Meeting Point: Moulton Co-op, Stocks Hill, Moulton, NN3 7TB Time: 9.30am Distance: 50 Miles Pace: Steady – Around 13mph Average Cafe Stop: Manor Farm Tea Room, Catthorpe Estimated return: Around 2.30 pm
Hartley’s ride this Sunday is from the Co-op in Moulton to Catthorpe.
The route takes us North, through Brixworth, Ravensthorpe, Long Buckby, Barby and on to Catthorpe. Our café stop is the Manor Farm Tea Room in Catthorpe at just over 28 miles.
The return route is via Yelvertoft, West Haddon, Ravensthorpe, Chapel Brampton and back to Moulton.
I’m pleased to say that the weather is forecast to be much better for us; mainly dry and no risk of ice!
As Philip keeps (rightly) reminding us, COVID is not yet over, so please consider the usual precautions.
And as usual it is very helpful for our planning to follow this link to book a place on Signup: Group rides
Nick’s ride this weekend would have been to Olney and to a new (to us) cafe there, Out of Office.
Unfortunately, looking at the weather forecast, it is highly likely that it will have to be cancelled due to below zero temperatures and the probability of ice.
I’ll drop a note around tomorrow (Friday) confirming.
Cheers – Peter
PS, if it is cancelled, Nick was thinking of going for a casual off road ride, if anyone is interested.
Peter B went on Philip G’s ride to Great Bowden and writes:
Nine keen riders met at the Co-op in Moulton for Philip’s steady ride to Welton’s Café in Great Bowden. The weather was good; seasonally chilly, but dry all day with good periods of sunshine.
It was nice to be able to welcome to Mark and Sarah, joining us for the first time. They arrived at the start just a few minutes late, impressive considering the considerable distance they had come to join (all of 400mtrs 😂).
Amazingly, considering how many times we have ridden in this area, Philip managed to find some new roads (for me) as part of a great route to Market Harborough. Of course, being Philip, he just couldn’t resist including quite a few strenuous hills, which gave us all a good workout.
James C was riding his newly built single gear bike, based on a Cannondale frame that he had impressively repainted, complete with decals. In fact, he had finished it just the previous evening, and so the day was a bit of a test run for it. Unfortunately, his chain snapped at Overstone. For James, however, this was only a minor issue and he asked the group to continue on without him whilst he repaired and caught us back up, which he did surprisingly quickly!
Riding through the traffic in Market Harborough was not quite so pleasant as the scenic and mostly quiet roads we had been enjoying, but we were soon through, with only a short, easy road to our café stop. But before we could reach the café, Peter S suffered a puncture. Most of the group continued to Great Bowden, leaving Peter, Philip and Mark, who apparently did all the hard work whilst Peter sat back and watched.
The café has very nice coffee and food, and inevitably tends to be busy (yes Brian, we know), meaning that we ended up ordering take-away and sitting on the park benches as well as some of the outdoor café tables. As fate would dictate, of course, the café emptied out after we had eaten our food, but too late for us.
We had a bit of a head wind for the return leg, and the group was back at Moulton around 2.00pm.
Thank you Philip for a great day, and to all who joined.
Meeting Point: Moulton Co-op, Stocks Hill, Moulton, NN3 7TB Time: 9.30am Distance: Steady 44 mls Pace: 13-14mph Cafe Stop: Weltons Cafe, Great Bowden Estimated return: Around 1.45 pm
This Sunday we head via a slightly indirect route (including Little Harrowden and Braybrooke) to Market Harborough and Weltons Café in Great Bowden. After the coffee stop we double back to Harborough and up East Farndon hill. Then we enjoy some ups and downs to Arthingworth before returning to base through the familiar territory of Harrington, Old and Holcot.
The forecast is currently for a coolish day (4 to 6 degrees), with a moderate westerly breeze and some stronger gusts, but dry and possibly with a glimpse of sunshine.
Come along and enjoy some “roads less travelled”.
Please wrap up appropriately, bring a lock and sign up on Signup Genius if possible.
The first ride of 2023 might just turn out to be one of the wettest and windiest of the year. It was almost on par with our legendary Stowe ride from October ’21. There were five ready to start the year off with a coffee at Culworth before JohnW arrived on the scene in civvies along with wife Eleanor. Quickly attired and bike assembled we then set off for PeteB’s place down in the valley to get John a spare helmet. The three brisks had long gone by now.
Finally on our way, we headed for the long haul up Banbury Lane. A difficult start for any ride but especially so with the damp and windy conditions this morning. Rainwater was cascading down the hills faster than we were going up! OK, I was going up! I was suffering Christmas indulgence and just the boxing day ride to my tally in December.
A5 behind us, we pressed on to Maidford and Moreton Pinkney without conditions improving. The Forge was a welcome site when it arrived. The brisks claimed bragging rights and had already finished dining. John kindly bought the coffees for Pete and I and I think Pete got the sausage rolls in for us both. Very kind gentlemen!
If we were hoping for better conditions on the way back, like a wind assisted ride, we were out of luck. We hit a headwind in Culworth high street before I even got my cleats in, and it didn’t get any better after that. Pete and I were riding together and soon found ourselves in the middle of an icy blast of wind and rain, the kind that hurts your cheeks. I was actually expecting the forecasted blue skies to reveal themselves anytime soon, but things just got worse, much worse.
More wind, more rain, multiple potholes to avoid and the odd one to bunny hop. Surface water became hazardous, but we were soaked anyway. We battled on over hill and dale eventually reaching the A5 again at Caldecote. We arrived home in weather that we simply wouldn’t have gone out in at 9am this morning. I see the sun has just come out. Arghh!!
Time: 9.30 am Meeting point: East Hunsbury – Overslade Close, near Hunsbury Hill Library, NN4 0RZ Distance: 39 miles Brisk, 35 miles Moderate Pace: 14+ mph Brisk, 12 mph Moderate Cafe: The Forge Cafe, Culworth Return: Around 1.00 pm
Dear All, Firstly, Happy New Year!
This Saturday’s Brisk and Moderate rides, the first of 2023, are to Culworth, with our café stop at the Forge Café there. We will meet near the Library in East Hunsbury at the usual time of 9.30. The route to Culworth will take us to the West of Northampton, following the pleasant roads through Pattishall, Maidford, Canons Ashby and to our café stop at Culworth, with the return leg via Greens Norton and Tiffield. The Brisk route adds an extra four miles to give the Moderates enough time to get the tables first and have their pick of the cake and sausage rolls. Please be mindful of the increasing COVID numbers and consider appropriate precautions. As usual, it’s really helpful to use this link to the Signup Genius App if you want to join the ride – look forward to seeing you. Cheers – Peter
CTC Northampton 