News for March 2016 Thursday 3Rd March 2016. Bitton to Hinton
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
News for March 2016 Thursday 3rd March 2016. Bitton to Hinton Blewett. Report from Bill Balchin: Here's a teaser for you. "Who among our current riders was the first to ride with the BTOTC?" Time's up. You won't guess. It was today's leader, Jeremy Hogan. Well it is a bit of a trick question because when Jeremy was a student back in the eighties he was invited out for a ride by Ernie Janes when Ernie was setting up some more social rides for members of the road clubs who were finding racing a bit too tough. You can see some of the history in the "What we do" section of the website. Thirty odd years later, after completing his education, a career in teaching and grabbing early retirement, Jeremy happened across some chaps in BTOTC jerseys a couple of years ago, quizzed them up and came back to the fold. For his first time as leader Jeremy informed the twenty three strong peloton at Bitton station that the ride would follow the rivers Avon and Chew, have some hills and use some new roads. Yeah, well actually Jezzer, we have been doing this for years and have cycled EVERYWHERE so there are no new roads left. Starting down the cycle track towards Bath we passed the Saltford turn-off and then just before Newbridge took a new cycle-path exit that took us onto a shared path beside the A4 to the roundabout by the Globe. Crikey, ten minutes in and we are on a new route. There was more new stuff for many of us as we took the Wells Road into Corston and then the right turn into Ashton Hill. I don't know the gradient but it felt like riding up the side of a house, good job it was not too long. After a mile and a half we arrived at the crossroads that we usually reach from Saltford when heading south, so familiar ground again now. Having already crossed over the Avon three times it was now time to meet the Chew as we passed through Burnett, into Compton Dando and over the river to Chewton Keynsham via Fairy Hill followed by the climb of Redlynch Hill to Queen Charlton - well we were promised some hills. There was a chance for some descending as we took the route through Norton Hawkfield into Chew Magna once the pothole menders had moved their truck to let us past. Then it was over the Chew again, into Bishop Suttton and the final climb up through Top Sutton bringing us to the Ring O'Bells at Hinton Blewett just after twelve. With the Thursday weather luck still holding and providing us with yet another decent riding day in a generally iffy week you would expect a large crowd of cyclists and you would be right. The pub was pretty much full. I think a few non-cycling customers sat outside in the cold with nearly forty of us inside. Joe Scally was on hand to ask a few final questions before he submits his dissertation. I don't know what he made of George's response to the question "How did it all start for you?" when George related that his scout group were required to cycle to the camp at Dawlish, most of them aged eleven with a few senior boys of thirteen. The fourteen year-olds would have been out to work. It was all a bit different in the nineteen forties. Slick service from the new management team saw us all fed and watered by one o'clock so we were back on the road for home a lot earlier than some of our recent rides. A blast down Stowey Hill set the path for Stanton Drew where I managed to sprint ahead to grab some pictures before the climb of Norton Malreward and the split for the Whitchurch Way or back via Bitton. So there we had it. Rivers, hills and new roads. Jeremy, you can do this again. And maybe we have not been quite everywhere yet. New roads or not, this map shows you the ones we used today. Thursday 10th March 2016. Ashton to Portishead. Report from Bill Balchin: Thank you Ernie Janes for setting up the Bristol Thursday Old Time cyclists and not a Wednesday group. Yesterday the Wednesday was a washout with heavy rain and bitingly cold strong wind. Our Thursday weather started with bright sunshine in a blue sky and although it was chilly and clouded over, it was dry with light winds all day. Much to the delight of the twenty three at Ashton Bridge for John Upward's ride to the Windmill at Portishead. John started with a climb through Ashton Court but true to his form managed an unusual way to get there first by the underpass , then over a bridge, a shared path past the Ashton pub (formerly the Dovecote) and into the estate. But no way of avoiding the grind up to the exit by the suspension bridge. After a short section of shared path on the Abbotts Leigh road we took a right into Leigh Woods for another homage to the Belgium cycling classics. Although more suited to a mountain bike the paths were easily rideable on a touring bike as we made a generally downhill loop through the bare trees to emerge back on the main road. A quick left right jink into Sandy Lane and we were into the ups and downs of the small lanes through Failand before we descended into Portbury. Things were going to plan as we turned into Caswell Lane but got somewhat knocked out of kilter when a lane on the right that John had picked out on the Garmin did not materialise - probably a gate into a field in reality. But it was no hardship to cycle on that nice Gordano Valley with the lanes mostly clean and dry almost into Clevedon. And then it was time for the kilter to be knocked again. With John waiting for some puncture menders some impatient types (led by some bloke called Bill) carried on along Harley Lane into Weston in Gordano where it was obvious to go straight across and along the coast road bringing us to the Windmill right on twelve. Good job John. John? Anyone seen John? It was a bit of a surprise to see John arrive with several others at half past while the rest of us were tucking into lunch. The plan had always been to go into Portishead via Valley Road, past the Police HQ and around the Headland before approaching the Windmill from the east. The difficulty of herding our bunch continued after lunch when several departed with the nine-strong easyrider group, more left in dribs and drabs and I took off on my own. Well I have to go out this afternoon before five so it was a chance to do the report first. So I guess everybody got home from one of our favourite pubs, and thanks John for your efforts. Note to self - try to behave in future. Touch here to see today's route. Thursday 17th March 2016. Amcor to Brookend. Report from Bill Balchin: Another glorious day and another large peloton as Jane Chapman led the way from Amcor to the Lammastide at Brookend. One noticeable absentee was Mark Brough, due for an imminent hip replacement operation and hopefully back with us soon and stronger than ever - good luck to you Mark. Cruising along the Old Gloucester Road towards Tytherington there was a bit of a chilly headwind but otherwise it was just ideal to ride in the sunshine, on clean dry roads, chatting with your pals. A climb up Grovesend Road took us under the motorway and across the A38 into Thornbury. Jane's route took us past Crossways school at playtime where a mass of excited kids lined the fence waving at us. Not too cool for school, we all waved back. Back on the lanes through Rockhampton and Berkley we arrived at Wanswell just before eleven thirty - about a five minute ride from our lunch-stop. Ignoring the direct route we took the right turn and cycled through Halmore into Purton then crossed over the canal onto the towpath to bump along the gravel to our special point of interest for the day. On the banks of the Severn between Purton and Sharpness is an area full of wrecked ships/boats/barges. A monolith inscribed "The final resting place" marks the spot and although the remains have been pretty well beaten to death by fierce tides twice a day they are easily visible, especially as it was low tide today. Back down the towpath and a little way on are the remains of the railway bridge which spanned the Severn until it was smashed by two tanker barges in thick fog in October 1960 with the loss of five lives. Details here. All that remains on the Gloucestershire side now are the towers either side of the canal. Carrying on we rode the towpath to Sharpness and crossed back over past the rather haphazard looking docks and a few minutes later arrived at the Lammastide. Again there was a large crowd, and again the service was slick and the meals good. But just one more item from Jane - misbehaving gears. Once we had finished lunch the technical team took a look and the cable to the rear mech was obviously broken. Luckily I had a spare so after checking with Dennis Gealy how a Campagnolo shifter works managed to fit it in.