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Past Ride

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Sun Jun 1st 2003

Midsummer Ride to Avebury - ride now full

Leader: Steve Swanton	Start Time: 4:00 am	Start Location: WMP
Description: Our annual pilgrimage to the Avebury stones. Start in the dark (lights required) to see the sunrise. Hilly 70 mile ride with two off-road sections on reasonable quality tracks. Breakfast at Red Lion in Avebury and coffee at Baker's Arms, Badbury during return. Back in Wantage about 1:45pm. For more details click here. Due to demand this year numbers have had to be limited.
Riders: Barry Chapman Dave Gribble Derek Boutle Diane Stuckey Gary Woodhead Giles Biddle Ginny Henderson James Dawton Jan McCabe John Holding Jonathan Powell Kevin Fairs Nigel Stuckey Richard Divall Roger Payn Stephen Quartermain Steve Bruffell Steve Swanton Riders = 18 Report: The 9th Avebury ride was a good one. 15 riders gathered in the Market Place at 4 am for our annual early-morning ride, including 4 Avebury virgins - 5 if you count Jan (who only made it to Lambourn last time). John, James and Roger had already put miles in from Kidlington, Kennington and Faringdon respectively. Good to have Jonathan out for his 3rd Avebury ride and to see Dave on his 50th Birthday too (I hope you enjoyed the surprise party later on!). Alas, Giles hit a pothole and punctured before leaving Wantage. He rushed home and picked up the car to get ahead of us at the top of Hackpen hill while he carried out repairs. After repairing the rear he discovered a flat front tyre as well - he eventually caught up with us in Aldbourne (we having taken an extra loop from Baydon towards Fox Hill as we were in good time). Unfortunately, there was no sunrise due to cloud this year and it wasn't until we were on the Downs approaching Snap that the sun finally appeared. But we had sunshine for the best part of the ride. The fast descent of Snap, the Ogbourne Valley, the climb from Ogbourne Maizey, the gallops above Manton, the swooping descent into the Kennett Valley and the final approach to Avebury. The track on the gallops had been re-graded and was much smoother than in previous years. Unfortunately, the last part of the climb to the reservoir has been resanded making a very hard end to the ascent. We rode into Avebury on schedule at 8:30. Coffee, tea and fruit juice, plus Diane and Nigel, awaited us in the Red Lion. Toast came before the wopping fried breakfasts. Great value at only
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Start Locations: WMP
Wantage Market Place; OMH
Old Mill Hall, Grove

Categories: 1* - Suitable for irregular, social, beginner or family riders, pace will match the slower riders. Not hilly or long. Expect rides up to 3 hours. Gentle exercise.; 2* - Suitable for regular riders who prefer to cover some distance but at a more relaxed pace. Likely to be half-day rides. Solid exercise.; 3* - Suitable for experienced riders, may be hilly, long, quick, or any combination! Likely to be half or full-day rides. Challenging exercise.; 4* - Suitable for athletic riders who can ride safely above the 3* standard. Quick rides for the fit.; More Information