Saturday 31 January 2015

Sunday Alternative Ride in the South

If you fancy getting out tomorrow a few of us are meeting at Burton in Kendal Village Hall at 1000.
An exact route has not been finalised and some decisions will be made on the day subject to the conditions, but the ride will be approx. 50 miles.
We were riding in the area yesterday and apart from the higher passes the conditions were very good with temperatures above freezing and very little evidence of snow.
Car parking is £1 for the day which we collect and forward to the hall.
Keith G

Friday 30 January 2015

Sun 1st Feb Greystoke - Caldbeck Ride Cancelled

I have done a recce of the roads around Greystoke and Caldbeck and they are not suitable for a Group ride. The treated roads B5299 to Hesket Newmarket, the B5305 and the Durdar - Ivegill road are fine but the side roads still have compacted snow and ice in sections sometimes making even walking difficult. Light snow is forecast at mid-night on Saturday and -1oC at 09.00 so untreated roads will be hazardous .
I plan to ride to the Coral Room Cafe (Alt Cafe stop) from Dalston via Durdar, Junction 41, Stoneybeck Roundabout and the A6.
I am giving you early notice of the ride cancellation in case any of you have more favourable weather or a more optimistic forecast, and want to make your own arrangements.
Ian B

Rides on Sunday 1 st February





I have posted this message again since I gave an invalid Mobile number to contact Jane. The correct number is shown below in red.



Both the Main and ALT rides specify the Coral Room Cafe at Plumpton for a Lunch time meet.

Since Jane at The Coral Room is geared up to proving roast lunches on Sundays would riders who want sandwiches with soup or food other than roast meals please contact her in advance to place their orders.

Contact Jane on Mobile 07765423826 or  email : coralroomcafe@outlook.com

Please contact Jane by no later than noon on Saturday 31 st Jan.

Depending upon weather and road conditions the main ride could be modified or cancelled on the day. Look out for posts on the blog.

Local riders could probably use the A6, the Durdar / Hutton in the Forest or other treated roads to make their way to the Coral Room.

PS

On the day, Jane may be willing to supply a chunky sandwich filled with meat sliced from one of the roasts of the day ( usually Chicken or Beef ) possibly unadorned and definitely minus soup.

Jane always has a selection of cakes and tray bakes plus hot & cold drinks 

Tuesday 27 January 2015

Birthday Rides at Newton Rigg - Help request:



As you will soon be aware through Cycle Magazine the CTC Birthday Rides this year are to be at Newton Rigg (19-25 August) These rides have been in existence for many years and commemorate the founding of CTC. They are a gathering of CTC members from throughout the country for a week of cycling and fellowship. Entertainment catering and accommodation both brick and tented are all provided on site at Newton Rigg.

Largely as a result of the enthusiasm shown at the 2013 AGM CTCEden Valley have agreed to provide input for suggested rides in the area. So this is a chance for you to provide enthusiastic input into the task of selecting about 20 or so rides. Although this may at first seem quite a small job, providing route cards which have been checked for a large number of rides will take quite a lot of work. If you are interested in providing route suggestions, help in checking route cards or any other aspect of help please let Geoff A, Dallas B, or CJ know as soon as possible. (we are looking to have the routes pretty much decided by the end of March).

One other task which CJ has kndly undertaken to oversee is the provision of a 'Gazetteer' of places of interest in the area (say <35mi from Newton Rigg) Any ideas/notes and help to CJ please.

We are not expected to run the event in any way but during the week further help with information and may be a bit of 'meeting and greeting' would be welcomed. If you would be prepared to do that then please let us (Geoff or Dallas) know asap.

Booths, Penrith - Free Drink Policy

From about 2 - 3 weeks from now, Booth card holders will have a change in how the free drinks are dispensed. If you only want a drink, it will be self-service from a drinks machine downstairs, in the shop.
If you want to purchase something else e.g. scone, cake etc., then you can still get a free drink upstairs in the café subject to a minimum purchase (not sure how much, £1 was suggested by café staff, but may not be correct).
This has been delayed from its' original implementation date and may be longer away than I've posted? No doubt there will be notices in the shop soon.

The ALT Venue tommorow ( 28 th January ) is open

Dear All,

I've just checked that The Garden of Eden Cafe at Thiefside will be open tomorrow and have advised staff that a party of 8, 10 or 12 members may arrive for late 11's / lunch subject to weather conditions.


Monday 26 January 2015

Club Ride Wednesday 28 Jan

As usual there will be parking for a few cars on our drive although the ride will officially start from Burneside Church at 1000.

There is only one stop planned at Leighton Moss, which will be after approx. 23 miles. The route will take us through Staveley, Underbarrow, Brigsteer and Holme.

After lunch we will follow the coast road around Silverdale and Arnside and return to Bowston for tea and refreshments via Heversham and Natland. The total distance will be 45 miles.

As things stand the forecast around the bay is looking OK, with sunny showers but quite windy, with the temperature comfortably above freezing. It looks as though it may be showery when we set off.

If conditions deteriorate we can amend the route and/or take in an additional stop.

Hope to see you Wednesday.
Keith G

Reminder about Club Social Evening 25th February 2015



 Dear All,

Since I've not had any formal bookings or payment from anyone, I've relayed Janet's posting of Mon 12th Jan as a reminder. Janet's deadline for payment to me is Saturday February 14 th.



 Janet's post of 12 th Jan follows below : -

Club Social Evening 25th February 2015


 Hi everyone,

Happy New Year!
At the Christmas dinner I think Geoff gave you a heads-up on our social evening that is planned for Wednesday 25th February. CJ is kindly going to coordinate names, numbers and money and I will coordinate the content and be mistress of ceremonies on the night.
It is being held at the Coral Room Cafe Plumpton starting at 18.45 and there will be a rather delicious buffet of  sandwiches, chips, pasta salads, scones, tray bakes and tea/coffee.
Folk are invited to show photos (I won't say slides because that shows my age:). I will provide a digital projector. We have some volunteers already - including a short talk by Dick Phillips on his early cycling/racing days. If you would like a (15 minute) slot - please let me know. janetcstreeter@btinternet.com

The event will cost £10.50 a head. Please let CJ know if you would like to attend by sending/giving him a cheque payable to "C Johnson" by Saturday 14th February 2015.

chris.johnson45johnson@btinternet.com
Tel:01768 894366

Looking forward to seeing you at the event or up the road at some point....
Janet

May be of interest


Saturday 24 January 2015

ALT Ride tomorrow ( 25 th Jan ) - Reminder Stainton Tea Room is closed

As a reminder I have reposted John's  post of 17 th Jan : -


Closure of Greystone House Tea Room, Stainton

Reported in today's Cumberland & Westmorland Herald that the tea room at Stainton has now closed.

1 comment :

Thanks for posting this information John. I was looking to place a similar post and discovered you'd beaten me to it by a couple of hours.

Would riders intending to do the ALT ride on Sunday 25 th January please arrange another venue with the closure at Stainton.

Cee Jay

Friday 23 January 2015

The new runs list is here...

Here's the link for the club runs list for the first quarter, 2015:

http://www.edenvalleyctc.org.uk/runl.html

Thanks to all who contributed.

Happy riding!

Tuesday 20 January 2015

Ride Wednesday 20th January - change

Although it doesn't look like any more snow this night I am going to err on the side of caution and reschedule the ride away from the 'fellside' road. The ungritted roads around Culgaith are still quite icy in parts and the temperature is unlikely to get above +1C.

So instead of Renwick I propose a largely extempore ride (thank you Nigel for the term) starting at Langwathby at 10.00 and going to the Coral Rooms for late coffee(11.30). By the time we get there (I say we, it may just be me!) we can make up our minds what to do with the rest of the day.
Geoff

ALT Ride Sunday 18 th Jan

Would anyone who attended the ALT meet at Booths please advise CJ for allocation of attendance points.

Four brave souls rode to The Upfront Gallery at Unthank via main roads or well used gritted roads for late 11's and Lunch.

Sunday 18 January 2015

Upfront Gallery

The Upfront is open. They are having their prize exhibition. Interesting paintings.
Dallas

Sunday ride cancelled

Sorry Folks but Ive decided to cancel todays ride because of road conditions and its now snowing.  I think a few folks are planning on walking/meeting at the upfront gallery if you fancy.

Hope you have a good day whatever you do.

Karen

Sunday morning and Icy roads

Hi Folks

Its 8.00am and the roads in thursby are like black ice all over and unless the local road conditions improve before 9.15am I am cancelling the ride as all the minor roads around here will be the same. I'll blog again to confirm.

Karen

Saturday 17 January 2015

18 January Sunday ride

Hi Folks

The plan is to leave Dalston at 10.00am to cycle to WatchTree Nature Reserve for coffee  Then onto Lessonhall and Abbeytown before stopping for lunch at  Dunes Cafe, Bank House, nr Mawbray.  Returning via Allonby, West Newton, Lanrigg then cross A596 to take wee roads back through Wigton and back to Dalston.  Hope to see you there.

Karen

Closure of Greystone House Tea Room, Stainton

Reported in today's Cumberland & Westmorland Herald that the tea room at Stainton has now closed.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Les's Cancelled Ride To Day

Not wishing to detract from Les's blogged suggestion of a local walk at Ousby or shorter bike ride later in the day from Ousby ; as explained below I have made my own alternative arrangement.

Having anticipated icy or snowy roads to day, I phoned Laurie last evening to mainly to check his progress and to advise that I intended to walk to the Coral Room at Plumpton for lunch to day.

Laurie drove his car yesterday for the first time after his operation and is keen to get out and about.

I will leave home in Calthwaite at about 11:45 taking the direct road route to Plumpton to arrive at the Coral Room by 13:00. I may do a longer loop on the return journey above Brackenbrough and Fieldhead.

If anyone else would like to meet Laurie at Plumpton I'm sure he would appreciate the company.

Tuesday 13 January 2015

Les's Ride - Tomorrow Wed 14th

Wed morning 7.30. As a result of snow conditions on the lanes, today's ride unfortunately must be CANCELLED. Main roads should be ok if anyone wishes to ride independently to 11's or lunch. Two options, can do a walk from here to the local fells, or consider short ride if / when snow melts and rain arrives around lunch time! Phone me if interested in either - or playing Monopoly all day!

Follow up 10 pm Tuesday. Country  lanes have 1/4" of snow and it's freezing. If any falls overnight and freezes riding will be very risky. Will assess tomorrow morning and update blog. Those who turn up here in Ousby could end up socialising or fell walking - bring your boots and sarnies!

Forecast uncertain whether snow around at low level tomorrow morning causing us to slide around too much! Hopefully ok, but if any doubt about conditions up here in the Eden Valley, please phone me before you set out (not before 7.30 am though, will still be tucked up in bed).

Les

Monday 12 January 2015

Sedburgh School Sportive 17th May

I have received information about a sportive organised by Sedburgh School - please see details below. Janet

The third Sedbergh Sportive takes place on 17th May 2015 offering 3 distances of 30, 55 and 70 miles incorporating the “Côte de Buttertubs” as featured in the 2014 Tour de France 
Entry fees of £25, £30 and £35. Go to www.sedberghschool.org/foundation to enter online.

Info for Riders:
This event caters for all levels of keen cyclist although the 70 mile route including the Buttertubs climb featured on the first day of the Tour de France stage in Yorkshire is extremely challenging with over 5400 ft (2,000m) of ascent and a hilly or undulating  route along nearly all of the 70 miles. Only experienced and fit cyclists should attempt this route. The scenery is second to none however!
The course goes from Sedbergh along Garsdale towards Hawes but turning off up the Buttertubs pass to Keld and over spectacular moorland towards Kirkby Stephen, joining with the 55 mile route at Nateby.

The shorter 55 mile route misses out the Buttertubs climb, follows the first 15 miles of the 30 mile route before joining the long route at Nateby. It is still a challenging ride from Garsdale and across the open moorland to Kirkby Stephen then out to the furthest northerly point at Burrells near Appleby before heading back through Orton to Ravenstonedale and then returning to Sedbergh.

The short 30 mile ride follows the same route as the last two years, heading along Garsdale from Sedbergh, then towards Kirkby Stephen but cutting off at Pendragon Castle to head up to the Fat lamb at Ravenstonedale and again joining up with the other two routes back to Sedbergh along the valley taking in the stunning sight of Cautley Spout on the way.

The event has been described as “the best signposted event I have ever done, great organisation and stunning scenery”

Will be followed by a free BBQ.

Come and give it a try you won’t be disappointed!

Thanks,
James McLeod
Sedbergh School

January Newsletter

I am hoping that we shall get out our January Newsletter by the end of the month.
Please would people let me have their items of news, thoughts, photos and other material they would be happy to see in print ('delirious desire' for print is not required, just anything please).  Articles etc to be sent  news@edenvalleyctc.org.uk.
Nigel L

Club Social Evening 25th February 2015

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year!
At the Christmas dinner I think Geoff gave you a heads-up on our social evening that is planned for Wednesday 25th February. CJ is kindly going to coordinate names, numbers and money and I will coordinate the content and be mistress of ceremonies on the night.
It is being held at the Coral Room Cafe Plumpton starting at 18.45 and there will be a rather delicious buffet of  sandwiches, chips, pasta salads, scones, tray bakes and tea/coffee.
Folk are invited to show photos (I won't say slides because that shows my age:). I will provide a digital projector. We have some volunteers already - including a short talk by Dick Phillips on his early cycling/racing days. If you would like a (15 minute) slot - please let me know. janetcstreeter@btinternet.com

The event will cost £10.50 a head. Please let CJ know if you would like to attend by sending/giving him a cheque payable to "C Johnson" by Saturday 14th February 2015.

chris.johnson45johnson@btinternet.com
Tel:01768 894366

Looking forward to seeing you at the event or up the road at some point....
Janet

Friday 9 January 2015

Club Run Sunday 11 th January

Dependant upon weather conditions as published the intended ride will be : -

Start - Frenchfield at 10:00

Elevenses - Morland - distance 14 miles ( or reduced to 8 miles if conditions are poor )

Lunch - Appleby - distance 31 miles ( or 25 miles if shorter route taken to 11's )

Finish - Frenchfield distance 49 mile ( or 43 miles if shorter 11's route taken )

The overall distance may be reduced on other stages if conditions are poor or time is is running out.

Having phone the Mill Restaurant at Morland to day, they confirm that they will be able to cater for say 8 to 16 riders for 11's.


Tuesday 6 January 2015

Now here is the Proof!

Dressing up in skin-tight Lycra and pounding the highways on a road bike may not sound like the way to age gracefully but scientists have found that older cyclists show fewer signs of ageing compared with non-cyclists.
Cycling – and heavy exercise in general – may be exhausting but it also appears to be the route to Shangri-La or something approximating the fountain of youth, according to one interpretation of the findings.
Scientists who analysed the physiological functions of more than 120 regular cyclists aged between 55 and 79 failed to find any of the obvious signs of ageing that they would normally observe among people of the same age.
The volunteers – 84 men and 41 women – had to be able to cycle 100 km (62 miles) in six and half hours for men and 60km in less than 5.5 hours for women. Smokers, heavy drinkers and those with high blood pressure and other health conditions were automatically excluded.
The super-fit group of elder cyclists were monitored in a laboratory for two days with a battery of tests to measure their cardiovascular, respiratory, neuromuscular, metabolic, endocrine and cognitive functions – in addition to bone strength and general health and well-being.
The result was that the cyclists as a group showed few of the typical signs of ageing and that it was not possible to made generalisations about the aging process, according to Steve Harridge of King’s College London, the senior author of the study published in the Journal of Physiology.
“In general, we didn’t find the ageing we would expect to see in this age profile. We found some factors were correlated with ageing, but not strongly correlated, and some that were not correlated at all,” Dr Harridge said.
“We had assumed that there is a linear straight line decline in physiology with ageing but that is very unlikely to be the case. We’re not saying we’re reversing ageing but that cycling seems to optimise the ageing process,” he said.
“Because most of the population is largely sedentary, the tendency is to assume that inactivity is the inevitable condition for humans. However, given that our genetic inheritance stems from a period when high levels of physical activity were the likely norm, being physically active should be considered to play an essential role in maintaining health and well-being throughout life,” he added.
The scientists chose extremely active and fit elder cyclists because of concerns that sedentary lifestyles are masking the normal ageing process, which makes it difficult to study the physical changes resulting directly from growing old, he explained.
A typical test for ageing, for instance, is to see how fast someone can get up from a chair, walk three metres, turn and walk back and sit down. Taking more than 15 seconds indicates ageing, but all the volunteers in the study, even the eldest, were able to complete the test in far less time.
“An essential part of our study was deciding which volunteers should be selected to explore the effects of ageing,” said Ross Pollock of King’s College, a member of the research team.
“The main problem facing health research is that in modern societies the majority of the population is inactive. A sedentary lifestyle causes physiological problems at any age,” he said.
“Hence the confusion as to how much the decline in bodily functions is due to the natural ageing process and how much is due to the combined effects of ageing and in activity,” he added.
Steve Connor Science Editor The Independent      (thanks Dallas)

Alt Thurs Ride

The weather for tomorrow, 7th Jan, looks dire. Alison and I thought we would meet up at the Coral Room Cafe on Thursday at 12 instead. So anyone else who fancies a ride without driving wind and rain come and join us.

Dallas

Wednesday 7th January - club run

The forecast from the met office for tomorrow,  is for constant rain and high winds all day.   Depending on what the conditions will actually be, I may decide to miss out 11's altogether, go direct from Dalston to Pooley Bridge and take a relatively direct route back.   I will decide in the morning.

Monday 5 January 2015

Changes at the CTC

At least one of our  Eden Valley members has been trying to get to the bottom of some changes which appear to have been happening with regard to Technical articles on the CTC Forum and in Cycle magazine. In particular it seems Chris Juden's continuing involvement in this area will change. I have received from Janet Gregory our NW councillor a little more information but recently received this email from Paul Tuohy:

Dear CTC Group Secretaries,

Following David Woods round robin email we feel it necessary to clarify the position of the CTC as much of Mr Woods email to you is factually incorrect, therefore please do not send it on to members.   Matt Mallinder shared the message below identifying the background to recent changes in his team to increase our support for Groups, we will be doing the same to the full membership in Cycle magazine.  To reiterate;

With leisure and recreational cycling increasing significantly in the UK, the first change that we’ve made is to create a team dedicated to supporting CTC member groups, campaign groups and other cycling groups. Julie will be joined by Mark Slater and Ben Rowley.

In order to help us all reach out to these new cyclists the team, over the next few months will be talking with you and be putting together a programme to support and facilitate the diversity of CTC events, rides and member activities. We plan to provide you with additional marketing support and training and we’ll also be looking at specific IT tools to help you maximize your own promotion and social media reach to these new cyclists.

Another change is the creation of a new Communications Manager and marketing support which allows us to publicize the wider achievements of CTC’s groups, through all of our comms channels- Cycle, website and social media.

To be able to make these changes we’ve had to look at the limited resources that CTC has and how we can best support our 67,000 members. With every greater access to online information and with demand significantly decreasing, we’ve decided to cease a dedicated technical/info helpline. 

Members will continue to enjoy Technical and Touring features, Q&As and reviews in Cycle magazine, on CTC website and by dipping into the breadth of CTC members’ experience via the CTC forum.

We will also looking at how we can increase participation in CTC’s various Touring competitions and ‘reasons to cycle’ such as the British Cycle Quest. The IT team are already making improvements with individual pages dedicated to your group on the CTC website so visitors can easily find out about you and a search box for group rides and events directly on the homepage.

It is unfortunate that a small minority of people feel unable to support these changes but with so few people actually using technical and touring telephone support we felt justified in redirecting our limited resources for greater member benefits outlined above.  These are tough economic times and we need to make choices about how we use our resources to support all our members but clearly we can’t keep everyone content. 

Best wishes

Paul Tuohy


Paul Tuohy
Chief Executive
CTC, the national cycling charity  




CTC National Office
Parklands
Railton Road
Guildford
GU2 9JX
 

Sunday 4 January 2015

Yet another side to Ivan

Did you know ivan was an accomplished film maker?
Here are some links to amazing videos he has made that are on You Tube
Galatea. 5 March 2014


Saturday 3 January 2015

Big Birthday Lunch

Wednesday 4th March on the Runs List

Sue and myself are arranging a 'Big Birthday lunch' at Eaglesfield this day (my 70th). As my pace and distance are more moderate these days I wondered if any Runs Leader would like to arrange a ride with lunch over here. Am happy to advise on possible routes if required. So if anyone would be  interested please contact us - preferably be email - as we are away in January.

In the meantime Happy New Year to you all.

Sue and Paul
pandscumella@hotmail.com
su.ella@hotmail.co.uk

Friday 2 January 2015

Club Ride Sunday 4th January 2015

The weather forecast (at present ) is reasonably good for the Clubs first ride of the year. The cafe at Stainton ( 11's ) and the inn at Mungrisedale ( lunch ) are open and expecting evctc riders.
The meet is at Frenchfields and the route is via Lowther Park, Askam, Pooley Bridge to Stainton for coffee. From Stainton we ride to Mungrisedale. The afternoon ride brings us down to Ullswater and back along the lake.
The total distance is about 48 miles and the pace will be moderate.

Ernest.