The Beacon Message Board

so, we move on....

26 people out last week, most, if not all of whom were happy given the comments of those who rode out, and don't forget this is a fun pastime we indulge in...as shown by a wonderful sense of camaraderie especially at not laughing when someone swallows bird poo whilst innocently cycling along

Anyway, I'm expecting a glut of new volunteers, and we start this week with a newbie leader...good on you, Jess

A: Cleobury Mortimer - Jess Rhodes-Jones
B: Honeybourne - Paul Johnson
C: Meriden - Dave Cox (08:15 departure)

Dave, I know this is to the cyclists' memorial service, so people may want to know the timings, to gauge whether they can make it, join the B (Paul...be aware of this), attend the service, break off on arrival, or have an extended café stop etc.

Here is Sunday's route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13716852 70 miles pretty flat one big hill before the cafe then a Doorstep bacon sandwich and i mean DOORSTEP then home job done.(Oh and there will be no Hugging not by me anyway)

ballintrane wrote:Here is Sunday's route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13716852 70 miles pretty flat one big hill before the cafe then a Doorstep bacon sandwich and i mean DOORSTEP then home job done.(Oh and there will be no Hugging not by me anyway)

70 miles!!!! tut tut, put your tin hat on!

John D wrote: 70 miles!!!! tut tut, put your tin hat on!

Easy tiger!!

WorcsPhil wrote:so, we move on....
Dave, I know this is to the cyclists' memorial service, so people may want to know the timings, to gauge whether they can make it, join the B (Paul...be aware of this), attend the service, break off on arrival, or have an extended café stop etc.

The service starts at 11:00 and last year we left Black Horse at 08:15 to allow time for a cafe stop at 10:00 before going to the service. If anyone wishes to stick to the normal 09:15 departure time they might just be able to make it but maybe not at C run pace and certainly not in accordance with strict club guidelines regarding cake consumption

CakeStop wrote:The service starts at 11:00 and last year we left Black Horse at 08:15 to allow time for a cafe stop at 10:00 before going to the service. If anyone wishes to stick to the normal 09:15 departure time they might just be able to make it but maybe not at C run pace and certainly not in accordance with strict club guidelines regarding cake consumption

You also need to factor in the impact of the weight of the wreath on the average speed of Dave's bike.

This week's A run will be to Clee Hill, with a cafe stop at 42 miles in Cleobury Mortimer. Total distance is 71 miles (sorry Phil R, I kept trying to re-plan my route to get rid of that extra mile but the roads wouldn't bend enough!

It does mean that there is a whole 1 mile difference between the A and B run at least...

With the weather not looking great for sunday i'm going to change the destination for the B run to Speckled hen cafe Honeybourne
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13805192 60 miles pan flat.(Still no hugging at the start!!)

Many thanks to Steve for giving a heads up on Sunday's C Run. We will start at 8.15 because I absolutely have to be there on time! We will be passing Lavender Hall so anyone who wants to can turn around and retreat for an early finish. There will be time for a stop at the excellent Berryfields Farm Shop just above Meriden. The service is at 11.00 finishing in time for tea, coffee and cake at the Village Hall at 12.00 courtesy of the WI.

JessRJ wrote:This week's A run will be to Clee Hill, with a cafe stop at 42 miles in Cleobury Mortimer. Total distance is 71 miles (sorry Phil R, I kept trying to re-plan my route to get rid of that extra mile but the roads wouldn't bend enough!

It does mean that there is a whole 1 mile difference between the A and B run at least...

Sounds like an interesting destination and looking forward to it

Will it be flat?

ballintrane wrote:With the weather not looking great for sunday i'm going to change the destination for the B run to Speckled hen cafe Honeybourne
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13805192 60 miles pan flat.(Still no hugging at the start!!)

Sounds like a good idea Paul after the last time to Chipping Campden. Never been so cold and wet

ballintrane wrote:With the weather not looking great for sunday i'm going to change the destination for the B run to Speckled hen cafe Honeybourne
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13805192 60 miles pan flat.(Still no hugging at the start!!)

Paul, I'm planning to drop in at the Speckled Hen for a coffee and a hug. Am I right to think that you'll get there shortly after 11?

The BBC has radically altered its forecast for the weekend: now much less rain forecast for Saturday and little or none for Sunday. If it looks like being a dry day, do you think you'll stick to your second route plan, or revert to the first one?

George we should be there just after 11am and no more changes of destination it will be the Speckled Hen.(Don't come near me for a hug!!)

ballintrane wrote:Don't come near me for a hug!!)

Oh. So when you said that you didn't want a hug at the start, you didn't mean you wanted your hug later?

On Today's "Unpopular" B run to Honeybourne
Paul Johnson(L)
Nick Shenton
George Barker(Cafe)
Andy Terry
Dave Hughes
John Hitchcock
James Tate
Ryan Stait
Jamie Johnston
Rob Wade
Neil"Fireworks"Orchard
Chris Ashford
Ryan Evanson
Andy Wrightson
Leonie Balter
Phil Elwell
Niall Whitehouse
Claire Fudge
Tessa Oelofse
Joe Warwood

The cafe seemed to cope well with the large group i tried to keep laughter and hilarity down to a minimum and it did not rain.

For the record the Average speed was fast enough to stay upright and the Distance covered was all the way there and back.

Ps. Steve smith has reported to me about a post B run accident at the bottom of Weatheroak hill i hope all involved are Ok please post on here anymore info.

Many thanks to Jess for her unusual A run. I can see that Phil R and I have contest for finding obscure routes to the cafe. Really enjoyed it!

The cafe was great value and they coped well with the group. For a sausage roll, cake and tea, Cleobury Cafe only charged £3.50.

Xavier Disley deserves an extra club run point for enduring the route on a fixed. His legs and lungs looked as though they would burst on the climb out of Hopton Wafers.

Good to see a big crowd at the Speckled Hen, ably and amiably led by Paul. See you next week for Whiteman's Wevenge!

Beacon C Run to Cyclists Memorial Service at Meriden.
WI Tea and Cake at Village Hall

Phase 1 Also taking on provisions at Lavender Hall
Dave Cox (leading and Cycling UK wreath bearer)
Carolyn Clegg
Neil Evanson
Dave Little
Helen Jamieson (Beacon wreath bearer)

Phase 2
Dave Cole
Pete Marshall
Si Turner
Steve Smith
Oscar Hopkins
Steve Smith

Thanks for a good C run Dave.
Good company, nice service, the WI cake was out of this world and kudos for finding some lovely smooth country lanes!

Philip Whiteman wrote:Many thanks to Jess for her unusual A run. I can see that Phil R and I have contest for finding obscure routes to the cafe. Really enjoyed it!

The cafe was great value and they coped well with the group. For a sausage roll, cake and tea, Cleobury Cafe only charged £3.50.

Xavier Disley deserves an extra club run point for enduring the route on a fixed. His legs and lungs looked as though they would burst on the climb out of Hopton Wafers.

I enjoyed the ride too - although doing 32rpm out of the saddle for the first 10min of Clee Hill was a bit jokes!

Following on from a very unsuccessful A run ride today. Which saw me cycling from Hartlebury to cleobury Mortimer chasing the ghost of the A run after dragging her in doors out to drop me at hartlebury, following a change of bike. I arrived at the cafe ... But there was no sign any beacon riders. I waited patiently ... You all know how patient I am ... Then decided to have a quick blast up clee hills before getting her in doors to drive me home.

Whilst driving home I finally found my lost group ... As I was in no position to join them ... I made myself useful and took some shots instead


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c73qpv516aak ... VRnWa?dl=0

matthew wrote:Following on from a very unsuccessful A run ride today. Which saw me cycling from Hartlebury to cleobury Mortimer chasing the ghost of the A run after dragging her in doors out to drop me at hartlebury, following a change of bike. I arrived at the cafe ... But there was no sign any beacon riders. I waited patiently ... You all know how patient I am ... Then decided to have a quick blast up clee hills before getting her in doors to drive me home.

Whilst driving home I finally found my lost group ... As I was in no position to join them ... I made myself useful and took some shots instead


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c73qpv516aak ... VRnWa?dl=0

Cheers Matt, your support was welcome. Have you worked out what went wrong with your brake cable yet?

Paul i had the accident, an old lady pulled out of a side road and didn't look right as phil and i were coming down the hill, somehow phil avoided her and i clipped her and went flying. She was fine, just a bit shaken up, I've just badly broken my finger and cuts and bruised so i'll be out of action for a bit!

Great ride up until then though, thanks for leading!

Niall

Thanks to Paul for another disappointingly led B Run in which riders were advised of a "Pan Flat" ride out to Honeybourne.

This was certainly not the case as we seemed to climb many rather stiff hills along the way. This I must say was not cricket, as riders were not advised of route changes before hand.

The ride has therefore left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, and before you ask, no it wasn't the third ruddy fly I had ingested during the day.

njwhitehouse wrote:Paul i had the accident, an old lady pulled out of a side road and didn't look right as phil and i were coming down the hill, somehow phil avoided her and i clipped her and went flying. She was fine, just a bit shaken up, I've just badly broken my finger and cuts and bruised so i'll be out of action for a bit!

Great ride up until then though, thanks for leading!

Niall

Sorry to hear that glad you enjoyed it hope to see you soon.

Nicks_77 wrote:Thanks to Paul for another disappointingly led B Run in which riders were advised of a "Pan Flat" ride out to Honeybourne.

This was certainly not the case as we seemed to climb many rather stiff hills along the way. This I must say was not cricket, as riders were not advised of route changes before hand.

The ride has therefore left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, and before you ask, no it wasn't the third ruddy fly I had ingested during the day.

martin mc wrote:

matthew wrote:Following on from a very unsuccessful A run ride today. Which saw me cycling from Hartlebury to cleobury Mortimer chasing the ghost of the A run after dragging her in doors out to drop me at hartlebury, following a change of bike. I arrived at the cafe ... But there was no sign any beacon riders. I waited patiently ... You all know how patient I am ... Then decided to have a quick blast up clee hills before getting her in doors to drive me home.

Whilst driving home I finally found my lost group ... As I was in no position to join them ... I made myself useful and took some shots instead


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c73qpv516aak ... VRnWa?dl=0

Cheers Matt, your support was welcome. Have you worked out what went wrong with your brake cable yet?

Yes m8 all fixed. The outer cable clip @ front had snapped and was allowing the outer cable to pull through frame.

Hope the finger & bruises mends soon Niall and that there's no significant damage to the bike. After making my way home it occurred to me that as the one person there who wasn't shaken up I should have thought to get you to check that all accessories were still attached to your bike after what must have been a high speed crash so hopefully that's the case. Apologies to Phil too, I thought afterwards I should have offered to ride home with him as he was probably a bit shaken up even though he hadn't come off.

Thanks to the A team for a fun ride to Clee Hill and Cleobury Mortimer on my first time leading a club ride Great views at the top of Clee Hill! Apologies for anyone missing knee cartilage after I got a little creative with the hills on Bike Hike (sorry Xav).

Apparently "the politest ride I've ever been on" according to Mr Taylor, and that was before the hugging started.

On today's ride were:

Jess R-J (leading)
Martin McGowan
Phil Richards
Alistair Hey
Laurence Cooley
Xavier Disley
Lee Marrow
Simon Dighton
Vincent Tennant
Paul Watkins
Phil Whiteman
Ian Taylor
Ka Li

Great route - thanks, Jess. No complaints from me about the B run being faster than us given the, erm, challenging nature of the terrain we had to tackle. Great café, too.

I like how you can see Ian's expression change from "Not the Malvern stalker again" to "Hey, it's Matt" in the photos.

Thanks to Jess for leading, an excellent route, plenty of new roads and lanes and nothing in the way of climbing. No wonder it was so polite!

I have to admit, I was poised to respond to the encouragement from the passing car until I realised it was Matt. We nearly lost the polite vibe at that point but thankfully it all ended in another hug

CakeStop wrote:Hope the finger & bruises mends soon Niall and that there's no significant damage to the bike. After making my way home it occurred to me that as the one person there who wasn't shaken up I should have thought to get you to check that all accessories were still attached to your bike after what must have been a high speed crash so hopefully that's the case. Apologies to Phil too, I thought afterwards I should have offered to ride home with him as he was probably a bit shaken up even though he hadn't come off.

No worries, i checked i had everything, the only thing that came off were the bottles!

yes, big thanks Jess for leading on a route with lanes I never knew existed, even the cartographer that is Lord Whiteman had to search his archives to prove that they're on modern maps.

Very entertaining to see Xav on a fixed, single speed either spinning at 300 cadence downhill or strained pedal turning uphill...certainly good training. However, think I'll stick to having gears.

The 'hug-a-Matt' day was a damp squib after Hale and Clegg weren't there, and Matt Regan had the proverbial 'injured in the warm up' moment at the BH and spent the rest of the time driving round Worcs and Shropshire looking for anyone he recognised...good photos anyway, Matt.