2021 – The Quantock Hills

Organiser – Liz & Paul
Location – Quantock Hills, Holford (Somerset)
Accommodation – Combe House Hotel
Who was there – Gary & Janet, Dick & Deb, Jo & Brian, Liz & Paul, Pete & Terri, Colin & Trish, Jan & Ed
Date – 3rd to 5th September 2021

The 2020 biking weekend had to be cancelled due to the Corona Virus outbreak and was been moved forward (3 times!) to September 2021, luckily at the same location and accommodation.

15 Years after our first visit to the Quantocks in 2006 we were back, this time staying in Holford right at the heart of the hills. A lovely hotel, The Combe House, at the bottom of a beautiful wooded valley. On the main road near the edge of the village was a very nice pub, The Plough Inn, where we had drinks pre and post Friday afternoon’s ride and post Saturday’s all day excursion. Liz & Paul had done a sterling job with the organisation having persevered over 18 months and many trips to the hills to ensure everything went smoothly.

There were a few more e-bikes this year with Ed, Dick, Paul and Colin now riding with the aid of a motor.

Friday Afternoon:
After a pint or two at The Plough we set off for a short bike ride. Liz, Pete, Gary, Ed and Richard Preece a friend from the Weymouth Squash club days and now living locally, headed off onto the trails. Colin, Trish, Jan, Terri, Paul and Dick headed off on the local roads. Janet went back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon in the hotel garden in the sunshine. Deb, Jo & Brian were arriving in the evening after a day at work.

Not sure where the roadies went, but they had a good ride with the only problem being the complete failure of Mrs Summer’s brakes! Ed’s poor maintenance regime was of course to blame for the failure. I believe Colin got them stopping again.

The MTB’ers did a 14 miles loop with 2000ft of climbing enjoying some great descents. We stopped for a pint at the Blue Ball Inn before Richard took us up to the highest point on the Quantocks, Wills Neck, at 384m (1260ft). Unfortunately on the long descent back to Holford Richard got a serious puncture and found that the 3 (count ’em!) co2 cartridges that he was carrying were all empty! As we weren’t too far from the hotel he told us to go on ahead and he would walk the rest of the way down.

After more drinks at the The Plough we gathered for an excellent meal at the hotel and shared tales of the days events. At some point in the evening we were disturbing the rest of the residents and were asked by Basil the owner (actually his name is Gareth) to move into the bar area as the only occupied rooms above the bar were ours. “Basil” looked after us really well all weekend and was a great laugh once you got the hang of his po-faced desert dry sense of humour. His micky taking of Colin for having two and half pints of lager shandy all weekend was brilliant.

Saturday:
After a very good and hearty breakfast we split up to make our separate ways to the scheduled lunch stop, The Carew Arms in Crowcombe. Gary, Liz, Ed and Pete heading off into the woods and valleys of the Quantocks looking for the gnar. Dick, Deb, Colin, Trish, Paul, Jan and Terri headed off on the country lanes. Jo & Brian headed off up and over the hill to Hurley Beacon on the way to Crowcombe. Janet wanted a flat walk so headed north to Kilve to do the coast walk to Blue Ben.

The MTB’ers enjoyed a number of great descents (including Smiths Combe and Weacombe) and lung busting climbs before the final downhill of the morning into Crowcombe. At The Carew Arms we sat out in the sunshine and enjoyed the local ales served up with excellent sandwiches and bowls of chips. Post lunch there was the usual price to pay, a big hill. This one was a killer! 3/4 of a mile long, rising up 700ft with inclines at 25% in some places. Only Liz, by sheer bloody mindlessness, made it to the top without dabbing, those on e-bikes don’t count. At the bottom Dick had rammed his chain between the cassette and the spokes and it wasn’t going to be removed, so he dragged the bike back to the pub to await International Rescue (Paul in his T5).

After some while we re-grouped at the top of hill, the roadies to descend back to Holford on the road. The MTB’ers made their way over to Great Wood and did the descent down Quantock Combe before climbing back up to Crowcombe Gate on the fire roads. At the car park they bumped into Jo & Brian having a break on their hike back to the hotel and saw Paul pass by in the T5 having rescued Dick and his (actually Liz’s) e-bike from the Carew Arms. One final descent remained and it was the best of the day. A narrow single track thru the heather traversing down and across the side of Black Hill, into the woods for a twisty root laden track and then finishing with Hodders Combe criss crossing the plethora of streams in the woods, a great way to finish the ride.

Another splendid dinner was followed by the awards ceremony where once again the Scivens cleaned up.

Golden Helmet – Dick, for having to be rescued with his e-bike
Golden Pedal – Liz, for riding Crowcombe Hill without dabbing and riding the hills all day with the boys on a “normally aspirated” bike
Gordon’s Goblet – Liz & Paul, for all their efforts in making the weekend happen after all the set backs we have had in the last 18 months
The Shoe – Jo, for surviving the mega walk that Brian took her on to Crowcombe and back

Later were repaired to the bar for more drinks and chat before toddling off to bed sometime late into the night.

Sunday:
After breakfast we again split into several groups. Jan & Ed headed back to Weymouth to attend a party, with Janet’s hip not up to the planned walk she and Gary drove up to Crowcombe Gate for a short walk around the top of the hills. Everyone else headed off to Barrow Mump for a walk and a lunchtime beer before heading home.

A great weekend and many thanks for Liz & Paul for all their efforts in making it happen.

At some point on Saturday evening there was a “raffle”, think of Goblet of Fire in the Harry Potter movie (i.e. it was all done by magic!), to see who would arrange the 2022 excursion. And the winners were ……………………. Dick & Deb. Deb’s face beamed with delight at the news and she can’t wait to start making the arrangements.

Post Script:
Our return home was a litany of things going not quite as planned. I left my phone at the hotel, luckily we were still in the Quantocks so a quick return trip to pick it up. Turned into what I thought was a garage forecourt only to find myself in a very narrow country lane which was right next to the garage entrance. Finally got out of the lane and onto the forecourt only to find the garage had no diesel! Had a row with a cyclist in Bridgwater who detached himself from his group of mates and was doing a good impression of a future organ donor by dodging between cars in the heavy traffic, after I had just missed him the second time we had words! Lastly glad to be out of Bridgwater I smoothly accelerated out of town past a police traffic camera in a van! 12th November now booked out for a speed awareness course!