NORTHERN NEWS

Number 150

Dec 06

MERRY CHRISTMAS

& a Happy new year

HON SEC’S JOTTINGS by John Bedford

Clubroom will be closed on Tuesday 26^th December (Boxing Day) but will be open on Tuesday 2^nd January. There will be free mincepies on Tuesday 19^th December.

Birmingham Winter Clubroom at Carrs Lane Church Centre, Birmingham Centre at 7-30pm, admission £2.

Tuesday Jan 9^th ‘Biking in Brazil’ by John Bennett

From modern city to remote jungle.

Tuesday Feb 13^th ‘Cycling Lhasa to Katmandu via Everest Base

Camp’ by Mark Rutter

The complete trip by bicycle.

Tuesday Mar 13^th ‘Why don’t you fly?’ by Chris Smith

Bewdley to Beijing by bike.

Check out www.cycletochina.com

Dates for your new diary

Mar 3^rd. Cycle jumble at Erdington. Tables still available at £7.

Mar 24^th–25^th Daffodil Rides. Club weekend at Ross-on-Wye.

April 22^nd. Club Audax

May 12^th-13^th Meriden Weekend

Our 150^th issue. Whilst the Northern News first appeared in 1947, it was dormant when I joined the Section. The first issue I produced was in January 1987, a single sheet of A4. Over the years the content has increased and a regular 6 week pattern established, thanks to contributions from club members. I am hoping that we can shortly add some colour photos to make the presentation more up-to-date and interesting. This is probably one of a very few CTC magazines that is free to members. Please keep the contributions rolling in.

PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION by Simon Davies

The photo competition took place on November 28^th. There were twenty entries that provided much interest and amusement for the attendees of the club night. In joint first place were Sylvia Sharples and Dave Ross’s wonderful picture of New Zealand’s Lake Tekapo, and Simon Davies’s summer mountain biking shot. The runners up were: Bill Drake, John Bedford and Chris Jones. If you missed the display you can see a selection of the pictures on the Northern website www.NorthBirminghamCTC.co.uk by clicking on ‘Gallery’ and then selecting ‘Northern Photographic Competition 2006’. Many thanks to all those who took part and made it a great event

QUIZ EVENING by Mary Evans

This was also held on Tuesday 28^th November. Dave and Sylvia won the Cycling Quiz with Anselm Waters and Jim Muir coming a close second. Well done everyone! Thankyou for supporting us.

PARK CYCLES

STRONGLIGHT 80 RINGS.

These have now been discontinued but we have these still in stock

28-34T £10, 36-44T £12, 46-52T £14

Lichfield CTC

New Year Lunch

As always, you are welcome to join Lichfield CTC at their Annual New Year Lunch.

Sunday 28^th January 2007

The Moorings, Darnford Lane, Lichfield

Please see Sylvia (0121 308 5433) or Ann (01543 432748) for details.

NEW ENGLAND IN SEPTEMBER by John Bedford

Once again it was down to Heathrow for an overnight stay at the Quality Inn prior to our flight to Boston. The evening was spent cycling and exploring a new route towards Terminal 4, but darkness

came too soon for us to complete the mission. We had planned to have a birthday meal at The Ostrich at Colnbrook, within walking distance of our hotel, but were disappointed to find it closed for a short while.

At last we landed in Boston. The Rodeway Inn at Revere had been pre-booked, and as this was Saturday there were no restrictions on putting bikes on the ‘T’ or underground, to get away from the airport.

Next day we took the fast-ferry from Boston to Provincetown on Cape Cod. The seas were rough, due to the tailend of Hurricane Helen, and poor Beryl suffered with seasickness for about an hour of the 1 ½ hour journey.

Provincetown was a delightful place to stay and wander around in the warm evening sun. Our motel was close to the Pilgrim’s Memorial, the tallest all-granite structure in the USA. Next day we made our way to Hyannis, mainly on a 28 mile cyclepath which was originally the local railway. Being the weekend there were a lot of cyclists, walkers and skaters on the path, but it kept us off the roads for about half the journey. We also took a side turning to see the Eastham windmill. This had been built at Plymouth (USA) in the 1680s. Later it was floated across the sea to Truro, moved to Eastham in 1793 and relocated again in 1808!

The plan had been to visit the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, but Beryl wasn’t risking being seasick again, so we made our way north straight for Plymouth the next day. We cycled some of the Cape Cod Cycleway, but had difficulty finding the entry to the bridge over the canal. At the far side was a Tourist Information Office and we had a long chat to the lady here. We also learnt that a major road scheme was to be introduced in this area, but I am not sure how this might affect cyclists in the future.

At Plymouth we visited some of the usual tourist sites such as Plymouth Rock (1620), where the Mayflower docked, before we headed west. For the next couple of days we were mainly on main roads, though there wasn’t too much traffic. This was a well wooded area with some delightful houses.

A couple of days later we arrived at Sturbridge with its old village. Before leaving we spent a leisurely 3 hours looking around, sitting in the sun and drinking coffee. Here we spotted a water snake and took many photos of this delightful spot. We stopped for lunch at Brimfield, known as the antiques centre of the US. There were acres of marquees – fortunately it was midweek so no crowds at all. I made a change of plan and ended up, through lack of proper planning at the Holiday Inn at Springfield. This cost us an expensive £83 without breakfast, with another £27 for the evening meal. It was fortunate that we had some muffins which did us for breakfast.

We continued westwards, the countryside becoming hillier. In fact some hills were so steep we ended up walking a number of times. Cafes were non existent. A local cyclist suggested we aim for The Inn at New Boston, and we arrived at 3pm for a very late lunch. A quick look at the map showed that it would be feasible to stay here the night and still be on target. We thought last night was expensive, but this was £95, plus £33 for the excellent evening meal! The Inn was built in 1737 and claims to be the oldest continuous inn in the USA.

Our next day took us to Lee with the tallest wooden church spire in the States. We also went on the Berkshire scenic Railway which slowly rumbled its way to Stockbridge and back. It was a relaxing 1 ½ hours, but we’ve been on much more interesting and picturesque rides.

Leaving Lee next day we had a climb out of the valley and along the Jacob’s Ladder Trail. The roads were quiet through the Berkshire Hills area. Once again cafes were almost non-existent, but we managed to get a sandwich and coffee at Huntington Village Store, and cherry pie and icecream at a farm shop in the middle of the afternoon. The temperature had been in the 80s during the day and we’d had a lovely ride. Northampton was a bustling town and we had a long chat with another English couple whilst having our evening meal. It was still 75 degrees when we walked back to our hotel at 8pm

Next day we followed another old railway cycle trail, the Norwottuck, for 10 miles. The railroad had been built in 1887 and went to Boston on the coast. Passenger services continued until 1932 and freight until 1979. The cycletrail opened in 1993. Here Beryl saw a painted turtle, along with snakes basking on the trail, and we got talking to one of the locals riding a recumbent. Actually we had many conversations with locals – it’s something the Americans appear to do more easily than us Brits. Leaving the trail the road was undulating but cyclable and very pleasant. The Copper Lantern Motor Lodge at West Brookfield was pretty remote and a good miles walk to the Salem Cross Inn for our evening meal. Who do you believe? This inn also claims to be the oldest in the country, having been built in 1707. We had an excellent meal, but when we went to leave it was pouring with rain. A bit of cheek is useful sometimes and I managed to persuade a couple of local ladies to take us back to our motel. They dropped us right outside the door!

We were in some very historical locations next day. We also came across another cycletrail quite unexpectedly. This was the Springfield line of the Central Massachusetts Railway. Not very long, downhill and unpaved through some woods. Leominster that evening was an uninspiring town. We also had difficulty finding the Super 8 motel as smoothhound, the accommodation website I use, gave the wrong address.

At Concord we had a long chat with the lady in the visitor centre before going off to find the Battle Road where the War of Independence (1775) took place. If the British had not lost then America might still have been a British colony! Whilst not a history buff I must admit I found this area very interesting, but have forgotten most of the detail already. Whilst we were enjoying very acceptable temperatures for September, there were reports of snow in the Rockies. Good job we went there in June!

The last cycling day took us along The Minuteman cycle trail, one that we had done a few years earlier. A couple of their underground trains across Boston got us effortlessly (and cheaply) back to the Rodeway Inn at Revere for the last night. It was good job I’d booked this one as it was already full when we arrived. Next day it was back to Boston Airport for the overnight flight, finishing off yet another great American tour.

On the way through Boston we stopped off at one of their AAA offices to pick up some free road maps in anticipation of future American tours. AA membership not only allowed us to get these maps, but at a number of hotels we were able to obtain a 10% discount.

If any member wishes to try touring in America, New England can be recommended and I would be happy to pass on any knowledge we have gleaned on our two trips to this area. Boston also has the advantage of only about a 6 hour flight time from Heathrow.

NOSATALGIA by Brian Langdell

Northern News Mar-May 1952

Members of the Northern were a tough bunch. One article describes a ride when it rained all day, yet they still continued to the Cotswolds in early March. An older member showed the ‘youngsters’ the benefit of wrapping wet feet in newspaper before putting their shoes back on. Another ride had been to the top of Liveridge Hill, leaving at 7pm to ride home in a snowstorm. Notice was given of the usual ’50 in 4 ‘ and ‘100 in 8’ rides, but also a 200 miles in 24 hours (32 entries!). Despite all this toughness it was surprising how many had failed the medical for National Service.

The Northern sent a group to the ‘Working Boys Home’ at Vauxhall to ‘spread the gospel’. About 20 lads were there between the ages of 14 to 18. From their earnings they were allotted a small sum each week for spending money and a further sum banked for them. When the banked money was sufficient they could buy items such as a bicycle. Club members showed them slides of day rides around Birmingham, and touring further afield. This was followed by a question and answer session.

The Easy Riders section took a group of youngsters from the Erdington Cottage homes for a days cycling. They went across Canwell and the children were disappointed that the ford was too deep for them to cycle through. They then tried to cross Hopwas Woods by tracks, but had to divert due to firing on the rifle range. The children had a nice sit-down plain tea and the good lady reduced the charge from 1/9D to 1/6D. They returned in the dark past the TV mast to Erdington and home.

Wilsons cycle shop were advertising a chain link extractor small enough to be stored inside the handlebars. They also said ‘double clangers’ were becoming popular and that Simplex was marketing adapters to convert 3 arm cranks to take 5 pin rings and vice versa. Dave Wilson wrote an article on the ‘new superbe gear from Italy’. This Campagnolo gear was the first to have a swinging parellelogram action. He listed many advantages including the fact that the gear did not protrude and would not be damaged if the bike fell over. He also said it was expensive at £3.18.6. (weekly wage was then £6 unskilled, £8 skilled, so was well over £100 in today’s money). Even so the first batch quickly sold out and a new order issued.

The Northern had an evening visit to Telephone House in the city centre. The report attempts to explain the complex mechanisms that made the telephone connections but sounded very crude by today’s technology. They came away with some useful ’insider’ information on how to make a 4d telephone call for 3d!

KILLER CLIMB by Steve Stansfield

PEGEIA near PAPHOS, CYPRUS

I appreciate that Cyprus is not quite local for UK cyclists but thought a

killer hill located there would provide a new dimension for our regular

riders. The ride I have in mind consists of two separate hills with a

further extension of the ride should more punishment be desired.

Both hills start from the coastal road at Coral Bay, the first from the

junction with the above bay and this goes straight through the village of

Pegeia, until the Hotel ZUCHINNI is reached. The other route being

about 2 miles further west again starting from the coastal road and also

being sign posted Pegeia. By following the sign for Pegeia the same

point outside the hotel will be reached. Both climbs are approx. 2.5

miles long and are on good road surfaces, the route through the village

being more undulating and busy with traffic, than the by-pass which is

virtually traffic-free. The maximum gradient on both being 9% however

I find the by-pass route to be the tougher climb since it is constant with

no respite until the top is reached.

The difficulty of these rides depends to no small degree on the time of

day or year they are ridden, a cool winter morning being a completely

different proposition to midday in the summer!

The rider is rewarded with magnificent sea views both on the way up

and an excellent photo point at the top.

The descent is naturally a fast one back down to the coastal road.

The cycle I used is a GIANT OCR 3 with a triple chain set using all

the gears available, climbing not being my greatest asset.

If the rider is feeling energetic, by following the signs for KATHIKAS

the ride is extended by approx. 5 miles of constant climbing and the

rider can then enjoy further spectacular views and the hospitality of a

choice of local tavernas located in and around the village.

Finally, Paphos itself has its own airport located about 10 miles outside

the town, with Pegeia being a further 5 miles away. Self catering

accommodation is freely available in this area and I would gladly assist

with further information should anyone wish to visit this beautiful island

in order undertake this particular ride.

I LIKE the challenge, particularly of going on to Kathikas, good road

surfaces, wonderful weather and spectacular sea views.

I HATE the difficulty encountered if attempting the longer climb in

extreme temperatures.

English to be the only Official EU Language? from Sylvia Sharples

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase- in plan that would become known as Euro-English.

In the first year, s will replace the soft c. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard c will be dropped in favour of k. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing public enthusiasm in the second year when the troublesome ph will be replaced with f. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the third year, public akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expected to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will encourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horid mes of the silent e in the language is digrasful and it should go away. By the 4th yer peop wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing th with z and w with v.

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary 0 kan be dropd from vords containing ou and after ziz fifz yer, ye vil hay a reil sensibi riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trub or difikultis and evrivun vii find it ezi tu understand ech za. Ze drem of a united urop vii finali kum tru.

NB: If xis mad you smil pleas pas on to oza pepi.

The Lesson of the Water Mill

Listen to the Water Mill all the live-long day,

How the creaking of the wheels wears the hours away.

Languidly the water glides, useless on and still,

Never coming back again to that water mill.

The proverb haunts my mind, like a spell that is cast,

The mill will never grind with the water that has passed.

Take the lesson to yourselves, loving hearts and true,

Golden years are fleeting by, youth is fleeting too.

Try to make the most of life, lose no honest way,

Time will never bring again chances passed away.

Leave no tender word unsaid, love while life shall last,

The mill will never grind with the water that has passed.

Work while the daylight shines, man of strength and will,

Never does the streamlet glide, useless by the mill.

Wait not till tomorrow’s sun beams upon your way, All that you can call your own lies in this today.

Power, intellect and strength may no – cannot – last,

The mill will never grind with the water that has passed.

O the wasted hours of life that have drifted by,

O the good we might have done, lost without a sigh,

Love that we once have saved with but a single word,

Thoughts conceived, but never penned, perishing unheard.

Take this lesson to your heart, take and hold it fast,

The mill will never grind with the water that has passed.

When John & I had our family celebration of our 70^th birthdays, we cycled from Center Parcs to a lovely old water-mill. This poem was on the wall, and I thought people might enjoy reading it. Beryl.

A CHRISTMAS CRACKER

Q. What award goes to designers of door knockers?

A. A No Bell Prize

NEXT COPY DATE – TUESDAY 16^th JANUARY.