News for February 2016

Thursday 4th February 2016. Amcor to Hillesley. Report from Bill Balchin It looks like everybody remembered that our start time has reverted back to 10:00 as a twenty seven strong group were waiting at the Amcor start for Mark Brough to lead the way to Hillesley. Yet again the Thursday Fortune was with us for another bright day without rain. Ever conscious of a leader's duty, Mark tried to suggest that we split into three smaller groups when we hit some unavoidable busy sections of road. The phrase "Herding cats" comes to mind but we did try to create gaps to allow passing motorists to pull in as we took the Winterbourne road and cut through to before the calm of Frampton End Road. With no motor traffic this little lane gets mucky very quickly, but thanks to some council intervention (prompted by Alan Bracey I suspect) the surface had been cleared of the worst of the mess. The Badminton Road over Mays Hill was easy with a marked cycle lane and then it was right into Nibley Lane and the climb up through . The sky had clouded over by now but was still bright as we turned left at Dodington to join the main road.

There was a bit of luck for us as we joined the road in the middle of a section of road works controlled by traffic lights. The lights had just changed as we tagged on to the end of the vehicles heading towards . Of course we didn't have their speed so by the time the first few cyclists reached the end the lights had changed. The first jeep-driving woman just saw green for go and went, despite the way being clogged with bikes, luckily the rest waited those extra few seconds for a clear road. Once on the Cotswold top the sun came out again and stayed out as we got to Badminton. Instead of riding straight through, Mark took us on a small detour to admire the village. Unfortunately it was just at the time that a group of horse riders arrived from the opposite direction but we all managed to get along despite one grey horse getting a bit excited. We had another detour at to admire the church before Mark led us into the Badminton estate so I could try to grab a photo.

No more climbing now as we by-passed on Starveall Lane and blasted down the main road into Hillesley to find half a dozen bikes already parked in the garden. That brought the numbers well over the thirty mark - most of us sitting around one long table along the length of the restaurant area. The pre-ordering must have done it's job as the meals were soon on their way. But I am still in awe of the Moorend Spout who were just as slick last week with twice the customers and no pre-ordering. Going back outside to ride home was a shock when we were faced with a chilly head wind. What? Do mean that all the strong riding this morning was due to a tailwind? After all these years I still fall for that. After riding along Hawksbury Road the bunch turned left at the cattle grid for Horton as I chickened out and turned right for , Cowship Lane and my shortest route for home, I've had enough riding into the wind today thank you.

Touch here for today's route map.

Thursday 11 February 2016. to Clutton Hill. Report from Shirley Hume: Today dawned bright, clear and sunny, but bitterly cold first thing, so everyone was well wrapped up when they arrived at Bitton. 21 of us were gathered for Pete’s ‘pre- match briefing’ [which contained the word ‘UP’ rather more often than many of us would consider to be strictly comfortable] but as we started to roll out we heard a screech of brakes, the smell of burning rubber and witnessed the cycling equivalent of a handbrake turn as Martyn arrived with immaculate timing to make a total of 22 riders – though not for long! We headed off down the cycle path to Saltford and then across to Stanton Prior where, rather to my surprise, given the briefing, we were spared the hill up to Wilmington and turned right to hit the main road for a short section at Marksbury [I think!]. It was on this stretch that Peter Ralph noticed he had a flat and unbeknownst to those at the front 6 riders behind him stopped to help. Turning off the road to head for Priston it soon became obvious, even to the numerically challenged, that we no longer had 22 riders, but it was decided to continue to Priston village and wait there for the rest to catch up.

This involved the section of road which created mayhem the last time the group rode there, just after a hedge cutting machine had been through, but this time all we had to contend with was some slushy ice which required caution, particularly on the downhill sections. The hills into and out of Priston certainly verified Pete’s assertion at the start that the route was ‘a bit lumpy’ [a bit like the Sahara is a bit sandy or the Antarctic is a bit chilly!!]. Anyway we stopped in Priston and waited for the 7 missing cyclists, until eventually it was decided that the main group would head on and Mike Cheuings kindly said he would wait and lead the others to the pub by a shorter route. In the end [the other] Shirley offered to stay with him as husband Dave was with the second group and she could contact him on the mobile if necessary. So it was that 13 of us left Priston feeling like a speeded up version of Agatha Christie’s book ‘Ten Little Indians’ [no doubt, influenced by the need to squeeze War and Peace into 6 episodes, the BBC will be interested]. Puffing our way up the hill out of Priston we than turned right – to find the road covered in hedge trimmings…………!!

On to Carlingcot and by now the roads were beginning to have more ice for us to contend with, culminating in everyone having to walk up most of the final climb into Carlingcot itself. On the hill out of the village Guido became our first faller, with an elegant slide at slow speed on the downhill. Luckily he was unhurt and we proceeded gingerly, regrouping at the next turn. At this point we realised that the 13 who had left Priston had suddenly turned into 12 and after a bit of head scratching we realised Max wasn’t with us. No one wanted to go back up the icy hill to find him so we headed on, keeping a keen eye open for a plague of locusts or impassable floods, and were relieved to get a text from him to say he had a flat and was OK. Instead of shouts of ‘car back’ or ‘car up’ we had a series of ‘ice left’, ‘ice right’ and sure enough some giant puddles to contend with. By now everyone was getting pretty warm, but at least the roads improved a bit as we got higher and the sun had melted any remaining ice.

Through Timsbury the pace picked up as the prospect of lunch became more imminent, and although I didn’t check the time we can’t have been too long after 12.00pm arriving – just a few minutes after the group of 9 who had been led in by Mike. One or two independents were already there and a few more joined just after we got there. The Hunters Rest at Clutton Hill, our destination, is always pretty efficient at getting the food out so it didn’t seem long before we were preparing for the ride back. Three routes were on offer, Pete was taking a group back to Bitton, Phil was leading through to Ashton and Mark Brough [cunningly disguised in a yellow jacket today] was going via Whitchurch. By the time we got to the split point Phil was already out of sight, so I decided to ride back to Bitton for a change – this was also ‘lumpy’ and my legs were distinctly unimpressed, but the route itself was good and it was a beautiful afternoon to be out on the bike. Peter R would like me to pass on his thanks to the group who helped him out and I’m sure everyone would like to thank Pete for putting so much time and effort into finding all those hills for us today!

[If the person I was riding home with from Bitton would like to explain exactly why he insisted on riding up Bridge Valley Road on the way home when there was a perfectly acceptable flat alternative I might let him sleep indoors tonight………]

How did the twelve get there? Touch here to see.

Thursday 18 February 2016. Ashton to Axbridge. Report from Shirley Hume: The BTOTC good weather charm continued today as we gathered at Ashton under clear blue skies and bright sun – albeit a bit chilly. Keith had taken on the role of leader when Phil discovered a holiday on the calendar, which he either wasn’t aware of or had forgotten about, and we were relieved to hear that he had a ‘flat’ route planned to get us to The Lamb at Axbridge [flat in this context being a relative term!] We set off up the main road through Long Ashton after some discussion about possible ice on the cycle path, with 24 riders lining up, plus 4 ‘Bath Boys’, who arrived at the start but then left early to do their own route to the pub.

The first part of the morning was uneventful as we worked our way out to Congresbury and then along the A370 to Hewish before turning off for Puxton. Still flat and our only issue was making sure we still had 24 riders as with such a large group we were regularly split up at traffic lights. We made our way to Banwell and up the steep hill on the A371, which is an ‘A’ road in name only as it is narrow and has a free for all traffic system. A fair bit of huffing and puffing on this short but steep hill before we dropped down to the Rhodyate where we had fine views across to Crook Peak and the Mendips. I was starting to think that there might not be much to put in this report, but BTOTC riders always prove you wrong. We were regrouping at the left turn into Max Mill Lane when Andy decided to enliven the atmosphere by unexpectedly starting to undress in the middle of the road. Shoes and trousers off to the amusement and running commentary of his fellow riders [and plenty of ‘wardrobe’ advice] to be replaced by shorts and his helmet by a cap. I was most impressed by the Tardis-like properties displayed by his saddle bag, but probably as well that none of the ladies were, at least to my knowledge, wearing a blood pressure monitor or a heart rate monitor as the spike at that point might have been hard to explain…..

Anyway we continued on a good run round the base of Crook Peak and then turned left to ride along the side of Wavering Down to arrive in Axbridge and the pub shortly after 12.00.

The bikes had to be taken through the pub to get to the garden and with a few independents already there the garden was pretty full by the time we were all parked up – advantage being that it would have been pretty difficult for a potential thief to get one out without being noticed. The funereal pace at which the queue at the bar was moving gave some indication of what was to come and a few people were starting to think Keith would be giving his 5 minute warning before their food had arrived. During the wait Mark was describing a pair of cycling boots he was thinking of buying, fully waterproof with a high heel……. The image of Mark riding with the group in thigh length leather boots with a stiletto heel [and cleats] hasn’t left me, in a rather worrying sort of way. He tried to get out of this by saying he really meant they had high ankles, but rather spoilt the effect by saying they had high heels a second time!

Before the riders got sufficiently restless that they started getting their kit on for the ride home Mark had awarded his beef and Doombar pie a score of 8.5 on the International Mark Brough pie quality scale and Bill had asked for his desert wrapped up to take home with him as it was all taking so long [just to be clear he did change his order from ice cream before doing this].

Apparently it is traditional to go up Cheddar Gorge after lunch at the Lamb, so up we went with varying amounts of enjoyment, although nobody could fail to have appreciated the views and the weather.

Shortly after this the group split with a large group heading off towards South Bristol, while Keith led the rest of us towards Burrington Coombe. It was after Charterhouse that we encountered a farmer trying to persuade 2 sheep back into his truck. A group of us got ahead of them and they turned back towards the farmer, only to encounter the rest of the riders. In a state of confusion one headed the right way, while the other threw himself into the hedge, where there was also a barbed wire fence. 5 or 6 of our finest tried to disentangle said sheep, but it was having none of it and with no sign of the farmer coming along they eventually had to give up. I like to think it waited until they were out of sight, shook itself free and legged it over the hill to freedom!

The rest of the ride home was uneventful, but it is the first time I have done a ride where the route back was longer and hillier than the ride out – I think there will have been a few tired legs this evening if the comments I heard were anything to go by. Thanks to Keith for making sure we got full value from such a gorgeous day!!

If you want reminding of today's hilly route, touch here. Supplement to Thursday 18th February: Farmers around Charterhouse have been warned to be alert after a gang of suspected sheep rustlers were spotted on CCTV (Charterhouse Cycling Television). Disguised as cyclists the group attempted to grab a sheep but were thwarted by the quick action of the animal. In an interview with the sheep's mother the ewe explained: "Our Justin went for a walk along the road when this group on bikes came along. He managed to squeeze through the barbed wire fence into the ditch under the hedge. They tried to get him out but could not reach him. I think they must be baa-rmy - how did they think they could they take him away on a bike?".

Thursday 25th February 2016. Amcor to Wotton under Edge. Report from Bill Balchin: What a day for a cycle ride! Once you had pulled on the longs, thermal base layer, big gloves, balaclava and all the rest it was out in the crisp sunshine with a bright blue sky all morning. The rest of the BTOTC obviously like this kind of day as well. Martyn had a group of twenty six at the Amcor start to lead on a route which promised a few changes to our normal roads. Ice could have been a problem after a sub-zero night (possibly a three dog night - see below) but dry surfaces meant that it was all good as we passed Winterbourne church and made our way into Frampton Cotterell. Passing golf course there was a small amount of slushy stuff in shady pockets but no problems as we arrived at the start of the Dramway at .

This was the section that Verbum sapienti warned about - remember your Latin from school, A word to the wise - don't bring your best bike. The coming weekend is known as "opening weekend" in Belgium where the hard men of cycling race in ice and snow over hills and rough surfaces. So we had our own little bit of rough stuff - generally alright apart from a few chewed-up sections of mud. Getting ahead with the camera it was interesting to see the various approaches to dealing with the mud. Some blasted on through, some pushed on the verge and Andy Short managed a bit of trick riding over a bit of raised ground. The section from Broad Lane railway crossing to the Road was much more civilised. I wonder how this will end up with the cycle track extension into .

After climbing Wapley Hill we were all well warmed up as the brilliant visibility continued for the descent into Dodington, through Old Sodbury and onto common. Rogue ice pockets were a bit more common here but we all made it safely to the cattle grid and telephone box before taking the turning to Hillesley. Just the roller coaster road through Alderly, Wortley and into Wotton now, plunging down the descents before frantically changing down for the next climb, each one taking its toll on tiring legs. The final climb of Ludgate Hill into Wotton was cruel but just a couple of hundred yards and we reached the Royal Oak for lunch.

Last week the pub struggled to feed us all in reasonable time and today the Oak was having problems with the cooking staff. It shows how important a chef is the success or otherwise of a pub today. Despite warnings from the manager there was not too much of a delay despite the whole place being pretty much full. Back outside for the homeward leg the sky had clouded a bit and the temperature dropped so I decided on the direct route home. Well last week I clocked up 77.8 miles for our trip to Axbridge so I reckon I was entitled to an unremarkable forty today.Check the photo gallery for some more pictures from this enjoyable day.

Three dog night? You may remember the hit song from 1970 - Mama told me not to come by Three Dog Night. They took their name from the practice of Canadian lumberjacks who would snuggle up to a husky for warmth on a cold night. When it was really bitter it would be a three dog night. A bit more useless knowledge for you.

Touch here to remind yourself where we went.