Cycling UK Wantage | Programme of Rides and Events

Past Rides

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Sun Apr 1st 2007 to Mon Apr 30th 2007

IMPORTANT - Change to Start Point for Grove Rides

Leader:	Start Time: TBC	Start Location:
Description: Due to the redevelopment of Millbrook Square and the opening of the new shops, we have decided to move the meeting place for our rides starting from Grove. From the beginning of April, all of our Grove rides will start in front of Old Mill Hall (OMH) at the end of School Lane just around the corner from Millbrook Square. There is plenty of free parking. Just turn into School Lane behind the new shops on the North side of Millbrook Square and continue to the car park at the end - Millbrook school is on your left and the Old Mill Hall on your right. Grid reference is SU 399 903. We look forward to seeing you there. Please click here for map. Please don't park outside the Millbrook Square shops.
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Sat Apr 7th 2007

Regular Saturday Moderate Ride from Grove

Leader: Steve Swanton	Start Time: 1:00 pm	Start Location: OMH
Description: This will be the first of our new format Moderate rides on the first Saturday of each month. This will be a hilly-ish ride of some 43 miles to Hungerford for a tea stop. Out via Lambourn and Eastbury, back via Boxford and Brightwalton.
Riders: Brian Hipwell Chris Walters David Bridge Paul Robinson Sid Liddiard Simon Dales Stephen Quartermain Steve Swanton Riders = 8 Report: A lovely Spring Saturday to start our new Moderate Rides with sunshine and temperatures in high teens - ideal cycling conditions. 8 riders was a good turnout for Easter Saturday. We set off at a steady pace and apart from stops to regroup at the top of Hackpen Hill and in Lambourn (after the fast descent), we kept moving pretty much the whole way to tea. In fact we were sufficiently early that I was able to fit in an additional loop to Chilton Foliat. Tutti Pole was efficient and reasonable value. Cream-filled meringues looked a treat. Hills were more gradual than steep on way home (which was fine given tiring legs). We followed a series of narrow lanes most of the way with some variable (Berkshire) road surfaces. But countryside and hedgerows were lovely with thorns coming into flower and trees into leaf. We kept a steady pace until the top of the Downs before the swoop down the hills into Wantage. Back in Grove at 5:30 after 44 or so miles. A warm welcome to Paul from Ruislip, who usually cycles with South Bucks. Hope to see you again. Steve S
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Tue Apr 10th 2007

Tuesday Evening Rides Resume

Leader: Edith Hipwell	Start Time: 6:30 pm	Start Location: OMH
Description: With the return of lighter evenings our ever-popular Tuesday rides resume and will continue every week through to September. Lights recommended through to mid-May. I aim to have two ride leaders for each ride so that I can accommodate riders with differing abilities. I need volunteer leaders mostly for the faster rides as I am happy to nurture the newer riders on most weeks. Please contact me if you can help with any of the rides.
Riders: Alan Price Andrew Robertson Barry Baker Brian Hipwell Christine Phillips David Bridge Edith Hipwell Henk Altmann (deceased) Kevin Fairs Marion Jones Neil Warner Peter Clayton Philip Thornton-Evison Steve Swanton Wenfeng Yang Riders = 15 Report: A superb evening for our first Tuesday ride with a good turn out of fifteen cyclists. We decided on all doing the same ride for the first evening out. Everyone was well behaved and we rode as a group we covered aprox 15 miles. Heading out of Grove in our usuall direction for Denchworth, Hanney, Southmoor, Charney Bassett,Denchworth and back into Grove. An enjoyable evening out on the bike. A plea has been made to the group for more leaders and sweepers to come forward to help with the rides.
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Sat Apr 14th 2007

Back-on-yer-bike Ride 2007

Leader: Edith Hipwell	Start Time: 2:00 pm	Start Location: OMH
Description: Been off your bike since the autumn? This will be a gentle 2 hour ride around the lanes of the Vale to blow away the cobwebs and get back your cycling legs. There is an invitation for Tea and Cakes at Steve's after the ride.
Riders: Alvaro Rey Angela Douglas (dec) Annie Kingbury Brian Hipwell Cath Brazier Chris Walters Christine Phillips David Bridge Edith Hipwell Geoff Neill Henk Altmann (deceased) Joseph Kingbury Kevin Fairs Leah Kingbury Lorna Howard Marion Jones Matthew Quartermain Paul Wright Peter Clayton Simon Dales Stephen Quartermain Steve Joyce Steve Swanton Tom Millar Riders = 24 Report:
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Sun Apr 15th 2007

Regular Wantage Ride

Leader:	Start Time: 9:30 am	Start Location: WMP
Description: An all day ride of 80 to 100km with a pub stop for lunch.
Riders: Bob Wyatt Chris Wyatt Mavis Rose Nick Dunton Pat Hurt Rex Belcher Richard Divall Steve Swanton Sue King Teresa Belcher Riders = 10 Report: Despite the ommision from the rides list, 8 members still took a punt on a fine & glorious day, and kicked off from WMP in a somewhat relaxed start time. Richard D led a storming solo break along the Ridgeway spring line, to meet with Pat at Ashbury. and advise that the main group would be along sometime, having had a visit from the Pnctre Fairy leaving Wantage. After 15 minutes basking in the sun, the peleton turned up, and we carried on through Bishopstone to climb up out of Hinton to the Shepherd's Rest. Cutting back towards Baydon, young Chris was off the front and out of sight by the turn to Aldbourne; after some humming and hawing, Nick volunteered to slog up to Baydon in a (vain) attempt to track him down, as he was espied 30 seconds later sheltering by the trees on the road to Aldbourne. Through Aldbourne, down towards Hungerford, and a fork right gave us a new route into Ramsbury; here, at the bottom of Spring Hill, the group split - Sue lead the main party along the bridleway to Littlecote, and round to Froxfield, while three hardy idjeets donned crampons and went up and up and up... Some small fettling at Froxfield stopped Chris riding with his knees round his ears; we weren't sure this was a good idea, as he'd still been storming off the front even with this handicap - how would we ever catch him once fettled? I know, we'll give him the 10Kgs of ironwork in the saddlebag A quick shimmy round the back roads led us to Hungerford and a excellent repast at the Plume of Feathers PH; Sue was suitably embarrassed when a unexpected Birthday Cake was placed in front of her, along with a performing chorus line... Exiting stage right, we carried on over Hungerford Common, through Kintbury and Welford, to wend to Chaddleworth via Boxford; some passim comments were muttered about Jan losing her title of King of the Mountains, but nobody accepted when the Boxford Alps were offerred as a detour. Dropping from Chaddleworth to the Monument, there was then a gradual slog up the A338, with a balletic sideways move at the top into the Barn Tea Rooms at the Ridgeway hostel, where Jan was waiting (having been running). After a suitable quantity of refreshment, the group headed back home via the A338, while I trogged up and wandered along a deserted Ridgeway home. Cracking day out... peleton
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Tue Apr 17th 2007

Tuesday Evening Rides

Leader: Edith Hipwell	Start Time: 6:30 pm	Start Location: OMH
Description: We will aim to have two rides leaders for leisurely and sporty options. Lights are recommended until mid-May.
Riders: Alan Price Andrew Robertson Barry Baker Brian Hipwell Callum Preece Chris Walters Chris Wyatt Christine Phillips Des Higgs Edith Hipwell Geoff Neill Henk Altmann (deceased) Kevin Fairs Lee Wright Lorna Howard Neil Warner Paul Wright Philip Thornton-Evison Richard Preece Steve Swanton Wenfeng Yang Riders = 21 Report: The ride split into two groups from the outset, leisurely led by Edith and fast by Chris W. Fast ride report: 11 riders set out from Grove to Lains Barn (where we gained a Neil) to Ginge, Featherbed Lane to Steventon and then across Cow Lane to the Hanneys, Denchworth and finally Grove. Well, it certainly lived up to the "fast" billing tonight - rolling average 24.4 km/h, overall average 20km/h and an overall distance of 31.9km! Stars of the ride were: Henk for so ably (thank you!) sweeping the group, youngster Chris Wyatt, who not only cycled over from Lambourn (and back again!), but also kept up with Alan all the way across Cow Lane (my average speed for that 5km was 30 km/h, and they left me!), and despite Alan's protests that he'd not been training this winter, showed nearly everyone a clean pair of heels for most of the way, and finally Barry (I think that was his name - apologies if I got it wrong!) who put in a valiant effort at keeping up on his downhill MTB, when everyone else was on skinny-wheeled and light road bikes! Grove was reached just as it was threatening to get dark, at 8:10, with various "drop-outs" along they way as the best routes home were passed. Well done everyone for keeping up with the pace and giving it a blast! On a serious note, those that were on the ride, please drop me an email at membership@wantagectc.org.uk and let me know what you thought about tonight's ride so that we can see what worked - specifically was it too fast, too slow, too many stops, not enough stops, did the group stay together enough or was it too fractured, and anything else that springs to mind - it's the first time we've set out to do fast rides on a Tuesday evening, so we're (and me specifically!) learning. Thanks, Chris W Short Ride Report: Nine rider left Grove with Edith, with a young lad named Callum doing his first club ride with Dad. I decided to give the lad a challenge with a few hills which Dad gave him a push to help him up, however he enjoyed the ride and said he would be back next week. We did just over 9 miles. Heading out to Wantage along the cycle track, through Charlton village, along the track to Ardington and round the block and back to Grove via Lains Barn - an enjoyable ride and it was nice to be able dawdle along enjoying the evening sunshine. Edith
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Tue Apr 24th 2007

Tuesday Evening Rides

Leader: Edith Hipwell	Start Time: 6:30 pm	Start Location: OMH
Description: We will aim to have two rides leaders for leisurely and sporty options. Lights are recommended until mid-May.
Riders: Alan Price Angela Douglas (dec) Brian Hipwell Bryan Charleston Callum Preece Chris Wyatt Des Higgs Edith Hipwell Kevin Fairs Lee Wright Lorna Howard Melanie Robin Philip Thornton-Evison Richard Preece Steve Swanton Wenfeng Yang Riders = 16 Report: Tonight started ot quite cloudy after a promise of late Sunshine. 16 cyclists turned out for a pleasant ride. Alan, Philip, Chris and Melanie leading by committee headed out over the hills through Letcombe and climbed to the Radio mast, then a fast descent down the hill into Sparshot, through Childrey back onto the Main Faringdon - Wantage road and back into Grove. Edith group the larger of the two headed out of Grove thruogh the housing estate in the direction of the Challows. We picked up the foot path down into Childrey, through the village and out onto the Faringdon - Wantage road turn left for Goosey, following the road through the village back via Denchworth and into Grove. The pace was about right for the easy riders, however we had a couple of incidents during the ride. With children riding in the group I do feel we should follow the instruction given by the leader, for instance following the Highway Code riding single file in traffic and not overtaking the leader. We need to teach the children to ride by our example. I would encourage any rider who feels the pace is not fast enough to go out with the faster group. During the ride one rider's pedal became detached from his bike, however he managed to limp back riding with one pedal. The second incident somone lost the ballbearings out of his bottom bracket. However I think everyone enjoyed the ride.
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Sat Apr 28th 2007

'Easy Rider' Saturday Afternoon Ride from Grove

Leader: Stephen Quartermain	Start Time: 1:00 pm	Start Location: OMH
Description: This will be the first of our more leisurely-paced Saturday afternoon rides designed to cater for newcomers and the less athletic. We will be heading to Aston Pottery for tea. Out via Newbridge, Northmoor and Stanton Harcourt, back via Buckland. Just under 33 miles.
Riders: Bryan Charleston Chris Walters Christine Phillips David Bridge Edith Hipwell Henk Altmann (deceased) Jane Bruffell Jane Pearson Kevin Fairs Nigel Stuckey Richard Divall Stephen Quartermain Steve Bruffell Steve Joyce Steve Swanton Tom Millar Riders = 16 Report: Leader: Steve Quartermain Sweep: Richard D Route: Grove to Aston Distance:34 miles Stop: Aston Pottery Weather: Clear Blue Skies, some wind Number of riders: 16 The group left Grove just after 1pm following the route below to Aston Pottery: Denchworth Charney Bassett Southmoor Longworth Northmoor Bablocke Hythe West End Stanton Harcourt Hardwick Yelford Aston This was the first Saturday ride suited to newcomers and those wishing to cycle at a more relaxed pace than the the usual 1st Saturday of the month ride. It certainly seemed attract a few riders that had not been seen on rides for a while including Steve & Jane Bruffell, and Nigel. The pace of the ride was set at around an average of 11mph and the route was fairly flat with the only hill of any consequence on the way back heading to Buckland. The route took the ride across the A420 at Southmoor via a footbridge to Longworth and downhill on the A415 to the Rose Revived pub at Newbridge. At this point Kevin and little Tom took a more direct route to the teastop at Aston Pottery. Dave Bridge also took this route not having realised that the rest of us had turned right just after the pub. The rest of us arrived at the teastop about 3.15pm to discover there was only one piece of chocolate cake left which I was very kindly allowed to have. Everyone sat outside the cafe on the seats or grass enjoying the sunshine before heading back to Grove at about 4pm. The ride took the following route back: Aston Chimney Buckland Gainfield Charney Bassett Denchworth Grove. We arrived back at Grove at about 5.15pm. No punctures or mechanical failures to report. Just a relatively relaxing Saturday afternoon ride .
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Sun Apr 29th 2007

Wonky 200 and 100km Audaxes

Leader: Kevin Hickman	Start Time: 8:00 am	Start Location: Charlbury
Description: (Actually 207km BR and 103km BP respectively.) Both rides start from Spendlove Centre Car park at 8am. Entry fees
Riders: Brigitte Hickman Kevin Hickman Mavis Rose Pat Hurt Steve Swanton Sue King Teresa Belcher Riders = 7 Report: A good turn-out of about 60 despite the rival attraction of the White Horses Cyclosportif starting from Shrivenham. I chose to ride the 100km as did Mavis, Sue and Teresa. Pat the 200. There was a chill in the air for the early start but by the 10 the cloud had cleared and it became a fine sunny day. This was an undulating ride most of the way, first heading northwest-wards to circle Chastleton House and then north into Gloucestershire to Barton the Heath and Great Walford. Particularly in the morning light the villages on this part of the route were just stunningly beautiful with spring flowers in abundance. I did have to stop to take one or 2 pictures... Our first (and only information) control came at Ebrington after 35km. There was then a delightful strech down and through Chipping Campden and up over Dover's Hill on the way to Broadway and the mid-way checkpoint. On the steep decline into Willersey I came upon Pat waiting to warn of a sharp corner where a previous rider had over-cooked it. Although Alex initially thought he had broken his collar-bone, he soon regained some mobility and paramedics on arrival confirmed nothing broken. So gingerly he continued into Broadway to retire. To be continued...
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Ride Filter

Start Locations: WMP
Wantage Market Place; OMH
Old Mill Hall, Grove

Categories: 1* - Suitable for irregular, social, beginner or family riders, pace will match the slower riders. Not hilly or long. Expect rides up to 3 hours. Gentle exercise.; 2* - Suitable for regular riders who prefer to cover some distance but at a more relaxed pace. Likely to be half-day rides. Solid exercise.; 3* - Suitable for experienced riders, may be hilly, long, quick, or any combination! Likely to be half or full-day rides. Challenging exercise.; 4* - Suitable for athletic riders who can ride safely above the 3* standard. Quick rides for the fit.; More Information

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