Organiser – Gary
Location – Faringdon (Oxfordshire)
Accommodation – Old Crown Coaching Inn
Who was there – Gary & Janet, Ian & Veronica, Dick & Deb, Liz & Paul, Ed & Jan, Colin & Trish, Pete & Terri, Ross and Rod
Date – 4th to 6th September 2015
As it was the 10th anniversary biking weekend we planned to try and make it extra special and do something in France. However holidays and other events got in the way and in the end Gary, Ian and Ed came up with a September trip to Oxfordshire based in the small town of Faringdon. The chosen venue was the Old Crown Coaching Inn, a 16th Century establishment with a quirky layout and ghosts a plenty.
The trip to Faringdon was complicated by the Great Dorset Steam Fair at Tarrant Hinton requiring a long detour to get around the congestion. Those who went via Ringwood/Salisbury/Marlborough got held up by various jams and arrived too late for lunch. Those taking the Newbury route fared much better and had time for lunch before Friday’s ride.
The facilities at the Crown were a bit basic, but any shortcomings in the decor were more than made up for by the landlady Heather. She kept us well fed, entertained and always had a smile on her face whatever the circumstances. She made it a thoroughly welcoming stay.
The plan was a short cross country ride to the east of Faringdon during the afternoon and the car park was soon filled with people assembling and fettling bikes, some of which were blinking in the daylight having been in dark sheds and garages for some time.
No long rambling stories from the author this year recounting (and exaggerating!) the events which happened on the rides and the jolly japes that occurred in the bar. This time the pictures and captions (where applicable) will tell the story. As the fisherman that I am though the captions may well exaggerate the size of the events that occurred.
The Friday afternoon ride was a nice gentle flat 15 miles (on paper) across some very nice countryside avoiding wherever possible the very busy roads around Faringdon which link up Oxford, Swindon and Wantage. As usual we managed to get lost before leaving the town centre and had to double back to find the correct road. Following the detours and a few route alterations on the fly to avoid the heavy traffic and a copse of very nasty looking Stinging Nettles we eventually arrived back at the pub having done 18 miles! A nice warm up for the 30+ mile jaunt on Saturday.
Taking a post ride shower Rod then caused a major problem at the hotel. Mr & Mrs Summers noticed water pouring thru their ceiling while getting ready for dinner. Going outside into the corridor they found the people from the neighbouring room who were also being flooded. Having located the hotel manager they burst into the room above theirs and found Rod in the shower cubicle up to his shins in water with the shower doors “ajar” which was letting the water out to flood his room and those below. A large scale mopping up operation was then underway in all three rooms
Dinner was very good with Heather doing a grand job in the absence of the chef, who had gone awol, even cooking a steak dinner for Ross when he arrived at 22:30. The usual fun and stories over dinner with most folk toddling off to bed sometime around midnight.
After what seemed like only a few hours since we had been there for dinner we were back at the same table sampling Heather’s full English breakfast, which was very nice indeed. A 10:30 start for the bike ride was agreed and people went off to get changed and fettle their bikes. The ride was to be approximately 32 miles first going south down the western side of the Vale of the White Horse to the centre of the English horse racing world, Lambourn. Then, after lunch at one of the pubs there, returning north up the eastern side of the vale.
The beautifully carved medieval preaching cross upon a slender shaft, set upon a stepped plinth. This cross dates to 1446, when Lambourn was granted the right to hold a market in the centre of the town and was restored in the 19th century. Well, whatever! We just thought it was a great place for a group photo! Colin & Trish missed the photo opportunity as they stayed in the George to watch the second half of the England v Ireland rugby match before heading back on the road. Just after the photo was taken the group split up with Jan, Terri, Dick, Deb heading back to Faringdon also on the road route
No more pictures were taking as headed back to Faringdon. The trail from Baulking to Sands Farm proved extremely difficult to ride and find! Eventually we gave up and took a direct “hors piste” route across a field and thru Sands Farm to the Road. As it was getting late we decided to give the remaining planned bridleway’s a miss and use the road to get back to Faringdon about three miles away.
On the way back in Fernham we came across a very nice looking pub, The Woodman, well you would wouldn’t you, so we did and stopped for a pint. Paul & Liz pushed on to Faringdon as Paul’s legs, arms, torso and head were feeling the strain of a long and arduous day’s riding. The six of us that were left (the usual beer swilling suspects, i.e. Gary, Ed, Ian, Pete, Ross and Rod) from the original 14 riders went in to the very nice pub and ordered beers straight from the barrel, can’t remember what it was, but it was very good. I also can’t remember most of what we talked about it, but it was very loud, raucous and extremely funny unlike the two (eastern European) young ladies behind the bar who couldn’t raise a smile between them. I do remember Rod got a fair amount of stick about the shower episode and Ian bought him a very literal beer with a Lemonade top. We were only there for a couple of pints, but I think the locals and those who had come for a quiet evening of fine dining were quite glad when we took our sweaty, muddy and cow poo flecked bodies out of the bar and rode off into the sunset.
Actually it was getting quite dark as we left the Woodman, but a very quick dash took us the final two miles to Faringdon. Ed and Gary got some ear bashing from their wives after messages asking “WHERE ARE YOU???” had been left on Gary’s phone and Jan had contacted the police in case we had had an accident! In the end according to my Garmin GPS we clocked up something over 36 miles.
A quick shower, change of clothes and back in the bar for some pre-dinner drinks. The dining area was decorated with balloons and banners to celebrate Ed’s impending birthday and we sat down with many many bottles of wine (courtesy of Mr Summers) to enjoy an evening of entertainment, awards and good food. With the chef still AWOL Heather again provided an excellent repast. Sometime around 02:00 in the morning we had had enough and went off to bed, one of us a little bit older!
A slightly more subdued group came down to breakfast on Sunday morning, but once again Heather did us proud, still without a chef and with 100 roast dinners to do for lunch. Ed’s arrival livened up the dinning room, another round of Happy Birthday followed by the opening of the many presents and cards he had been given, well you are only 60 once.
We paid our bills said our goodbyes and thanks to Heather and the convoy of cars headed off to the Royal Oak in Wootton Rivers (scene of the 2007 Biking Weekend) for Ed’s surprise birthday lunch. Ed arrived to find his brother and his wife had made the trip up from Devon to be there. We had a coffee and then set off for a walk along the Kennet & Avon Canal and true to form got lost on the way back by taking a route thru the open fields. However we did find the correct track eventually which popped out in the pub car park. On returning Ed had another surprise, friends of many years Phil and Steff had also come along to celebrate his birthday. The pub lunch was very good and following the consumption of Ed’s birthday cake we said our goodbyes and made our way back to Dorset.
So ends a rather special 10th biking weekend, not the 10th anniversary edition that we had planned, but an even better one that I am sure Ed will never forget.
Next year’s event ………… no plans yet or an organiser elected (read coerced!), but a return to Wootton Rivers is a possibility or maybe somewhere around Devises where there are a huge amount of trails for us to go and play on.
Dorset MTB 