News for June 2016

Thursday 2nd June 2016. Ashton to . Report from Bill Balchin: Those from the northern side of Bristol had no trouble being on time today with a steady northerly wind helping us to the Ashton start for Arnold's ride to the Langford Inn at Lower Langford. And with the route in a generally southern direction the wind should be helpful to all the twenty strong peloton. We will worry about the return trip later. Arnold outlined a mainly flat route taking in , Tickenham, the moors and one climb of 150 metres over a couple of miles...and a moderate pace to boot.

Despite a forecast of a warm afternoon there was a bit of a chill in the morning air as we set out along the Festival Way on our way to Nailsea. The sun played hide and seek as Arnold led a wriggling group along cycle paths, through a park, round the shops and into no-through-roads that allowed bikes through. Over the moors and past the church of St Quiricus & St Julietta Tickenham we headed through Tickenham proper before turning left past the Craft Centre and towards Claverham. Another left turn gave us a taste of what the homeward journey would be like as we turned into the wind. Oh well, the sun is out, who cares.

A turn into Meeting House Lane was the sign that our climbing was getting close, although many would have missed it as the sign board was overgrown. Once over the A370 it was up Cleeve Hill. Up and up. Steve was a bit put out when he rode all the way but Keith hopped off to walk and went faster .

The descent into Wrington (now called Wrington Hill) was pretty rapid, bringing us to within a couple of miles of our lunch stop. Apart from Des, on his first ride with us who managed to get detached and ended up in . Luckily he found John Upward and Jim Boylan drinking coffee there and all three of them made it the Langford Inn. Despite this he enjoyed the day and will be back after his holiday.

We know the Langford is a fine pub because we only visit fine pubs and today it was on top form. Meals, drinks, service all good - even with the added complication of the group being spread inside and outside. As usual I could not resist the bargain offer of the two course lunch so had to put up with some sarcastic comments as I scoffed down my apple crumble and ice cream. Mike Chouings set off on a lumpy ride back to Keynsham but the rest were in favour of flat so we took the usual , Yatton, Claverham lanes back to Backwell.

Another nod to "the usual" was to stop for ice cream at Amiee's Wine House. After stopping to take a photo I pressed on without one. Well even I have limits to the amount I can pack away.

Touch here for the route and elevation to see how steep Cleeve Hill really is.

Thursday 9th June 2016. Severn Bridge to Magor. Report from Bill Balchin: Crikey, why is there such a large crowd on the Severn Bridge cycle path?

Our Thursday ride to Magor had coincided with a ride for the Thornbury U3A riding a loop through Shirenewton, Devauden and Crick. Although our route also took in Shirenewton we did not see them again after the bridge and it now became possible to do a headcount - twenty again. A short section of the Wye valley road from the Chepstow roundabout took us to the left turn for the much quieter Mounton Road. I remarked to Peter Ralph that I remember most lanes by BTOTC incidents. This particular one was the scene a couple of years ago of a bloke in a jeep faffing about pulling into a driveway as we rode past causing him to dish out a bit of verbal.

The early morning cool gave way to a slightly overcast but warm day as we got well warmed up on the climb into Shirenewton and on through Earlswood. Steve was reprising a route of Keith's which was well received the last time. Climbing up into the Wentwood forest we crossed the Usk road and climbed a bit more pausing to regroup at the summit. Den Harris was climbing strongly although not as well as wife Annette with her electric boost. Now the descent into Parc Seymour, what a little beauty! With no cars, a dry road and good visibility you could let it rip. Over the A48 into Bowdens Lane by the Groes Wen Inn we reached the end of the lane at twenty to twelve. To our right the bridge under the motorway with the Golden Lion about five minutes ride away. Hmmm. What to do? We don't want to arrive early and hang around wasting valuable cycling time. Well we haven't been doing this for years without learning a few roads.

I wrested the leaders baton from Steve and took the group left away from Magor. To our right was a large wooded ridge that we were somehow going to have to go either over or around. A couple of right turns took us onto a small lane past a farmhouse that is also recorded in the mental incident book. This is where John Crinion had a crash after colliding with a cat. Remembering to take a right turn onto a track we crossed the motorway, took a right and dropped into Magor a few minutes after twelve. Distance requirements satisfied.

The Golden Lion is one of, if not the very first lunchtime pubs visited by the BTOTC thirty odd years ago. It seems to have managed to avoid the pub curse of going downhill and only ever seems to improve. The menu is probably the most adventurous of all our pubs with items like pan seared black pudding and Tagliatelle King Prawns as well as the regular pub classics. Andy Short was in raptures about his Hot Beef Chilli Chocolate - he would have eaten two if were staying longer. Top quality stuff, the prices reflect this but if you want the best you have to pay for it. It was great to see Malcolm in the bar looking a lot better than you might expect. Not allowed to drive or drink alcohol on doctors orders he intends to visit our lunch-stops as often as he can arrange a lift. Many thanks to Phil Hodgson for doing the honours today.

By one thirty the call of home would not be ignored so we took the back route through Undy and along the gravel tracks. They are not my favourite but were on their best behaviour today causing no problems and keeping our unwieldy large group off the main road. Back over the bridge and the sun even put in a late appearance to round off another first class day.

And the route up to Wentwood and down again - touch here.

A Message from Malcolm: Some of you will have noticed that I have managed to get to the last two Thursday pubs thanks to old timers kindly driving me there. For a long time I was in too much pain for this to happen but thanks to the local nurse from St Peter’s Hospice, who has now taken over my palliative care, I am pain free and have enough energy to get out and about a little. I hope over the next few weeks to come as often as I am still able and share a lunch and a drink with as many of you as I can; you all mean a lot to me.

Thursday 16th June 2016. Bitton to Shoscombe. Report from Bill Balchin: Sunshine and showers - the dreaded forecast. That was what we had yesterday and it meant that you could be dry all day or you could have flash floods, thunder and lightning or anything in between. So with the same forecast for today it may have had a bearing on the fact that there were only ten starters for Chris and Shirley's ride from Bitton to Shoscombe. Although there was also a clash with a cycling holiday in the Isle of Man, babysitting, holidays and a certain Euro 2016 football match between and Wales. Which was a shame as team Hume had put in a lot off work on today's route, riding it three times before deciding the final version and even working out the regrouping points.

Mike Chouings appeared at the start but only to check who was around before riding home again. This weekend he will be off to Bakewell for the Eroica with Sean, Catherine and Alex, so hope it goes well for you. After riding down the track to Saltford and turning up to Keynsham Manor, Mike waved goodbye. Just as well as he was on a fixie which would have been hard work today. We dropped down into Chewton Keynsham on that pretty little lane that we usually ride in the opposite direction leading on to Queen Charlton via Redlynch Lane. Just after Queen Charlton we had a Shirley special when we took the left fork on a lane, little more than a track, which I have always wondered where it went. It cut off a bit of a corner and dropped us into Publow before we crossed the A37 and left Pensford under the viaduct. After a dry start we got our first spots of rain but it came to nothing as we headed for Stowey. This entailed crossing the ford. After the recent rains how deep will it be? The answer - not even enough to make a decent puddle. Not that I'm complaining.

Stowey Hill was our second big climb of the day and a right turn at the top brought us almost to the Ring O'Bells at Hinton Blewett (some checking for another time going on here) and then a left turn through Cameley and into Temple Cloud. We continued with the theme of generally dry with the sun breaking through now and again and the odd spot of rain (but nowhere near enough to pull on waterproofs) on that nice corniche type road that comes out under the railway bridge before passing through Hallatrow and Paulton. I was expecting another big climb soon but we managed to keep most of our height gain before we skirted around Camerton and into Peasedown St John. Several times I recognised the turning into Shoscombe only to realise I had been mistaken. I must just accept that I just don't know my way around this part of the world. By about twelve fifteen we dropped down via that steep hairpin bend into Shoscombe and the Apple Tree pub.

Martyn Hallett introduced the BTOTC to this pub in August 2013 and it has since become a favourite. This was our sixth visit and I think we have sat outside every time. Today was no exception and although there were some dirty looking clouds around it stayed dry. A Bath group of eight or so, plus Malcolm brought the numbers to a low but respectable total. Meals and drinks were top class as usual.

By one fifteen, not willing to risk the weather and also with one eye on catching the second half of the Euros, we set off for the easy route home via the two tunnels. On the descent through Wellow I has to take a photo of the road sign that I had glimpsed on a previous ride and thought it said 40%. Sure enough, that's what it said. Never in this world, although maybe that includes inflation and VAT.

In 2017 the sign was reading 14%. Possibly the original sign had been made by a slightly deaf signmaker!

The track from the trekking centre was a bit rough, wet and muddy but did not cause us a problem. Unlike a very cheesed off looking cyclist at the Hope and Anchor exit moaning that he had picked up two punctures there in a week and was now waiting to be rescued up by his wife. Funny how it is always from a pub.

A big loop with some lumpy bits today. Click here to view via Ramblr

Thursday 23rd June 2016. Ashton to Congresbury. Report from Pete Campbell: Another Thursday and another day out with your cycling mates, and we had sixteen people at Ashton, which is slightly less than normal these days. At least one regular was at Glastonbury for the music and mud, and others were probably at home still deciding whether they support Cameron or Farage/Johnson. For the rest of us, Steve Hicks had a route to the Plough at Congresbury which used the same roads we've used many times, but in a different order.

There's always a hill somewhere and today we got it out of the way early, going straight into Ashton Court and up to the top entrance. This was no problem to cyclists of our calibre at the start of the day, apparently. Abbots Leigh flashed by, then we slowed considerably for another climb up to the outskirts of Lower Failand. I knew there were no more hills between there and Congresbury so I settled in to a leisurely journey to my lunch. The Gordano valley road led west towards Clevedon and was shocked to find Steve mentioning something about the seaside. But there's a big hill between us and the sea. Yes, that's right, and they've put a road up it. Martyn (already shown his fixie hill climbing talents this morning) clearly didn't fancy another hill so disappeared into the distance with Shirley following allegedly to make sure he didn't get lost. The rest of us took Holly Lane up into Clevedon, and we caught up with them taking in the view over Clevedon Bay and the pier, looking relaxed.

And from there it was quite flat. First a bit of gravel and rough road to the west of Clevedon (by Marshalls Field, where they filmed some of Broadchurch season one), and then onto Kenn Moor and where the only effort required was to get over the M5.

We reached the Plough just after noon and found another half-dozen riders already there. The Plough's landlord always insists on lunch pre-orders. I'd phoned in fifteen and he didn't seem upset by having to provide a few more. But I know some people won't ride if they have to order in advance and therefore commit themselves to riding. I'd like to know what you think about this, and particularly about the places which want pre-orders: the Plough at Congresbury and next week's destination the Salutation at Ham.

Steve came round giving us the five minute warning, and we put gloves and helmets back on. I could see Steve was fiddling with something on his bike, and the fiddling seemed to turn into something more serious. What's the matter? Broken spoke. The wheel was fine when we stopped, but it was now warped and jamming against the brakes. So Steve had no choice but to ride home gently with no rear brake.

As compensation, nine of us stopped at Aimee's Wine House in Backwell for Marshfield ice cream. At £1.20 for one scoop, this must be the world's cheapest Marshfield. Ian Deegan led the queue and told me he normally chooses whatever the person in front of him chooses, so today he was having to make a decision. He picked salted caramel which sounds like a guarantee of high blood pressure or heart attack or both. I couldn't make a decision so had to have what he'd had. Delicious.

Touch here to see today's route.

Thursday 30th June 2016. Amcor to Ham - report from Steve Hicks:

A debut as lead rider today for Sean Hudd who has made many BTOTC appearances over the years and has often provided assistance with his encyclopedic knowledge of the highways and byways around our patch. Also, a first outing with us for Graham, sporting a retro Bath CTC top – welcome to the BTOTC Graham.

Today’s forecast was for a predominantly dry day with glimpses of sunshine and a risk of showers, well that is exactly what we got with just the one brief shower on route to the “Sally” at Ham. Sean’s route took us out through Itchington, Tytherington and Cromhall into Cowship Lane and up to Wickwar. From Wickwar, we turned into Chase Lane, a short sharp descent followed by the longer climb out onto Inglestone Common. Just time to get your breathe back, it was off the Common and left to Hillesley. A brief stop then for Sean to warn of the impending perils (we were about to traverse “the most pot-holed stretch of road in England”) on the descent towards Kingswood. Well, now we know where the road maintenance budget for Gloucestershire went this year, a brand-new stretch of finest quality blacktop and not a pot-hole to be found! From Kingswood we skirted around the New Mill home of Renishaw and headed north to Bradley Green. As we rounded the bend into Stumpwell Lane an overturned car was to be seen in the hedge complete with a large yellow and black notice which read POLICE AWARE, “pity the driver wasn’t” quipped Keith as we climbed up to the B4060. A quick regroup as the rain started to fall and the final climb of the morning to North Nibley. A left turn to Nibley Green and the rain was left behind as we passed Lower Wick and crossed the A38 into Alkington Lane and on to Berkeley and Ham.

No need to guess why The “Sally” is a popular venue with the BTOTC, a string of awards (including CAMRA National Pub of the Year in 2014 and Gloucestershire Pub of the Year 2014,15 &16) means there is always a fine selection of real ales and ciders for the discerning imbiber. The Tiley’s Pale Ale, brewed on the premises was particularly good today. Those who had pre-ordered lunch were soon tucking in and the rest shortly after, before several BTOTC stalwarts arrived by four wheels - including Malcolm courtesy of Pete Hobbs, and Andy who had suffered a mishap involving an axe and a tree stump after last week’s ride. Oh to have enough energy for battling tree stumps on a Thursday afternoon!

As we left Ham we passed the easy-riders group who had apparently dined at The Salmon in Wanswell. Our return route took us through Rockhampton, around Morton Way and up to the A38 at Grovesend where the Bath contingent shot across in front of us while we waited for the lights to change. As we descended into Itchington our leader suffered a puncture and after some discussion decided to pump up the offending tyre and try to get home rather than do a roadside repair. So we bade farewell to Sean and proceeded toward Earthcott with Pete now in charge only for our new leader to suffer a chain-off. Nobody was quite sure how that happened with an electronic gear shift and maybe we will never know, however we were soon on our way again for the last leg to home – and no more rain!

They say bad thing happen in threes and the ride-lead gremlins have now struck three times in two weeks with my broken spoke last Thursday and Sean and Pete today, so hopefully Peter Ralph will have a trouble free ride to Marshfield next week.

Today's route, just part of Sean's encyclopedic knowledge - touch here.