Sunday 19th November – Ride to Woodford Mill

Milton is leading this ride and writes:

Start time  9.30 a.m.
Meeting point Moulton Co-op (Stocks Hill, NN3 7TB)
Distance 45 miles
Refreshment stop Woodford Mill (23 miles)
Pace Steady

This is only 45 miles, which we will take at no more than a steady pace (somewhere in the 12 – 14 m.p.h. range) to a fine coffee stop on the river at Ringstead where, as the sun will be shining and only the slightest breeze will be blowing, we will sit overlooking the river in style.  It’s not an especially hilly route either.

From Moulton we head to Sywell, Mears Ashby, Wilby and cross the river to Wollaston. Then it’s Wymington, Newton Bromsgrove, Caldecott and Chelveston.  We skirt the western edges of Raunds and cross the A45, before going through Ringstead towards the river and our coffee stop at the Mill.

Home is through Great Addington, The Cranfords, St Andrew and St John and then south through Burton Latimer.  We toy with the edges of Finedon before turning west along one of my favourite roads, The Slips.  To the Harrowdens, Mears Ashby, Sywell again and then home to Moulton.

We ought to be back by mid-afternoon, say 3 p.m. at the latest.  It could easily be by 2 p.m.

It’ll be good to see you.

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Ride Report – Sunday 4th December

Iain D, our Chair, led this ride and writes:

Seven of us gathered on a crisp and bright December morning in the village of Moulton, despite some of the quieter roads in the area having turned a noticeable shade of white.  We headed off through Holcot (the bend of the bottom of the hill had been gritted!) and through Hannington and Isham to Burton Latimer.

We passed the Weetabix factory okay but things went a little bit awry in Barton Seagrave.  It seems the ride leader was following the route he’d planned, not the route RideWithGPS had published, but after a bit of frantic searching round the housing estate (while others were resting by the Ise Garden Centre), the group got itself back together and headed out to Twywell and Woodford.  This minor hiatus did at least give the sun a chance to clear most of the remaining frost.

Woodford Mill was as welcoming as ever (I believe it was the second visit of the week for some of our riders!) although in deference to the weather we sat inside instead of taking our usual riverside table.

The trip home passed garden centre in Burton Latimer and then proceeded up the Slips to Great Harrowden before the group returned to Moulton, with plenty of daylight to spare as promised.

R … Iain

PS: I didn’t make it back to Moulton.  After the rear brake failing yet again on the Galaxy I limped back to Kettering from the Blue Bridge turning.  My thanks to Brian for taking over the ride at that point.

Ride report – Sunday 3rd July

Our new – for July & August – start time of 9.00 a.m. saw 13 riders congregate in Moulton for a planned 64-mile round trip to Oundle.  The sky was cloudy but it was warm, it was dry and we had a slight tailwind for the outward leg. In fact, all looked well for a great day’s riding.

Gathering outside Moulton Co-Op for the start

Did I mention there were 13 of us?

We hit potholes and had an off while we were still in Moulton! Very unpleasant for Colin!

You might not see the pothole in the shade …

… but it caused us grief!

We were rolling again after a few minutes, with Colin gamely opting to continue the ride, and ran to Harrowden without incident where the route was altered slightly to avoid the unmade surface of Furnace Lane, given that we’d already had problems and lot of riders were on 23s, but that did allow us to rendezvous with a fourteenth rider on The Slips near Irthlingborough and we had an problem-free run then all the way through to Oundle.

When we got there, it was packed.  The cafés were overflowing with cyclists and there were bikes parked four-deep in places.  Fortunately the Coffee Tavern had upstairs space for us and we managed to get ourselves fed and watered and ready for the next leg.  One of our number left us at this point to return directly home complaining that she hadn’t done enough mileage this year.  She doesn’t know what she missed.

If you’re the ride leader, it pays to keep an eye on the map to ensure that the ride goes where you said it would go.  Our ride leader – me – didn’t bother, having memorised the route the night before, and so the route didn’t exactly go where it was planned to!  In fact we added a few miles of tarmac between Oundle and East Carlton that weren’t in the original plan at all.  (Sorry!)  But it was good tarmac and people seemed to enjoy it so no harm done.  Might as well take advantage of the weather when we can, eh?

Also, since we were passing the bottom of Rockingham Hill, we allowed those up for the challenge the chance to tackle the climb.  I mean, it’s not like we get out there every week is it?  And we had a few fast riders who felt they wanted a go so why not?  In total, six tackled the climb, including Dave who was probably keen to try out the new bike on a proper hill.

East Carlton was again busy, though sadly not with cyclists, but we did get a couple of tables out in the sun, the clouds long since having disappeared.

The final leg saw us back from East Carlton by way of Harrington where the group finally split.  Some of the faster riders continued straight through back to Moulton, others dived in to the Tollemache Arms to refill water bottles and such like, but we all made it back to Moulton in one piece, some of us having clocked 74 miles, some 75 (it’s that hill at Rockingham).

All in all, a good day’s ride (Colin’s early mishap excepted) with decent pace (13+ mph even at the back of the group), plenty of new roads and views unfamiliar to us and I promise I’ll keep an eye on the map for the next ride I lead.

An appropriate refreshment in the garden of the Artichoke in Moulton at the end of the ride!

Ride report – Leisurely afternoon ride – Saturday 22nd August

Milton, our Secretary, led this ride – originally planned by Brian, our Rides Secretary – and writes:

Five of us set off on a hot sunny afternoon on a loop from Moulton through Sywell, Mears Ashby and on to Great Harrowden, Orlingbury, Old and Scaldwell before stopping at Brixworth for coffee and cake.  We closed the loop and returned to Moulton by skirting the reservoir and shredded one of our tyres in the process – sorry Tim!  That section of path is getting a little too rough for “racing” tyres.

Lovely afternoon on the bike and good to have a new rider on the trip with us – see you next time Jim!

Ride to Woodford Mill and return – Sunday 16th March

Milton will be making his first outing as a ride Leader this Sunday with a trip he’s put together heading to the east of Northampton. Here’s his description:

48 miles only so hardly testing at all – a trip out east to find some roads less travelled by many of us.

Setting off from Moulton Co-op at 9.30 a.m., we take our usual route through Moulton and Sywell into Mears Ashby and then up to Little Harrowden.  Here we turn off to Great Harrowden and thence to Finedon on a little travelled track.  A dull mile on the A6 to Irthlingborough ends as we turn off to the Addingtons and from there to brunch at Woodford Mill near Ringstead where we had a fine dining experience two

or three months ago.

Then it’s up through Denford, across the A14 and into the quiet lands.  We’ll skirt Raunds and head for Chelveston, Caldecott, Newton Bromswold and Wymington to another refreshment stop at Podington Garden Centre. From there we lumber off to Wollaston loaded down with our purchases of plants, spades, wheelbarrows, greenhouses and the like, cross the river to Wilby and then via Mears Ashby and Sywell to home.

48 miles, but we’ve all been on hillier routes!

Milton is on 01604 416315.  Iain D, our Rides Secretary, is on 07909 992468 on the day.