny o pini on on the int ern et on any subje ct; ho wev er, this anal ysis appears to be t hor ough a nd in depende nt. T heir int ention bein g to det ermine wh et her eit her side of t he h elmet d eba te is righ t, or if there is st ill no real ev ide nce to su ppo rt eit her s ide
Many acc ide nts are nev er re por ted, for exa mple my d aug hter and an oth er ri der who bo th b roke th eir h elmets when th ey c ame off on a v ery sm all p atch of bl ack i ce on a be nd. Both hit t heir head on the footp ath had gra zes but no trip to A&E . Or a fr ien d who h as h ad th ree hel met bre aki ng f alls, none his fa ult when ridi ng in a gr oup. His co mm en t, if you will e xcu se the pun was: - Real ly Mike on de cidi ng whe ther or not y ou sh ould wear a hel met, i t’s a no br ain er.
Two fr ien ds be lie ve h elmets make y ou ta ke more risk s, very fu nny, bot h, one in Staff ord shire and the ot her who liv es lo cally over took me on a sweepi ng d ow nhill ru n, on both occa sions I was d oing aro und 40 mph, guess who was t he o nly one weari ng a he lmet.
My fall rea lly hig hlig hted when I ret urn ed to the l anes a gai n, ju st h ow bad t hey are. Some pot hol es I saw were v ery deep and on ly ar ound a fo ot wide, so ha rd to see fro m a di stan ce a nd e ven har der to av oid if t here is a milk l orry overt aking yo u. Log ical ly with c uts in lo cal g ove rnment fu ndi ng our la nes are only going to get worse, not bett er.
Th ough I h ave r egai ned most of my c onfi den ce, pre acci dent j ust like I s usp ect most of yo u, I t ook poor road s urfa ces as ju st a p art of pr esent day rid ing not a big deal . Th is was my fir st re al inj ury in 68 ye ars of ( almost) con tin ual cycl ing, the oth er thr ee fal ls were mino r, y es th ere were only t hree a nd I r emember each of t hem, so don’t thi nk th at b ecause y ou, j ust li ke me, have had y ears of cy cling with out hi tting your he ad it w ill n ever ha ppe n.
Th at’s It! We r eally hope you enj oyed this iss ue, th anks again to every one who has co ntri but ed. Lo ok o ut for the Club le aflet in the summ er for t he ru ns li st and soci al pr ogramm e for the rest of t he y ear. All b eing well, we will be back with t he n ext i ssue of t he Club maga zine in Dec em ber 201 7.
Anne & Richa rd
Answers to ‘Dese rt Island Sadd lebags ’: A) Anne Stott, B) Mick Jay , C) Sy lvia Jay , D) DC , E) Stu & Sue Clark 48