Waterloo Sunset- Village People Revival Tour 2011?

Tour 2011- London-Essex- Hertford- Home- Coming Soon
For more photos click on

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ampthillbikesbeerandbanter/

They'll Always Have Paris

Following the mass ride to Addenbrookes and back earlier in the summer, Ampthill Cyclists have been involved in another, even more impressive, charity ride with new recruits Pauls 1&2 completing a grueling 300 mile ride from London to Paris. The ride was in aid of the very worthy Alzheimer's Society and donations can be made by following the link in Paul  Heerey's email to the Chairman below
Both Pauls can be seen looking tres chic in their newly acquired Ampthill shirts in the photo opposite.
Great effort chaps!

Subject: London to Paris Sponsored Bike Ride
Brian

Paul Hoare and myself completed our cycle to Paris on Sunday after four days, 305 miles and too many hills to count! On the whole, weather was good with not too much rain although the wind on the last couple of days was pretty bad.

Thought you might like to share with the guys the photographic evidence of our achievements and confirmation that the 'Old Sun' shirts made it all the way to the Eiffel Tower!

The ride was organised to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society and so far between us we've raised over £3,000. If anyone wants to add to this sum then they can still do so via the following link:

http://www.justgiving.com/Paul-Heerey0

See you soon.

Regards.

Paul & Paul

X- Rated

The X-men Commeth

With the summer rain coming down all morning and well into the afternoon, the number of potential riders was falling like Indian test wickets. One after another the pessimists in the crew decided there was no chance of it clearing up and decided to opt out of the evening ride. Even our own Iron Man, Everton, decided it was going to be too wet (possibly fear of rust?) and elected to go to the gym along with several other of our more sensible colleagues.

Everton has recently qualified as an X-Biking instructor and runs several classes a week at the local leisure centre. X-Biking is a cross between spinning, cross training and sadomasochism, especially when Ev's calling the shots, Those who have been joining in have certainly seen increased fitness levels in a very short period of time. We' re hoping Everton will be able to arrange weekly sessions for the whole club when our Thursday night rides finish in a few weeks time.

Anyway, back to the real cycling. By 4 o'clock we were down to about four definites and a couple of "maybes". It was still raining but the Ampthill weather centre still insisted it would stop at 18.00, there'd be a brief but heavy shower at 19.00 and then it would clear up. After a brief debate about deferring until 19.00, the optimists amongst us decided to throw caution to the wind and seven of us set-off into the gloom at our usual time.

Our optimism was somewhat tempered by the black clouds on the horizon and we chose a prudent route that would keep us reasonably close to home should we need to bail out at any time. Heading out to Tingrith via Steppingly, we began the slow grind up Long Lane to Toddington. At a touch under two miles, Long Lane is aptly named; about two thirds of it is up-hill and it has always been one of our bigger challenges. At least tonight it was cool, the wind was behind us and there were none of the fast boys to make we mere mortals feel inadequate. Even so, David Doors was very glad to complete his inaugural assent and can now well and truly claim to be an Ampthill Cyclist.

As we entered Toddington on the dot of 19.00 the heavens opened right on cue. Pulling over to don water proofs, some how we managed to lose Kieth and Greavsie. Most of us were convinced Mick had done his usual disappearing-off-the-front trick and as Kieth is one of the fastest descenders amongst us we thought he'd led the charge down hill into Milton Bryan. It was only when phones started ringing at he bottom of the hill and we picked up some fairly abusive messages that we realised we'd left them both at the top of Long Lane.
Milton Bryan is a somewhat genteel village and the locals clearly don't think much of being invaded by Lycra clad louts from the other side of Woburn Park. I think they thought we were casing the joint as we waited for Mick & Kieth and we got some very strange looks from passing traffic.
Fortunately the rain had stopped and after regrouping we headed on to Woburn, climbing through the deer park to Eversholt, Steppingly and back to the Albion and the Old Sun for some excellent beer and some not too bad banter.

Not the longest of rides, but well worth the effort and the soaking. One up for optimism.

Perfect Day?

Scenes of Southill

It wasn't quite like the song, the day wasn't really perfect but the end certainly was.

Weather was excellent, company was stimulating and as for the route...

A variation on an old favourite, we headed out to Maulden, up Limbersley lane and across to Ickwell via Old Warden before turning for home via Southill and Ireland . Picking up the newly surfaced cycle track along the A507 we cut through to Clophill and the Stone Jug.

The rolling landscape around Southill and Old Warden must be some of the nicest in Bedfordshire and with the evening sun reflecting off the ripening corn it was easy to imagine we were in far more exotic climes.

Having remarked earlier in the season on the novelty of being a group of more than 10, it now seems to be the norm; this week there were 12 of us. With the majority wearing club colours and, for once, managing to stick in something resembling a peleton, we cut an impressive dash across the Bedfordshire countryside, cruising at a steady 20 mph for much of the ride. 


Where's my bike?

 



This felt pretty good until we we joined the route of Bedford CC's weekly time trial on the edge of Old Warden- and realised  we couldn't keep up with the "real" cyclists.  Mick & Gary had a very good go- trying to catch an attractive female rider as she sped past the main group. I'm sure it wasn't the first time these two have been left as broken, breathless wrecks by a woman and it probably won't be the last.

The previous week the Stone Jug had been swamped by Morris Men and their groupies so we'd decided to ride on to the White Hart at Maulden. This felt very alien but it was quite nice to ride up Badger Hill without a pint of beer in each leg for once.

Don't Try This at Home!

I'm not sure what attracts grown men to dress up in brightly coloured silly clothes and travel around the pubs of England making lots of noise but the Morris Men probablyy think pretty much the same about us.
It was nice to see the Chairman in the pub, chauffeured by Madame Chair. He's recovering from a pretty nasty mountain bike accident that involved a face plant and and resulted in two broken fingers (See opposite). Although unable to ride for a month or so, he can at least still hold a beer glass and he's been able to type enough to send off the latest order for club kit. It's incredible how excited middle aged men can get about the buying of new clothes and we must have looked like a bunch of women at a Tupperware Party as we compared orders. It will be interesting to see how Mick copes with his new bib tights when he gets caught short on the way home from the pub.
Not for the first time, we decided the beer and the atmosphere in the Stone Jug was too good to leave so we had another pint before tackling the dreaded Badger Hill.
A very pleasant 24 miles in great countryside and great company.

Who Are You?

While it may be an exaggeration to say that Ampthill Cyclists have "gone viral", it's almost impossible to keep up with the rate the club's growing. Having seen hardly any new members for several years, it seems new faces are turning up on a weekly basis. And they seem to come back week after week.
At the last count 23 different riders had been out this season and the Chairman's considering introducing name tags. I'm not sure if this is so he remebers our names or his own!

The past month or so has seen routes taking in variously Salford via Cranfield & Marston, Pulloxhill via Campton, Clophill via Tingrith & Gravenhurst and Ridgmont via Eversholt, Woburn & Aspley Guise.

One epic ride went via Wilstead, Cotton End and Ickwell totalling some 32 miles. Some reports have this as a masterly piece of route planning while others suggest that nobody really knew where they were going and they just followed their noses. Any way, it was a bit of a shock for new recruit John Paul (JP). At 22 miles, the previous week's ride had been the furthest he'd ever ridden, nevertheless he managed the additonal 10 miles and keeps coming back for more.

By all accounts some serious re-hydration took place at the Stone Jug & Old Sun  that night and one or two members had to face some difficult conversations when they finally got home.

Like the rest of the group, the new riders are of mixed age and fitness, Paul 1 & Paul 2 are training for a charity ride to Paris, Keith ( not to be confused with our resident typo, Kieth) bought a bike, rode 70 miles for the British Heart Foundation and then decided he'd like to carry on;  Young Andy looks like he was born on a bike.

The overall pace has undoubtedly increased. One member commented on the distinct smell of testosterone at the front of the pack the other week as Everton and the newbies tested each other out. Somebody else remarked that the smell's always there but it's usually masked by the stench of bullshit!

Anyway, it's all making for an interesting and fun packed summer and bodes well for the end of season tour.

Our Finest Hour? 10th-12th June

Starting with our very own Ironman- Everton, completing a 100 mile trek around Ampthill in just over 24 hrs ("Why?" you may well ask) and finishing with a small but select team (Chedge,Blunty, Everton & Mick) winning the Amphtill Festival boules trophy, this must have been one of our most noteworthy weekends. Sandwiched between these two events 11 members plus two wives completed a gruelling charity ride to Addenbrookes Hospital and back to raise money for the Starlight Children's Foundation and The Sick Children's Trust (See Bethan's Bike Ride below).

In total, some 40 riders took part in this 80+ mile trip which took in a photo opportunity at Bedford hospital and finished the with a knees-up at Ampthill Rugby Club. Latest reports indicate that the total amount raised was approaching a magnificent £20,000. The club members involved were: -

Mr & Mrs Chairman, Mr & Mrs CP, (both couples riding in tandem), Loren, Mick, John, Gary, Burts Jnr & Snr, Clive, Mick & Mark, with back-up provided by Joe K-J.

This was a superb effort, thanks in no small part to Loren's organisation and cajoling.

We really aren't sure why Everton undertook his challenge and I'm not absolutely certain that he is either, but it's certainly provided a good conversation point. There's apparently no truth in the rumour that was locked out and spent the night wandering between Ampthill & Maulden looking for his key.

Equally silly but much less demanding was Le Bicyclette's retention of the Ampthill boules trophy in torrential rain. This was the third time in succession that a team from the club has won the competition. Unfortunately this year's turnout was hampered by the weather but at least it stayed dry for the two big challenges of the weekend.

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.