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 eventswww.wessexctc.org for all CTC Wessex activities

CTC WESSEX SECRETARYPeter Loakes, Church Cottage, West Stafford, DT2 8AB (01305) 263272CTC BOURNEMOUTHCheryl Owen, 1 Bond Road, Poole BH15 3RT (01202) 738428Margaret Phillpotts, Onair, 9 Bucklers Way, Bournemouth BH8 0EWCTC SALISBURYAlan Clarke, “Hill House”, Kelsey Road, Salisbury SP1 1JR (01722) 322188CTC WEST DORSETAngela Price, 41 Garfield Avenue, Dorchester, DT1 2EYCTC BLACKMORE VALERichard Gow, Wildfell, Crown Rd, Marnhull, DT10 1LN (01258) 821391

Remaining Calendar Dates For 2011

THE WESSEX NEWSLETTER

Sept 25th GRAND CTC meet at the last 2011 Breamore Steam Up

Oct 9th Gridiron 100km Terry Walsh 01202 247888

Dec 18th Bournemouth Christmas Lunch Joan Courtney 01202 731978

St Lo Twinning 2012 By Malcolm HowellThe next event will be the visit to Wessex of aparty of cyclists from UCT St. Lô, for the weekendSaturday, Sunday, Monday, 26-28 May 2012.If you are keen to take part in 2012, as hosts,offering 2 nights B&B, or by joining in rides, and/orusing your car to collect & deliver people, pleaselet me know at :malcolm_howell@hotmail.comor on 01305 756094or at 1 Garland Crescent, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 2SXWe can assume they will arrive at Poole, so the nearer you are toPoole, the better.

3 Cycle Ink #162

CHRISTMAS BRUNCHThis may seem a little early to be thinking about Christmas but ourVillage Hall get together over the Christmas period, due to demand isback on again. The date will be Sunday 18th of December and this yearwe have chosen to change slightly the format. Bearing in mind theearly onset of darkness at that time of the year the Village Hall will beopened in the morning for Christmas Brunch. This will mean cyclistscan arrive and depart in daylight. Treat it as a coffee or early lunch orjust drive across to socialize for the morning.Our Bournemouth Committee has been generous and has agreed toheavily subsidise the event, it will only cost you £1 per head, in orderto promote the coming together of all our members and our variousgroups. Older members who are maybe not actively riding as much asbefore or who usually ride alone are particularly welcome for brunch, afew cups of tea but above all good company with good people which iswhat our club is all about. The catering details, which will of the hotbuffet style will be finalized in the near future.One important thing we need to know is your attendance and we musttell the caterer the exact number attending so as soon as possible getyour £1 to Joan Courtney or any group leader.

Sunday the 18th of December.Sturminster Marshall Old School Hall, opp. village church.

Hall open from 10:30am to 1:00pm which means all can beaccomplished in daylight for a simple style Christmas Buffet Brunch.Ride your bike there, drive your car or catch the bus but above all dotry to be with us and the important thing - get your deposit to Joan tobook as soon as you can and lets make it the start of a truly great 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS.Contact Joan 01202 731978 or email jobob.studio@tiscali.co.uk

Cycle Ink #162 4

You will know that I have been actively seeking a regular rider to take over the organisationof the Thursday Alternatives ride and I am very pleased to say Jim McDonald has kindlyagreed to become Section Leader. I know Jim is a very capable person with many yearsexperience of cycling in all its aspects and will be a tremendous asset to the section.Jim is regularly present on the rides and leads many. I am therefore very grateful that hehas agreed to take on this responsibly in addition to his commitment to organising theRambling club activities in this area, which includes groups for path clearing, publicity andarranging walks programs etc, etc. With all this in mind I have agreed to continue withpreparing all the paperwork for him, advising Eric Watson the runs list details and organisingthe Alternatives/Potterer's Christmas lunch together with Dave Langley.Jim is therefore your contact in future and will be collecting names of riders volunteering tolead rides on the next and future runs lists.The following is his contact details if you are unable to speak to him during the ride or youhave to cancel your leadership of a particular ride for which he needs as much notice aspossible please.

Tel: 01202 691709 email. pamjimmcd@talktalk.netI know he will always be very grateful for your support, particularly for those who continueto offer to lead rides and will always welcome others who feel able to lead and willhelp them to do so. May I also take this opportunity to thank you all for your supportover many years. The section is a thriving one for which I intend to continue to keepin contact, even if only part time.

The Alternatives Rob Garnet

At the end of riding from the Channel to the MediterraneanMike Barrett decided the ride Mont Ventoux. Hopefullysome words will be written about the ride across France andthe 22 kilometre climb. Upon completion of his not-stopride Mike very unusually bought a cycling jersey which hepromised to wear at least once on a local ride. I caught upwith him in Lyndhurst and there he was wearing his trophy.Well done Mike.

Mont Ventoux for Mike

CTC Blackmore Vale RidesThese take place every week alternating between Saturday & Sunday

Meet 10:00am, set off at 10:30am.Lunches: Cafés in Winter; Picnics during BST

01258 821391 - Richard GowGo to the Blackmore Vale website for the full Runs List:

www.wessexctc/bvr.htm

5 Cycle Ink #162

Peter du LieuA large gathering of cyclists paid theirrespects at the funeral of Peter du Lieu.The service began with The PushbikeSong and ended with Queen’s BicycleRace. There was a very apt floraldisplay which represented Peter’s long-

standing enjoyment and support ofcycling. The wake was held at theKinson Conservative Club. Postedaround the room on cycle direction signswere all the comments that had beenreceived by the family. Also there was aslide show of Peter through his life.Some very enjoyable old cyclingphotographs were included.

Mike walsh

During the coffee stop of theAlternatives Bob Courtneypresented Dave Wiseman with a

very belated certificate. Bob’s accompanyingwords were enjoyed by all present. Thecertificate was issued for Dave’s completionof his 50 in 4 on the 8th November 1992. Davewas bemused upon presentation and rackedhis brain to remember the occasion. Thebanter continued throughout the coffee stop.Congratulations to Dave Wiseman onthis achievement.

Presentation to Dave Wiseman Mike Walsh

Cycle Ink #162 6

Tony Silver hasfor a few yearsorganised shortbreaks of fivedays at variousHaven HolidayVillages along theSouth Coast andthis year the site

was at Pagham, 9th to 13th May.Although I hadn’t been before, thisyear I decided to go after a bit of apush from Ralph and accompaniedalso by Colin and Mike to make up afull static van. Mike decided hewanted to cycle all the way, hard manthat he is, and Colin and Ralphthought they would cycle fromLangstone Harbour to Pagham afterwe had all met Mike at the Ship Inn atLangstone for lunch. I was quitehappy to drive with bikes on the backof the car as necessary.We arrived at Langstone at about 1pmand were very pleasantly surprised tosee Mike wheeling his bike across thecar park. His trip had gone well so far.He had used part of the Six-Ferriesroute and on arriving at Portsmouthhad cycled down to Eastney, caughtthe little ferry across to the bottomend of Hayling Island, before cyclingup to the pub. He had a bit of a waitfor the ferry which he felt was alsoquite expensive for the extent of thetrip but it was agreeable enough andhe was pleased to meet us all. We hada good lunch at the pub, sittingoutside in the sun and after that the

others left to cycle on leaving me todrive and open up the van.One of the reasons Ralph wanted tocycle was that he had lived in the areagenerally for a number of years and hewanted to see a former house inEmsworth to check the new ownershad kept it up to scratch. Theycertainly had and, not only that, hewas very agreeably surprised to seethat the house now sported a blueplaque to pay homage to his qualities.A photo is printed with this article byway of interest for all members of theclub to see. Normally, I think, blueplaques are raised on a house afterdeath but I don’t think anybody is tooworried about the niceties in this case.They arrived safely at Pagham just asthe other riders in the party werereturning from an afternoon ride ledby Alan. There were 20 peoplestaying in the group with 13 cycling.The site was well run with a bar, fishand chip shop and restaurant andnumerous facilities for families. Therewas also a shop for those who weregoing down the self catering routewhich was the case broadly with ourgroup although in our van we ate out.The next day Jim kindly volunteeredto lead the ride as he had lived in thearea many years ago and felt he couldremember the routes in general terms.We started off towards Bognor on theSouth Coast cycle route which,although urban, was pretty good,before turning north to Yapton andthen via Ford to Arundel. This was a

Short Break in Pagham David Chesworth

7 Cycle Ink #162

fine coffee stop by the river wherewere able to buy sandwiches forlunch. The route was then going northtowards Amberley. It started off downa very pretty shady lane overhungwith trees, with no traffic as itundulated up and down with somewonderful views. It was when theroad finished and Jim indicated afootpath through a metal gate whichpath led alongside a river that welooked at each other askance. Thereseemed to be nowhere to go after that.Still, we followed our leader whoassured us that this was a standardroute 40 years previously and all wehad to do was negotiate a couple ofgates and a suspension bridge and wewould be in the clear. As one canimagine, the field furniture hadimproved over the years and the oldgate was now a beautiful kissing gate,no good at all for bikes. We stoodlooking at all this, (pensive is theword I think ) and it was when I heardthe words “ large open ended spanner”that I began to wonder what wasgoing on. Suddenly a group of fouryoung lady walkers came through thegate. They looked at us in a mixture ofpuzzlement and amazement but feltthat Ann and Alan’s tandem trikewould go across the footbridge beforebidding us a cheery goodbye withbroad smiles and continued on theirway.Decision time! Positive thinking! BigJohn and a few others went through tothe other side of the gate and BigMike and the rest stayed on theapproach side. The solo bikes wentover the gate without difficulty and

with willing hands. It was the turn ofMike and Sybil’s tandem. “ Noproblem” said Mike, “All thatweightlifting I’ve been doing in thewinter will stand me in good stead,leave the panniers on as well Sybil”.With a huge “Hup”, over the tandemwent without difficulty to be taken byBig John and the helpers on the otherside. The trike followed suit much toAlan’s great relief.The path on the other side thenmeandered nicely through a coppiceand we arrived at the footbridge, againa monument to modern engineeringand design. All bikes went throughand we were then met by a secondgate, another kissing gate. The fieldfence here was also protected by anelectric fence which Mike L assumedwas disconnected. It was only whenhis hair started to prickle and he feltvibration in the soles of his shoes thathe realised some form of contact hadbeen made and he beat a hasty retreat.After we knew he was OK and we hadstopped laughing the bikes went overthis gate in the same way as theprevious gate. It was then a walkacross a field to the last gate when wesaw A ROAD. Once more no problemwith the bikes and we were then a fewminutes from the lunch stop atAmberley.Although we pulled Jim’s leg a bitabout this section of the rideeverybody took it in their stride. Itwas all good fun and we had quite afew laughs across the fields. Afterlunch by the river the route led viasome very picturesque lanes to Bignor

Cycle Ink #162 8

and then to the A285 at Duncton. Itwas necessary to ride along herebefore we could turn off for Earthamand the A27 to the south. The trafficwas fairly light but the Duncton hillwas a bit of a monster I must say.Still, we all survived and eventuallyreached the A27. Despite the fact thatwe were crossing by an official pointwith blue plaques indicating thecrossing was for walkers and cyclists,we still had to cross it before we couldget back to Pagham. Not a joyfulexperience!

For our second day Jim said he wouldtake us up the Stoughton Valley andso the first part of the ride involvedworking our way around Chichesterheading for Funtington. There was nocafé or Garden Centre here but therewas a pub and we arrived just onopening time. As with many pubsthese days the standard was very goodand apart from huge cups of coffeethey had some more-ish chocolatecake to which a number of us

succumbed. We were almost inclinedto stay on for lunch!After a short stint along “B” roads weturned off right and north east forStoughton and East Marden whichwas to be our lunch stop. This valleyroad was extremely attractive andquiet, passing through wooded areaswhere the trees overhung the road.East Marden was not a great distancefrom our coffee stop but it didrepresent an agreeable place to stop.There was some rising ground by thechurch with seats by the boundary

fence and more seatingaround a large thatchedwell. After lunch wewere heading in theSouth Harting directionbefore turning off eastto Elsted, Treyford anda stop at Didling tolook at St Andrew’sChurch which is knownas “The Shepherds’Church” for the SouthDowns shepherds whoused it as their place ofworship.

People have worshipped here for 1000years. The church is a 13th centurysingle cell church with an unaislednave and chancel, tub font, medievalpews and a Jacobean communion rail.Services are still held here at leastonce a month and are always candlelitas I don’t think there is any electricity.There are large candle filledchandeliers and candles at the end ofeach pew. I gather that sheep canoften be heard during summer

9 Cycle Ink #162

services and there were certainlymany to be seen when we werelooking around. There are otherinteresting features and huge yewtrees and old gravestones and it isreally a “must” for a visit for anybodyin that area.It was during our meanderings downthese lanes that Mike L had problemswith a cracked plate in the cleat on hisshoe. He said it was the result of theelectricity coursing through his body(!!) the previous day but there wassome doubt about whether Lidl madeshoes of sufficient quality to copewith his powerful pedaling up hills!Anyway, somebody (I’m sorry, Iforgot who) and who rode with toeclips, swapped a left shoe with him ofthe same size and all was well for therest of the ride. Such was thecameraderie and lateral thinking in thegroup eh? It was then to Bepton andCooking before we turned down theA286. This carried some traffic andwe were pleased to get off it to Lavantbefore working our way back toPagham. Another good day.For the last day we split slightly.Ralph and Rob hadn’t accompanied usafter Funtington the day before buthad ridden in the direction of theWitterings. There he had seen a signfor the Salterns Way and he thought itwas worth some exploration. SoRalph, Colin, Mike and I went over inthat direction while the rest wenttowards Bosham. The roads aroundPagham were always busy and thatdown to Selsey was the same. Thereare few roads to the various small

towns and those have to carry allprivate and commercial traffic.Nevertheless we reached Selsey inone piece and went to the sea front.Some cloud had come over and thefront was bleak, the sea grey and coldlooking. and the wind sharp. We beata hasty retreat to the shopping area tofind a café with a glass fronted terraceout of the wind. It was quiteinteresting in that it seemed to stuck inthe 60’s with coffee bar decor. Still itwas cheap and almost a rival toBovington.It is not possible to cut across to theWitterings from Selsey and so we hadto ride back to Sidlesham before goingwest. We found the beginning of theSalterns Way and followed this fromthe West Itchenor area to ChichesterMarina. The trail was very mixed-earth, gravel concrete and roadsections. It was all serviceable and agood way to avoid roads. ChichesterMarina where we had lunch wascrowded with boats of course, but itwasn’t busy with people and afterlunch we continued via Apuldramback to Pagham.For the last evening we were alltaking dinner at the Inglenook Hotel,just outside the village. This was alovely venue with excellent food and afitting place for our final dinner, andthe celebration of a happy 5 days withgood cycling. Thanks to Tony and Jillfor the organisation of this littleholiday and to both Alan for someleading and particularly Jim for thetwo main days on the SouthDowns.

Cycle Ink #162 10

POOLE – Although the Twin Sails’ Bridge has been started and it should be finishedon time early next year, 2012, the infrastructure each side of the bridge is being bitterlyfought over, especially the Poole side at the Old Town. I have been to a lot of meetingsto encourage walking and cycling. Unfortunately Poole Borough Council, TransportAdvisory Group (TAG) approved a gyratory scheme, which turns the area into a giantracetrack – enormous roundabout and cuts the town off from Hamworthy. There arefew crossing points for non-motorised traffic (including cyclists).Old Poole Town residents and others, are bitterly upset when the current town thinkingrejects the concept of the non-motorised traffic taking the upper hand. Walking andcycling should take priority! Modern thinking has now abandoned gyratorys inLondon and other cities around the world.From a letter from the Bournemouth Echo, “When will we ever learn?”. At a timewhen most towns and cities are focussing on improving the quality of places andmending the mistakes of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s traffic engineering, Poole Council ishell-bent on repeating those mistakes, by proposing a traffic-dominated gyratory roadscheme that breaks every clause in the planning rulebook.Poole Councillor, Xenia Dion said, “Until we see a more convincing step-change incar use I believe it remains highly important to keep traffic moving and avoidcongestion which creates considerable air pollution from excessive carbon emissions”.Poole residents are appealing to Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities andLocal Government. He will likely take the Government line to support Poole BoroughCouncil because of the “Localism concept”.

On another matter, Poole Borough Council(LSTF) failed in the bid to link Poole Towncentre to Hamworthy in partnership with CTC.On a positive note there will a new cyclewayfrom Canford Heath to Nuffield Industrial Estateon green leisure land starting September 2011.

EAST DORSET – Canford Bottom Schemefor the Olympics 2012. Basically it is a donedeal! The Government is insisting that TheOlympics takes priority and the scheme needs tobe completed by June 2012. The only suggestionI can make at the Toucan crossing to link localcommunities either side of the A31 should nothave a staggered link; it should be straight for thefour lanes to enable non-motorised traffic tocross quickly, pedestrians and cyclists,while the motorised traffic is stopped.

Paul M. TurnerRight to Ride Network

11 Cycle Ink #162

CTC members David Orme (New Forest)and Ian Hardcastle (Darlington) have justcompleted cycling from Land’s End toJohn o’Groats and Dunnet Head, thenorthernmost part of mainland Britain.“Although we’ve done short tours before,the idea of the End2End just seemedsomething beyond us – until last yearwhen we thought ‘Why not? We’re notgetting any younger!’ Both of us neededto wear knee supports for the trip and

hadn’t covered long mileages for many years, so we took it easy initially, coveringaround 40 miles per day, and then ramping up to 70 or so. We were following the CTCminor roads route, booking B&Bs as we went; however in Cumbria we realised that tomake it in time for the pre-booked train journey home (and work!) we had to take amuch more direct route through Scotland. We finally made it to JoG after 17 days,leaving one day to visit Dunnet Head and get to Thurso station. Navigation was byPhilips road atlas and a Garmin Edge 800 loaded with OS 1:50k maps. Weather wastypically British – a bit of everything was thrown at us, lots of rain in Scotland, andmidday temperature varied from 30C in north England to 5C in the Highlands. Ourbikes were both Dawes: Discovery 401 and Super Galaxy, each fitted with rear pan-niers and front bag. The only mechanical faults were a front gear changer which need-ed attention at the beginning, one puncture and a squirrel ate through a pannier onelunchtime in search of fruit cake! Would we do it again? Yes – but only once we’veretired and have a bit more time to savour the British countryside and chat tothe many people we met enroute.”

LEJOG David Orme

Over cover picture this issue was caught onthe return of Terry’s Saturday morning Burleyride.There were three generations of Terry’s family.His grandson Matthew in front leading his dadKevin riding along side Terry. The Saturdaymorning ride initiated by Terry many moonsago continually attracts new riders. The ridestarts outside Waitrose in Christchurchat 9 out to Burley for coffee and returnsabout noon.

Our Cover Picture

Cycle Ink #162 12

Cycletouring - now there’s the life! Big Bob

A few days ago while indolently lazing in sunshine onthe banks of our River Stour, with the bike parkedagainst the trunk of a cascading willow tree, thethought of what constitutes a true Cycle Tourist leaptinto my mind. It must have been all the speculationsurrounding the C.T.C’s charity conversion thatcrystallised my usual wandering thoughts. The originalname Cyclists Touring Club, which it now seems somepeople are desperate to drop for some reason, says itall.We are all a mixture of cycling interests I know but the passion for touring has astrong appeal to all who are footloose and fancy free, if only possible in the mind.When I think back to the committed cycle tourists I have known in the past the onecommon element was an unending curiosity. A true love of the road and theinfinite variety of people, places and things it delivers to you as you wheel alongon a mode of transport which gives time to smell the air, wave a greeting or watchthe lazy flap of the Herons wing across the canal towpath deep in the Frenchcountryside.Some I remember were not always comfortable in social gatherings and woulddisappear for weeks at a time to follow some dream of an area or country whichhad haunted them. Drawn out from the comforts of home by a call they could notresist until it had been ridden in, tasted and experienced in all its forms and uponreturning been infinitely richer It was a pity that many were not articulate peopleand it was not until a place or country came up in conversation that a look in theeye or the flash of a smile showed the emotion within.One of Cycling’s enjoyments is stopping at a roadside café and finding a lonefellow figure with panniered bike parked outside fuelling up for the last few milesof the day. There, particularly when abroad, the sharing of experiences and goodhumour that comes from a common interest can devour the remaining daylighttime if you are not careful. Long may the passion remain for if we lose itsomething will die in the cycling community and the flame some of those lonelyfigures carried high will not be there to inspire those gazing at their personal hightech ten speed cassettes, through their Oakley’s with such pride.Now, sad news to impart at our Le Hotel du Velo Sportiv residential retirementcountry house. Old Tom has died. I’m so used to seeing Tom aboard his trikeslowly circling our Grass Track oval in the grounds on a regular basis that I find itdifficult to accept. He passed on as he would have wanted, riding his beloved steedand was found gently resting on his handlebars. There are those among us whohave hinted that it was a stroke of luck that his condition was discovered at allbecause travelling at his normal velocity it would have been difficult to judge if he

13 Cycle Ink #162

were alive or dead! But that’s not fair because in Toms mind he was leading thepeleton and about to launch a massive attack. That’s not to say he couldn’t shufflewhen he wanted to, in fact, on more than one occasion I’ve seen our cateringmanageress Jean B execute a two step evasive manoeuvre around a dining table toavoid his amorous intentions.His enthusiasm was unstoppable and the weekly tug of war and argumentsbetween he and Alan G upon delivery of the house copy of “Cycling Weekly” andthe contents was entertainment at it’s best. His conveyance to our local villagechurch for the funeral service did cause a few problems and it was with somemisgivings that I saw the decision being taken to trailer tow the coffin behind hismuch loved trike. This concern was further augmented when 4 pints Davevolunteered to ride it insisting he’d had plenty of “barrow” experience in the past.It was a pity we could not have mounted the coffin in line on the trailer, in adignified way, rather than across the width which meant after Dave’s spiriteddeparture through the hall exterior doorway, which was somewhat narrower thananticipated, the inevitable happened and poor Tom was deposited on the doormatwhile Dave enthusiastically powered away down the drive.In the stunned silence a lone female voice, trying to make the best of it, chirped.“Ah, poor lamb, he doesn’t want to leave”. But the damage had been done. By dintof much shouting and stone throwing Dave was eventually persuaded to return andpoor Tom reloaded and the whole entourage, with dozens of bikies bringing up therear, proceeded at a spirited pace into the village.At last we could relax as more dignity returned to the occasion or at least we coulduntil Dave, piloting the whole juggernaut, reached the village crossroads. Theadverse road cambers sent the trike flying in all directions and with Dave’s highkeening cry of fear ringing in our ears the trailer struck the end of the historicstone water trough propelling poor Tom across the pavement and partially into ourvillage pub porch.This was all too much for our cycling Vicar, who with a sob of emotion, pedaledoff toward the church indicating that when Tom could be persuaded to come to hisfuneral he would attend to it. There had been many times in the past when we hadretrieved Tom from the pub while alive so it was thought the least we could dowas to perform the act of kindness one more time now he was dead. Dave wasunceremoniously dismissed from his piloting duties and Alan D. installed whosefar greater experience in the tricky art of trike riding and control enabled theprogress to the church to end in a seemly way. The dinner that night at Le Hotelwas a subdued affair with a glass raised to pour old Tom with the consolingthought that a lifetime awheel had given him so much happiness.Later, while preparing to jump into bed, I glanced out of the stone mullionedbedroom window at our white lined track to see a small lonely figure sat hunchedgazing across its moonlit expanse.It was Alan G!

Cycle Ink #162 14

Semaine Federale

A great occasion, for the French! 14,000 thousand including about1000 Brits, 500 Dutch, 500 Germans, Irish, Spanish and evenAussies. It was well organised with five campsites around the area,three on D25 which was completely closed for 3km. Most peoplecamped, or used caravans and camping cars (motorhomes). Therewere daily rides from 30km to 200km, graduated in steps and marked

on the road with dailymaps, radiating out in all directions. Wejoined a 30 strong, CTC group organisedby Maurice Wilkins, an ex-leader I had metmany years before. He organised Vietnam,Picos de Europa in Spain and the Santa Fetrail in US, for me in the ‘90s.I did not believe how hilly it was:especially around the region known asSuisse-Normande, near Bagnoles del’Orne! That was the great clue to theterrain! Every village and town took part,like the Tour de France. Glorious weatherfrom the time of our arrival to the Thursdaywhen it rained like stair-rods most ofThursday and Friday. On Saturday the badweather continued so we had coffee, as youdo, and at coffee it cleared up. Resumingthe ride, it bucketed down again.

Unfortunately Thursday was the picnicat Domfont 30k away, a great occasion.Sue and John went and were soaked tothe skin. We, fair-weather cyclists, didnot go.We were treated to a “Spectaculare” forFlers is horse country. On Wednesday at7:30 prompt with a tableau of variousacts such as dressage, country ways,vaulting, carriage driving with threehorses side, an American theme, ridingin costume with about ten people byside as well as finale on two horses withfire!

Paul M. Turner aka madcyclist5!

Flers

Maurice & Rita Wilkins

15 Cycle Ink #162

A wonderful meal was held on the lastSaturday in a vast tent for two hundredpeople. The French are an amazingpeople with a little vino inside them.Singing with “the conductors” perchedon the table tops.On the last Sunday there was a Paradewith all the foreigners in the lead andthen the French cycling clubs, inDepartment order, around the streets ofFlers as a thanks for their hospitality.Most take part. Everybody dressed-up!See the a picture of Maurice & Rita

Wilkins in all their glory! The streets were thronged 4 or 5 deep. Luckily it stoppedraining too. After the Parade organisers put on a marvelous lunch.Great occasion, but the sanitary arrangement are a bit basic. Luckily we showered inour motorhome!

Terry and I took alongrollers and a turbotrainer to the CyclingCelebration on PooleQuay organised byPoole Council, theadvert was in the lastissue of Cycle Ink. Notwithstanding theintermittent rain a goodnumber of peopleattended. After somepersuasion a number ofpeople tried both therollers and turbo.Mostly children on theturbo giving it their allto see how fast they could go. We even had two people race each other on the rollers.Robert Labuda was on hand to demonstrate the rollers and to encourage and assistthose willing to have a go. Paul Turner and Mike and Jo Gordon arrived on their bikesto further promote cycling and help with the stand handing out leaflets and answeringall questions. We did not even have time for a cup of tea, but otherwise is wasa grand evening.

Poole Quay - Cycling Celebration Mike Walsh

The Spectaculaire

Cycle Ink #162 16

The opportunity to join Mike Walsh on aweek’s ride from Le Havre to Paris andback came out of the blue in April thisyear. I was sitting at a club run tea stopnear Damerham one Thursday chattingwith other club members when Mike(whom I, as a newcomer to the group, hadnever met before) came over to say that hewas doing the ride and to ask if anyonewould be interested in joining him. Ireplied that I might be and said I wouldthink about it and let him know. I daresayhe never expected to hear from me againbut I thought about it for the rest of theday and by that evening had weighed upthe pros and cons, decided that the formeroutweighed the latter and had bookedmyself a berth on the Brittany Ferriesovernight crossing. Mike provided detailsof his overnight stops and I was luckyenough to be able to obtainaccommodation at the same places. All Ihad to do now was pack and worry (egwere my legs up to it, would Mike and Iget along, was I confident enough to cyclein Paris etc)I would have liked to cycle from Poole toPortsmouth to catch the ferry as I haddone it in the opposite direction as part ofa trip along the south coast fromCanterbury the previous year. In the endthough I got a lift because it was rainingand I didn’t want to start off in Francewith a load of wet gear. Mike and I metup at the ferry terminal in Portsmouth forthe overnight crossing which wentsmoothly. The sun was out as we landedin Le Havre the following morning androde out of the terminal. One of the bigadvantages of going with Mike was thathe had done this trip quite a few timesbefore and so navigation was not going tobe a problem. This quickly became

apparent as I was expertly led through theport area, across the town and out theother side without the regular stoppingand checking at junctions which usuallyaccompanies trips in unfamiliar territory.We followed the cycle path that runsalongside the road out to the Pont deNormandie where we crossed the Seine.

The bridge is a magnificent piece ofengineering and quite a sight. It is alsoquite a steep climb up to the top before along descent, some of which has to betaken at a slow pace because of the cyclelane’s uneven surface. We stopped forbreakfast in a little town just after thebridge and enjoyed a hot drink and Painau Chocolat. Pedalling on through theFrench countryside on quiet roads for therest of the morning brought us to PontAudemer where we sat in warm sunshinefor a nice leisurely lunch. More quietminor roads took us through smallvillages to our overnight stop in Brionne46 miles from Le Havre. We stayed in theLogis hotel in the town which was verycomfortable. The menu was veryupmarket and so inevitably were theprices but I was on holiday and enjoyedstaying and eating somewhere “posher”than I would usually choose.

April in Paris Paul Martin

Pont de Normandie

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The second day took us on a further 40miles to Pacy-sur-Eure, again in lovelywarm sunshine. We used a part of the voieverte (greenway) network which is quite

extensive in Normandy to travel betweenLe Neubourg and Quittebeuf. This wastraffic free, flat, well surfaced and entirelydeserted. The volume of traffic on theroads hardly warranted a dedicated cycleroute but someone had gone to a lot ofexpense to put it there and so we used it.We experienced our first proper climb outof the village of Brosville which felttougher than it would otherwise havedone because we were carrying our ownpanniers. A well deserved downhill andalong the River Eure valley brought us tothe little village of Fontaine -s/s – Jouy.Anticipating a lack of cafes along theroute we had taken the precaution ofbuying some bread and ham for lunch inLe Neubourg and ate this in a pretty littlepublic garden outside the Mairie (TownHall). Pacy was a reasonably busy townwith a choice of places to eat and drink(except at our hotel where we were toldthat the kitchen didn’t open onThursdays!).The next day’s ride of 64 miles took us allthe way into Paris. It dawned on me thatthe problem with cycling in France is notthe cycling but the food or rather thedifficulty of finding it compared to whatwe are used to at home where it is rare

these days to find businesses closing forlunch. Our lunch stop town (Maule)looked promising on the map ie it was areasonable size but we arrived atlunchtime and everywhere serving foodappeared to be shut. The bread and hamoption was not going to work either as thesupermarket and bakery were also shut. Inthe end we had to settle for a chickenburger which was the least unhealthyoption in the kebab shop that seemed tobe the only place selling anything to eat.Fortified by our burger we embarked onour final approach to Paris. Mike’s yearsof refining the route allowed us to followa track through the Foret Marly-le-Roi forsome miles before entering the suburbs.After a while we went past the racecourseat St Cloud and then flew down a long hillat full tilt which took us over the Seine atthe Pont de Suresnes.We had arrived in Paris around Fridayafternoon rush hour and so as you wouldexpect there was plenty of traffic.Fortunately a lot of the roads had adedicated cycle lane or separate path andwhere this was not the case the traffic wasmoving at a speed which made it possibleto keep up with the flow. I found that thebest approach was to ridedecisively/confidently and get out into thetraffic rather than hug the kerb. Goinground the Bastille and weaving in and outof the traffic was actually great fun andnot at all intimidating as I had anticipated.Mike knew where to pull up to give memy first view of the Eiffel Tower whichlooked bigger than I had expected andanother tourist took the obligatory photoof us both stood with our bikes and thetower in the background. We thenfollowed the main road along the Seinewhere I had some difficulty in keeping myeyes on the road and off all the impressivebuildings on both sides. Being withsomeone who knew the way was brilliant

Voie Verte

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as it meant that I couldenjoy the sights ratherthan having to thinkabout where I was tryingto get to.Our accommodation fortwo nights in Paris wasone of the Etap chainhotels. These are cheapand functional but quiteadequate and best of allwe were allowed to keepour bikes in our roomsensuring that they weresafe (whether this isofficial company policyor they just turned ablind eye to it I’m notsure). Mike’s knowledgeof Paris came in handyagain in the evening aswe boarded the Metro fora restaurant in a differentpart of the city. Mike andI planned to do our ownthing on the Saturday, hewas meeting an ex workcolleague and I had a listof places I wanted to see.My day didn’t go to planthough; I had somehowpicked up a sniffleearlier in the week whichturned into a full blowncold for that one dayonly and this combinedwith the fact that it wasvery hot sapped mydesire to do much apartfrom rest.After an all you can eatbuffet style breakfast onSunday morning we set off from the Etapfor the first leg of our return trip to LeHavre (64 miles back to Pacy). We took adifferent route out of Paris as I wanted to

see the Arc de Triomphe.Unfortunately the Parismarathon was on that day sowe couldn’t cycle down theAvenue des ChampsElysees but I got my photoof the Arc nonetheless. Ourroute also took us past thePiste de Velo which is acycle track that makes aloop around one of theparks on the outskirts ofParis. This was full ofcyclists mostly of the lycrawearing road bike ridingkind. Although I looked outof place on my flat bar bikewith panniers on I couldn’tresist the challenge to get inthe pack and have a bit of ablast round. Luckily I musthave joined the track on aslight downhill because thiscombined with the weight Iwas carrying and possibly atailwind meant that I wassoon zipping along and evenovertaking a few (only thosethat had eased off a bitthough I expect).Sunday proved not to be agreat day in this part ofFrance if you are a cyclistlooking for food. Optionswere thin on the ground allday and pretty much non-existent in Pacy which hadgone from a thriving busyplace on Thursday eveninginto a ghost town today.This was not helped by thefact that our hotel’s kitchen

also did not open on a Sunday. As norestaurant was available sustenance waseventually provided courtesy of a smallgrocery store and bakery whose owners

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either didn’t realize it was Sunday or hadseen the business sense of being openwhen everywhere else was shut.Our second night’s stop on the way backwas in Le Neubourg because the hotel inBrionne didn’t open on a Monday (youcan probably spot that there is a bit of atheme here about things not being open asmuch as they are in the UK). We werejoined in the bar of our hotel in theevening by two armed policemen. Theywere escorting a convoi exceptionnel(wide load) and were having an overnightstop in the hotel. They appeared againlater in the evening in casual clothesminus the guns which presumably hadbeen left in their rooms.We left Le Neubourg fairly promptly thefollowing morning as we were under acertain degree of time pressure to get backto Le Havre for the afternoon crossing toPortsmouth. In the event we kept going ata reasonable pace and were in the ferryterminal in plenty of time having covereda total of 302 miles over the week. Mikehad arranged for his son to pick us bothup at Portsmouth and he kindlytransported us and our bikes back toBournemouth.This was my first time cycling in Franceand my lasting impressions of the tripfrom a cycling perspective, are the general

lack of traffic on the roads and the moreaccepting attitude of drivers. These twofactors alone make a trip to Franceworthwhile. When you add in the scenery,good food and wine then an opportunityto have a cycling holiday there is reallynot something to turn down. In factcycling there was so enjoyable that Ibarely hesitated when I was invited to joinMike and four other club members for a 2week “Channel to the Med” trip in May. Ialso went to Barneville-Carteret just southof Cherbourg for a week’s cycling in Juneand I don’t think it will be too long beforeI return to France. In fact I have donesome initial planning for a trip fromCherbourg to Oradour-Sur-Glane (Googleit for details of this famous World War 2village and what happened there) nearLimoges sometime next Spring and wouldbe interested to hear from anyone whomight want to come along.As a footnote to this piece I would like tosay what a great club you have got. I havebeen made most welcome by everyone Ihave met and have had the opportunity togo on two trips that I would probably nothave done otherwise. My only regret isthat as I am not currently living in the areapermanently I cannot join theThursday/Sunday rides more often.

Nigel and Lauren Winter onthe track at Slades Farm.

With Terry’s Grandson onthe cover you can see thatwe are raising the nextgeneration of cyclists.

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Darren Kenny,multiple Gold Medalwinner including sixOlympic Golds inBeijing and Athens,congratulates the100th rider of PedalAgain in Poole.Carol (pictured) wasthe 100th rider to takepart in this threeweek course forpeople who wish toregain their cyclingconfidence or even learn to ride a bike. These courses are organised bythe Borough of Poole and delivered by local cyclists, centred on UptonHouse, for two to two and half hours on each of the three weeks.

Darren took time out of his trainingschedule for next years Olympics tocongratulate Carol and talk to theother riders on the course. This wasthe last week of the course andcoincided with another ride, PooleLeisure Cycling, organised for andby past riders of Pedal Again inPoole who wish to practice andextend their newly gained skills.

This ride is open to all and some of the younger riders had theopportunity to wear one of Darren’s Olympic Gold Medals.Further information regarding both rides can be obtained from theBorough of Poole on 01202 262066 or e-mail s.funnel@poole.gov.uk

Pedal Again in Poole Mike Walsh

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CTC West Dorset on the way to Lyme Regis back in May. They were joinedon their clubrun by our own Shawn Shaw

From Big Eric’s Archive. Thursday Potterers on a club run back in the lateseventies. How many can you name?

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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 a division of the CTC Wessex Member Group of the

Cyclists’ Touring Club. Published four times a year for members. Views expressed are not necessarilythose 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 Waitrose Supermarket, Christchurch every SaturdayOr 09:00 at The Oak PH, Burton

Or just make your own way to the OldFarmhouse Tea Rooms, Burley for 10:00