Edited independently in three of the CTC Wessex member group areas and publishedquarterly. Please contact your nearest member group or access the club website for

information on any events

CTC WESSEX SECRETARYPeter Loakes, Church Cottage, West Stafford, DT2 8AB (01305) 263272CTC BOURNEMOUTH & DISTRICTDavid Chesworth, 52 Newstead Road, Bournemouth BH6 3HL (01202) 432852CTC SALISBURYAlan Clarke, “Hill House”, Kelsey Road, Salisbury SP1 1JR (01722) 322188CTC WEST DORSETMike Durham, 74 Westhill, Wyke Regis, Weymouth DT4 9NE (01305) 770140

Main Calendar Dates For 2009

THE WESSEX NEWSLETTER

Sunday 5th Apr Dorset Coastlet 100km Peter Loakes 01305 263272Sunday 5th Apr Dorset Coast 200km Peter Loakes 01305 263272

Sunday 12th April 50 in 4 Shawn Shaw 01202 685014

Sunday 26th April New Forest Challenge 50km John Ward 01590 671205Sunday 26th April New Forest Day Out 100km John Ward 01590 671205Sunday 26th April New Forest 150km John Ward 01590 671205Sunday 26th April New Forest Excursion 200km John Ward 01590 671205

Sunday 17th May Dorset Downs 100km Mike Walsh 01202 429985

Sunday 12th Jul 100 in 8 Shawn Shaw 01202 685014

Sunday 6th Sep New Forest 50km John Ward 01590 671205Sunday 6th Sep New Forest and Coast 100km John Ward 01590 671205Sunday 6th Sep New Forest 150km John Ward 01590 671205Sunday 6th Sep New Forest On & Off Shore 200km John Ward 01590 671205

Sunday 13th Sep Dorset Dirt 50km offroad Ken Reed 01305 772654

Sunday 20st Sep Bournemouth Square 200km Brian Callow 01202 526606

Sunday 11th Oct Gridiron 100km Terry Walsh 01202 247888

ALL WESSEX ACTIVITIES CAN BE FOUND ON:

www.wessexctc.org

3 Cycle Ink #151

At the AGM we gave a sincere vote ofthanks to Dave Chesworth who has beenour able secretary for several years. CherylOwen, who rides with the BJW as well aswith CTC was voted in and takes overimmediately. We all wish her well in hernew job.

Terry Walsh remains as our Chairman andguides things along with a light control onthe rudder as well as organising the everincreasing “Gridiron” each year. You canread all about this year’s bad weather onpage 17! Terry, pictured right, is shownholding his chocolate lollipop which hewas awarded for good work at theGridiron. He can eat it now with a clean conscience.

Also we must give some more thanks to Jean Trill who has now reluctantly given upthe quarterly task of Newsletter distribution. Over the years, she has held just aboutevery post in the club that you can think of, and folding up and posting all theseNewsletters and taking in the renewals was her last service for us. Thank you Jean.Janet and I will be taking over this task in future, so if you’d like to receive theNewsletter by post and are not already subscribed, you can get on the mailing list bydownloading the form from the website and send it in to Janet.

www.bournemouthctc.org/Newsubs1.pdf

Happy Christmas to all and good cycling in 2009

Mr. Chairman

Keith Matthews - Editor

Cycle Ink #151 4

At the AGM we make a smallnumber of awards each year, themost valued on which is theSartain Trophy. This is a neatlittle hallmarked silver cup namedafter a past Chairman of thesection back in the mid-1950s andis awarded for exceptional serviceto the section. This year thecommittee awarded to RalphHuckle. Over the last 2 yearsRalph has worked on the designof the new section clothing,organised its production and alsothe sales and distrubution. In all,a most sucessful exercise.

The full list of awardees can beseen on our website:bournemouthctc.org/award1.htm

Palmares

Ralph Huckle receives the Sartain Trophyfrom Chairman Terry Walsh

Having noted that the section holds twoother trophies which are no longerawarded; the Attendance Shield and theB.A.R. (Best All Rounder) cup thecommittee decided this year to re-dedicatethem. In the days when we had only oneriding group it was relatively easy to decidewho won in these categories, but these daysit is almost impossible.

The Attendance Shield has been renamedas the Tourist Shield and is to be awardedfor the highest placed CTC BournemouthRider in the National CTC TouristCompetition (DATC). This year it goes toPeter Jones.

Tourist ShieldPeter Jones

5 Cycle Ink #151

The old B.A.R. Cup is re-named the Rider’s Cup, andno, its not given out to the bestgolfer in the section, but forthe most impressive cyclingfeat each year. This year it wasdecided to give the award toRay Haswell in recognition ofhis Trafalgar to Trafalgar ride.Cape Trafalgar to TrafalgarSquare at Audax standards wasquite a feat of endurance.

In Ray’s case could this alsobe awarded for the most im-pressive cycling feet in thesection? If that is the case,watch out Eric or you mightwin it next year!

Rider’s Cup - Ray Haswell

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KY8cgsBwpho

Take a look at this, brought to our attention by Shawn Shaw, and decide whichside of the fence you are on! Don’t worry, Viral does not mean its a virus!

Viral Advertising On Youtube

Free Wheeling CompetitionThursday January 15th 2009

Meet 09:30 at Wimborne Recreation Ground.FREE ENTRY ON THE DAY

Winning Solo holds silver cup for the year.Separate event for tandems

Cycle Ink #151 6

CTC Blackmore Vale RidesCycle Rides arranged by the CTC Wessex member group in BlackmoreVale. All CTC members are welcome to participate. All rides meet at theCafe at 10:00am for coffee, departing at 10:30am. Please note that somerides are on a Saturday and some on a Sunday. Details (01963) 32840

Sat 13th DEC MEET: WINCANTON, Memorial Hall LUNCH: Mystery RideSun 28th DEC MEET: GILLINGHAM, Waitrose Supermarket LUNCH: ShaftesburySat 10th JAN 09 MEET: STALBRIDGE, Dike’s Supermarket LUNCH: SherborneSun 25th JAN MEET: EAST STOUR, Udder Farm Shop LUNCH: Compton Abbas, AirfieldSat 7th FEB MEET: MERE, Angel Corner Tea Room LUNCH: Pythouse, Kitchen Garden (near Semley)Sun 22nd FEB MEET: SUTTON MONTIS, Bramble & Sage LUNCH: Yeovil, Brimsmore Garden CentreSat 7th MAR MEET: CASTLE CARY, The Old Bakehouse, High Street LUNCH: Shepton Mallet, Fish & ChipsSun 22nd MAR MEET: STOURHEAD, National Trust Cafe LUNCH: Longleat, Cellar Cafe

New!!! - Tuesday Rides10:00 for 11:00 departure.

1st Tuesday of Month Meet Café Central Wincanton

2nd Tuesday of Month Waitrose Café Gillingham

3rd Tuesday of Month N.T. Café Stourhead (Except Feb - Spreadeagle Pub)

4th Tuesday of Month Wheathill Lane Garden Centre Milborne Port

Plus 31st March Café to be arranged at Langport.

Contact (01963) 32840 for details

What’s On ?

7 Cycle Ink #151

It was an early start for the Christchurch Bicycle Club's Annual Six Ferries Ride on the19th June. The ride officially started from Highcliffe and would have involved a journeyfrom home of over 100 miles; not wanting to travel this far we, being Colin Barrett, PaulTurner and myself, went by car to Pilley Village Hall and started our ride from there.With a very strong tailwind it was an easy ride of 10miles to Hythe arriving at 10.00amto join the others for coffee before taking ferry #1 from Hythe to Southampton. Therewere 29 of us in all. The weather was fair and everyone was in a jolly mood anticipatinga good day to come.

From Southampton Ferry Terminal we threaded our way through the city to the ItchenBridge and from the bridge we took the coastal road running down Southampton Watereventually riding through the Royal Victoria Park using mostly traffic free roads andpaths with good views of Southampton Water. Eventually we arrived at the village ofHamble where we would board the second ferry of the day to Warsash a short sea tripof no more than 5 minutes. This is a cute ferry painted in pink which cannot take anymore than 11 bikes. This obviously necessitated three trips before we were all inWarsash where we had lunch at the Rising Sun on the Quay. This quay was one of thedeparture points for the D-Day Landings and there is an interesting monument to be seen.

After lunch we made our way to the village of Hook and then on through the ChillingEstate enjoying lovely quiet roads and tracks. Eventually we emerged at Hill Head withfine views of the Solent and the Isle of Wight beyond. From Hill Head we followed thecoastal road to Lee-On-Solent passing the defunct naval hovercraft and on to Stokes Bayand eventually to Gosport for Ferry #3 taking us to Portsmouth. This was a mostenjoyable ride essentially because we had a strong tailwind all the way, the sun wasshining and we could enjoy fine views of the Solent and all the activity.

On arriving in Portsmouth we booked in for Ferry #4 the fast jet to Ryde Pier.Unfortunately we had to wait three quarters of an hour for this ferry, which upset ourschedule a little. From Ryde we hugged the coast road to Cowes now suffering a head wind rather than a tailwind and some hills to boot and having the feeling that at last we were doing some work. At East Cowes we boarded Ferry #5 to take us to West Cowes and from there we continued mainly along the coast to begin with before going inland to pick up the very quiet roads to Yarmouth, where we boarded Ferry #6.Fortunately there was no delay this time and we arrived at Lymington at 8:00pm.

Most of the others were stopping for a fish and chip supper before riding the final leg back to Highcliffe and their homes. We, however, had a short ride to Pilley where we loaded the bikes and then enjoyed a very nice meal in the Fleur de Lys just down the road from the car park.

Our grateful thanks to the Christchurch Bicycle Club organisers for anexcellent day out - good riding, good company, interesting scenery and theyeven arranged good weather.

The Six Ferries Ride By Ralph Huckle

Cycle Ink #151 8

The following article was first published in the Wessex Road Club Circular in early1982. The main body of the text has been updated but remains largely unchanged.

The morning of Sunday 13th December 1981 was a cold, dry and windy one. Thatmorning the Wessex Road Club club run meeting place was at the Riverside Café (nowlong gone) in the Ham Car Park, Blandford. There were five attendees John Way, MarkWay, Charles May, myself and a new rider, David. David had, at the last minute, beenpersuaded by Charles to come on the run. We set off northwards at approximately18mph, pushed on by a strong tail wind. None of us could possibly have guessed whatlay in store for us over the succeeding hours.

The run to lunch via Stourpaine, Childe Okeford and Motcombe was very enjoyable andfairly uneventful apart from one puncture, (Charles – who else?), which was announcedwith a cry of “Oh ****!”. On reaching The Kingsettle Pub (now, also long gone), onthe outskirts of Semley, it was beer and sandwiches all round as we happily watched thesnow starting to fall . . . pitch, and then drift on the road outside. After about an hourthere was suddenly a general rush for the door to avoid embarrassment when Charlesasked the barman if he could buy the pornographic Strongbow calendar, which washanging blatantly on the wall.

After searching for, finding and digging the bikes from a snowdrift, the intrepid five setoff up the winding snow covered hill to Shaftesbury. The jokes and snowballs wereflying thick and fast and a couple of us bit the snow as back wheels spun in thedeepening drifts in which the cars were starting to grind to a halt. By the time we arrivedin Shaftesbury we were pushing our bikes through the gusting ankle deep snow with anincreasing gale force wind. A democratic decision was made which determined that wewould rough stuff it directly across the roundabout to take the Lower Shaftesbury toBlandford Road which would be more sheltered and therefore hopefully less timeconsuming. Unsurprisingly none of us relished the unwelcome prospect of tacklingSpreadeagle Hill and the exposed top Shaftesbury to Blandford road in the rapidlydeteriorating weather conditions. On the hill down into Cann we lent our services to onecourageous driver who had refused to abandon his car and was slipping and revving hisway up the hill in the opposite direction and much appreciated the push which weprovided, over the worst of the gradient. We set off once more, passing a bus shelter fullof huddled, shivering, stranded motorists who looked on with a mixture of disbelief andbemusement as we marched down the middle of the road /ski slope singing, “I’mDreaming Of A White Christmas”, “Snowdrops Keep Falling On My Head” etc etc.

A second democratic decision in Compton Abbas determined that we would ditch thebikes at the nearest house so as to make it possible to make headway through the nowcalf-deep snow and blizzardous wind which was making it difficult to see. By joggingwe managed to increase the pace to about 3mph and it was very noticeable that the

By Chris HinchcliffeWinter Riding

9 Cycle Ink #151

snowballs had stopped, the humour had decreased somewhat and even Charlie’soutbursts of inappropriate giggles had been reduced to two an hour which was probablydue to the fact that there was a half inch thick layer of ice on his glasses.

At Iwerne Minster it was agreed that Charles would stay at my house, so the group splitinto two. The larger group, consisting of John, Mark and Dave, who now wished hehadn’t been so easily conned into coming on a Wessex Road Club “cycle ride”, headedstraight on, Blandford bound. The smaller group consisting of Charlie and myself,turned left up the hill, heading for the top of the Tarrant Valley. Here the snow in theroad was chest height. Needless to say, we took to the fields, clambering through hedgesand over fences, which, on more than one occasion induced cramp.

By this time it was dark and as we lost height into the more sheltered Tarrant Valley thesnow depth decreased, so we rejoined the road in the lea of a forest. Here we wereabruptly startled by a sudden flash as a set of overhead power cables shorted out,showering us with sparks. The temperature was well below freezing with added wind-chill, and the water, which had penetrated four layers of clothing, was freezing hard,further hindering our progress and increasing shivering by a very noticeable factor.Charlie stated that he would rather be sunbathing! At this point main topics ofconversation included apple crumble, Kendal mint cake and hypothermia.

On reaching Tarrant Gunville we saw a set of headlights approaching us, which provedto be a tractor. Our hopes were temporarily raised and then dashed as the tractor droveon by, the occupant ignoring our vigorous signalling and apparently oblivious to ourpredicament. We trudged on, hungry and fatigued. Our silent progress was interruptedby the sound of a vehicle coming up behind. Having previously learnt a lesson from thetractor experience, Charles stood in the middle of the road, waving frantically, managingto belt me in the eye in the process. The Landrover slithered to a halt and a friendly voice

Cycle Ink #151 10

called out “Where you wanna go mate?” “Tarrant Hinton” we replied in chorus. Weboth fell gratefully into the back of the Landrover and travelled the remaining mile inrelative style to complete the fourteen miles hike!

Many retrospective thanks to my mum (Vicki) for administering First Aid, upon ourarrival, in the form of urgently required piping hot tea, hot food, hot baths and warm, dryclothes. Charles May’s hobby as a cyclist survived and he went on to create a bespokebicycle frame building business called De Mayo Velo Systems, advertising regularly inthe Wessex DA Newsletter. He cycles regularly, is now semi-retired and lives with hispartner, Anne in a cottage in the Blackdown Hills, Somerset. As for Dave? He neverattended another Wessex Road Club club run. Rumour has it that he was buried that day,where he fell at the side of the A350 on his return journey from Iwerne Minster toBlandford.

And myself? Well, I tried to be philosophical and accept my snowy experience as justone more character building Sunday club ride. I still cycle from time to time butironically, I have taken up walking for a pastime and can be found most Sundaystramping the footpaths and bridleways of Dorset.

Does anybody else have any vivid memories of their experiences on thisparticularly atrocious day in December 1981? Surely we weren’t the onlyones out on our bikes that day in Dorset.

OBITUARIESDorothy Palmer Long standing club members, especially WednesdayWanderers, with fond memories of Dudley & Dorothy Palmer, will be sad tohear that Dorothy passed away peacefully at Whitway House Nursing Homeon Monday 8th September 2008, aged 93. Beloved widow of Dudley, Dorothywas a long standing member of the West Dorset section and in latter dayswas always willing to help with organisation and marshalling. Often allowingtheir Weymouth home to be used as a control point.

John Rowland was cremated at Poole on 23rd October. John was along-term Wessex member and one time Wessex DA President and our CTCCouncillor.

Mabel Andrews from cancer of the pancreas on 25th October aged72. Older West Dorset members will remember her as one of the well knowncycling Toop family.

Marguerite Statham well known West Dorset member, wascremated at Yeovil on 23rd October.

11 Cycle Ink #151

A Road Atlas . . . A Swinging Compass . . . And a Pound of SausagesAlthough I am reluctant to ride on my own, the obvious advantage over cycling with agroup is the total freedom that is gained and sometimes too tempting to ignore. When,some years ago, I found myself on the sleeper, crossing the border on the way to Perthin Scotland, I realised that few would want to accompany me on this little jauntanyway. Driven by an eccentric ambition, my aim was to complete a solo crossing ofthe Cairngorms by way of Glen Tilt and the granddaddy of all the traditional Britishrough-stuff mountain passes, the Larig Ghru.

The 32 miles off roadon a road bike was totake me two days.After a good nightssleep I was on mybike speedingthrough the Pass ofKillecrankie to thestart of my real ridesome 37 miles away.I did have threecompanions of a sorthowever, in the formof firstly, a road atlasof Great Britain (wellan ordinance surveymap might not payits way because Ididn't expect to go there again). The atlas suggested that Glen Tilt was in a north-ishdirection from where I left the surface road at Blair Athol. Secondly I carried acompass that swung crazily, but was really surplus to requirements anyway with thatglorious midday sun behind me and so indicating that north was in front of me.Thirdly, since the Youth Hostel that night would not supply meals, I invested in apound of sausages from the local butcher.

In fact this venture was not so irresponsible as it would seem, I had served acomprehensive apprenticeship with the Rough Stuff Fellowship in the North ofEngland. I was inspired by founder members like Albert Winstanley the cycle touringjournalist who, together with his family, introduced me to my first of many Lakelandcrossings. Another Rough Stuff specialist was Wilf Cooper with whom I shared manyadventures in the hills. He once led a group with their bikes up Striding Edge to thesummit of Helvelyn in the Lake District and, on another occasion gave a slide show

By Brian Charles

Cycle Ink #151 12

“The Cairngorms by bike above 3000 ft”. These two and others encouraged me togain further experience and confidence in mountain terrain.Glen Tilt was a bit of a doddle really, having a fairly well defined path, and one or twohalf decent bridges crossing the burns rushing down the side valleys. One bridgehowever appeared to be too far up a tributary, the path I was on was leading perhaps toa bridge out of sight around the mountain side so, knowing that the shortest distancebetween two points was a straight line, the bike was shouldered and I crossed theyoung river the hard way. The water level was not much above my knees but it wascold and the botttom was uneven and slippery. I cursed my impatience and staggeredon to the far bank. The River Tilt continued for mile after mile in a straight north-easterly direction with wild dramatic mountain scenery all around and by early eveningI had reached the northern end of the glen.

The hostel I wasaiming for was aself-catering oneat Inveray nearBreamar.Suddenly I wason a surfacedroad, glory be!My elation washowever shortlived becausethe Youth Hostelappeared after amile just when Iwas getting usedto the easyriding. TheWarden'scottage was amile or so further on and when I collected the keys I was told that nobody else wasexpected that night. I trekked back to the hostel and was met by an eerie silence as I letmyself in. After all day on my own I had been looking forward to some company thatevening!

As I opened the kitchen door to cook my sausages, I was confronted by the sight of alarge picture on the facing wall. The magnificent stag shown there in it's Highlandbackground was so realistic. Suddenly the picture became blurred, it's frame wastransferred into a window frame. Yes, the solitude of the deserted hostel had got tome. That ten-point monarch of the glen was no work of art at all. If he had beenexpecting food, standing there by the window he was to be unlucky, my sausageswould not stretch that far. Surely the Scottish red deer were not that tame. Was myimagination playing games? The “solo cycling with total freedom” theory was startingto wear a bit thin.

13 Cycle Ink #151

Next day dawned bright and clear which was just as well with my ambitious, somewould say foolhardy aims. The route lay, broadly speaking, from Breamar toAviemore over the Cairngorm mountains by way of the notorious Larig Ghru. Afterbreakfasting on sausages I prepared for the road (well track). Yes my faithful compasswas still swinging madly so I knew that it was working. Then I consulted my road atlasof Great Britain, and at this stage I must admit to having a little booklet called “HillPath Contours of the Chief Mountain Passes of Scotland” price one shilling (5peditor). I needed this to boost my morale so I re-read my favourite passage; “Everyfew years a cyclist takes his bicycle to speed the journey, although warned not to doso, invariably makes the attempt. As the bicycle has to be carried for about threemiles, it is difficult to understand why this is done”. Looking back on those days I amtempted to smile when I hear about the current “challenge rides”. But for me, all thoseyears ago, this was no challenge. I saw it as being the only way for a cyclist toexperience the true grandeur of the Scottish Highlands and adopting the Rough StuffFellowship principle of using a road bike, meant that when I got down off themountain I could eat up the miles with relative ease, compared to overcoming theenergy sapping rolling resistance of mountain bike tyres.

For a few miles the path (fit only for a mountain goat) was rideable. Putting to theback of my mind the metallic clanging of rims on rocks, I made good progress so aftera couple of hours I got the primus out and had a drum-up and took time to absorb mysurroundings. The Larig Ghru loomed over me and although it was early June therewas plenty of snow up there! I knew that I was approaching the summit when theboulder field began. With the bike on my shoulder I leapt from rock to rock, an ordealthat lasted for nearly a mile. Had I climbed higher on to the scree slopes I could haveavoided the boulders, but the late snow looked too treacherous for leather cyclingshoes. After some time there began a discernable downward inclination to the path andfar below me the valley of the River Spey started to emerge and I knew that thesurfaced road leading to Aviemore would be under my tyres within a few hours.

I decided to celebrate with a feast. Having endured a staple diet of sausages for thelast two days I was getting a bit browned off with the beasts, but the eagerlyanticipated three course meal at the hostel was some way off yet. The remaining twolooked a bit lonely sizzling there in the pan but I was glad to see the back of them. Itbegan to look as if my eccentric ambiition was about to be achieved. My road atlas ofGreat Britain had confounded criticism of the faint hearted and had got me within sightof my destination. The swinging compass had now settled down, although theindicating pointer was now showing that the mid-day sun was in the north! Baring asudden downturn in the weather I could now safely hurl the thing down themountainside. The track was now rideable and soon I was eating up the miles on asurfaced road. This had been a glorious ride over the Larig Ghru. It had been two daysof cycling at it's most rewarding. I had experienced a traffic free ride andhad enjoyed the solitude of the Scottish Highlands at their very best.However, I was glad of the company at Aviemore Youth Hostel but when Isat down to my evening meal I had a bit of a shock. I stared down at myplate. My worst fears had been realised. Sausage and mash!

Cycle Ink #151 14

August 2008. Saumur. La Semaine Fédérale. What a great week that was, eh? For thosewho aren’t quite sure what the event is, it is a week’s cycling rally in France, organisedby the FFCT and similar to the CTC Birthday Rides, but on a much larger scale. Thehost town changes each year and moves up and down the country to give a change ofscenery and to give, I suppose, cyclists the opportunity to attend without travelling toofar. It is also a good way to promote tourism in the area in question.

This year eight of us from the Bournemouth Section, me, Mike, Colin, Pete, John, Rosie,Paul and Mary decided this would be a good year to go for the first time. Paul and Marymade their own way in their camper while the rest of us took the official CTC tour withPam Pilbeam starting from Denmead (Portsmouth) and making our way to the ferry bycoach with the bikes on a covered trailer behind.

There were 24 of us plus Pam and we took the overnight ferry from Portsmouth toOuistreham and arrived on the Sunday to check into our hotel which was situated in thecentre of Saumur and overlooked the Loire. Following registration, we had a browsearound the “Permanence” an enclosed area in the town centre which contained manytrade stands and eating facilities for those who had registered for meals. After a goodmeal at our hotel we were looking forward to our first ride the following day .

There was a choice of 4 or 5 rides each day ( except Thursday - the picnic day ) thedistance varying between say 50 and 190 km. The rides were “ free choice “. There was

Semaine Federale 2008 By David Chesworth

15 Cycle Ink #151

no formal start/finish. You started and finished as suited you and if you wanted a dayoff, no problem. Six of us rode together, John and Rosie and Paul and Mary doing theirown thing , sometimes joining us and sometimes not. For most of the week we were alsoaccompanied by Valerie and Brian two of the others in our group and good companythey were too.

We had received on registration a series of IGN maps indicating the routes ( each routecolour coded ) and each map indicating the villages through we passed, distances andrefuelling stops etc. The organisation was superb. In addition to Marshalls there werealso Gendarmes at difficult crossing points. Saumur was certainly in festive mood. Therewere signs everywhere “ bienvenue aux cyclos” , “menus cyclos” . The Town Hall hada bike in front decorated with flowers, Several local pharmacies had bikes in theirwindows and we even saw three flower decorated bike frames suspended from abuilding! I believe that there are somewhere in the region of 12/15000 people who attendeach year but despite this Saumur seemed to cope very well and swallowed up the cyclistswithout difficulty.

The rides were arranged each day in a cloverleaf pattern around Saumur to show thesurrounding countryside. The “ Points d’Accueil” (welcome points) had tented seatingareas and all provided cold drinks ,coffee beer, wine and food, generally snacks and lightlunches. There was also music, sometimes recorded, sometimes an accordian or otherlive group entertainment and the atmosphere was always lively. At Longué, for instance,there was even a troup of local ladies of a certain age giving a dancing display, whichwent down very well with the substantial audience clapping and cheering for more.What courage! How long you stopped was up to you but we chose to do rides around the100 k mark which gave us time to see the sites en route and experience the fun of theday.

Sights of the Loire figured regularly throughout the week .but for me the most impres-sive was the view on the first day when we left St Rémy to cross the bridge to StMathurin-sur-Loire. The Loire in winter or after heavy rain can be wide, fast anddangerous but that day in August with the sky bright blue and the temperature in the mid30’s it was shrunken and quiet.Huge banks of sand arose from the riverbed and with noobvious development on the riverbank to spoil the view the sky seemed enormous. Webowled across the bridge and,full of adrenaline and joie de vivre, shot off on a deadstraight road to the chateau of Mazé and the next Accueil.

The next day was my birthday and ,going east from Saumur, and after a ride throughvineyards and fields filled with sunflowers, we reached Bourgueil to find a large bikejam at the main crossroads, This was not helped by the fact that it was market day. Thestreets were filled with stalls and large numbers of people and the whole place wasbuzzing. It seemed a good place to stop and we had a very relaxed half hour or sodrinking coffee and eating a celebratory gateau in the sun-drenched square.

And so the week continued. Hot sun, good riding and interesting sights. We visited thetroglodyte caves at Louresse-Rochemenier (no problems with Health and Safety there;

Cycle Ink #151 16

This afternoon I received some expected news from René Laffaiteur - that at theirAGM this week, Loïc stepped down from the presidency and was replaced by MarcColasse. This is good news for our connection. Marc is a longstanding twinner and canbe regarded as a good friend of ours together with the delightful Sylviane and theirequally delightful daughters.

Also they have a new secretary, Marie-Jo Lomi, who apparently has arrived in the areafrom Dijon where her husband was President of a cycling club.

“wheel your bikes through with you, monsieur”) and the wine caves at St Cyr en Bourg.No problem there either. The entrance led into a large dark tunnel lit at the side withcoloured lanterns. and looking like Santa’s Grotto. The crowd surged forward in thegloom to the little table dispensing small cups of the vineyard’s wine. At the side was aportable oven with a fire roaring inside and fed by wooden logs beneath. The local bakerwas making “ fouées’, something like a pitta bread which was filled with either jam orgoats cheese. These cost a couple of euros and there was quite a queue.

We all gradually made our way through the caves after the excitement of this foray andcontinued our way back to Saumur through the vineyards to have our last evening meal.Before we went to Saumur I had arranged with one of our friends from St Lô to meet ifpossible and we did in factmanage this during the week.Their group, who were stay-ing on the official camp site,invited us over for a drinkbefore dinner and we had avery convivial hour or sowith them. We never sawthem on the road though andit was surprising how thecountryside swallowed eve-rybody up.

Sunday was the day of thefinal parade and many riderstook part, either in club kit or national dress groups riding on a short circuit through thecentre of town. For our part we were interested onlookers while our bikes were loadedon to the trailer ready for our journey home. It had been a great week with goodcompanionship and lovely weather and Saumur, the FFCT and the local helpers haddone us all proud. This is an event well worth attending at sometime in one’s cyclinglife. Many French cyclists attend pretty much every year. It is , however,worth bearing in mind that, while the organisation etc. will be similar, thestyle and ambience (and weather) will reflect the host town and if you areintending to stay in a hotel and make your own arrangements, you will needto think about this a year or so in advance. Bonne chance!

More French News From Norman Payne

17 Cycle Ink #151

The rain forecast, and then the rain itself had a big effect on the numbers riding. Lastyear we had 310 enter on the day. This year we had 89. That is 221 less which equals£1,105 in lost fees. Postal entries were up by 104 which equals £364. 548 Entered 280Started 267 finished. Not the same as last year but we still made a profit.

Those that rode it enjoyed themselves. I have a couple of Emails as evidence. JimmyWalker our ex DA president led out at 9.30 and took some photos of the event as hewent round. They are on our website. www.wessexctc.org Click on "Bournemouth"then on "Gallery" then "Gridiron". They are worth a look.

My brother's sons persuaded a good number of their friends to come down fromBasingstoke to ride, which helped the numbers. They were not allowed to pull out!Then they had a knees-up in the pub after. Just to make a day of it!

We had about 20 people helping, Ralph sold Gridiron caps and medals at Boldre andtook £407. Keith did the advertising and the printing. I overestimated that by a mile.Most people download the entry form from our website and Keith sees to that too. 280riders are still hard work. So thank you to all who helped. I also think that with 280riders it can be counted as a successful event.

Next year's Gridiron is on the way. The halls are booked; Sunday 11th October 2009.

Gridiron 2008 From Terry Walsh

36 riders entered the firstBournemouth Square200km Audax randonneeon September 21st. Thefour who failed to turnup were exactly balancedout by the four whoentered on the line andall but one finished.

The one unlucky riderstripped his pedalclimbing out of MiddleWoodford. Araldite, anda coach bolt fromWarminster B&Q, got

Bournemouth Square 2008 From Brian Callow

Cycle Ink #151 18

him to Bruton and back to Gillingham before he finally, and very reluctantly, gave up.It was his second attempt to complete a 200km ride. It appears that the route wasreasonably accurate as everbody else found their way back.  Congratulations to JeffMogg who did successfully complete his first 200km despite being led astray by his satnav, missing the checkpoint.

A big thanks to Pete Loakes and Shawn Shaw for their help in getting this event off theground.  It would have gone a bit flat without their input! There was more traffic onthe Salisbury road than when Pete and I checked the route on a Thursday morning inAugust.  I can only think that the fine weather brought out the tourists.

Next year’s event is on the 20th September.  There will be official diversions with theroute-sheet for those who prefer hills to traffic. I am also working on a scenic variationthat cuts out all the main roads by going cross country to Wilton and thenback home via Corfe Castle.  Watch out for the Dorset Knob in 2010!

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From Eric’s Memory Banks From Eric Watson

General Section Riders from days of yore! This is what we looked like in the mid 80s!These and more on the website at: http://www.bournemouthctc.org/gallery.htm

Cycle Ink #151 20

From our reporterEric Watson

News from NetanyaBournemouth’s Twin Town in Israel

Hi Eric,

Just to share with you somenews about Netanya,published in the Israeli cyclingmagazine.

The Mayor, Miriam Feierberg,has declared Netanya as abicycle-friendly city, with con-struction of many kilometersof bicycle lanes, including atrail between Netanya andTel Aviv. A unique park forcyclists will also be construct-ed. To demonstrate her com-mitment she wasphotographed with a bike andhelmet.

Moshe Shamir

You may, or may not, be aware that there is an current application to increase faresto cross the (at most) 400 yards of water separating Sandbanks and Shell Bay. (seeweblink below)

http://www.sandbanksferry.co.uk/toll_application/toll_app.pdfI wasn't aware of this myself and only stumbled on the information from searchingthe web to find details as to the ferry's reopening.

As you will see, objections are invited and I have written to the DofT. I know thatMichael Evans has written similarly on behalf of the Dorset Cyclists' Network. Ifyou wish to convey your own comments to the Department, please do so.

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Cycle Ink #151 22

The committee meeting date is the deadline for Newsletter contributions. Editorialpolicy is to print all contributions, with minimal editing for the purposes of layoutonly. Contribute by any way you like. Photographs are welcome in any form.

http://www.bournemouthctc.org“CycleInk” is the Newsletter of CTC Bournemouth & District Member Group a group within the CTCWessex Area of the Cyclists’ Touring Club. Published four times a year for members. Views expressed

are not necessarily those of the club.

Contributions and Photographs

Informal Wayfarers Rides to BurleyThis ride happens every Saturday and is completely informal. There is no leaderand no back up, but generally an experienced cyclist somewhere around. Theroute 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 NewForest Tea Rooms, Burley for 10:00