Do You Come From a Land Down Under?

Having recently discovered a new tool that analyses traffic flow to this blog, it was intriguing to see that there have been nearly 3000 hits from Australia in the past year.

Now, I'm aware of at least three cyclists from the Ampthill area who have emigrated in the past few years but I can't imagine any of them is homesick enough to spend their time looking at posts about cycling in Bedfordshire when they could be out riding in the sun (or watching England whip their hosts on the cricket pitch.)

I don't know much about T'internet, but am advised by a mate who works in web advertising that search engines pick up on certain words in the text.

At the risk of being accused of applying racial stereotypes, I suppose Beer and Banter may stand out to the average Australian and there was mention of the Southern Cross hotel in one post but other than that, it's hard to see the attraction. If you do happen to be reading this on the other side of the world, drop us a line to say what attracted you in the first place. (Assuming this post has not alienated you forever!)

At least one can see some connection to Australia but as to last month's hits from Kazakhstan.... I did read Vinokourov was looking for anew team but I don't think he'd like playing domestic the Everton!

Cock & Bull- 2nd June

I was a bit worried to read the the first line of the Chairman's text which said " I'm thinking of Cock"! Having opened the note I realised he was proposing a ride to the Cock at Broom. Lying at the outer edge of our range for a Thursday night ride, this quirky little pub has been the subject of an annual pilgrimage since the very early days of Ampthill Cyclists.

With only three weeks to mid-summers day and maximum daylight hours and yet another pretty well perfect evening for cycling, this proved to be an excellent proposal. Once again 10 riders set out via Water End, Clophill and Haynes, before Crossing the A600 to Ireland. Southill and Broom.

As predicted, David the Doors wasn't put off by his first outing and the rest of the crew included Richard the Pub (first ride of the year), Everton, Brian, Clive, Chedge, Nick, Gary, Loren and Mick. We trundled along at a very respectable 15 mph through some beautiful countryside and chocolate box villages and arrived at the Cock at in a little under an hour.

We've been going to the Cock for as long as we've been riding out on Thursday evenings. There's no denying that it's interesting- being one of very few pubs without a proper bar servery. The barman stands in the cellar which is a few steps below the bar and pours beer directly from the cask. As you can imagine, it goes down a storm with the CAMRA types but unfortunately it seems to lack regular local customers.

The beer's not bad (hard to muck it up when there are no pipes to clean) but the place is looking tired and I'd go so far as to say it's not even the best pub in Broom any more- that title going to the White Horse. Anyway, it was pleasant to sit in the courtyard and quoff a couple of pints before heading back towards home.

The route back picked up the surfaced bridleway around the back of Chicksands to Apsley Corner and then retraced our tracks back to Haynes. Avoiding the pull of the Stone Jug we decided to take the high road, dropping down Limbersley Lane to the White Hart in Maulden.

The Dangerous Brothers, aka Everton & Mick, went off the front. No problem when you know where you are going but somehow they managed to confuse London Lane with Limbersley Lane, ending up in Houghton Conquest. The Chairman received a very sheepish phone call from Mick to say he'd not be joining us at the White Hart but would go straight to the Old Sun. This would've been funny had we not realised that Mick was holding the kitty.

After a swift pint of GK IPA (bought out of a second whip) we left the White Hart, some heading home and others going off to the Old Sun in the hope that Mick hadn't drunk his way through the remains of the kitty.

By the time we got back we'd just about clocked 30 miles at 15 mph having had a very enjoyable evening. Good call Chairman!

One Hit Wonders19th May

There can't have been many Thursday evenings when we've broken double figures (cyclists not miles), but the continued good weather brought out 10 riders on another bright spring evening.

Our numbers were bolstered by latest recruit, David-the-Doors. After seeing our website (yes someone actually reads it!), David had been trying to track us down for a number of weeks. He finally managed to make contact having been given a number by somebody he met in the pub- very apposite for Ampthill Cyclists. Despite getting the full induction from Mick, indications were that he'd return in the future, unlike countless others who have only managed a single outing.

The list of "one hit wonders" is too long to produce here but, like The Crazy World of Arthur Brown See (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOErZuzZpS8) one or two of them do stand out. The reasons for not returning, I'm sure, are many and varied but I think more than their fair share are linked to alcohol. In some cases this is because "serious" cyclists have turned up expecting an 80k training run and have been shocked that we stopped in a pub (the clue's in the strap line!), while others have expected a two wheeled pub crawl and could not cope with the "Bikes" part. One local hod carrier and his mate had obviously spent the afternoon in the pub before joining us. They were last seen somewhere around the Chequers at Millbrook.

Some six or seven years ago we were approached by a guy in the Stone Jug and asked if he could come along the following week. As he was in the pub and had seen that we all liked a glass of beer,it seemed reasonable to think that he'd sussed the level of the club We were delighted that somebody wanted to join us and looked forward to seeing him out with us. I'm not sure who was most shocked when he turned the next Thursday up with wife, teenage daughter & son in tow but it was no surprise when they failed to make a second appearance.

Any way onto the ride. The route was a mixture of regular haunts and some roads less travelled as we set off through Steppingley, past Tingrith to Westoning and on to Harlington. Dropping down Harlington Hill we rode through Barton and on to Higham Gobian, Shillington and Clophill before stopping off at the Stone Jug.
Apart from Mr Hopes stopping the traffic in Barton to avoid having his front light run over, there were few incidents. The pace was brisk and it was pretty evident who had been training for the Addenbrookes run (see below) and who's still in couch potato mode but it looked like the Chairman had been doing some moonlight rides judging by the way he sped up Badger Hill en route to the Old Sun.
BR/Chedge/Clive/Mick/Nick/Gary/Everton/Keith/John/David-the Doors. About 24 miles.

Bethan's Bike Ride- 11th June 2011

To paraphrase Lance Armstong, it's not just about the bikes, beer & banter. Like many of the guys, Loren has long term connections with Ampthill Rugby Club and was moved to receive the note below from a first team prop Simon Sapvins. The up-shot is that Mick, Brian, Richard-the-Pub, Mark-the Fireman, Clive, Gary, John & CP have all signed up for the 90+ mile ride. When asked last week, it seemed they are at various points in their training regimes from "haven't started" to "not been off the bike for a month" but I'm sure pure determination will get them through what promises to be a tough but extremely rewarding day.

The latest available info is that an incredible £7600 has already been pledged to the event. If you'd like to make a donation, use the link below.

http://www.justgiving.com/bethansbikeridestarlightchildrensfoundation
http://www.justgiving.com/bethansbikeridethesickchildrenstrust

Good Luck to all concerned and best wishes to Bethan and her family.

Dear Friends,

Over the last ten months, as you are aware, Bethan has been seriouslly ill and reguarly in and out of hospital. During this time it gave Angharad and I time to reflect and we became increasingly aware how important charities are in providing help, fun, and support to the seriously sick children and their families. This time made Angharad and I think of ways in which we could potentially raise money for charity and after a few drinks on New Year's Eve with a couple of the Ampthill Rugby oldboys (the old is the giveaway!) we came up with the idea of a charity bike ride to Bedford Hospital and then Addenbrookes and back.

We have set the date of Saturday 11th June 2011 for the bike ride and we will be setting off from Ampthill Rugby Club early in the morning, cycling to Bedford Hospital, onto Addenbrookes for a few photo's, and then back to Ampthill to meet family and friends at the rugby club for a BBQ and few beers with plenty of John Wayne impressions and the opportunity to raise more money for the charities. Please spread the word to friends and family to put the date in the diary and join us up at the club to see us ride back and celebrate afterwards.

The charities that we have chosen are Starlight (www.starlight.org.uk) and the Sick Childrens Trust (www.sickchildrenstrust.org) and both have already advised that they will fully support the ride and event. We will also shortly be setting up a just giving page for both charities to enable the fund raising to commence.

Although we have spoken to some of you about joining us for the whole ride or a section (i.e. Ampthill to Bedford , Addenbrookes to Ampthill) we need to firm up numbers and some of us will need to commence some training (!). If you are interested in coming on what will be a great day for a couple of worthwhile charities then please let us know asap. Please note that numbers are not restricted and the more people that take part the more money we will make so if you are interested or feel there is anybody else that might be interested then please let us know. If you are a yes please let us know your T Shirt Sizes as Angharad will organise them from the Charities.

If you need any insentive then just watch Starlight at 7:30pm every wednesday night on Channel Five and you'll then respond with a definate yes! Bethan appears in the episode on the 13th April.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Simon & Angharad x

Days of Albion- 5th May

During his time at Anfield, one of the many criticisms of Gerad Houllier was that Liverpool almost never fielded the same team in consecutive games. In recent times much can be said of Ampthill Cycle Club,as the increased membership and inability of many of us to manage our diaries means you just never know who's going to show up.

Variety is the spice of life,as they say, and this has certainly added to the enjoyment over the last couple of years. So far this season, the first three rides have seen an average of seven riders while 14 different members have been out.

This week's motley clue comprised Mick,Chedge, Everton, John, Young Joe, Kieth and Mark-the-Fireman.
The absence of the Chairman added to the usual disorganisation and meant there was no pre-planned route. Thinking on our feet, or in the saddle, we decided on the old favourite of Steppingly, Eversholt, Milton Bryan, Potsgrove & Woburn, with an initial plan to stop at the Green Man on the way home. After calling for Kieth like a bunch of sub- adolescent school boys, we finally got on the way on another bright and breezy April evening.
Squad rotation and the tendency to consume too much beer during the season are probably the only two similarities we have with Premier League football teams. However if we were a Premier League Club then, surely Everton would be a our very own Ryan Giggs- gracefully driving us on despite being several years older than most of the crew. [Mention of RG is in no way a gratuitous attempt to drive traffic to this site-Ed]
Much as I'd like to think of myself as the David Beckham of the team, the fact that I'm well past my sell by date and spend most of my time right at the back probably makes me more of a David "Calamity" James. Any way, enough of football.

With varying levels of fitness this early in the season, it was not surprising that we were well strung out up the climb to Milton Bryan but we re-grouped before tackling the main road towards Woburn. It was strange riding through Potsgrove without Joe K-J providing his "All Our Yesterdays" commentary- but there were one or passable impersonations from the"young old boys".

Everton pulled us along at a brisk pace and we arrived in Woburn well ahead of schedule. After a quick conflab we agreed it was too early to go to the Green Man and that we would ride around the perimeter wall of Woburn Abbey rather than going through the deer park. So, 30 seconds later off sets half the team, heading straight through the middle of the deer park.
I'm really beginning to think we should change our name to the Goldfish Cycling Club!

We'd agreed to stop at the French Horn before heading back to Ampthill but after another brief debate we decided to head to the Albion for some real beer in a real pub (at sensible prices). This proved to be a very good call and, as seems to be increasingly the case, we decided the beer was so good that we made this our only stop of the night.

Come Out to Play (Now the Light Nights Are Here) 21/4/2011

22 Dreams may not be Paul Weller's greatest album; indeed some of the fillers sound like they were lifted from Pearl & Dean cinema ads, but, hidden amongst the also-rans is the excellent Light Nights (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGqDn00As0c).


The light, and un-seasonally sunny, nights certainly proved a great draw for our first official ride of 2011, and eight goodmen and true (Brian, Blunty, Mark the Fireman, Mick, Loren, Clive and Chedge) set out from the Old Sunon a warm Thursday. It's become something of a tradition that the first ride of the year heads out out to Haynes, via Clophill and Great Lane. All too often it's been a truncated affair with the elements convincing us to spend as much time in the pub as on the bike. This year was different and we added an extra loop through Silver End, along the A600 towards Shefford, picking up the surfaced bridelway behind Chicksands before rejoining our original route at Apsley Corner.


Spirits were buoyed by the glorious weather and the golden rape fields of the Bedfordshire countryside mirrored the the bright sunshine. Shorts revealed many pairs of knees that wouldn't normally be seen until well into May, but perhaps the most unusual thing was that Mick had cleaned and lubed his bike, had batteries in his lights AND a spare tube!

As we headed towards the Stone Jug, Mark the Fireman just happened to drop out the he would be celebrating his 50th birthday while on rugby tour over the weekend. I'd always thought that Mark was several years, rather than a few months, younger than me and kidded myself that that was the main reason for our relative fitness levels. This is clearly not the case. Nor can I blame the fitness gap on having had a harder paper round than him since he has spent much of his life chasing around putting out fires while I've been pushing a pen (or keyboard) for most of mine. Perhaps the clue lies at least in part in the fact that Mark left us outside the Stone Jug to pack for rugby tour while the rest of us went in to sample the local ales! Anyway, Happy Birthday, Mark- we drank a toast in your absence.

The welcome at the Stone Jug was as warm as the weather, and the beer up to its' usual high standard. It was very hard to drag ourselves away for the slog up Badger Hill and chase back to the Old Sun. Continuing the theme of warmth, most of the remaining crew partook of Paddy's extra hot curry, making the most of Friday being a bank holiday and staying for an extra pint or two.
A very enjoyable if not record-breaking 22 miles.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

They say that time passes quicler as we get older and I can certainly say that my 50th year seems to have gone considerably fasterer than each of the previous 49. It hardly seems any time since I was writing about last year's Christmas ride and meal, but here we are half way through the festive season and looking forward to the New Year celebrations.

This years Christmas do was held on 4th December. Heavy snow during the preceding week had put the ride in some doubt, but a timely thaw enabled half a dozen hardy souls to complete a short trip around Ireland, Northill and Southill, partaking of an obligatory beer or two in the Stone Jug before heading home in drizzle to get ready for the evening's festivities.

Newly self appointed Social Secretary, Mick, had selected the Green Man at Eversholt as this year's venue. This is a fairly regular stopping off point for us during the summer and Mick has developed something of a love-hate relationship with the landlady- You've guessed it; he loves her and she, well at best tolerates him as long as we keep him on a short leash. She was delighted to accept the phone booking but apparently was a bit taken aback when Mick turned up to pay the deposit. I suppose in the current climate, beggars really can't be choosers, and she was happy to take his money.

Due to various holidays and other commitments, numbers were a bit down on previous years but by all accounts a very good time was had by all- food, service and beer all coming up to scratch, and there was a some good hearted banter with the other groups in the restaurant.

Highlight of the evening was the annual awarding of the Pink Barbie Cycle Helmet to the biggest arse of the year. Despite having done an excellent job of organising the revelries, Mick had done more than enough through the year to retain the trophy he won last year. I'm told Ladbrooks have stopped taking bets on him completing a hat-trick and winning the trophy outright in 2011!

For many of us, one of the highlights of Christmas in Ampthill has long been the annual carol service at the Old Sun. Like Ampthill Cyclists, there are differing views as to when this first started, but it was well over twenty years ago and it's still going strong. This is thanks to the conducting of Raff Troianno and a subset of Ampthill Town Band.

This year's event took place on 21st December and, despite the snow lying deep and crisp and even, the Old Sun was full to the gunnels. This was in no small way due to the cycle club turning out en masse with about half of our regualr members and their respective partners in attendance.

Several of the crew, including Joe, CP and Clive do have very good voices; unfortunately they couldn't make it this year. We thought we harmonised beautifully, but a subsequent posting on Facebook of our rendition of While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks ( to the tune of Ilkley Moor Bar T'at) proved this not to be the case.

The emphasis has really always been on quantity rather than quality and, despite Raff's attempts to whip us into shape over the years I don't think the Old Sun Choral Society will be coming to a venue near you any time soon.

Anyway it was a rousing, fun packed evening thanks to Paddy, Jenny, Jay, Raff and the band.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.