St Ybard France 3 to 11 July 2010

Seven of us enjoyed the annual week in St Ybard. Trevor, Norman, Denis, Martin and Adam arrived on Friday 3 July followed by Mick A and Mick Ward on the Monday. The weather was beautiful, hot and sunny all week. Therefore we were able to ride every day completing over 350 miles and thousands of feet climbing due to the hilly terrain. In addition to the riding other tasks were undertaken like erecting the swimming pool and pumping the water from the spring to fill it. Mick Ward worked like a Trojan to cut all the grass in the field, Martin and Adam were strimming the long grass and fixing plasterboard in the roof conversion, Norman was wielding the dust pan and brush, Denis spent some time shopping and cooking for us all and Mick A decanted the wine into litre bottles. This he enjoyed because it reminded him of being back at work in the laboratory as it involved chemicals to sterilise the containers. Two of the notable rides, detailed below, were the 62 mile ride to Suc au May which is the highest mountain in the area being over 900 metres high and the 63 mile ride to Gimel with over 5000 feet of climbing. Due to fatigue we did not see the cascades but elected to go directly to the restaurant on the beautiful lake. At the end of the week both Micks went to meet Andrew and Mary Adams and watch two stages of the TdF.

Ghent Randonnée 20 May 2010

Mick Ayliffe, Barry Gregory, Norman Luhr and Trevor Hughes went to Ghent, by car and ferry to Dunkirk, for three days to ride the annual fire brigade randonnée. They stayed in the Capanile Motel with some old friends of the club, Dave Twiddle, Dave Betts and Terry O'Brian. Trevor, Dave B and Terry rode the long circular route from the new fire station, which had motorbike escort riders and a leading car. They operated a rolling road closure, so there was no stopping! There were some seventy riders, the distance was approximately 85 miles with a lunch stop half way round ons a beautiful sunny day. There were sections of cobbles through the towns and villages. These were ridden at full speed. The first section Trevor's drinking bottle flew off, left behind but was miraculously reunited with its owner at the lunch stop. His pump clattered to the ground on another section but this was retrieved followed by a fast pursuit, TDF style to rejoin the riders.

Mick, Norman, Barry and Dave T with an old friend of the club for many years, Charles van de Steen (retired fireman) road the shorter canal ride. In the evening there was a pleasant meal in Ghent and the seven met Charles for a drink by the canal. The next day the journey home was via Oudenaarde to visit the cycle museum where famous riders' bikes are on display and films of historical classic races can be seen.

Last part of the exciting trip was to arrive at Dunkirk and find Barry's passport was missing! Barry had been looking after the passports and and stored them in the car glove compartment. We checked in with Norfolkline, no problem, four people and three passports but at the UK border check the chap noticed a discrepancy! Barry was going to be issued with a lost passport form to enable him to return. The chap checked Barry's identity whilst we set about dismantling the car. At the last moment, as the form was about to be issued the glove compartment was removed and the passport was found. It was coincidental that Barry was looking after the passports and it was his that was lost. Poor Barry so much stress for him because he needed is passport in two days to travel to Rob Potters in France. We missed the ferry and waved goodbye to the others. No rush, no problem, we had no plans for the rest of the day. On the next ferry two hours later and to Normans where Chris gave us some lovely tea and cake. As Barry is always such an organized chap we said we would not mention anything of this to tarnish his reputation, but!!!!!!!!!!

Alps

Hello all.
A couple of years ago me and a mate from the San Fairy Ann club spent a few days in the French Alps, riding from Alpe D'Huez to Monaco. We had a fantastic time, riding in the famous Tour mountains is something spectacular and so & this year we're heading back with a slightly larger group (8 riders in total at the moment) to base ourselves near Bourg D'Oisans for a few days riding. At the moment we have a couple of spare places at the accomodation we've booked due to some drop outs, so I wondered if anyone might be interested in joing the fun?

The trip is on the 2nd bank holiday weekend in May - Flying out on 28th & back on 31st. The plan is to ride Alpe D'Huez on the Friday and then plan some routes around everyone's needs for the Saturday and Sunday. You don't need to be an elite climber, believe me there is a good mix of abilities coming along and we are just looking to enjoy the experience. We'll be staying in a Gite that we have used before which is very bike friendly (and very reasonable rates) in the mountain village of Sardonne, just a couple of miles from Bourg D'Oisans.

If anyone is interested in coming along, please let me know ASAP & I can give you the full details, an idea of costs etc. It will be a great few days in a relaxed atmosphere & some very good company.

Cheers

Alex

Ghents 2009

Here are some pictures taken during the club's visit to Ghent in November this year. Mary Adams and friend Dawn Bramall (who took these photos) clearly enjoyed having a picture taken with the two young Brit riders Luke Rowe and Jon Mould (with the distinguished Paul Manning in attendance). They came 3rd in the U23 competition which ran before the main evening programme of racing. Ghent is in a bit of a mess at present whilst they undertake massive archeological digs all over the city. The last two photos were taken at Amadeus of the party on Sunday evening.

Andrew

After the Gran Fondo was over.

St Ybard Charade 2009

Saturday July 11th 2009

And so, the final curtain. All slumber-heads this morning, a slow breakfast followed by a frenzy of bathroom wall building and three-man-mirror putting up. At 1100 the three most useless handy-men, Micks Ayliffe & Sutton with Norman sneaked away from Bedlam on their bikes to repeat the first day's ride down the Vezere gorge at Comborn. Before they got there they took a short diversion to pay their respects at the graves of Father and son Rabe and Andre Briar, three resistance fighters “fusillees par les barbarien Nazi’s en 1944.” Denbo and Mick had stumbled across the roadside memorials many years ago and we have visited them whenever we have visited St Ybard since then. Then it was on down to the river, past the luckiest garden gnomes in the world, where alongside the bridge we found an ideal property for sale. Norman agreed it would make an admirable acquisition but said it would not be acceptable to the Lady Wife because it was too far from Tesco’s. After the climb to Estivaux, taken at a much steadier pace than on day 1, we rode into Perpezac-le-Noir for drinks at the bar and then out onto the old main road, now deserted because of the nearby motorway. Then it was round to the Lac de Poncharel to meet up with the rest of the lads who had brought along a picnic which we all enjoyed before flopping out in the shade to rest and oggle or perspire in the strong sunlight. About three o’clock those of a competitive nature retired to the café for Crepes, Cornettos, coffee and beers while we watched two hours of the Tour on Tele. Another fine day awheel completed by a refined potter back to base camp and a plunge in the ice pool which is supposed to do you good. All that remains is to take Trevor down to the Auberge St Roche in the village for a thank you dinner tonight and then up and away at sparrow fart in the morning back to dear old blighty and you lot. Make the most of your last day and we hope to see you on Tuesday for the Bastille Day celebrations.
For those of you of a measuring disposition the week’s mileage was 297 and the total climbing was 22,780 feet, the average speed will not be divulged to protect the innocent.

St Ybard Charade 2009

Friday July 10th 2009

What an excellent bit of bike riding from David Millar yesterday in atrocious weather at the end of the Barcelona stage of the tour. It’s a hard sport and he gave such a good interview to ITV after the finish which was so similar to Andy Murray. Anyway today we were up on time and down to the baker’s where we heard of a Farmers Market in Uzerche tonight and we decided to eat down there this evening. But before that the bikes offered us another day en velo au Coeur du Limousin. We started off north on gentle lanes through Corbier and Benayes to Masseret where we climbed to the Tower. The hotel there is building a new extension. Trevor offered us a visit to the top of the tower but this was declined when we found it had no lift installed. From here the Garmin took over and led us on a merry chase through heavily wooded parkland but revealed the rear of the impressive Chateau des Greniers. The next stop was at Condats-sur-Genaveix for coffee where we got on the wrong side of the proprietor when he found us wandering through his living accommodation; we’d gone in the wrong door. Then it was further across country to reach Lonzac at 1.30pm where the restaurant was fully booked with a family party and the shop had just shut for lunch. Onwards, ever onwards to Borelive, where we found a fine place able to give us a lunch on the terrace with white beer, blond beer and red wine to slake our thirsts. After an hour or so we were out on the road again to Espartignac and along the old railway track into Uzerche to watch the end of the Andorra stage of the tour at The Bowler. A successful breakaway win by Frenchman Brice Feillu of Agritubel, the yellow jersey on the back of another breakaway participant from a French team, Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy, and a superb final 2 kms from Alberto Contador all renewed our faith in the old values of the Tour de France. Bradley Wiggins is still up there too in 5th place. How much better it is to see the race on TV live instead of by way of the sanitized evening edited highlights.

So it was quite late by the time we returned to the ice cool pool for our evening freezing; Mick’s fingers were still deathly white 30 minutes after he got out. At 7.30 five of us drove into Uzerche for the Farmer’s Market which we found disappointingly low-key so we drove to the south of town to enjoy a pleasant evening meal outside. The working party who had remained home, Trevor, Martin and Paul, are still working as I finish typing this instalment of the blog at midnight. Mad or what?

St Ybard Charade 2009

Thursday July 9th 2009

It was another excellent ride today in good cycling weather. Six of us left about 1000 and took the hilly back lanes to the south to join D155 above Vigeios. Then we continued south on D3, ignoring the dive into the Vezere gorge at Comborn, to descend steeply into the old village of Voutezac where we just made the left hand turn onto the lateral road through Le Saillant to Allassac for lunch. A novel solution to the problem of getting pictures of this trip onto the blog, which had exercised the finest imported brains in St Ybard all this week, had been suggested by Professor Elliott last night. Unfortunately the silly old fool had failed to charge his camera and so his solution was not put to the full test. However just look at this and marvel.

What a load of posers! Le Vieux Pont de Saillant, Vezere.

Allasac boasted a fine town square in full sunlight, a tasty sandwich bar and an accommodating cafe proprietor who let us eat our sarnies on his terrace if we bought a few beers. All was well with the world. Furthermore our host had sited his cafe next to a photographic shop which sold Mick a camera card reader that offered a more radical solution to the pics-onto-the-blog problem for 12 Euros. Alas, this was money down the drain and has failed to resolve our difficulty.

So it was that at 1 pm we wandered off into the heat of the Vezere afternoon with very full tummies. Up a goddam awful hill that went up for several kilometres at a fearful gradient and with a very poor surface. All enthusiasm for riding a bicycle drained away in an instant and at the top we sat and wondered how many cycling careers had been snuffed out by that bloody hill. Mortally damaged we limped along the plateau to Pezenec le Noir and down to Vigeois where we managed to persuade ourselves that it looked like rain and we'd best go straight back to St Ybard rather than continue to the lake to watch the tour on Tele. A load of bollocks really, it was that hill out of Allassac that was to blame. So we were home early, about 3 o'clock, it didn't rain (of course) and the rest of the afternoon has been spent finding the click on Dave's bike, in deep philosophical discussion of the troubles of the world and despairing of transferring images off Mick's camera onto this bloody computer. The Tour will have to wait until ITV4 tonight. We shortly will eat al fresco on chicken lips and hedgehog eyebrows. Denbo had wanted to eat out in town tonight but Paul's opinion prevailed when he stabbed Den in the belly with a carving knife. See you tomorrow.

St Ybard Charade 2009

Wednesday 8th July 2009

Another good day awheel; today the big one; Treignac and Suc-au-May for six of us. Denbo and Mick Sutton stayed at home. We were ready at 0930 but didn’t leave until 10.45 because we had to programme the Garmin with an inappropriate route. Norman’s saddle disintegrated at the start of the first hill but was quickly reconstructed. We had a strong coffee at Meilhards (we were not supposed to go there at all) and then we did a pleasant 4kms circuit of grit-filled lanes that delivered us back onto the same main road we had just left but now a full kilometre further from our destination. A minor anti Sat/Nav mutiny saw us sticking to the main road into Treignac and on to the Lac des Bariousses for lunch. Notable performance of the morning came from Paul Martin who rode away strongly on the climb before Treignac on only his second come-back ride on his Merckx road bike. After lunch the three big-hitters went onto the Lestards and Suc-au-May climb and the three old Joes returned along the lovely lane across the Vezere valley via Peyrissac and onto D3 at Chavagnac. Joy was unbounded as we bowled along through Eyburie, past the prison and down into Uzerche to watch the Perpignan stage finish at The Bowler ‘at – so-called for the entertainment provided for us at that establishment one afternoon many years ago by a wild member of the genus Rattus.

Don’t you get some magic moments with the French language in France? The Bowler bar is also a PMU horse racing gambling centre and if there are people in there playing the horses then horse racing has priority on the large TV screen – our TV screen!. Sure enough, when we arrived, a race from Longchamps held the attention of the clients. The patron explained that there were customers playing at the moment but he switched to the tour coverage for us as soon as the race was finished. There were 40kms left to race and a break of six had 2 minutes advantage. After about half an hour Mick diplomatically offered one of the gamblers to switch back to horse racing if he wanted to continue playing which the old chap sportingly declined.
“You understand, Sir, that the English have a special interest in your tour this year, we have a rider capable of winning stages.”
“Oh Yes, who is he?”
“Mark Cavendish”
“Yes that’s him. But he’s not English is he? He is from the Isle of Man!”
“Ah that’s only when he loses. When he wins he’s English!”
Anyway at the end of the stage Tomas Voekler, a Frenchman, survived the breakaway to win by a few seconds with Cavendish third. As I left the bar I shook the old gambler by the hand, “Felicitations!” The old chap smiled.

A few minutes later in a Supermarket a young guy was helping me to look for a card reader for my cameras pictures. He had called for the manager to see if they had one in stock but I was about to leave because the manager.had not turned up. “No, No,” said my helper restraining me from leaving. “Wait. He is coming, but he is an imbecile.”

The big-hitters came home about 6.30 having had an excellent afternoon defying gravity. We ate pork chops with apple sauce from the barbeque with new potatoes, beetroot and avocado salad and drank local red wine. It is a good life!

St Ybard Charade 2009

Tuesday 7th July 2009

Let’s finish off yesterday first. What a superb last hour’s racing in the Tour de France stage to La Grande Motte. We watched the ITV4 transmission in the evening between the courses of another excellent evening meal prepared by Paul and Denbo. The difficult winds of the Camargue were beautifully exploited by the Columbia-Highroad team who had moved to the front to prepare the finish for Mark Cavendish. An opportunist break developed with most of the Columbia team in it and (surprise, surprise) yellow jersey Cancellara and Lance Armstrong. There followed a most exhilarating chase that resulted in Cav winning the sprint from a group of 25 or so who had a lead of 42 seconds. Marvellous racing and we hope the girls of our 4-up team were watching because the techniques of riding hard in a group in strong winds were superbly demonstrated here and they will be also today in the TTT stage at Montpellier. I suppose you all knew that already but if you didn’t see it then try to get to a recording.

Was it the excitement of the TV that led to excessive consumption and noisy hilarity in the garden until late into the night? Let’s be generous and suppose so. Today was to have been a hard day up to Treignac and Suc-au-May, the highest peak in the area. Alas we arose to a steady drizzle and the lady at the bakers reported that the Meteo suggested it would rain on and off all day. Another cheerful customer gave his opinion, with a grin, that this wet weather would last until Christmas! That was enough for us. You’ve got to be adaptable haven’t you? The morning was devoted to manual labour around the house, finishing off the staircase, demolishing a wooden case and chopping wood. Lunch was reserved at the Espartignac restaurant, one of our favourites. We drove over there in the cars which was just as well as it rained on the way. Soup, turkey gizzard salad, pork chops and beans, extensive cheese board, choice of five desserts, coffee, bread and wine aplenty, all for 11 Euros. Probably the best thing Rob Starey ever did in his life, finding that restaurant at Espartignac.

The weather cleared up as we came out into the afternoon and managed to save Paul from being kidnapped by the hairdresser who has premises under the restaurant. Here we split. One car went to the Super-U for shopping and the rest went to the Bowler Hat where they persuaded the patron to turn off the horse racing in favour of the Team Time Trial. Another super afternoon’s bike racing unspoiled by the rain that fell occasionally on Uzerche High Street outside and unspoiled by the beer that was imbibed. A fantastic cliff-hanger finish with Armstrong and Cancellara ending the day equal on time. Home to postcard writing, carpentry, more tele and good crack. See you tomorrow. Pray for good weather please.

St Ybard Charade 2009

Monday 5th July 2009.

Chris Devereux left at dawn to return to his southern estate to do battle with the plumber. Good chap, he didn’t wake any of us up. Bowel movements started about 7o’clock as their synchronisation among eight young healthy athletes living in the same accommodation has proved to be a problem. Breakfast was even more leisurely than usual as Trevor was still struggling at the computer upstairs with the Garmin sat/nav system that was to govern our day. Pelvic Paul, the club’s most multiply fractured man, made an entrance in a most fantastical outfit of brilliant white emblazoned boldly front and back with “Italia” in blue, but in a Chinese script. This blended beautifully with his tightly waved silver hair. The Garmin started by taking us up to Condat-sur-Geneveix but after half an hour we realized that the route it had chosen for us had just taken all the highest points in the area and joined them together with the steepest and narrowest of roads. Some dissent was heard from the ranks and when at Masseret we were turned in the wrong direction to marvel at the medieval tower the gulf between the beauty of Paul’s fine raiment and his ugly mood was exposed, as he spat at Trevor, “Just make the f’ing thing get me to Lubersac by the quickest and flattest road for God’s sake!” Thus it was that we arrived in Lubersac for lunch at 12.30 where we met up with Denis who had driven over to meet us. We English crocks dined outside on French croques and baguettes under awnings which protected us from the occasional rain drops that kept falling on our heads. These raindrops became more numerous and closer together as we came to leave. Trevor turned downhill to continue the Garmin’s folklorique route while the rest of us plunged off uphill into the deluge and splashed off back home with what speed we could muster. Half an hour later four of us crashed into the yard of Trev’s place, chilly and wet but somewhat exhilarated at the end of 36 very varied miles. Trev and Mick Sutton stayed at the cafe in Lubersac until the rain stopped before coming home while Denbo and Paul completed their commissariat duties with a visit to the Supermarket. Now we are all back here, clean dry and looking very smart waiting for the next culinary creation to hit our taste buds. We may have a break-through on the pictures front. It looks as though two images may have been successfully dispatched to Stevey Baby in Pixhams Lane. The suspense of awaiting the outcome is almost as great as waiting for the result of today’s tour stage!

Ta-da!

The lads leave St Ybard for Lubersac...
(Forget the comments below - Steve)

Strange attachments in my inbox

These have been sent from France, in the absence of captions I invite you to supply your own...

Caption to follow...

Believe it or not, Team Columbia do the same after a ride!!!!

St Ybard Charade 2009

Sunday 4th July 2009

As Rob Potter left for home yesterday evening Chris Devereux arrived. He joined us for the excellent barbecued duck in the garden. There was then an interlude to watch the Tour de France highlights programme on TV. Then it was back to the table for cheese, more wine and a French tart and you all know how we like a French tart on a Saturday night. And so to bed.

Up betimes (about 8 o'clock that is) and the usual disagreements about whether we needed bread or not. Out on the treaders by 0945 for an 0900 prompt start. Denbo and Pelvic Paul decided to stay at home to devote the day to this evening's spag bol, which had to be the best we'd ever tasted just like all the previous years. The rest of us, we were seven, set off via Lubersac to St-Yrieix-la-Perche in the direction of Limoges to the north-west. The distance is about 25 miles and they must be about the most deserted 25 miles of pure French countryside around. Up and down all the time, but virtually habitation- and traffic-free, for today alas, very very hot. The expectation was that we would split and the back group would short-cut to Pompadour. In the end we kept in contact and all arrived at St Yrieix together about 11.30. Our usual bakery was open and had no objection to us setting up camp in the street outside using their furniture. Coffees, teas and exotic fruit tarts were purveyed by a charming middle-aged lady who was much taken by Norman's Time machine, she had an Orbea herself. Then it was out into the midday sun for the hilly ride through St-Segur-le-Chateau and on to Pompadour for salads and rose wine in the shade taken at our bistro next to the mis-labelled public loos for which the town is justly famous. Pompadour is also known as an equestrian centre and as we left we watched a horse race from the raised terrace. Not exactly Le Derby d'Epsom but notable for being the first time we had ever seen horses on the track there. The slopes after lunch were more gentle but still, by the time we approached Vigeois, Norman and the two Micks had had enough. So they missed out on the last 20kms and four hard climbs to Vigeois Lake and headed back along the top road for home just in time to watch Mark Cavendish win the day's tour stage on TV. The four big-hitters returned an hour later, plunged in the pool and were entertained by the last 5 hours of the chefs' spag bol preparations. The product of their disagreeable labours was enjoyed by all and washed down with copius amounts of red wine freshly decanted into old wine bottles from a plastic container of industrial dimensions. With very smelly cheeses to follow. It had been a good day en velo pour les Rosbifs.

Apologies for the absence of pictures. This is due to being on French dial-up only but the scientific team is working on the problem as we speak. Wondrous images may still come your way but Gawd know how! Night, night.

St Ybard Charade 2009

Saturday 3rd July 2009.

So here we are again up in the over-heated attic with a half-drunk pint of Paul’s St Ybard 2009 ale at our side trying to remember how we reported all this rubbish last year. In a flurry of expletives, Dave Elliot has just given up on trying to download today’s pictures. Apparently an essential piece of apparatus is not available to us despite explicit instructions having been given to our host to purchase one. Card reader is its name. There is a conflagration in the garden which indicates that the incineration of bits of duck is about to begin. Barbecue is its name. Ill-temper emanates from the kitchen where the first procedural disagreements of the year between our two chefs, Paul and Denbo, have just begun. It’s great to be back.

Today we had a welcome guest on our ride, Rob, dad of the lovely Emma Potter. He made the one hour drove north from his place in Laborie to arrive here about 9.30 just as we were finishing breakfast. This meal had required two trips into the village by eight blokes because the first expeditionary party had failed to bring back butter and jam to go on the bread. Stupid boys! The discipline imparted by Rob’s arrival resulted in our departure on today’s bike ride at the unearthly hour of 10.20; previously unheard of organisation.

Only Denbo stayed at base camp and he was charged with a shopping list for the local Supermarket. This was quite a momentous day as it signalled Paul Martin’s return to riding a road bike following his horrendous crash of September last year. In hot weather we climbed out of St Ybard and along the ridge before plunging down into the Vezere valley at Comborn and climbing out to Estivaux. Then it was along the road to Perpezac le Noir for beers and coffees and a rest. Another daunting 10 kms saw at us at the lake at Vigeios for an al fresco luncheon and a post-prandial kip in the shade of the trees. It had to be done; at 3 o’clock we returned up the climb out of the Vezere and back to St Ybard. We’d done 36 miles at a pedestrian pace in hot weather and we’d stayed together all day. Well done to Paul, Norman and Mick Sutton; we have seen too little of them this year so far. Dave and Martin availed themselves of the new hydrotherapy facility as soon as we got back. Rob returned south. It was good to have shared the day with him. Quote of the day? “Who should we appoint as wine connoisseur for this trip?” “Denbo? He’s always whining!”

Pottering in the Lot 2009

C'est de notre regime!

Carbo loading at the Fenelon.

Homage at the Place Edith Piaf.

Chateau Castelnau.

Still time to clean the Colnago!

Barry can't face any more of this!

Beside the tranquil Dordogne!

Barry recruiting a local.

Eddy Merckx takes a rest.

Above Rocamadour the second most visited tourist site in France.

Sunday ride 3 May 09

Trevor rode in France with his new camera from St Ybard along the Vezere River to Estivaux then descended the gorge climbed out the other side passing by the Comborn Chateaux to return to St Ybard.

More Mallorca Pics

Roger, Chris and Mick lunch at the beach.

Emma, Caroline, Jez and Mick on the Lighthouse family day. Rob Scourfield

Caroline on Formentor

Barry above Lluc

Emma gives Jez and Marcus a hard time coming back from the lighthouse .

An evening in the bar

Lunch at Petra

BBC SO looking for new violinist

Gent-Wevelgem 2009

Mick Barry Norman and Charles wait on the side of the Zwartberg for the Gent-Wevelgem race 2009 that never came

Another triumph for Clarencourt organization. Barry Gregory, Paul Martin, Mick Ayliffe, Norman Luhr & Charles van de Steene met in Westouter at 1230 to watch Gent-Wevelgem. The pubs were shut so we left the village and went up onto the Zwartberg to the restaurant we used last year. It had changed into a camping shop. We found another place for beers and pasta. At 2pm we wandered down onto the hill and tied ourselves to a lamppost so we wouldn’t fall down the bank into the race as they stormed by. The same kids with learning disabilities from the local institution (the Tom Boonen fans) were opposite us just like last year. We had a great view down the hill. About 2.15 the race TV helicopter appeared over Westouter village square at the bottom of the hill and then surprisingly moved off to our right. No cars or riders came up the hill. A lady said something in Flemish and everyone made that Flemish scoffing noise. The race wasn’t coming up our hill this year. They had turned sharp left leaving the square in Westouter onto a tiny road straight up the side of the Rodeberg! So it was straight round to the local cafe where we sat for the rest of the afternoon and watched a very good Gent-Wevelgem on Tele. Bye Bye to dear old Charles and home at 11pm. Thanks to Barry for driving.

Ghent November 2008

Mizen to Malin Head the Irish End to End 2008

In mid-June Barry Gregory with Mick and Gavin Ayliffe rode the Irish End to End, south to north, about 500 miles in 8 days. As you can see from the photos the weather was generally chilly and damp but the journey was trouble free until with 10 miles to go Gavin shed a spoke and so buckled his back wheel that it would not turn. Luck of the Irish? A farmer replaced the spoke and trued the wheel for him so he could complete the ride.