NORTHERN NEWS

Number 159                                                                                                                                              Jan 08

                  

 

A Favourite View by Frank Patterson

 

 

NEXT COPY DATE TUESDAY 26th FEBRUARY

 

HON SEC’S JOTTINGS                                                                                                          by John Bedford

DA 50 mile in 4 or 5 hours Standard Ride.  This will be held on Sun 9th March from the Bull’s Head, Earlswood, leaving at 9am. Cost £5 including free food at control. Proceeds to Air Ambulance Service. Further details Reg Elliott – 01564 779625

The White Horse Weekend is being held at Chippenham on 4-6th April, and not Cheltenham as on the Rides Programme. There’s still time to make a booking for this weekend away. See www.chippenhamwheelers.co.uk for details, or contact Beryl or myself. Besides taking the ‘shop’ I will be doing a slideshow on the Saturday evening of our American Rockies trip over Trail Ridge, where we climbed to over 12000 feet.

Saturday Morning Rides. As there have recently been some changes to Leaders I thought it would be worth spelling this out in more detail:

Fast Group. Geoff Howle compiles and distributes a quarterly list with the leadership being shared amongst most riders,

Intermediate Groups. Chris Jones leads one group each week. The other group is led by:-

Dave Frost from Blake St Station, Alec Dines from Streetly Gate, Steve Dressler from Boldmere Gate.

Slow Ride. John Griffin from Blake St Station, Val Jones from Streetly Gate, Jim Muir from Boldmere Gate.

It would be helpful if leaders would make themselves known to the riders at 10am so that a prompt getaway can be achieved. With the Intermediate riders an attempt should be made to achieve two equal sized groups. The Fast Riders should leave first, followed by the Intermediate riders, leaving a recognizable gap between these two groups. The Slow riders should be the last to leave. If this is done then there should be less chance of riders finding themselves in the wrong group.

Club Riding. Concern has been expressed about the group riding behaviour of some of our members, and this was discussed at the last Committee meeting. Tom agreed to write about this for the NN. Please read this as I am sure we can all learn something, even after many years of club cycling.

Wishing you all many happy and safe miles in 2008

 

DATES FOR YOUR NEW DIARY

Birmingham Clubroom, Carrs Lane Church Centre, 7.30pm   £2

Tues. 12th February. ‘Cycling on a Stamp’ by Sue Thorne.

Tues. 11th March. ‘Goaway’ by Ray Ayland.

Shenstone Clubroom There will be a demonstration of Indoor Gardening by Brian Wheat on Tuesday 29th January.

There will be a short slideshow by John Bedford on ‘Cycletouring in Arizona’ on Tuesday 4th March

Pre-Jumble Sale. This will be held on Tuesday 26th Feb at the Clubroom. Now is the time to have a good clearout in the garage and donate those unwanted cycle bits & pieces to the Club. The pre-jumble  is an opportunity to do some trading amongst ourselves. It is suggested that any bits that are not sold be donated to the Club for sale on 1st March.

Cycle Jumble Sale on Saturday 1st March at Erdington Methodist Church Hall, Station Road, from 10 to 1pm. Admission 50p. There are usually some very good bargains available. There are a few tables left at £7 each. Volunteers to set up on the Friday night and to help on Saturday would be welcome. Along with the Audax this is our main source of income. Club members benefit from the free Northern News (most clubs charge for their magazine) and a subsidy on many social events.

Highbury Little Theatre

Contact Mary Evans on 308 1306 if you would like to attend the following:

6-17th May: “Neville’s Island”.

BBQ. Katie Price is holding another BBQ on Easter Sunday, 23rd March. Please try & keep the date free.

The Lichfield Lunch will be held on Sunday 27th January, at The Moorings. Bookings will be taken by Ann Watkins, Sylvia Sharples and John & Beryl Bedford. There is a menu choice, the cost is £15 and closing date is 20th January.

Heart of England Rally and Memorial Service is on Sat 17th and Sunday 18th May at Meriden. Audax and led rides, along with an evening meal and entertainment. Programme available soon.

Club Audax is on Sunday 20th April. Details from Geoff Findon.

 

THE HIGHWAY CODE & MORE                                                                                            by Tom Moore

 

The latest edition of The Highway Code, Revised 2007 Edition, has recently been published and, by now, we should all have our own copies. If you haven’t, I recommend you buy The Department of Transport publication rather than one published by organizations such as The AA. As well as familiarizing ourselves with the changes it is also opportune to revise our knowledge. Although we should have a good knowledge of all its aspects there are sections specifically relating to cycling and cyclists.

 

Note:    1. Legally, if any part of your cycle is on the ground it is a vehicle and relevant sections of the law and Highway Code apply.

            2. Sections of the HC and law specific to motorized vehicles do not apply to non-motorised cycles.

            3. In particular, see p4 ‘Introduction’ and p123 ‘The road user and the law’.

 

As The Highway Code does not consider implications of group riding with regard to safety and consideration to other road users, we also have our own, limited written ‘Code of Conduct’. In future editions of the NN we shall consider these implications and how we should ride to achieve these objectives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PARK CYCLES ARE NOW STOCKING

THE AERON FRAME BY RIDLEY.

 

This fast touring/Audax frameset has clearance and eyelets for mudguards and has rear rack braze-ons.

7005 Heat treated Aluminium. Carbon fibre forks.

 

Frame, forks and fitted headset only £250.

CUSTOM BUILDS AVAILABLE

from £550 Straight bars, or £650 Drop bars.

 

TREAT YOURSELF TO A NEW BIKE FOR THE SPRING

 

 

The 21st World Scout Jamboree                                                                                                by Rachel Howle

 

As you may remember, I held a cake sale at the coffee stop at my house for the Saturday Ride last July in aid of the 21st World Scout Jamboree. I would like to thank all those who attended and supported me.

 

From 28th July until 7th August, over 38 000 Scouts and Guides from around 160 countries gathered in Hylands Park in Chelmsford, Essex to celebrate the Centenary of Scouting. The theme this year was “One World, One Promise,” showing that no matter where or how we live,

our participation in Scouts joins us together equally. World Scout Jamborees are held every four years in countries across the globe and although we only had to travel for two hours, we still had to go through a selection process to represent the United Kingdom.

 

At the selection evening last February, I met around 30 girls who also wanted to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity. We took part in lots of activities, including a short pantomime style play and building a tower out of jelly babies and spaghetti to show how well

we could work as a team. About a week afterwards, I received a letter to tell me that I had been selected and that I was going to the Jamboree. I was so excited! The18 Guides selected were joined with 18 male Scouts and four leaders, who had all been similarly chosen, to

make up Birmingham Scout and Guide Unit, UK Unit 007. From our first meeting, we started planning how to raise the £1000 we each needed. As a group, we packed people’s bags at supermarkets, did a sponsored climb, washed cars and sold cakes and badges. Individually,

I received many kind donations, I organised a beetle drive

at my Brownies, held a stall at Sutton Carnival, and made and sold cards and cakes.

 

Our group met at least every 6 weeks with the troop becoming slightly more excited at each meeting than the previous. We also had a reception with the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, four camps and two parties. When 26th July 2007 finally came, I knew everybody in the troop really well, and felt so happy to be able to spend the Jamboree with all 39 of my new friends.

 

Over the Jamboree there were 8 days of timetabled activities: We spent a day in each of the World Villages; Terraville and Aquaville experiencing the cultures of different countries. I helped make (and ate!) lots of food, including a variety of crêpes, bread and some Czech

sweets. I also made an Italian mosaic, a glass painting and a new woggle for all my new neckerchiefs! In one marquee I was shown how to do an African fire dance, and in another I was persuaded to try the Austrian Waltz. These days were really fun, and I learnt lots while talking to new and interesting people.

 

We also had three half-days of choice time, when you could do nearly anything; from skateboarding to visiting cafes from different countries to having a massage... to sleeping! We spent a morning learning how to make recycling fun, using disused shopping trolleys and bikes as musical instruments, and another morning learning about the four elements of the Earth. As well as the on-site activities, we travelled away from the campsite on three days.

 

At Gilwell Park we completed an assault course, went swimming and made various crafts and at Alton Water Reservoir I learnt the basics of sailing. I was even trusted with a small saw to help complete a project at Hatfield Forest where the Scouts from all over the world had

been working to clear some paths to make the forest more manageable. As well as the timetabled days, there was also 3 days of official ceremonies, when we wore our uniform and went into the main arena together. I think that these ceremonies were the most amazing part of

my time there, as I saw so many different uniforms and flags, some from countries which I didn’t even know existed!

 

From 7.30 ‘til 10.30 there was an evening programme, when one night we had the chance to perform a dance or song to the rest of our sub-camp (2000 people) and we put on a James Bond Sketch, due to us being UK unit 007. Other nights included Challenge 100, a big team

challenge to complete 100 smaller challenges as a unit, a karaoke night and three parties in the main arena. One of my favourite memories was dancing at the opening party with around 10 people who I didn’t know, from Brazil, China and Japan. I would usually never dance, but I lost any worries I had when I saw everybody else so happy

and smiling at each other.

 

I had the time of my life at the jamboree, and I will cherish the memories forever. Thank you again for helping me to attend.

 

AN AFTERNOON RIDE                                                                                                          by John Bedford

 

Sunday 5th January started with a very icy morning and I was due to lead the C Ride. Mary rang and said the roads were so icy at Mere Green that she would not be coming on the ride. This set me thinking – why not have an afternoon ride?

 

I rang around the likely riders, which led to 10 of us turning up at Mere Green at 2 o’clock. By now the roads were clear of ice and the sun was out. Florascape was the chosen destination, going out via Canwell Estate. Mere Green Road is busy on a Sunday afternoon so I turned off down St. James Road, round to Grange Lane, Worcester Lane and Dutton Lane, hardly seeing a car on the way to Canwell.

 

At Hints I guessed that most of our riders would never have seen some of the village, so we turned right down the ‘dead end’ road. It was many years since I went down there, and I was surprised how long the road was. On the way back we found that the Church was open and some of us took the opportunity to have a look inside.

 

We continued with the climb up the old A5, turning left at the top, past the original home of Twycross Zoo. Then it was downhill to Hopwas, looping round the back lane and eventually arriving at Florascape.

 

Time for coffee, tea and cake before setting off home, taking the old lane behind Foseco to the entrance of Drayton Manor Park. The steady climb through Drayton Bassett and along Shirrall Drive was taken at a comfortable pace.

 

Dennis and Sheila were the first to leave us along the Tamworth Road, with the others dropping off on the way to Mere Green, with myself arriving home just in the dark.

 

Rather than waste a day’s cycling when the morning weather is very bad, the alternative could be to have an arrangement to have a short ride, starting at 2pm, if conditions have improved by then.

 

NOSTALGIA                                                                                                 by Brian Langdell

Northern News Feb-Mar 1953

 

The Northern News was starting its seventh year, Joint editors were now Jean and Albert Bolton who were very pleased when a large manufacturer of duplicating machines requested specimen copies to show to prospective customers.

 

The Treasurer (Bob Garnett) was steadily building up sales to the target of 100 copies per monthly issue. The NN was sold for 3D but cost 7D to produce, the difference being covered by the revenue paid by advertisers in the mag.

 

Howard Powell’s advert was offering ‘Your name on your frame’ free for new cycles or 5 shillings on a respray.

 

Christmas 1952 at Wall under Haywood (Wenlock Edge) was well attended, everyone cycling there. After supper the men decorated the Christmas tree. Next morning all the men had their presents delivered to the bedrooms by ‘Mother Xmas’ and the girls by ‘Father Christmas’. Walks in the day, evening games into the early hours. They even had a table tennis tournament. The last night the party went to bed at 3am except for 4 hardy cyclists who set off at this time for home on icy roads, having to be in work that day.

 

Back on the home patch, a group on the Xmas morning ride were leaving the Plough and Harrow, Shenstone when a pony came tearing past with reins dangling. Three of the Club gave chase on their bikes but were on the outskirts of Lichfield before they could stop it. Fortunately the animal calmed down and meekly trotted alongside one of the cyclists who held on tightly to the rein. By now they were wondering what to do with it and were pleased to see back at Shenstone two farm hands out searching for the pony.

 

The Northern decided to visit the Cycle Show (Nov 52) in London and made an early start on Saturday, a ghostly ride in mist. After leaving a Transport Café they were met with icy cold rain. This eventually eased off but approaching London they had thick fog to contend with which made locating Highgate YH difficult. Leaving the bikes at the hostel they went to ‘Lyons’ for a meal and then to the show. Many cycles and frames to see and a film ‘Spinning Wheels’. They had a rush to get back to the hostel by 10pm. Jean said she felt at this stage as if she was sleepwalking! Next morning was very cold with a heavy frost. They left London via the Watford by-pass with a severe head wind making Aylsbury by lunch. On the way to Banbury Jean (Bolton) developed a bad headache and a severe dose of the ‘knock’, and had to catch the train. (Jean wrote this article and was quite embarrassed to admit defeat – after that ride I would have been on the train too!) The others battled on, delayed by a puncture and 6 broken spokes and got home very late ‘with a starry sky glittering above them’.

 

A SCOTTISH CHALLENGE                                                                                            by Maurice Purser

 

Well, now, there were these four chaps: Rich; Stephen; Tony and Oliver. One in his early 40s, t’others mid-50s.

 

Each and every one a true cyclist of the best sort. Three lived up in Burnley and Rich from our own Whittington, and with our present ease of communication they’d put their heads together and decided to do something just that bit out of the ordinary.

 

The one deciding factor was that the ride they planned was to take no more than a day-and-a-half.

 

The Great Glen Cycle Route was their objective, and so after lunch at Fort William they jumped astride their mountain bikes and were off. Between here and their target, the North Sea, some of the most dramatic landscape in Scotland was waiting for them – 80 miles or so of a cycle path with a mixture of minor roads, towpaths and forest tracks laid out by the Forestry Commission with the mountain biker very much in mind – and these lads were in their element right from the start.

 

The Caledonian Canal was in sight for most of the way – sometimes this side of the path, sometimes t’other, with a walker’s path winding its way in between.

 

Neptune waterway loch, or the ‘staircase’, was filled with craft of all sorts waiting their turn to climb up or down.

 

At Invergarry the path got itself all mixed up with itself, the road, river and canal before a long steep climb (they all rode it by the way) and their first taste of forest tracks, with a grand plunge down and down to a rather peculiar bed and breakfast over in Fort Augustus – more of that some other time maybe. The town was overflowing with lots of outdoor folk living it up – Glasgow was holding a sort of holiday – but they all made way for our quartet.

 

Now the one and only full day’s riding started slap by the side of Loch Ness.

 

You can imagine the view as the track clung righ to the loch-side for mile after mile with waterfalls all around. Another bit of a detour for a mile or so up Glen Moriston, then back to that loch-side with Telford’s Bridge easing the way.

 

Ove at Drumnadrochit the lads paid a short visit to Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness, but the monster was not obliging that day so back to that

 

 

 

cycle path as it drew away from the loch side to climb steeply through some of the finest forest tracks of the whole trip – and the length of Glen Corvinth and so on to their target – Inverness.

 

The A82 was a bit of an anti-climax, but it was not to be avoided for the last few miles.

 

For a final whoop one of the lads had picked up on his mobile that his home town of Burnley had actually won their match against Bristol so book in a hotel, clean up and out for a good curry and a great feeling of satisfaction – they had done it.

 

 

 

 

A CRACKING TIME                                                                                                            by John Bedford

 

When did you last look at your cranks? I mean, really look at them carefully and closely. It’s something I haven’t been in the habit of doing. Perhaps if I had done so then I might not have taken a tumble on a Wednesday afternoon fast ride. It wasn’t a very good start to the New Year.

 

We were just approaching Hilton from Lynn, and I stood on the pedals on the slight slope, when bang! Close examination of the broken crank shows that, by the discolouration, the crack had been there some time.

Fortunately Paul had his mobile, Beryl was at home and was able to pick me up in the Berlingo. I suffered a loss of dignity, a bruise on my hip and scuffing to the elbow.

 

Incidently, if you are using aluminium components on a steel frame it is essential to use a suitable barrier grease between the steel and aluminium. Failure to do so can lead to the seat post or handlebar stem becoming fused with the frame – which can be expensive to rectify. Whilst doing some greasing, remember to grease the threads on that most neglected part of the bike, the bottom bracket.

 

BIKERS: A NUDE DAY                                                                                                             by John Bedford

 

In June 2006 Beryl and I did an epic tour in the American Rockies where we rode the Trail Ride, a route that is 52 miles between towns, and climbs to 12,198 feet. What I didn’t report was the event in the town of Boulder the very day we arrived. But of course we arrived fairly late in the day to miss what could have been another highlight of the tour, a Naked Cycle Ride! I’ve extracted the following from the local paper.

 

‘Dozens on Saturday were slathering sunscreen where the sun doesn’t usually shine.

 

Boulder residents participated in the third annual naked bike ride as part of World Naked Bike Ride, an international mass of cyclists who, each June, abandon their underwear to protest oil dependency whilst having some summertime fun.

 

“Why protest if you don’t get noticed” said Scot Colburn, who moderates the group’s email list.

 

Wearing nothing but a helmet and shoes, Colburn said, “This is a good way to get noticed.”

 

The group – which ‘disorganisers’ counted at 58 people, about three-quarters male – attracted applause, cheers, whistles and honks as they cruised down Pearl Street and the Boulder Creek path.

 

Locals lunching at outdoor cafes gaped, residents shopping in downtown stores ran outside to catch a glimpse, and groups of friends floating down Boulder Creek on inner tubes stopped dead in their tracks, standing up mid-water and craning their necks for a better glimpse.

 

All across town bystanders captured the scene on their mobile phone cameras.

 

Conspicuously missing from the mix were the police, who stopped the cyclists last year but did not issue any tickets.

 

No police officials stopped the nudists during the two hours of their ride, which included a nude swim in Boulder Creek.

 

In Boulder it is illegal to publicly expose genitals for the purpose of sexual gratification, though an officer who interrupted the ride last year said that it would be hard to show that this ride was sexually motivated.

 

“There’s nothing better, said one man, “than being naked and riding a bike with all your friends on a warm Saturday.”

 

 

RECYCLED YARNS (20)                                                                                                  by Arthur  McHugh

 

Few people can look as smug as my friend Davenport.   If there was a competition for looking smug, he would certainly win – unless the Prime Minister or the Archbishop of Canterbury happened to be a contestant.

 

One day recently, Davenport was positively radiating smugness; so much so, that he barely had the energy to keep his pedals turning.   We were cycling together on a canal-path, one of those lovely new routes designed to get us all interested in the daily life of the water-rat.   Sundry wild-life quacked, twittered, squeaked and croaked around us as we bowled along.   Morose anglers gazed despondently into the water, lost in their tiddler-haunted universe.

 

Curious to know what was in my companion’s mind, I said “Come on, then, Davenport, what’s up?  

 

It was clear that he wanted to tell me, but at his own pace.   “The editor’s been on to me,” he smirked.

 

This surprised me.   Why would he contact Davenport?   Like other members of our cycling club, the editor is well aware that involvement with the old sleazo is usually messy and unproductive; it can also damage the wallet.   But it soon became clear that for once Davenport was telling the truth.   To my astonishment, the editor had asked him to produce a piece for the magazine.

 

At this point we had to dismount and proceed single-file through a tunnel, so conversation was temporarily suspended   It was a longish tunnel, ill-lit and cold, the sort of place that kills off any flickering interest you might have in our industrial heritage;  clinging to the slimy walls were creatures that it’s best not to think about.   As we went along, I ruminated on what Davenport had been saying – but I was no wiser when we emerged into the daylight, so I asked for details.

 

“What he wants,” grinned Davenport, “is something about you for a change.   Not about me.   Something colourful that would interest the readers.   I was thinking of featuring some of your little foibles…hosing the neighbour’s cat, for instance…cheating at snooker…habitual lying…that unfortunate problem with the Russian waitress…Can’t get much more colourful than that, can we?”

 

Into my mind swam a pleasing image of waterborne police dredging the canal for Davenport and his bicycle.   But for the moment I said nothing.   Knowing that Davenport is both idle and semi-literate, I thought the editor might yet come to regret the effort to pep up his periodical.   I decided to wait and see.

 

For the next hour or so, nothing much passed between us.   Davenport, a man normally quite oblivious to the natural world, wittered on about grass and suchlike in a blatant attempt to restore communication between us.   For my part, I kept my eye on the path and tried to run over any creepy-crawly I saw:  mostly I missed, but one or two successes cheered me up no end.   In due course we arrived at the canal basin, its sunlit water shimmering before us.   There were bright-painted narrow boats aplenty, each with its crew of barristers and dentists, everyone in nautical garb.

 

We adjourned forthwith to the “Pheasant Plucker”, a popular pub by the water’s edge.   Since I was paying, Davenport ordered the house speciality – pheasant marinated in champagne – and I had my usual cheddar-and-pickle baguette.   Mellowing somewhat as he ate and drank, Davenport remarked casually:  “Maybe I’ll need some advice on that piece for the magazine…”   The upshot was that I agreed to do a draft, in exchange for a set of tyre-levers once owned by Miguel Indurain.   So Davenport’s article may well appear in due course. But not if I can help it.