Cyclists' Touring Club
East Midlands
East Midlands Rally
2009
East
Midlands Rally
2005
The
event is gaining in popularity
each year. It's the
third time we have held
the rally The first year
we had about 30 campers,
the next year about
40 and this year around 50. So, I
think we can say it has been again a
success. Perhaps it's not surprising.
The
Beaumanor Hall
grounds
are in a beautiful setting
and the site has excellent
facilities with good toilets,
showers and a drying room. We even have
the use of a fridge and freezer.
Campers
started to arrive teatime
on the Friday. Most
had been before and knew the ropes. No events had
been arranged for the Friday
evening so it was a settling
in period with the meeting
up of old friends. The
weather was good so we
didn’t have the awful problem
of putting up tents in the rain.
Saturday
again was a nice day
weatherwise.
Two rides were organised. Max
Scott took a group for a 50 mile ride to the
Vale of Belvoir and I led a 30 mile roundabout ride with coffee at East
Leake and lunch in Wymeswold.
Perhaps
the highlight of the
weekend was the visit to
the Phoenix Theatre on the
Saturday night to see a
film about the life of Tom
Simpson.
The
visit was made the more
interesting by the mode
of transport to get to Leicester.
We
arrived in good time for
the film,
which allowed us to savour a pint
before the performance. The film was
part of the Leicester City Council film
festival arranged by Andy Salkeld,
their Cycling Officer. Andy tells me that he hopes to put on a
similar show next year so we may
repeat our visit to Leicester
I
had hoped to include a ride on the Great
Central Railway with our bikes on the
Sunday but, in the end, they couldn't accommodate
us. So there was a last minute change
of plan.
Instead
of going
to Leicester
on the train for the
bike festival at Abbey Park,
Peter Hopkins led a ride
there from the campsite.
Alan Hartshorne did a
50 mile ride in the other direction
in the Market Bosworth
area.
The
weather was still fine on
Sunday and, in the evening,
a group of us took
a stroll across the fields
to a
pub in
Woodhouse
Eaves. We all sat
at the tables outside and
enjoyed a leisurely drink
and chatted.
Monday
morning we
awoke to
the patter of rain
on the tent. It's one of the downsides of camping; putting
away a wet tent.
Unfortunately,
we had to say
goodbye to
the Northampton
and Milton Keynes contingent who
Our
prayers
were answered
and the sun came
out about 10 o'clock. So
Alan Hartshorne's ride was
mostly in the dry.
Alan
returned with his group
in time for the tents to
have dried out and the campers
to have dispersed
by the allotted time
of 3pm.
I've
had some positive feedback
and the campers seemed
to have enjoyed the
weekend, which is heartening.
Of course, we've learnt some lesson to improve things next year
My
thanks go to all who assisted me,
particularly Keith and Jean Lakin who helped with the admin,
and the ride leaders.