THE WESSEX NEWSLETTER Edited independently in our three areas and published quarterly. Please contact your section or the access the club website for information on any events
DA SECRETARY Peter Loakes, Church Cottage, West Stafford, DT2 8AB (01305) 263272 BOURNEMOUTH & DISTRICT SECTION David Chesworth, 52 Newstead Road, Bournemouth BH6 3HL (01202) 432852 SALISBURY SECTION Alan Clarke, “Hill House”, Kelsey Road, Salisbury SP1 1JR (01722) 322188 WEST DORSET SECTION Mike Durham, 74 Westhill, Wyke Regis, Weymouth DT4 9NE (01305) 770140
Main Calendar Dates For 2007 Sunday 24th Mar Sunday 25th Mar
Cycle Jumble, Weymouth 50 in 4
Ken Reed Shawn Shaw
01305 772654 01202 685014
Sunday 1st Apr Sunday 1st Apr
Dorset Coastlet 100km Dorset Coast 200km (PBP)
Peter Loakes Peter Loakes
01305 263272 01305 263272
Sunday 15th Apr
Devon and Dorset Downs 300km (PBP)
Peter Loakes
01305 263272
Sunday 22nd Apr
100 in 8
Shawn Shaw
01202 685014
Saturday 28th Apr
Cycle Jumble Sale
Jim Hatton
01202 280889
Sunday 29th Apr Sunday 29th Apr Sunday 29th Apr
New Forest 50/Day Out 100km New Forest Excursion 200km New Forest 300km (PBP)
John Ward John Ward John Ward
01590 671855 01590 671855 01590 671855
W/E 8th -9th Sep
St Lo Concentration in Normandy
Norman Payne
01202 695179
Sunday 9th Sep Sunday 9th Sep
New Forest 50 and Coast 100km New Forest On & Off Shore 200km
John Ward John Ward
01590 671855 01590 671855
Sunday 16th Sep
Dorset Dirt 50km offroad
Ken Reed
01305 772654
Sunday 23rd Sep
Dorset Delight 200km
Peter Loakes
01305 263272
Sunday 7th Oct
Gridiron 100km
Terry Walsh
01202 247888
ALL WESSEX ACTIVITIES CAN BE FOUND ON:
www.wessexctc.org
Summer 2007 Peter Loakes took over the Dorset Coast and Coastlet this year and made a fine job of the 30th event. We really should be proud of this record; the “Coast” is the longest continually running randonnée of any distance in the UK by far. 110 finished the 200km and just 100 finished the 100km. Typical of the comments received is the following: . . . Just arrived back in Newcastle, thank you for organising a terrific event on Sunday, please pass on my thanks to all your volunteers . . . . . . It was my first cycling event, and it won’t be my last. I was knocked out by it . . . . . . I tackled the shorter course, certainly challenging! Two climbs were incredible, I thought we had steep hills in Northumberland! You certainly live in a beautiful part of the country and all involved were so friendly and welcoming. Although many of us visited Majorca in the Spring, both contributions that we have in this issue are written by members of the Birmingham DA. Frankly Bournemouth section, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Editing the Newsletter can be fun and it is not a chore as long as contributions come in without having to wring them out of people. Having said that, the summer issue is usually a bit short as the tours have not yet been done and everyone is, or ought to be, too busy cycling. This then is a roundabout way of saying that I expect that for the Autumn issue, I will be inundated with contributions.
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Keith Matthews - Editor Cycle Ink #145
From the President June 2007 "Wet rain and bare bums" Thanks for everyone's best wishes - my knee mended relatively quickly after my slip on what I am sure was actually a diesel spill earlier on in January. What with the return of the wet weather in May I have been pretty tentative on bends. Gill and I took the opportunity to go cycle camping near Rugby on the late May bank holiday. This was to give us the chance to visit the Narrow Boat show at Crick and we certainly chose the best day on the Saturday when the sun shone for most of the day. The rain started at about 5pm on the Saturday afternoon and was set in for the rest of the weekend. We abandoned plans for a ride on the Sunday and spent the day in the tent - thank goodness for new inventions like iPods enabling one to carry the whole music collection for entertainment when incarcerated in a tent on a very wet and blustery day. Not surprising quite a number of car bound campers had given up and gone home. The ride to Coventry on the Monday was pleasant as the roads were quiet - albeit in more rain! Salisbury has been a hive of cycling activity recently what with the Connect2 project (see below) and the planned opening of the Goldenway. This is a circular route round the city identifying quiet routes to schools, college, shops, leisure centre and Cathedral. Our new CTC President "Jon Snow" will open the Goldenway on Saturday 9th June at 11am within the Cathedral grounds - why not come along meet our President (I wonder what tie he will be wearing?). I occasionally get enquiries about cycling in the Wessex region - tonight’s phone call from one of our Octogenarian members had me stumped really as I was not sure how to reply. No it was not about our brilliant list of DA events, or even about National Bike Week rides in the region, this was about, and I am blushing now . . . "where are we hosting a ride for the World Naked Bike Ride Events".
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These rides actually do exist: http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/uk and our nearest one will take place on Friday 8 June 2007 at 6.30pm at North end of Southampton Common in the clearing next to Highfield Road and opposite the junction with Omdurman Road. It is fantastic news that Wessex DA have has had two projects short listed in the final list of 79 projects elected for inclusion in the last round of the Sustrans “Connect2� initiative. http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk The Weymouth to Portland Olympic connection: http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/projects/search_results.php And: Connecting Salisbury, the Alderbury and Wilton (C-SAW) route http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/projects/project_detail.php?id=89. Well done to all those involved that got supporters to click on the Sustrans website. Now we need everyone to get together to for the final TV vote in December - hopefully we can make cycling the number one project and win that Lottery money! Saint Lo Concentration on Sept 8th / 9th - what a great response to this event with approximately 50 cyclists booked to attend. Many thanks to Norman for being the contact for the DA. The DA committee has organised two intersection meets in the summer with the first being on June 24th at Gold Hill Shaftesbury and the other on Aug 12th at Semley. My apologies for the 24th June - my parents will be celebrating their 60th Wedding anniversary and so all the family will be returning home to Scotland for this momentous event. Happy and safe Cycling, Jimmy Walker
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What’s On ? Blackmore Vale Section Rides Cycle Rides arranged by Richard & Margaret Nicholl. All rides meet at the Cafe at 10:00am for coffee, departing at 10:30am. Please note that some rides are on a Saturday and some on a Sunday. Details (01963) 32840 Sun 17th JUN
MEET: SHAFTESBURY, John Peel Cafe LUNCH: Knowlton
Sat 30th JUN
MEET: CROCKERTON, Furniture Store LUNCH: Salisbury Plain
Sun
15th
JULY
MEET: WOOKEY HOLE LUNCH: Watchfield near Highbridge TEA: Burcott Mill
Sat
28th
JULY
MEET: COMPTON ABBAS, Airfield LUNCH: Badbury Rings TEA: Compton Abbas
Sun 12th AUG
MEET: EAST STOUR, Udder Farm Shop LUNCH: Semley for Wessex DA Intersection Meet
Sat 25th AUG
MEET: YEOVILTON RNAS Museum Cafe
Sun 9th SEP
MEET: CRANMORE, Steam Railway
LUNCH: Barrington Court TEA: Yeovilton LUNCH: Radstock TEA: Cranmore Sat
22nd
SEP
MEET: CASTLE CARY, The Old Bakehouse, High Street LUNCH: Westhay TEA: Castle Cary
Sun
7th
OCT
MEET: BOLDRE in New Forest for “Gridiron” 100km ALTERNATIVE: Meet GILLINGHAM, Waitrose.
Informal Wayfarers Rides to Burley This ride happens every Saturday and is completely informal. There is no leader and no back up, but generally an experienced cyclist somewhere around. The route is designed for beginners but joined in by all abilities.
Start 08:45 at Pioneer Supermarket, Christchurch every Saturday
Or just make your own way to the New Forest Tea Rooms, Burley for 10:00 Cycle Ink #145
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MALLORCA 2007
Mary Evans - Birmingham DA
Twenty members of the Birmingham DA joined the Thurday Potterers for their annual trip to Majorca in March and the following is Mary Evans, their leader’s, impressions of the holiday. This year it was decided to change the hotels. We stayed at Hotel Daina, Port de Pollenca for the first week and at Cala Gran Hotel, Cala d’Or for the second week. Well, Fawlty Towers comes to mind when we think of Hotel Daina. Birmingham group stayed in the apartments round the corner from the main hotel. On arrival we found a group of men, (electricians and plumbers) fixing the electricity and dismantling the pipes. The place looked completely unfinished or badly in need of repair. There was no room in the lockup garage for all our bikes, so we carried our bikes up and downstairs for the first day/night. This was very unsatisfactory so we left them in the foyer/lounge of the apartments. There was no hot water; no heating; lift didn’t work; water ran brown when the tap was turned on and the apartments were very cold! Bournemouth comment the rooms in the main hotel were fine. On our first morning, we woke up to a free shower in the vestibule of the apartments. Water was gushing out of the ceiling and the plumbers were standing looking very perplexed and didn’t appear to know what to do. The next day John and I returned from a ride to find the ceiling over the sofas about to collapse with water pouring onto the furniture and floor. We moved all seating out of the way and watched the disaster unfold! All the pipes in the building were corroded so there was a lot of work to be done before the season started!! However, the staff were very friendly and
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helpful and provided us with extra blankets when requested. The food was excellent! I’m sure the waiter’s name was Manuel!! The weather was disappointing this year. The first week was so windy – gale force at times. It kept us awake at night, howling around the narrow streets and rooftops and it prevented us from enjoying some of the
Deia glorious rides in the north of the island. It was also very cold so there was very little relaxing done in cafes after a very satisfying day’s ride. Rob Garnett (Bournemouth) did a magnificent job of leading the slow group every day during the first week and for that we were most grateful. We were kept to the lanes for the most part because of the strong winds. On a particularly windy day, five or six brave souls ventured forth and climbed Formentor but found it very dangerous when descending. The ride to Lluc Monastery was cancelled because of the wind but later in the week, the stronger riders decided to go. However, they were again thwarted because both roads to Lluc were closed owing to a car rally. Many of our rides were repeated which couldn’t be helped. I heard Pete and Colin (Bournemouth) mutter “not Muro and or Campanet again!” The Southern Wheelers who were part of our group chose to do longer
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and harder rides and managed to reach places which we did on our second week last year! The weather certainly did not deter them!! We transferred to Cala d’Or on the Saturday, cycling across the island on a cold, dull day. (48 miles). John (Evans) and Reg Elliot went with the coach and by the time we arrived at the hotel all luggage had been sorted by them and the Bournemouth ladies and placed in our rooms. All except the Porters’ luggage but you had better ask John about that! This week was damp and cold. Routes were there to be discovered as nobody had been before. There seemed to be more main roads and fewer lanes. However, Rob and John found two very good rides each one led to delightful bays and beaches. The terrain was quite hilly in places but had wonderful descents. (We never did find the elephants in the Erotic (oops, sorry) |The Exotic Park. John was to lead a ride to a lighthouse the next day but the wet, stormy weather put paid to that. On the last day, Colin and Pete, (Bournemouth) who had researched a ride on the wettest and coldest day, (brave souls) took us to Portopetro and Cala Mandrago beach which we had to cross to reach a track which in turn took us through quiet lanes full of flowers which had bloomed overnight, following the storm of the previous day. A delightful ride it turned out to be. What will I remember of Mallorca ’07? “Did you hand pick your group” asked a Bournemouth cyclist? The first thing that comes to mind is the friendship between the two groups. From the start we got on very well and everybody mixed which was very heartening. Some of the Bournemouth people were as one put it “bowled over by the Birmingham groups’ friendliness and warmth.” So well done our group! The food was awful at this hotel but there was one thing that was rather special and that was the professional pianist who practised in the afternoons in the lounge and it was sublime. Requests were taken! It was a good holiday for all of us except for poor John Montgomery who was very poorly for the most part.
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MALLORCA - 2007 (again!)
Hilary Porter
Hilary Porter’s impressions of a ride to the Monastery San Salador during our joint holiday in March 2007.
Almond Blossom time in Majorca
We joined the Bournemouth Potterers organised holiday to Majorca and for the first week had a good time at Puerta Polensa although the weather could have been warmer. For the second week the party moved across the island to Cala d'Or which is on the East Coast. Most of the group cycled the 50 miles. Having been out on a few rides on our own John offered to take an easy and short ride up to the monastery at San Salvador. The monastery is in a very prominent position perched on a mountain at 494m and can been seen from many parts of the island. Majorca has a lot of monasteries perched on top of hills, most of them in seemingly precarious places, and this one was the second highest. It was a grey day and not very warm as
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a group of eleven riders headed out of Cala d'Or along the coast road past all the expensive yachts in the marina and then through Porto Petro. Then heading inland and on to a nice quiet lane to Ca's Concos passing through almond orchards and olive groves with lots of wild flowers, to come into the back of Felanitx. This is a fairly large town and was quite busy. We headed to the main square and had coffee and the sun briefly showed itself. Reg had previously spied a cycle shop in Felanitx when he rode through a few days before, so of course we had to go and find it to see if there were any bargains. Coincidently Tom's rear gear mechanism broke just before we arrived at the shop and we continued on whilst he waited to have a new mechanism fitted. The monastery was about 8km from where we left Tom with a 5km climb up to the top. The road was straight to begin with up quite an incline and then started to twist and turn as we climbed higher. There were loads of cyclists going up and coming down (mainly German) and it was fascinating to seem them zig-zagging up in front and also below. Some of the cyclists went down very fast and were quite often on your side of the road when getting round the hairpins. Not good when there is a sheer drop below you! About half way up there is a small chapel with fresh flowers and lit candles and a bit further on a separate path leads off going on up to a large cross which dominates one of the summits of the mountain. Eventually we all reached the top and were rewarded with an incredible 360o view all around. It was a pity that the weather was still poor but we could see the eastern coast including where we were staying and quite a way along the south coast towards Palma, with all the fields and orchards laid out below. The only bit of sun we could see was shinning on Porto Cristo where we had cycled to a couple of days earlier and where John Evans was taking his group that day. The sun only shines on the righteous! It was quite cold and windy at the top but those who opted for a picnic lunch managed to find some picnic tables out of the wind with a great view. Others went into the cafĂŠ at the monastery and in the entrance hall are displayed some world champion road vests donated by Guillermo Timoner, whose cycling career has been unequalled. He was six times World Guerny Champion and on 27 occasions Spanish champion with
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more than 1500 professional victories in road and track. He lives in the area. It was a tremendous descent and a little frightening on some of the hairpins. At the bottom we regrouped and John chose a route on a quiet lane to get back to Felanitx to meet Tom. This was more difficult than we thought as we had great trouble finding the square again, most Majorcan towns and villages have a grid system with many one way roads and in some cases more than one square which can be confusing. Eventually we located Tom who had been joined by Les and Wendy (from the Bournemouth group). John chose what he hoped would be a quiet route to avoid some of the main road. This was partially successful but Spanish Maps have a tendency to indicate roads some of which are there, some are very rough tracks and some do not exist. The plan was to come out on the main road and do a left and a right on another lane. However the second part of this route could not be located and it was decided to carry on along the main road back towards Porto Colom. From here the group broke up, some opting to go straight back to the hotel as they were cold, and four of us dropping into Porto Colom for a hot chocolate. This has a very large natural harbour with a beach on the far side and another boaty place. From here there is a good quiet lane route back to Cala d'Or. There were wild flowers everywhere and a lot of the orchards had a lovely yellow flower carpeting the ground. We are still trying to name some of the flowers. We really enjoyed our holiday with the Northern and Bournemouth CTC. We did some great rides in good company and although the weather was not up to expectations we still had a great time. Our thanks to John, Mary and Rob for organising the trip.
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FOR SALE Phillips Folding bike, three speed hub (low geared) vgc, complete with carrying bag and if required, well worn Carridice pannier bags.
ÂŁ150. Contact Pete Du Lieu on 01202 745472
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HOLIDAY IN THE PYRENEES? In 2006 Hazel and Peter Gibbs swapped their hectic 9 to 5 working lives in Dorset for the more relaxed surroundings of Escala in the Hautes Pyrenees. Their 3 bedroomed detached villa with views of the mountains is now ready for its first bed and breakfast visitors. A double room with private bathroom will cost 50 euros per night with breakfast. The French Pyrenees in the south west of France are the ideal location for those among you who like to ski, cycle, walk, run/jog, play golf or just sit and admire the view. Personalised training programmes will be available for cyclists, runners and triathletes by qualified fitness instructor. Sports Massage also available. Escala is just 5 minutes from Junction 16 of the A64 (the Trans Pyreneenne motorway), 5 minutes from the bustling market town of Lannemezan with all facilities and the same distance from the attractive village of La Barthe de Neste with its Sunday market, restaurants, bars and shops. Secure storage is available for bikes and skis and, as Peter is a fully qualified Sports Massage Therapist, a massage can be offered (for a small additional charge) for those who take advantage of the many sports on offer locally. Le Tour de France This year the closest stage finish to us is 45km by car at Loudenvielle on 23rd July. The riders cover 196kms from Foix-Loudenvielle, including 5 climbs. To find out more details about the property and about the area, contact Peter or Hazel on 0033 562 501 295 E Mail at petergibbs65@aol.com Or by post to 23 Rue des Chataigniers, 65250 ESCALA, France.
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Local attractions Tennis
-
in Lannemezan or La Barthe de Neste
Ski ing
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St Lary- 30 minutes (bus service available) Peyragudes Luz Ardiden
Cycling
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Tour de France Col d’Aspin, Col de Peyresourde Col de Tourmalet, Port de Bales
Walking
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From the door of the property or in the mountains further afield.
Swimming
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50 meter pool available in Tarbes
Shopping
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Lannemezan - 5 minutes Tarbes - 30 minutes Pau Toulouse - 1 hour 20 minutes
Golf
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Lannemezan -18 holes Tarbes - 9 holes Bagneres de Bigorre - 18 holes-great scenery.
Rugby
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the World Cup comes to France in 2007.
Music
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Jazz Festival in Marciac every August County and Western Festival in Mirande in June
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Happy “Coasters after the Ride
Organiser Peter Loakes and friends Ray & Margaret
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ADVERTISEMENT
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Dates of next Meetings
Contributions and Photographs The committee meeting date is the deadline for Newsletter contributions. Editorial policy is to print all contributions, with minimal editing for the purposes of layout only. Contribute by email, disk, CD-ROM, typed or handwritten. Photographs are now welcome in any form. We can scan them and they will be returned safely.
Editor:
http://www.wessexctc.org CTC, Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 9JX http://www.ctc.org.uk “CycleInk” is the Newsletter of the Bournemouth & District Section, Wessex District Association of the Cyclists’ Touring Club. Published four times a year for members. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the club.
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