CUCC Newsletter, Easter 1994 (MTB Peak district trip report and other general news)
2 Apr 1994
The Easter Epistle
aka another CUCC newsletter
'About time too!' I hear you say...well I'm sorry, but I've been
rather busy what with the club to run, a PhD to work for and riding
to do! Anyway "better late than never" always applies, so here
goes with the latest edition.....
GENERAL NEWS: There aren't any socials at the moment as only
the post-grads are here and we've all got plenty to do.....but as
soon as term starts, those weekly gatherings will commence again.
As there's no-one here to volunteer to host, I'm going to have to
make up some times and places - we'll start with Wednesday April
13th - Churchill Bar (the lower area, near the entrance) - 8pm-ish
onwards. Anyone who ordered CLUB CLOTHING should make
every attempt to attend this one - the clothing should be delivered
by then (hopefully) and is being sent to Churchill so it will save me
carrying it anywhere ! If it hasn't arrived by then it should be here
for the following week....details of the meeting will be decided on
(and distributed) in good time. A couple of people still owe for
clothing - I'll contact you individually....
ATB NEWS: Seeing as the trip to the Peak District was several
weeks ago, I'd better put Chris Jones' report in now. Sorry there
aren't any pics with it - I can't figure out how to work the scanner
properly so you'll have to do without. For the record they weren't
great anyway, but the trip was (mostly).
CUCC Rambling and Soil Sampling Expedition /5/6 February
1994
Edale Youth Hostel was the venue for the first of this term's off-
road trips. Having found it at the end of an eternity of speed bumps
and worked out what colour drogna was needed for breakfast, we
got a sound night's sleep before assembling our hikes and setting
off at a leisurely 10:30 on Saturday morning. We headed up the
bridleway over Cold Side towards Castleton, but decided on the
way that Mam Tor was too much fun to do just once. So we did it
several times, up and down by both the steep Winnats Pass and
the broken old road. Top speed noted was 49mph by yours truly - it
would have been quicker if there hadn't been a cattle grid in the
way! After a nosh and tea stop in Castleton, we hit the off-road
again up Cave Dale to the Limestone way. Paul had been, shall we
say, pessimistic about the state of the track and he was nearly
right. We rode some of it. Up on the top amongst the remains of
the snowdrifts the track was flat and easy, but the weather meant
that, the view wasn't up to much. However, we soon found a great
bombhole playground and spent a good while finding new ways of
falling off. A distant air-raid siren was worrying at first until we
realised it was just a quarry blasting warning. Good job it was
distant, though. The rest of the track back down to the road was
fast, smooth, downhill and covered in puddles. The B6061 took us
back up to the top of Mam Tor from where we bounced our way
first to Hollins Cross and then all the way back down into Edale.
Much to our delight we found that the YHA had a hosepipe to wash
off the 22 miles' worth of mud and brake block. It started raining
just in time for dinner, but stopped for us to walk the 2 miles to the
pub in Edale village. The evening was cut short by the fact that no-
one had any energy left, so an early night was in order.
The weather on Sunday morning was much the same as
Saturday's: misty and coldish but a bit windier. Another greasy
breakfast fortified us for the ride over towards Woodlands Valley.
The track was rideable as far as Jaggers Clough, which we
paddled through, but got very steep, rocky and rutted after that.
Before long we'd reached the top of the descent to Haggwater
Bridge: an excellent bouncy downhill (for those of us who rode
it...mentioning no names). We met some fellow bikers at the
bottom who warned us that the going was bumpy and slippery us
towards Hagg Side. We went that way anyway, but it wasn't half as
bad as the downhill which we left them trying to ride up! Next came
an easy track with some very deep puddles in it (bottom brackets?
Do they need lubricating?) which soon became another ace
downhill towards Derwent Reservoir. Ace, that is, until Paul
Brookes's front brake lever gave way just as he was passing a
rambler who'd got out of' the wrong side of bed. His (safe)
emergency stop, and the resulting skid, brought forth all sorts of
lectures about rights of way. Tiresome. But soon the lever was
fixed and we were off again toward.¨ the Severn Trent Water pasty
hut for lunch. We rolled easily along the bridleway towards the
Snake Road where the group split up: someone (mentioning no
names again) "got in a good 50 minutes level 2 training" along the
roads while we took the off-road option over Blackley Hey and
back down towards the Hostel. The hill we'd walked up in the
morning was much more fun the
other way - we could follow our SPuD-prints among the boulders
and blast through the stream at the bottom.
Once we'd taken advantage of the YHA hosepipe, it started to rain
in time for the drive home. How kind of it. But we hardly noticed,
pleasantly exhausted after an excellent weekend's outings. Only
now do we have to contemplate replacing brake blocks and
straightening wheels. Watch this space for the next outing...........
Chris Jones (Churchill College) - CUCC Crud Catcher
Future events.,..well, there aren't any concrete plans yet. Paul
Brookes is going to the Lakes over Easter - anyone wishing to join
him should (a) already know or (b) contact him very soon at 1 Willis
Rd. (top end of Mill Road) or the Dept. of Biochemistry. Apart from
that, it's everyone to themselves! Later in term there ought to be
some kind of trip to somewhere hillier than Cambridge, but it will
probably be in late June after the exams (and the varsity match).
Anyone who fancies ATBing in the Isle of Man should talk to Tony
Hornbuckle - he's intending to go for the IoM cycling week and
some sort of club trip may occur. In the meantime turn up to the
Guildhall on Sundays at 10am - there'll probably be someone else
there for you to get dirty with (if you'll excuse the expression).
There may also be further trips to Thetford Forest, depending on
what transport is available, where I will try to break yesterday's
record of falling off six times....
TOT JRING NEWS: Sunday rides should still occur. Please note,
however, that (1) mountain bikers will now probably want to take
advantage of the drier weather conditions and go off-road without
getting quite as muddy as during the winter and (2) the racing
season is here, so the roadies will be too busy causing themselves
intense pain to be able to take out leisurely rides on Sundays....any
volunteers to be the regular ride-leader? It doesn't take much effort
- just turn up every (OK, most) Sundays and go somewhere nice.
ANYONE FANCY RIDING FROM BUDAPEST TO PRAGUE THIS
SUMMER ? Robin Morris (Trinity - I staircase, Great Court) is going
to, starting around the 26127th June and taking around two weeks -
anyone wishing to join him should contact him soon....
RACING NEWS: Damn, there's quite a bit of this! Looks like it's
going to be a 3-page job!
You may not have heard yet, but Cuppers was cancelled.
Sadly our illustrious racing sec. forgot to contact the council and
check for roadworks on the course; there were some. Oops.
Fortunately, Jeremy had ridden off towards the roundabout to
marshal and discovered the problem before anyone started
racing.....
The following week saw the CUCC-organised Comberton circuit
time trial. With 12 of the 28 starters, CUCC looked set for a good
performance. With myself (suffering a bad cold) and Chez Hall non-
starting, we were down to 10....unfortunately Dan Shrimpton
punctured, Andrew Blain broke his seatpin and Richard Parker
crashed. Oh dear.
Thanks to all the non-roadies who turned out to both the above events to
help marshal etc.
FUTURE EVENTS: The two short-distance BUSF championships are
early this term....
10 (Sat. APRIL 30th): We are organising this...entries (including
cheques) must reach Tony Hornbucklieat Trinity College (or 56
Grange Rd.) by Tuesday April 19th - contact Tony for an entry form
if you don' have one. Cuppers results for this year will be worked
out from the results for this event....so if you want t