News for December 2016 1St December. Christmas Lunch. Report from Pete Campbell
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News for December 2016 1st December. Christmas lunch. Report from Pete Campbell: How can I make today's ride to Christmas lunch at the Old Royal Ship a bit different to usual, I thought. Normally its more or less direct from Mangotsfield to Luckington, but the calendar had Bitton Station down as the start (can't remember why we're throwing the long-standing traditional Mangotsfield start out the window, but I guess that's what happens when you get kids involved). So I thought, through Bath on the A4 and up Bannerdown, we've not done that for a while. But when I rode it a week ago it took me two and a half hours and I got home knackered. So something gentler for my cycling mates was called for. Anyway, all the planning was a waste of time. Eighteen people met at Bitton on a freezing morning, Martyn's fixie sporting tinsel and decs. I'd planned a normal BTOTC route up Golden Valley, Wick, Doynton, Dyrham Hill, Marshfield, etc. Wednesday morning Peter Ralph texted me about how on Tuesday afternoon he'd hit some black ice just south of Wick so would be driving to the Ship. By the time we got to the same spot, there wa sheet ice for a quarter of a mile where we dismounted and pushed, walking on the narrow verge. Stuart was on his trike which looked very sensible to me (as I assume you can't fall off, can you), but I changed my opinion when he spun it around and fell off. (Hope the bruises fade soon, and the jacket is repairable.) So by now we were well behind schedule, and there was an understandable reluctance to continue on the planned route. Fortunately, BTOTC members are not people who expect to be spoon-fed everything. Lots of ideas for alternatives were made and the most popular was to get to Wick and then go via Pucklechurch and Dodington to Badminton and Luckington, using main roads. This was democracy in action which we've all been taught is a good thing, though after Brexit and Trump I'm maybe revising my opinion. So, off we went. No more ice, no more crashes, sunshine, not quite so cold. Excellent decision. I assumed more ice would mean we'd be late for our 12:30 lunch, but we arrived shortly after noon. There were forty five of us, with maybe one or two other customers at the other end of the bar. Were we all happy with the service, the food, and the occasion? Yes, of course we were. This was my eighth BTOTC Christmas lunch and, although the numbers are less than when I first went, the lunch was just the same high quality. We will be back next year. We were back on the road by 2:30, taking the same route back as far as Pucklechurch (ice-free, but getting colder). On the cycle path back into Bristol I could see mist forming and it was starting to get dark. I was happy to get home. Today's route? Touch here. Thursday 8th December 2016. Ashton to Lower Langford. Report from Bill Balchin: Thankfully the ice patches and lingering frost pockets from our ride to Luckington last week were long gone. Although when I say 'our' I really mean 'your' as I had travelled warm and smug as a passenger in Hamish's car. No smugness today though as the rain started as soon as I left the house and kept up most of the way to Ashton, into the wind, to join Gordon Waddington and eighteen others for a ride to the Langford Inn at Lower Langford. Gordon described his route as an anti-clockwise loop of twenty five fairly flat miles with just one hill. Yeah, I've heard stuff like that before. A group of nineteen can be a bit cumbersome but we stayed on quiet stuff taking the Festival Way, Flax Bourton Railway path and the lanes over the moors. It was not raining but like cycling under an umbrella of dark cloud with a bit of brightness around the horizon as we skirted Nailsea and arrived at our one hill - Tower Hill Road. It seemed to go on for ages and keep kicking up as we gained height on the single track lane, passing expensive looking homes with superb views over the moors. At least they would have been on a clear day. That brought us out on the descent into Tickenham where we quickly lost all the height we had gained. I was a bit surprised when I looked at my Strava elevation track to see what looks like a pimple for this climb. Must be a fault with the satellite. Completing three sides of a square around Nailsea the brightness on the horizon gave up altogether to leave just a grey sky but no grounds for complaint for cycling in December. After a loop past the Hand Stadium into Kingston Seymour and back through Yatton, we arrived at the lunch stop a few minutes after twelve exactly as Gordon had predicted. There was quite a crowd for lunch with several other customers as well as a Bath contingent, some independents and a couple of walking wounded. Oli Delaney is in the middle of prostate treatment and Brian Trott is sore after being knocked off his bike recently, both arrived by car and we hope to see you both back on two wheels soon. I sat next to Gordon at lunch and asked if he had a route for home in mind. 'Via Butcombe' was the reply 'it's the direct route'. I was not convinced but a glance at the map confirmed that you could draw a line from Langford to Long Ashton and it would pretty much pass through Butcombe. Write out a hundred times "I must learn not to question what Gordon says'. The sun made a brief appearance as we set off for home, and I mean brief, five minutes at the most but it was still dry under the clouds as we rode on many lanes that I have cycled before but always in the opposite direction. Pete made his own way so that he could check the Plough at Congresbury before our next visit but luckily Steve was also recording so we have the official map including the climb of Butcombe Hill. This looks like a proper hill on the elevation chart, twice as high as Tower Road. As we approached it there was a sound like a pistol shot. And then...nothing. Until a few seconds later Jenny pulled up with a blow-out in her front tyre. The Butcombe triangle strikes again! One for you to sort out Jeff as the rest continued the familiar lanes through Winford Manor and over the A38 on Hobbs Lane. Don't worry said Gordon, I've had it cleaned - and yes, it was fine. Did I mention not to question him? So it ended up a cracking day out and I'm glad I don't have to wash Gordon's jacket which was sprayed in mud from having no mudguards - just ask Shirley if mudguards make a difference. Compare the height of Tower Hill Road and Butcombe Hill here Thursday 15th December 2016. Amcor to Northwick. Report from Bill Balchin: Marketeers know the power of the word 'new' - better, more desirable, gotta have it. Us old cynics are generally immune to that nonsense but we had some newness today with Andy Short taking his first turn leading a ride and it was to a new venue - The White Horse at Northwick. Twenty people were impressed enough to turn out in mid-December for a bike ride although you would not really know it was December with temperatures in double figures. Andy apologised at the start that we would being riding on some mucky roads today. But as every lane in the region is wet and muddy at the moment a bit more mud is not going to make a whole lot of difference. We set off under dull skies but no rain, took Hortham Lane to the A38 and then along the main road for a mile before taking a left and plunging down Washingpool Hill into Tockington. I say 'plunging' because we flashed down at thirty plus mph for about half a mile before climbing up Old Down Hill and then immediately down into Olveston via Vicarage Lane. And yet, similar to last week, the elevation statistics would have you think that these were all insignificant bumps in the road. Well statistics are well known to be terrible liars. At Olveston Andy led us down the dead end past the White Hart for no other reason than to see where it went before retracing our way back to the Aust Road and on to Ingst. Once in farming country the muck on the roads cranked up a notch but we had all been forewarned that mudguards would be needed and had turned up on suitable bikes. The elevation profile shows that Bilsham Lane was the highest section today although it didn't feel like it when you were cycling. Maybe I am being mislead by the scale of the chart as we are only talking of a few hundred feet maximum. By now only a stones throw from our destination we put in a loop to Awkley, back past the Plough at Pilning and through Easter Compton. Two right turns took us onto Farm Lane where the muck on the road was at it's peak, but still navigable.