Cyclists Touring Club
Newark On Trent
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NEWARK NOTES from the Secretary
January 2008 Autumn colours and autumn precipitation The autumn leaves really did give a fine display this year. I recall listening to someone on the radio going on about sugar levels and the wet/dry bits of the summer, but I'd be lying if I said I remember the exact reasons. To make it even better, November started with some dry weather so we could appreciate it. I took the first week of the month off from work, a break postponed from our conkering weekend a couple of weeks earlier, and went over to Wales again, stopping for a couple of nights at Borth. No memories were awoken from my crash last year so I'll have to accept that I'll never know exactly what happened. But I did get some pretty good rides in, all the same. Then I moved north to the new hostel at Ffynnon Wen, which maintains the YHA tradition of being at the top of a steep hill. The hostel was fine, though lacked self-catering facilities, which didn't bother me but might be a problem for some. The weekend after my return I joined the Saturday ride for a trip to Tuxford Windmill, a good ride for this time of the year, and the weekend after that for one to our old favourite of Gunthorpe Lock. My diary has nothing in it for the Sunday, I have a feeling this means that it bucketed down with rain all day, something it was to do a few more times before the year was out. None the less, Neil and I managed an extended ride to Clumber park the long way the following week. Thinking back to sunnier times, Dave Drinkwater's note in the last issue about grass- cutting along cycle tracks reminds me of one of our Friday evening pub rides earlier in the year. Returning at an hour not far short of Saturday morning, we used the path along the A1 from Cromwell to Muskham. Much to our surprise, we found the inside lane coned off, and workmen cutting the grass between the track and the carriageway. I suppose this is the only time the traffic is light enough for them to do this work. Having ridden the same path some weeks earlier before the grass (and some other sturdier weeds!) had been trimmed, I can say that I do appreciate the effort Dave and others put in to ensure this work is done. Okay, back to December, and if some of the trees still had their autumn colours on, the weather was definitely from the winter catalogue. The first Saturday wasn't too bad, though the ride was diverted due, it turned out, to a hit-and-run accident that resulted in the death of a cyclist. Not one that any of us knew, but still a sobering reminder that it could happen to any of us. The one day that didn't turn out too bad was when we had arranged our Christmas dinner. This had almost not happened either, due to a mix-up over bookings, but we eventually found a place that was able to take us (smelly or not….) A pre-lunch ride had only four takers, so presumably the cold weather and the prospect of a lie-in proved too much for most. As for the meal, well, let's just say it wasn't one of the best we've had. As usual, I was away over the Christmas break, but the others maintained the tradition of a boxing day ride, this year out to Sutton On Trent, without, I expect, any grass- cutting this time. A few of us braved the weather on New Year's day, too, with a ride to Maplebeck, though by all accounts, the rain was not as bad as on my Rural Ride to the same village in the "summer".
Mike Graham Page updated 29/01/2008 |