Two of our annual rides in July

We have 2 of our annual special ride events coming up that we’d like to highlight (in case you’ve missed the WhatsApp messages – easily done!):

Our 100km audax this Sunday (9th July, 9am start)
https://www.altoncyclingclub.org/jimwoods/
We start at Beech Village Hall and ride out to Leckford on a picturesque circular route. This ride is being organised in memory of our good friend and club mate Jim Woods who tragically died in 2020 of a brain tumour. Any surplus money from this event will be donated to Brainstrust, the charity that provides help and resources to people with brain tumours.

Mike’s 100 miler (Sunday 16th July, 8am start)
Lovely route starting from the Butts, which has been an annual ACC tradition organised by Mike Hayward, with planned stops at Stockbridge (~25miles) and Wendy’s Community cafe in Great Bedwyn. Ruth is helping organise it this year, whilst Mike is recovering from heart […]

Club trip to Provence

28 of us arrived in Buis-les-Baronnies, Provence at the beginning of June.  Some drove, some took the train and 4 arrived on their bikes having ridden part or all of the way from the UK.  Our home for the week is Hotel Sous l’Olivier which is well-situated to reach the best cycling that Provence has to offer, including the infamous Mont Ventoux.

So far this week, our groups have ridden in all possible directions to visit places like the Gorges de la Nesque, Le Poet-en-Percip, Malaucene, Bedoin, Nyons, the Montauban valley, Sederon, the worryingly-named Col de l’Homme Mort, Vaison-la-Romaine, Montbrun-les-Bains and of course, Mont Ventoux.   So far, 7 of us have made the ascent to the summit of Ventoux which stands at 1,910m.

Today, Paul, Clare and Ruth have been rock climbing on the Via Ferrata and tomorrow another group is planning to tackle Mont Ventoux.

Quite a week!

April Segment Challenge Results

April’s segment was a flattish one from West Meon to East Meon along the beautiful Meon valley over 3.5km with only 23m of elevation gain.  Best results were had on windy days with a Northwesterly.  Fastest man was James Allen in 5:18 and fastest woman was Ruth Stratford in 7:08.  Factoring in each competitor’s age, saw Shaun Blow take the fastest adjusted time for the men of 5:05.5 and Ruth Stratford took the women’s fastest adjusted time of 6:43.7.  Full results are here.

Congratulations to all 14 who took part this month, especially to Ian Austin as our oldest competitor!

If you haven’t yet entered and would like to take part in the May competition, please ensure you enter using the registration form on the Segment Challenge page.

Club Annual Awards Dinner, Friday 3rd March 2023

Our annual dinner got off to a flying start with Kelvin on sax as we assembled in the bar at Beech village hall. The triple fff beer and selection of fine wines and alcohol free alternatives were flowing as we took our seats for dinner. Club Chairman Guy welcomed us to the event and thanked the organising team, the committee and our sponsors Owens Cycles and Hi-Tech Heating. He also asked for a volunteer to help set up some new club competitions to replace the time trial series which we will not be running this year.

Club champions for the 2022 season were presented their trophies with the following winners:

  • Ladies Hill Climb, Ruth Stratford
  • Men’s Hill Climb, Justin Lee
  • Ladies Strava Segment Challenge, Ruth Stratford
  • Men’s Segment Challenge, James Allen and Shaun Blow
  • Ladies Distance Challenge, Ruth Stratford
  • Ladies Climbing Challenge, Ruth Stratford
  • Men’s Distance Challenge, Guy Henshaw
  • Men’s […]

Club cycling holiday in Provence 2023

Club cycling holiday:  Based on our recent members’ survey, our next club cycling holiday will be in Provence in June 2023. Our room deposits have now been paid to the hotel and our booking is confirmed.