CUCC Newsletter, Lent 1993 (First ever MTB trip report plus other general news)

15 Jan 1993

CUCC NEWSLETTER - "FIRST" OF 
LENT TERM

Welcome back to Cambridge! Sorry this 
newsletter hasn't got a title, but I couldn't think of one 
quickly and I'm sort of in a hurry to get this done so I 
can go and make some more spirocyclic heterocydes!
Hopefully you're all keen to get out on your bikes 
a.s.a.p. - racing starts this term (and so, therefore, does 
serious training), while those who like their cycling a 
little less pain-involving can fight those Christmas 
excesses....
Most of you will have received a rather tatty-
looking pseudo-newsletter yesterday; don't worry if you 
didn't - this contains all the information contained in the 
tatty job, except that Aled's social was last night...Sorry 
about this occurrence, but I didn't have time to produce 
a full version yesterday and wanted to inform as many 
people as possible about the social last night and the 
retiming of the Saturday outings.

NEWS FROM THE PRESIDENT...

The annual CLUB DINNER is approaching 
rapidly - it will be held at approx 7.30 pm on Saturday 
6th February at an as-yet-unknown hotel/restaurant. 
NOTIFICATION WILL BE GIVEN OF THE EXACT 
COST AND VENUE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE - Allan 
Baldry is finalising these. Cost will be around f20 per 
head, this including 3 courses but NOT drinks - book 
your place ASAP by getting a cheque (payable to 
CUCC) to James Farnhill (at St.John's) or me (p/hole a 
Churchill or the Chemistry dept. - use the 'B' p.h. and 
an envelope!) .This dinner is being combined with a 
reunion of former CUCC members (1954-58 vintage) 
organised by Allan Baldry - this is an opportunity to 
meet some different cyclists and find out what clubruns 
were like when everyone rode single gears and wore 
weird, non-lycra materials !
It may seem slightly odd that with twenty-odd 
colleges to choose from we are going to a restaurant for 
the most important club social event of the year. This is 
due to the inactivity of our social secretary, leaving us 
with nowhere else to go.
Due to the aforementioned inactivity of the social 
sec., James has decided to offer the post to anyone 
who is willing to take it on for the rest of the academic 
year - all you have to do is persuade one club member 
each week to host a Wednesday night club evening, 
and get the occasional formal hall etc. organised. Any 
takers???

Forthcoming social events (maps on back 
page).....
TUESDAY 26th Jan.: Not one of our own, but 
still open to CUCC members, is a talk to be given by 
Joe McCARRON (or should those "R" 's be "L" 's? - I 
can't quite read this guy's writing) on his 2000-mile 
cycle trip along the Himalayas through Nepal and India 
raising money for Intermediate Technology, a charity 
concerned with Third World development. It will be held 
at the Zoology lecture theatre on the New Museums 
site, and starts at 8pm. If you're not a member of the 
CU Explorers' and Travellers' Club then you will be 
charged one pound admission.
WEDNESDAY 27th Jan.: TONY HORNBUCKLE 
hosts at C9, Wolfson Building, Trinity College. 8-ish 
start as usual...
WEDNESDAY 3rd Feb.: CHRIS Jones hosts at 
11 j, Churchill College.

NEWS FROM THE RACING WORLD...

Aled writes..."Welcome back ! Now's the time to 
start losing those inches of fat put on over Christmas. I 
hope you're all planning to compete in some event, be it 
a time-trial or road race, in the next few months. If you 
haven't done it before, don't worry - there are a few of 
us who have and are willing to give advice and help you 
along....!
TIME-TRIALLING: If you want information about 
open events throughout the country all through the next 
12 months, then you MUST get the 1993 RTTC 
handbook! Price 63.00 each -cheques payable to 
CUCC to reach me (that's Aled, not me - Ed.) by 
Wednesday 27th (i.e. next week's dub evening)...
ROAD-RACING: The BCF is in charge of road-racing 
- to compete you must be a member of the BCF (514) and 
hold a licence (615) - this includes third party insurance (for 
61,000,000 !) just in case you hurt / kill someone (while 
riding ANY bike - and I think even wheeling a bike! – Ed.). 
Cheques to me (payable to CUCC) by the 27th - include a 
further 63.50 if you want the essential-for-road-racing BCF 
handbook. {New members of the BCF get a 'starter pack' on 
joining, so it's essential you tell Aled if you are one. Note 
also that you can obtain a DAY LICENCE, which costs about 
61.50 - so if you're only going to do a couple of races, you 
may prefer to save money and not get the full, year-long 
one. - Ed.}
If you want any information please contact me (teL 
323189) or come to Tony's club evening or Saturday's 
trianing ride. If you want the lot (both handbooks, 
membership and a licence), it is going to cost &5.50 - it 
might seem expensive, but you may be able to recover some 
money from your college (esp. St.John's...).
TRAINING: Saturdays - 2pm - Brookside - two rides 
(I'll be taking the slow one - Ed.) when sufficient riders turn 
up.
Bring lights if you can - use mudguards or face the eternal 
hatred of the riders whose faces you decorate with crap from 
the road...-Ed.
Sundays - 9.30 am - Addenbrookes (Town 
Clubs - behave yourself on these as we're guests). These 
rides are somewhat longer than ours, due to a lack of 
darkness two hours after their starts !
Midweek - I will be arranging midweek outings for 
those aspiring to make the 4-up team time trial in mid-March. 
Contact me if you're interested."

Further information (Ed. speaking now, 
incidentally)....

Entry forms are available from Aled. Closing dates are the 
Tuesdays 11 or 12 days before the events, so if you want to 
do the Kettering event you better get a move on ! Make 
cheques payable to the organiser of the event. not his/her 
club, CUCC, the RTTC etc.. It is helpful if everyone informs 
Aled of the events they're riding so we can arrange transport 
(if necessary) and make sure we're sending a full team to go 
for the team prize money !!! The Lea Valley event is a TWO 
man (or woman) team time trial, and is good practice for the 
4-UP BUSF event in mid-March in which we'd like to beat 
Oxford yet again...!
You don't have to enter Cuppers in advance, incidentally – 
more details will follow of this event in your next exciting 
edition of CUCC-NEWS! It's a solo TT on the same course 
as was used for last term's introductory time trial, the fastest 
two from each College forming a team. Let's try and get a 
wide range of teams this year, otherwise it rather devalues 
the competition.

OFF-ROAD RACING:-
The 1993 British Students Cyclo Cross Championships 
are approaching...
21st February, liam start, at Oxford School, Granville 
Rd., off the Cowley Rd., Oxford. Entry on the day.

Mountain bikes are eligible for most 'Cross races - 
check beforehand with the organiser if you wish to use 
one.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHlNG A B1T 
DIFFERENT...
At the end of last term, an ATB trip was 
organised - here's Chris Jones' account of it..

CUCC vs The Peak District - 4th December 1992

The club's first ever official off-road outing outside 
Cambridge started one chilly Friday evening right at 
the end of last term with five assorted bikes and riders 
setting off up the Huntingdon Road (OK, OK, so we did 
use a van and a car instead of riding all the way) 
heading for Castleton in the heart of the Peak District 
National Park. After failing to find the local chippy and 
so eating most of Jeremy's supply of malt loaf we 
settled into a spacious, if not very warm, dormitory in 
the Youth Hostel.

We woke the next morning to see snow on the top of 
nearby Mam Tor, and after a good breakfast
set off in the van for Ladybower Reservoir. The 
bridleways round the reservoir were good but
flattish and full of puddles - wet feet all round, an 
indication of things to come! At the top end
of the reservoir we met snow, both on the ground and in 
the air, before having to turn back the
way we'd come: the track down the west side of the 
reservoir was dosed for forestry work. It was
lfway back that it started to rain just as my back tyre 
punctured...sorry to everyone else who
had to stand around and get wet for a few minutes! 
Heading out of the car park the other way
we embarked on a very steep but mostly rideable climb 
up to the top of a hill (sorry if the
geography's a bit sketchy but I can't find my map). 
Rideable, that is, until my chain
broke...another pause for maintenance. Along the top of 
the hill was a peaty snowy bridleway
with some particularly huge puddles in it. Coming to the 
end of the ridge we were rewarded
with spectacular views up and down the valleys and 
some fun, fast, sheep-dodging grassy
downhills. We then crossed the bottom end of the 
reservoir and after a stop for lunch and brake
adjustment climbed up onto moor land on a bridleway 
that was sometimes sandy, sometimes
peaty but always covered in rocks – technical, I think 
they call it. Unfortunately we had to share
the route with a lot of streams but we soon came to a 
very slippery and very steep grassy bank
doom to the road at which point Martin's bike decided to 
carry on without him halfway down.
After retrieving it we followed the road back to the van 
and enjoyed one last downhill run.

On the Sunday morning we put on our nice damp 
clothes from the day before (the Youth Hostel
had a drying room but with a full load of cubs, scouts 
and mountain bikers it couldn't quite cope)
d took the van over Winnats Pass to Hayfield. The 
climb out of the village was too steep and
rocky to ride, but the trail to Coldwell Clough and 
beyond was good granny-gear stuff. We
carried on through the snow over the hill and down a 
very rocky track flanked by dry stone walls
before slithering down a grassier bit towards Hayfield 
Reservoir. The bridleway up the other side
of the valley was smooth and cobbled but so steep that 
stopping was fatal. We did overtake a
man carrying a pair of skis, though, which didn't bode 
well for what lay at the top of the hill. He
must have been disappointed, though, as the tracks 
were all clear for the round trip we made
over the hills back to Hayfield, even using half a mile of 
road at one stage!

We arrived back at the van just as it started to rain, 
and after changing adjourned to a cafe for a teacake 
and sandwich binge before starting the journey back to 
Cambridge. Despite the December weather and the 
number of brake blocks we got through the trip had 
been a great success: in the words of one Mr Turvey, 
"It was brilliant!". Watch this space for its sequels...

Chris Jones, Touring Sec.

SUNDAY NEWS:- Touring rides still leave the Guildhall 
at 10 am on Sundays. These will continue to be road-
orientated as Chris reckons it's far too muddy to go off-
road. If enough ATBers who don't mind getting covered 
in various earthy substances turn up then there will be 
an off-road ride, of course - it's up to you to let 
everyone else know if you want to do something!


Later in term, there may be another ATB trip, 
depending on whether Chris and Martin organise one - I 
may well go along if so, having just purchased a rather 
nice Marin Eldridge....

Well, I'd say that's about enough for this 
newsletter - the remaining space to be occupied by 
maps and an amusing little cartoon (taken form "Guide 
to cycling in the blue Mountains -Australia") from a 
selection sent to us by Richard Bone, ex-member of 
CUCC and Clare College.....if you've ever tried to use 
BR, you'll appreciate it a whole lot more....