The Newsletter of CTC Wessex Cycling

Autumn 2013A custom design machine found on Guernsey

Julian presents the CTC Certificate of Merit to Terry, Joan, Bob and Pete.

CTC Wessex Cycling Members at the Gathering

The Quarterly Magazine of CTC Wessex Cycling in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch

AUTUMN 2013

On a blazing day in July . . . and haven’t we had a glorioussummer . . . we held a garden party at Ferndown. Any activelocal members were welcome to attend and a good many did.It was a bit of a balancing act though as I needed to get fourvery important people there all at the same time, and cyclistsbeing very much free spirits don’t like to be tied down like that.Well, it was achieved and those four people are in thephotograph opposite.We made application to the CTC Awards committee way backin January for the award of the CTC Certificate of Merit for Terry Walsh, PeterLoakes and Bob & Joan Courtney. Our own Julian James heads up thatcommittee but he wasn’t involved in the application so as not to compromisehis impartiality. In any event, the committee agreed the award at their meetingin the Spring and the Certificates were all duly drawn up and signed ready tofind a good opportunity to present them. I don’t really have to go into detail toyou all just why these people are so deserving do I? Well I will anyway. Joan& Bob for running the Inters for years and years and being involved in allaspects of club life forever. Peter Loakes for starting the Dorset Downs 100kmand being secretary of the West Dorset Section for many years. Terry Walshfor starting the Burley Saturday ride and running the Gridiron. Terry thinkshe’s a “new boy” but he forgets its over 10 years with CTC now!Finally, don’t forget the 21st Gridiron coming up on October 13th. Are you

riding or helping? If you are riding and haven’t enteredyou’ll need to get on with it. At time of press the entry is at800+ and we are closing off at 1000. New route this yearand a new event HQ at Lymington.

WEBSITE ENTRY ONLYNO ON-THE-DAY ENTRY

www.wessexctc.org/grdetail.htm Keith

Cycle Ink #170 4

Committee meetings are held at The Conservative Club, Kinson.NEXT: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: 23rd October 2013 at 19:30

Remaining committee meetings for 2013:20th November

Secretary: Mike Walsh: 17 Grove Gdns, Southbourne Rd, B’mouth BH8 9JQTEL: (01202) 429985 Email jmichaelwalsh@aol.comEditor: Keith Matthews: 10 Hill View Road, Ferndown, BH22 9QYTEL: (01202) 855001 Email keithjanet@btinternet.com

www.bournemouthctc.org www.wessexctc.org

“CycleInk” is the Newsletter of CTC Wessex Cycling, a Member Group of the Cyclists’ Touring Club. Published fourtimes a year for members. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the club.

Contributions and Photographs: The committee meeting date is the deadline for Newsletter contributions. Contributeby any way you like. Photographs are welcome in any form.

Calendar Dates For 2013Oct 13th The 21st Gridiron 100km John Jackson 01590 683815

See you all next year with a new programme!

Informal Wayfarers Rides to BurleyThis ride happens every Saturday and is completely informal. There is no leader and no back up, butgenerally an experienced cyclist somewhere around. The route is designed for beginners but joinedin by all abilities. Start 08:45 at Waitrose Supermarket, Christchurch every Saturday or 09:00 at TheOak PH, Burton Or make your own way to the Old Farmhouse Tea Rooms, Burley for 10:00

PHSG Sunday Group at the top of Bulbarrow on their July Ride

5 Cycle Ink #170

In August I had an exchange of emails with Lisa Northoverwho was interested in riding the Dorset Coast 200kmPermanent with her partner Jon Fisher over the weekend of17th August. I had offered some advice but held on to myreservations; I thought this was their first experience ofriding one of our more challenging events and they were notCTC or Audax UK members. Here is Lisa’s report.

Wednesday 21st AugustMy report is several days late … but that is because it tookseveral days! We left Boscombe on Saturday morning,having thought this ride may take longer than one day, wetook tents etc. making things a little more sluggish. 45 mileson we stopped for the night at Chesil Beach.In the morning we were tired facing Abbotsbury Hill so wepsyched up for it, but someone in a shop suggested a flatroute alongthe coastalpath; I likedthe sound of

it. It involved cycling through deep shingleand carrying the bikes over stiles – myother half never let me hear the end of it.Once we got to West Beach we were tiredout and the thought of getting toAxminster at this point seemed crazy, sowe stayed the night which was great fun.In the morning we decided to cut a corner and head straight to Dorchester. We triedthe A35, but soon opted in favour of Egerton Hill which had fantastic views and waswell worth the work. We ended up in Dorchester eventually where we opted for a nightin a bed.Heading from Dorchester to home, I wouldn’t go near an A-road again after what Iconsidered a near death experience the previous day, so we went Wool – Wareham –ferry (National Cycle Route 2); more suited to off-road and we got a puncture as wereached Ferry Road.So … four days not one, route not completed, but 210km and 7,000ft elevationand I am tired enough not to be disappointed!

Dorset Coast Permanent by Lisa Northover

Keith

Lisa

Near Egerton

Wool Bridge

Your Editor’s Bike on thatcoastal track 1997

Cycle Ink #170 6

Terry agreed tolead a Potterersride onThursday 8thAugust and thiswas recorded asthe Chairman’sRide on theruns list. TheRouleurs choseto join in but at

a faster pace. All rode to coffee in Cranborne. Here are some of thephotographs from the day.

President’s Ride By Mike Walsh

TED DAVIS 13 JANUARY 1923 - 16 JULY 2013Earlier this year we reported on Dawdlers' member,Ted Davis, who celebrated his 90th birthday andhoped to continue cycling this year.Unfortunately on 16 July he passed away after a shortillness. His funeral on 7 August, a celebration of hislife, was attended by people representing his manyand varied interests which he was still enjoying until

shortly before his death. Everyone agreed he was a truly remarkable manand will be sorely missed.

7 Cycle Ink #170

Right to Ride Report By Paul M. TurnerBournemouth - The Three Towns Corridor'Local Sustainable Transport Fund (JointLSTF bid) - Beale Place - the Council hascarried out traffic surveys and established that inprinciple it could close Beale Place.Bournemouth Council currently working out thenecessary documents to advertise this later inthe year and considering the practicalities ofintroducing a cycle contra-flow in Beale Placeand Yelverton Rd.Cycle Parking - 30 cycles stands have beeninstalled along Christchurch Rd, Seabourne Rdand Southbourne High Street. Programme ofcycle storage facilities on the street, at businesses and schools, as wellas expansion of cycle storage at BU linked to cycle loan scheme.Throop - a temporary crossing has been in place for the last ninemonths and will continue to be used while the work is taking place. Theconstruction of a new bridge, on the same site as the old one, will takeeight weeks to complete. This project will cost £400,000 and is beingfunded by Dorset County Council and Bournemouth BoroughCouncil. The Councils are drawing the money from the governmentfunded Local Transport Plan and the Environment Agency are alsocontributing to the cost. There may be short periods of disruption toallow for the manoeuvring of construction vehicles, delivery of materialand the operation of cranes, but they will try to keep this to a minimum.For more Information about travelling in Dorset visit.www.dorsetforyou.com/travel-dorsetPoole - Pedal Again in Poole cycle training is continuing and new bikeshave been purchased.Cycling Officer - Tom Gaze – the markings and width of the cycle lanereturning from the Sandbanks Ferry are not good. The old centre lineroad markings are showing through the worn surface and the cycle lanemarkings are worn. Various methods had been used to try and removethe old line markings but had failed.Poole Council undertaking public engagement on the Poole Roadscheme for the Three Towns Travel project. The next stage of theThree Towns Travel Project will be Poole Road and BranksomeRailway Station:

Cycle Ink #170 8

Funding available for Poole Road - The funding allocated for PooleRoad, which includes Bourne Valley Junction, is £460,000. Travelimprovements could lead to:☺improved journey time or reliability of bus journeys.☺better or new bus stops, shared footways and cycle ways.☺improved cycle and pedestrian crossings and how traffic flows in the

vicinity of junctions.Funding available for Branksome Railway StationTo encourage greater use of the train as a means of travel around theconurbation an additional £25,000 has been set aside for improvementsat Branksome Railway Station. Potential improvements at BranksomeStation could be cycle storage lockers, better pedestrian access to thestation platforms or change to parking arrangements. Please go to thislink:www.boroughofpoole.com/transport-and-streets/transport-policy/poole-three-towns-travel/pooles-three-towns-travel-projects/#Poole-Road

Don’t forget to look at my update pages on the Wessex Website!Paul

PRIVATE ROADBob Frew writes: Map ref:SU 062217 to SU 051253Would Ride leaders note that this isa Private Road from A354 to Stokefarthing past Knighton Farm andKnighton Hill Farm is not open to thepublic.Occasional use may be permitted bythe land owner. Ride leaderswishing to use this route pleasecontact me in advance and I will seeif permission is forthcoming for aspecific date.

Bob Frew 01202 693480bobelainefrew@talktalk.net

SECURE YOUR NUTS!As we mostly have cars too:

Many cars thesedays are fitted withanti-theft nutsrequiring a specialtool for their removal.These can beexpensive to replaceif they are lost but onthe box is a PIN that

can be used to buy replacementsfrom the manufacturer,Keep a note of this number safe, itwill make the replacement costsmuch cheaper!

9 Cycle Ink #170

Dawdlers a Dawdling by Alan JeffriesThursday the 4th July dawned bright anddry with light winds. The proposeddestination was Moreton with a mid-morning break at the West Holme GardenCentre.I would like to say, at this point in thetale, that I am a reluctant bike-ride leaderfor several reasons but the main one beingI haven’t got an in-depth knowledge ofDorset! The reason I do lead the occasionalride is to give the members who seem todo most of the rides a bit of respite. You’llunderstand why I’m mentioning this later!We set off - all twelve of us I think - at theprescribed time of 9.30am from Merley

Bridge. The plan was to go via Corfe Mullen, Lytchett Matravers,Organford, Sandford and onward through Wareham to West HolmeGarden Centre for our break. In Wareham, as was the plan, some ridersreturned home but others joined us. We carried on through Wareham toStoborough then onto the road leading to West Creech Hill. It was here Imade my embarrassing mistake!! I missed the turning for West Holmeand Wool.We carried on for about a mile and a half before it dawned that we wereon the wrong road. We quickly (very) zoomed back down the hill to therequired turning and made our way, via a fair bit of map reading, to theGarden Centre.A few minutes earlier, whilst we were heading up the wrong hill, theweather had started to deteriorate with the sky becoming overcast andaccompanied with a very fine drizzle. We discussed this over our breakand the majority decision was to retreat back to Wareham forsandwiches, where, would you believe it, we had brilliant sunshine. Wesat by the river and enjoyed the day. Later we made for home via UptonHouse and another tea-stop.I’ve promised myself to do better in the future, with a bit morereconnoitering - that’s if I’m ever asked to!! Alan

Cycle Ink #170 10

Bend my Gender - If you please By Big BobSomething has happened which I finddisturbing. The strange thing is it occurredwhilst on the Bike which is unusual as all ofthe bad things in my life happen whiledismounted and having to attend to thedetails of life. I still remember the sadoccasions when my trusty Triple chainringedtourer and I have stared mournfully at eachother through the windows of Dentists’Surgeries,Solicitors offices, Debt Advisorycentres, Tax offices and even on twoconfusing times a Police Station! All done inorder to stay on the Bike and seize the life.But I digress from my point. The morning was sunny and promised to get hotter asthe day proceeded so the thought of drifting on the Bike through the cool gladesof the forest with a known convivial group caused me to leap out of bed with morethan my usual alacrity. In no time at all we had all met up and were away, a happychattering group without a care in the world and I noticed with pleasure that ourleader was a lady I had known for several years.Eventually a morning coffee and cake or late breakfast stop was called for andindeed one had been arranged in a new venue for me, a garden centre where we satoutside by a trellis of tumbling roses. The weather was perfect, the refreshmentswere superb, the setting idyllic and the company grand, but something was wrong.I looked around in bewilderment at the gathered riders and noticed a slighthardening of the atmosphere. Colin H, a valued riding companion even though hehails from Portsmouth leaned across to me.“We’re outnumbered”. He croaked nervously“Eh”? It was the only intelligent comment I could think of.“There are only three of we blokes here the rest are women”. He muttered from thecorner of his mouth.I started in astonishment, he was right, the majority of the group were ladies.My sudden movement took the attention of one of the taller members of theopposite sex whom I am sure many of you will know, or will certainly have heard,who looked me firmly in the eye from across the large table and in the suddensilence that seemed to have fallen on the gathering told we three unfortunates, inno uncertain terms, that this was now a “ladies group” and our continuedparticipation was dependent on certain conditions being met.My polite smile became fixed as they were loudly stated. The first thing to be donewas a name change so Colin H, became Colinetta, Mike G, became Michaele and I

11 Cycle Ink #170

had to become Bobette. Further requirements involved walking with shorterquicker steps and if we disagreed with anyone in the Pub at lunchtime we were totoss our heads and not growl “Bugger off”. All “Comfort Stops” if required at theside of the road during the ride were to be discreetly taken in a sitting not astanding position and poor Mike G, (Michaele) being the thinnest of we persecutedmales had to ride with his arm warmers shoved up the front of his road jersey ascurve enhancement.Our feeble protestations were swept aside and so under the new order we rode onand in the Pub at lunchtime, under the watchful eye of the taller lady, we sat in arow and tossed our heads while poor Mike G, had to discreetly adjust his armwarmers periodically. Strange looks from customers with cars parked outside wereignored as we three lined up and minced out to mount our machines to continueone of the weirdest rides I have ever had.At the end of the day while bidding farewell to Colinette and Michaele beforeriding our separate ways I attempted to lighten the atmosphere.“Not a bad day eh?” A unanimous “Bugger off” was shot back at me as theyrapidly pedaled off into the distance. I am still getting my head around it but Isense a new order approaching. Ladies are now in their Cycling ascendancy andare a force to be reckoned with. Gentlemen take heed from Colinette, Michaeleand Bobette and get practising.Now briefly on to less taxing things. The hot summer has arrived as I write at oneof the balcony outdoor dining tables at our Le Hotel du Velo Sportiv cyclists’retirement manor and languid days are being spent in the grounds. Short rides arebeing taken, many of which get no further than the village pub garden but nomatter it’s all part of life on the wheel.We are all conscious of the approach of our annual “Grass Track Championship”once more and all are doing their bit to achieve a successful day. Jean B, taking abreak from her cooking management duties, has been white lining the track itself,which has been a good and a bad thing, insomuch as her propensity to talk to alland sundry all over the grounds while wheeling her lining machine has resulted inwhite lines appearing everywhere! The two lanes running halfway down thedriveway are a mystery to me. I can only conclude the Postman called twice.Jim Mc, Les H and Bob Ch are heavily engaged in sprint start practice but theconstant uproar over whether the start gun fired or not is producing some prettyragged starts but I’m sure we can produce a louder gun on the day. So the goldendays are upon us and lazily pedaling through our hauntingly beautiful Englishcountryside is what we are made for. The edge of things shimmer and you canalmost reach out and touch nature’s life-force as you meander down your favouritelane.How would it be if we could bring back the past on these occasions andwhoop and cry while speeding along with a youthful group no longer withus. Ah, there’s a thought. Ride with good memories Big Bob

Cycle Ink #170 12

Again I volunteered to help during thisyear’s London-Edinburgh-London1200km and again I offered to be adriver. I had a grand time with somebeautiful countryside seen in gorgeousweather from a van but still a lot ofwork. Started from home on Thursday25th July and back home by theevening of Friday 2nd August, longerthan any rider!This time I did not see so many riders as last time, primarily due to the goodpre-planned organisation. After loading beds, blankets and other equipment forthe controls we delivered these obviously before the riders arrived. This didpresent some difficulties as the controls were not manned and at one we werevery fortunate. We were running very late but the caretaker had remained onsite as a refrigerator had broken down and he was waiting for the repairer. Thecaretakers we met were most helpful. Then off down to Loughton to collect theDrop Bags, again to be delivered to a number of controls. We also loaded Ivo's(photographer) bike; we were giving him a lift to Market Rasen to catch theearly riders. He was to cycle on to the Humber Bridge to photograph many ofthe riders as they crossed. We stopped at the Market Rasen control for a cup of

tea and met the first riders asthey arrived.The last delivery of the DropBags was Edinburgh wherewe were invited to join thecontrol volunteers at one oftheir homes for an eveningmeal, it was most welcome.We off loaded the bags andsorted them and stayed all dayhelping or resting as needed.

During this time I hung the bunting across the hall, I have subsequently seen anumber of photographs which include this bunting which brings a smile to myface. The first rider arrived at 9:30 but it was not busy until much later. I didmeet my son’s next door neighbour and Duncan Melling. These meets werepurely by chance. As I could not guarantee being in any control at a specifictime I had not worked out where any of the riders I knew would be at any time.

LEL as a Volunteer By Mike Walsh

13 Cycle Ink #170

The next task was to collectthe used Drop Bags fromthe controls back toLoughton.All that was left now wasto go back to theabandoned controls andcollect the beds, blanketsand other equipment anddeliver it all back

into storage. It is amazing how much more room the beds and blanketstook up after they had been used. What a repacking conundrum.

Another ride in France.This time a weeks cyclingfrom Cherbourg to nearDescartes where myfamily were all meetingup in a gite for a holiday.I used new overnight stopsand again found awonderful wide range ofstyles and character.Thoroughly enjoyable. Ihad planned the route on amap but putting in the fine detail from an on-line route planner. What someon-line providers believe are paths that can be cycled indicates they areobviously not cycle tourists. Thankfully I also take a map with me. The ferrynow arrives in Cherbourg about 14:00 so the first day was short but after that Icovered about 55 miles a day which when fully laden does allow time to stopand admire the beautiful scenery. Using the very minor roads often takes youover more hills but the views are worth every extra foot climbed and beingaway from any traffic lets you talk to the people you meet, well if they speakEnglish. The Tour was passing very close by but my schedule did not provideme with enough time to deviate to witness the race. I did meet Gary Cure onthe ferry and he and many others were on their way to watch.I will let Dave Langley have the route so he can load it onto the group’s website. One of the chambres d’hôtes I stayed in provided a very grand meal withwaitress service and different wines with every course whilst at another which

La Martiniere By Mike WalshThe Loire

Mike

Cycle Ink #170 14

was on the PBP route the farmer opened a used champagne bottle and pouredwhat he obviously thought was gold. It was cider. Both meals were served onthe terrace with good company, so very pleasant. The next few daysmy route took me across Le Loir, along La Loire and Vienne. I didnotice more British along La Loire and Vienne.

Wareham Footbridge By Bob Chittenden

Mike

Big Bo

b and

Pres

ident

Terry

after

the A

ward

s

Bob Chitt

15 Cycle Ink #170

MINUTES OF CTC WESSEX CYCLING COMMITTEE MEETING – 22nd AUGUST 2013

1. PRESENT – Terry Walsh, Mike Walsh, John Jackson, Dave Langley, Keith Matthews, Jo Gordon, Julian James.Observed by Agnes Walsh2. APOLOGIES – Stephen Gray, Joan and Bob Courtney, John Ward, Jim McDonald, Ralph Huckle, Paul Turner3. MATTERS ARISING from last minutes – All Agreed.4. TREASURERS REPORT – Mike reported that there is £3,300 in the account - £2,000 of this is returned from the St.Lo committee. The major income is from the Newsletter. The highest expenditures were for supporting Paul Rush for histraining for Bikeability and printing and paper.5. NEWSLETTER – Keith is happy with the amount of articles being sent for the newsletter and feels contributors aregetting used to sending them in.6. RIGHT TO RIDE – Paul Turner has written a report which has been published in the Newsletter7. RUNS LEADERS REPORTS – Dave reported that the Sunday Rouleurs numbers averaged 4 with between 1 to 7riding – very few go onto lunch to meet up with the Inters for a days ride. Thursdays Rouleurs which at the moment isjust one group average 7 with 4 to 12 riding. There are not always runs leaders but either someone comes forward onthe day or a route is discussed. Bob writes that the “Inters are adjusting to the slightly different format with mostcontributing to the groups input where possible in order to share the load. The aim is to steer a Runs List between thePotterers and the Rouleurs – we don’t always succeed but this is the aim. The issue of non club members continuing toride after being asked has been settled apart from two who have given a firm assurance that it will be attended toforthwith so these names will be given to the Membership Roll Officer for verification. We never forget that the purposeof the rides is to have fun, otherwise what is it for? But these details have to be sorted.”. Bob said the Potterers average10 on Sundays with 6 more waiting at coffee and then 6 usually go back..8. PREPARATION FOR THE AGM – The room is booked, National Office are aware.The Sartain Trophy for outstanding service; the Tourist Shield for the highest; placed local CTC rider and the Riders Cupfor an impressive cycling feat will be awarded at the AGM – nominations were discussed and decided by the committee.It would be good for the club to have more participants at the AGM so please let everyone know when it isWEDNESDAY 23RD OCTOBER 7.30 at the Conservative Club, Kinson9. CERTIFICATES OF MERIT – thank you to Keith and Janet Matthews for arranging a very pleasant gathering at theirhouse for the Certificates to be presented from the CTC. Terrry Walsh, Joan and Bob Courtney and Peter Loakes werethe worthy recipients10. Donation for Ted Davis’s memorial was approved. It was noted that this is an exception and contrary to an earliercommittee decision.11. CHRISTMAS LUNCH – formal confirmation has been received for the Christmas lunch to be held at BournemouthSports Club, Chapel Gate by Hurn Airport on December 19th 12.00 for 12.30pm. This will again be subsidised by CTCWessex Cycling as the purpose of the lunch is for all the groups to meet up.12. BANK ACCOUNT CHANGE – the group ended up with 2 accounts and this has now been reduced to 1 for simplicityremaining solely at LLoyds with a deposit account also now.13. RUNS LIST FORMAT – Dave Langley is attempting to amalgamate all rides on the day into one list for ease ofperusal for which ride is followed that day. There will be individual lists as at present still but it was felt that whenconsidering who to join in with it is easier just to look at that particular day for the decision to be made. Good luck Dave.14. ST.LO 2014 – Mike raised the question as to whether the exchanges are likely to continue. There was a view thatthe exchange may be a thing of the past. The people running it are getting older. This will be discussed at the nextcommittee meeting.15. SALISBURY GROUP WITHIN CTC WESSEX CYCLING – at the moment Salisbury cannot become an informalgroup as they hold monies – if this is donated elsewhere then an informal group with ourselves becomes a possibility.16. ANY OTHER BUSINESSGridiron – John Jackson is discussing with Save the Action Group in the New Forest and Gordon Seabright CTC as tothe Health and Safety guidelines for the ride. John though very much involved has not been invited to any CyclingLiaison meetings for Charter to discuss cycle events in the New Forest. John wants to distance the Gridiron fromSportives. At first the CTC advised abiding by their H&S but now National Office are saying abide by Charter. So farthere are 570 entrants and when the list if full Keith will close the online entry. The Brevet cards are being updated asdiscussed and the ride will be available on GPS.

Meeting closed at 9.40pm

Cycle Ink #170 16

To go back to the beginning: in 2000 it came to our attention that for theMillenium the organisers of the Tour De France were planning an‘Arrivée du Tour’, a ride for 11,000 amateur cyclists round the lastportion of the final stage in Paris on the morning of the Tour’s arrival inParis. John and I signed up with two friends, took the tandem over bycar, and 8.30 a.m. on one glorious sunny Paris Sunday morning foundus queuing up with lots of other excited cyclists. We all received green

cycling jerseys andsome Tour goodies,then set off behindHinault, Merckx andIndurain, plus MissFrance in a car. Werode along by theSeine and throughthe closed streets,then along the Ruede Rivoli, up theChamps Elysées tothe Arc deTriomphe and backdown. It was great!In 2003 for thehundredth

anniversary of the first Tour de France, they ran another ‘Arrivée’, butwe were too busy to go. We had a hunch that they would do somethingfor the hundredth actual Tour de France (the rest having been lost towars) in 2013 but could find nothing on the TdF website for months untilJohn’s assiduous searching finally discovered it in early June under anew name ‘La Randonée’. There were to be 5000 participants, all givenspecial yellow T-shirts, who would cycle a shorter 6.9 km route this timearound the final circuit of the race from the Arc de Triomphe, down theAvenue des Champs Elysées, round the Place de la Concorde, pastthe Tuileries, through the tunnel, along the Rue de Rivoli, round thePlace de la Concorde, up the Champs Elysées again (across thefinishing line), and round the Arc de Triomphe.We hurriedly booked online and set about planning how to cycle toParis and back. Routes available on the internet mainly go via Calais or

TdF 2013We crossed the finish line before Kittel, Greipel and Cav . . .

By Sheila & John Ward

17 Cycle Ink #170

Dieppe, so we had to start from scratch. Using Google Maps weplanned a route in detail, using street view to check each junction andadd the signposts or other landmarks to the instructions. From ourhome in Lymington we can start off by ferry across to Yarmouth on theIsle of Wight, along the island to Fishbourne and a second ferry acrossto Portsmouth, then round Portsmouth to the cross-channel ferry toOuistreham. We decided not to come straight back from Paris but tohead south west to Vitré, our twin town close to the Normandy/Brittanyborder, to visit our twin family for a couple of days before heading backto St Malo, a comfortable day’s ride, to take a ferry back to Portsmouth.We took three days to get to Paris, in some of the hottest weather foryears so that weencountered theslurp of cycle tyreson melting tarmac –an experiencenormally only foundfurther south insummertime France.Nevertheless weenjoyed riding onquiet roads throughextensive wavingwheat-fields andsome hillier greenerbits. ApproachingParis itself was tricky and we made use of cycle tracks beside somemain roads including the busy N10 at one point. But it meant that wecovered the miles safely to Versailles, and then enjoyed riding firstthrough the pleasant Forêt de Fausses-Reposes in Marne-la-Coquette,then through the Parc de Saint-Cloud to reach a pedestrian bridge overthe Seine, and then on tracks through the Bois de Boulogne. The lastbit was mainly cycle/bus lanes and some very good cycle paths downthe tree-lined central areas on typical Paris boulevards. Cycling isclearly popular in Paris these days. We were delighted by the ease withwhich we achieved our goal, the Hotel France Albion, which had a littlecourtyard for the tandem. We warmly recommend this convenient hotelin every way, not least for the wonderful air-conditioning – it was 40degrees in Paris while we were there.On the Sunday we met a French friend, Nathalie, near the Eiffel Towerfor cold drinks before an hour early we all three made our way to the

Cycle Ink #170 18

boulevard acting as an assembly area behind the Arc de Triomphe atnoon. Luckily they let us into the ‘pen’ quite soon and we were able tocollect our yellow T-shirts on presentation of our registration documentsand ID. The crowd of riders and bikes swelled and changed colour aspeople put on their yellow T-shirts. We saw a few tandems, one veryBritish couple in Union Jack cycling shirts, and one triplet. Quite a fewpeople were on Velib bikes, the very popular Paris equivalent ofLondon’s Boris-Bikes. The heat was so great that people near the sidesof the road, including us, clambered over the barriers to find shadeunder nearby trees. We nibbled at a picnic lunch while listening to anon-the-spot radio commentator exhorting us to wave our arms and singlittle riffs which seemed familiar to the French at least. Finally at 2.30we were allowed to drift towards the Arc de Triomphe, and slowly, veryslowly, start cycling round it and off down the cobbles of the ChampsElysées. Led by cars at a strict maximum speed, we were preceded bya bunch of rather fit looking cyclists but never worked out quite whothey were.The greatest hazard apart from the huge numbers was that while quitea few riders had helmet cams, others were constantly taking photoswith their mobile phones. I had an advantage on the back of the tandemwith our camera, but had my doubts about the antics of some of thesolos. We made it to a moderate speed after a while but never fast, andJohn always had to be alert to the sudden ‘photo stop’ – something weare used to with visitors cars in the New Forest with its ponies – and afew boy-racers who were told off by marshalls. The sea of yellow ridersproceeding down the Champs Elysées meeting the front wave of themreturning up it was quite a sight. Many TdF spectators had alreadyarrived to stake their claim to the front row on the pavement, and withChris Froome predicted to win, Union Jacks were everywhere on thecrowd-barriers. So I waved to them, rather regally.All too soon we were back at the Arc de Triomphe and the assemblyarea, where bottles of water and chewy bars were provided and wefound a shady tree under which to consume them. Then back to thehotel for a shower before heading for the Quai des Tuileries to find avery hot wall to sit on and watch the real riders stream past us ten timesat incredible speed. We even saw Cav have his puncture. But we – and4998 other people - crossed the finish line several hours before themall!

Sheila& John

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