New Mills U3A cycling

CYCLING

Group coordinator:	Derek Peterson e-mail: valandderekp@tiscali.co.uk telephone: 01663 744332
Meetings:	generally every two weeks (weather permitting)

Next Ride: Wednesday 29th September

We will meet at Longnor outside the cafe in the centre 10.15 for 10.30 start. Toilet and parking.

The route will take us over the moor via Newtown past the Mermaid Pub to Thorncilffe and then to Tittesworth Reservoir and cafe for coffee. We will the proceed through Meerbrook and via a very devious means to Roach End. This involves a short walk of a few hundred yards! Possible lunch stop. Then via Flash (the highest village in Britain) back to Longnor. If we get some good weather, the views are fantastic.

The ride is 26 miles and fairly hilly but a very nice finish down the ridge towards Longnor, the cafe and tea and cake.

I hope you can make it. Looking forward to a good turnout. Derek

The Cycling Group

U3A New Mills cycling
The Cycling Group, founded in 2007, generally meets every two weeks for leisurely rides of 25 to 35 miles with lunch stops at a café or pub. The outings continue throughout the year (weather permitting) mainly on minor roads, canal tow-paths and cycle trails. A mixture of touring, road, hybrid and mountain bikes is used on the rides.

The Group is a combination of members from both the New Mills and the Buxton U3As with all members being encouraged to lead a ride of their choice during the year if they so wish.

(click on image to enlarge)

Rides usually start from either New Mills or Buxton, however to provide alternative landscapes and routes members sometimes transport their bikes by car further afield.

Cycling Group Outings, Summer 2010
Since I last wrote the Cycling Group has continued to ride on a regular basis with numbers varying depending upon holidays and other commitments. The weather has generally been kind to us but we did get a thorough soaking on one occasion with no place to shelter and with probably 10 miles still to go. All you could do was to ‘stick in there’ to keep warm.
With such a fickle summer our ride in August was a mixture of sunshine and showers but we generally avoided the latter with judicial use of a pub (for lunch refreshments), trees and a welcome café stop in Ilam. Our ride had taken us from Ashbourne via Eddleston and the back of Alton Towers, over to the end of the Manifold Valley and then to Ilam and back. It was agreed to be a good ride with the odd testing hill. Tea and cakes at Ilam fortified us for our final hill before a lovely sweeping return to our start.	End of the ride, Ashbourne (Click on image to enlarge)
We generally do around 25 miles plus or minus a few at a leisurely pace with a picnic lunch during the summer months and with refreshment stops when the mood takes us. If you fancy joining us give me a ring. It’s a friendly group and new members are always welcome. We won’t leave you at the roadside! Derek Peterson, 01663 744332

A WINTERS TALE February 2010

The first cycle trip of the year turned out to be a rather wintery affair. I did think we might have to cancel if the weather was bad, particularly if there was a hard frost, but conditions were not so bad on the day and certainly not enough to deter hardy cyclists. I had warned that it would be hilly and we were soon getting very warm as we climbed out of Castleton on the back road over to Little Hucklow. It’s a steep climb and it does go on a bit but apart from a few snow flakes all looked good. Through Great Hucklow and onto the ridge towards the Barrel Inn. As we climbed it was very pleasant and it was nice to be out on the bikes again.

As we reached Hathersage it was looking a bit overcast but fortunately it was to be our lunch stop. As we lunched it started to snow more earnestly and for a moment it looked as though we might have to shorten the ride. This would have been really serious. Fortunately after a relaxed lunch the snow stopped and the sun returned so there was no excuse but to get on our way again.

Things were going well until we had to deal with a puncture and problems with a faulty pump. This cooled us down but we were soon rolling again over the hills towards Yorkshire Bridge and Aston and then to Hope and back to Castleton. It was good to be out despite less than ideal conditions. We have done very well with the weather since the Group was started and we will keep our fingers crossed for next time.

It would be great to see some new faces so if you would like to join us give me a ring on 01663 744332. If you cycle in the Peak you will know it’s difficult to avoid hills but we take things at a leisurely pace and we have had some excellent days out. We normally cover around 20 to 25 miles but there will often be an opportunity to opt for a quicker way back if this proves too much.

Derek Peterson
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