The Ridgeway Route:

[Blew it]

Part one.
September 11th 2009

Owners who prefer to abide by the instructions supplied with their machines, particularly the bit that says "Do not ride your E-bike on uneven ground" may choose to give this ride a miss...and I don't blame you!. I also suggest you choose a day when it hasn't rained for at least three days previously.

Section one of the "Oldest road in Britain".

A good start and finish point for this ride would be Coate Water Country Park in the southwest corner of Swindon, just a couple of miles from J15 on the micky four and the A419 from the North. There's room for around 150 cars in the free car park with toilet facilities and a decent cup o' tea for a quid...never plucked up the courage to try the burgers though!. My start and finish is over four miles away on the North side of Swindon. Follow the dotted line to join NCN Route 45 which runs along the top side of the lake.

Follow the signs for R45 up and over the M4 using the curly whirly footbridge, follow the "Timberland Trail" and then a short but savagely steep incline leads up to Chisledon. Storm water cascading down this hill has long since washed away any fine material, leaving a cobbled surface that will shake your eyeballs out.

Looking back, just beyond the red triangle in the hedge the ground just disappears down to the level of Swindon in the background.

The machine went up this slope in 2nd gear, but the 255 rpm Bafang was well below it's power band towards the top and gave little assistance. It's not just a question of pounding the pedals, but also picking a route through the mini boulders sticking out everywhere. I have often seen "roadies" walking their bikes up rather than damage their wheels. This is the only really steep hill on the route, the remainder of the climb up to the highest point is mostly achieved in 5th of 6 gears....occasionally dropping into 4th to keep the motor "on-song".

Both bum and bike welcomed a short length of road riding up through the village of Chiseldon to this junction.

Turn left if you fancy having a go at the Marlborough run, straight on for HGV MoT testing station ??. Today, I'm hanging a right and heading West on the tarmac section of the Ridgeway for a quarter mile. At a sharp left-hand bend the original Ridgeway Route continues straight ahead. Still on smooth tarmac, but only until the last cottage when the track changes to deeply pot-holed compacted earth. It's wide enough to accommodate the huge combine harvesters accessing the fields along the route. If you ride this way during harvest time, please give them all the room they need....it's a make or break time of year for the farmers. The surface then changes to the local authorities interpretation of a safe rural cycle route..ROAD PLANINGS, This is the dirty black dusty product of those rotary scarifiers used to prepare roads for re-sufacing. Having a very low cementitious value, it is the least most suitable material for rural cycle routes...you can roll it 'till the cows come home....it will never compact in the same way as limestone scalpings.

At one point, it looked as if the track was a little smoother on the other side, even as I started moving across the loose stuff in the centre of the track, I realised it wasn't the best decision I'd made in my life....It was like riding through a bed of marbles!!. A little further on the surface was much better, allowing the speed to come up to a steady 15 mph in 5th gear.

To be continued...............................

 

[daniel.weck]

Lovely tracks. What is your e-bike ?
Cheers, dan

 

[eddieo]

Lovely tracks. What is your e-bike ?
Cheers, dan

You kept that quiet....it looks like a cruiser frame of some description, with your twin battery set up!

You are so lucky to live out of the metropolis........

 

[Fecn]

Good write-up so far. Can't wait for the next instalment.

 

[Blew it]

The Machine:
I took an inexpensive pigs ear out of a box, three weeks later it was almost, but not quite, a silk purse.

The Metropolis:
When I first moved to Swindon thirty years ago, I only had to walk to the end of my road to reach open countryside. Now, it takes a three mile ride to get there, in any direction!.

If you have ever thought "I wonder where that track goes", tomorrow will be a good day to find out. The weather forecast for Central England is dry, sunny and little wind. Dress up warm, hop on your E-bikes, and go exploring.

All the best
Bob

 

[Blew it]

The Ridgeway Route: Part two

Approaching my first way-point. The solitary clump of trees at horizon centre is the location, at 879 feet ASL, of Barbury Castle, just one of the many Iron Age hill forts in the area. It was my intention to take the machine up to the fort as I have done several times before on other machines, but today, on this particular machine, I didn't make it.

There's a decision to make when arriving at the junction of the cycle route and the steep tarmac road leading up to the fort. Turn left, ride up the road a little and pick up the cycle route proper on the right, which runs along under the North shoulder of the fort or, ride and walk the bike up to the fort as I intended. Everything ground to a halt one third of the way up, it's far too steep for my old legs. This machine has no throttle, and the effort needed to haul myself and a heavy bike up the hill proved too much. As a young man, my left leg was badly damaged once too often in motorcycle prangs, resulting in greatly reduced circulation in that leg....I just can't clear the lactic quickly enough. Common sense must always rule, so I turned around and headed back down to the cycle route. On the occasions when I've visited the fort with the Mistral, that hill has never been a problem. The difference is being able to use the Mistrals throttle, not only to pull itself up, but also drag me up as well.

Had I managed to get up there, this is where I would have rejoined The Ridgeway Route.

It's jolly good fun slithering down that steep path from the fort. I always drop the saddle right down so I can hang my butt right off the back and keep as much weight as possible off my arms. Recently, I was sitting at this spot with the Mistral when a guy arrived from the West and stopped for a chat. I'd put him in his mid forties. He was a very polite gent, although clearly eyeing the Mistral he made none of the usual comments, instead, enquired if it was alright to take his rather expensive looking machine up to the fort. After I explained how to return to the cycle route on the other side, he then rode up the steep slope, never once leaving the saddle. In a very low gear, he "wound" the machine up to the top, jumped off, and sprinted to the top of the earth rampart to admire the view...an incredibly fit chap. Hopping on to my 17 mph two-wheeled-invalid-carriage I quietly continued on my way.

Looking the other way, more gentle climbing up to the clump of trees on the horizon. Nice hardpack at first, but changing to compacted chalk further on.

I had originally intended to use the Mistral for this ride, but changed my mind after hearing stories about the condition of the route further on. Section one of the Ridgeway is the only part where motor vehicles are permitted, but only during the Summer months. By necessity, these need to be four wheel drive with high ground clearance. I've often seen them up here carrying disabled people, so that they too can enjoy the natural beauty of the chalk downs. Unfortunately, the area also attracts the lads wanting to "practice" their off road skills. Reports warned of very badly rutted sections which could easily damage the Mistrals full mudguards and chainguard. I really didn't want to remove them, so quickly decided to use a project bike instead. I had already covered some 400 miles with this machine and knew it was dependable enough for riding remote tracks, but this requirement was only met after a considerable amount of re-engineering.

When taking the machine out of it's box, I quickly realised there were some serious problems with it's assembly. The quality of the individual components was very good, they just didn't sit happily with each other. The exact detail of the improvements is another story, but since carrying out the work I've developed a sneaky liking for this machine.

"Toobs"

The machine was supplied with a carrier. A very complicated affair which would have needed a lot of customizing before fitting. A quick rummage in the shed produced a carrier which was originally fitted to a steel framed full susser with a 31 mm seat post. Clamping it on I quickly discovered a worrying amount of flexing on this machines alloy seat tube. The mechanical advantage of a 4.8 kg rack battery would have damaged the frame when riding over the rough ground on this route. A one meter length of 10 mm solid alloy bar was purchased from the local DIY store. Flats were machined on the ends, a few bends, drilled and bolted to carrier deck and the rear drop-outs. A 78 kg stress test ( I sat on it) proved it was well up to the job.

To be continued................

 

[eddieo]

Great stuff! and lovely pictures.

I caught up with a policeman on a bike yesterday and about to overtake him I said "is that the best you can do" it was more or less on the flat and he seemed to be peddling unnecessarily in the wrong gear. He replied he had a cold and was taking it easy, then when I passed him he called out in good humour "anyway, your cheating!"

If I had a £ for every time that has been said I could afford a wisper 906xc

 

[Blew it]

Cheers Edd,

In most cases, "that's cheating" can be interpreted as "I wish I had one of those".

During my working life I was well known for being a bit frugal with the cash. One day, sitting in the crib, I was still pondering on replacing my clapped out Montego with a Rover 820. One guy stood up and said "for christ sake Bob give yourself a treat, go out and buy one". And I did.

If you want a Wisper 906xc, then buy one, but don't tell your missus where I live!

 

[jerrysimon]

Lovely post kinda makes me want to leave work, get on my bike and get away from it all

The weather those days looked glorious. Cycling home in the dark is not much fun but much better than being stuck in queues in the car.

PS I use to live at the bottom of Old Town in Swindon right by the old canal they re-dredged, often use to go for a cycle along there.

Regards

Jerry

 

[Blew it]

Hi Jerry,

So, you will know about the places I mention in my posts. The route the canal takes right into town centre is useful, I never go further than Milton Road these days. Swindon town centre is looking a bit forelorn now. An attempt to regenerate the area never got off the ground, all we have now is many boarded up demolition sites with no prospect of this changing due to the current downturn.

The two hour weather slot yesterday allowed a ride over to Lydiard Park, down the West side of Swindon to Blagrove and then up to Old Town on the old railway route. After a cup of tea at Coate Water, I continued up the East side of Swindon to Greenbridge, followed the canal route to the Magic roundabout and arrived home just before the rain started again. A very enjoyable 23 miles.

All the best
Bob

 

[jerrysimon]

We lived in Swindon when my daughters were quite young over 10 years ago now, man time flies

Then things were booming and to be honest it was a great place to bring up a young family.

We spent many sunny weekends/evenings over in Lydiard Park, one of our favs.

I also first learnt how to fly an RC plane there too

Regards

Jerry

 

[Alex728]

I once tried riding my Dawes Horizon tourer from the end of the Ridgeway just outside Reading to a rave in Wantage I had heard about, and due to the rutted condition of that area ended up on my behind in the mud in three unitary authority areas.

In the end I gave up on that route and took the B roads parallel to the Ridgeway until the final bit where I rejoined the track. (I found the rave )

I actually used to go raving with a lot of friends from Swindon and know Old Town and the Magic Roundabout fairly well!

 

[Blew it]

Part three

Still climbing....and starting to get a bit "rural"

The surface here is compacted chalk, and where there is chalk you also find flints. Fortunately any sharp edges have been worn off by the constant passage of farm and leisure vehicles. On returning home I was surprised to find not one single cut on the tyres. Those of you who have more than a passing interest in cameras will already be aware of the "porkies" they tell. The most well known and detested, is the way they add a stone or two in weight to an otherwise slim figure. Likewise, they will reduce a raging sea to little more than a mid-channel chop. This flattening effect is also noticeable in my photos of the ride. It was far from the "ride in the park" suggested by them.

The next way-point: Hackpen Hill. Not far to go to the roof of the world (for Wiltshire that is)

I suppose if you wanted a shorter but still hairy ride you could park a car here, there's room for forty or so vehicles. These remote parking areas are known to be watched by thieves using binoculars, once they spot a lone car, they simply wait until the owners are out of sight and quickly arrive by car and break into the vehicle, please use your own discretion. A Gibbet once occupied this spot, perhaps they should have left it there for those caught in the act.

Almost up to the highest point of the ride which was reached a little further on from this junction, but only after negotiating a very difficult bit.

The flattening effect of the camera strikes again, that rut is so deep I only had to swing a pedal down to park the machine, just like you would against a high kerb!. After catching the pedal on the side of the rut a couple of times, I man-handled the bike up onto the narrow ledge on the left hand side. This 10" wide ledge is used by Winter walkers when the section is completely filled with water. It was a bit scary riding along this "shelf", but where there's a stubborn will, there's a way.

Almost at the highest point of the ride.

It's interesting to note, according to google maps, the highest point of the ride would be 890 feet ASL. Surprisingly, when returning home and uploading the data from the "edge" to my PC, it reported a maximum height of 906 feet ASL. It should also be noted, the distance shown on the computer is from my home, not from my recommended start point of Coate Water Country Park. The distance from Coate is around ten miles, with only three miles to go to my destination.

To be continued.....................................

 

[daniel.weck]

I like the make-shift shades holder

 

[bode]

I'm impressed by the way you still seem to have a full battery after 14 miles!

 

[Blew it]

I think this may be for a number of reasons. For a start, it's an excellent battery which will be described further along the thread.

There is no throttle fitted to this machine. Being the first pure pedelec I have owned I very soon learned to make full use of the gears, changing down 3 gears when coming to a halt is essential to avoid a knee-crunching restart. Typically, hub motors pull maximum amps when pulling away from a standstill, and continue to do so untill reaching the top of their power band. The trick is, to apply enough effort on the pedals to keep the road speed at the point where the assistance starts to ramp down. At this point the motor is only drawing around 2 to 3 amps.

When climbing, the human effort needed to maintain this speed may become unsustainable, therefore we drop down a gear to ease the effort. Still keeping the machine at assistance ramp-down in a lower gear means an increase in cadence, If the rider is not comfortable with "spinning" the pedals then it will not be possible to keep the road speed at the point where assistance begins to taper off. This places an emphesis on the importance of carefully matching the road gearing to the motor controllers characteristics.

 

[Mussels]

I think this may be for a number of reasons. For a start, it's an excellent battery which will be described further along the thread.

There is no throttle fitted to this machine. Being the first pure pedelec I have owned I very soon learned to make full use of the gears, changing down 3 gears when coming to a halt is essential to avoid a knee-crunching restart. Typically, hub motors pull maximum amps when pulling away from a standstill, and continue to do so untill reaching the top of their power band. The trick is, to apply enough effort on the pedals to keep the road speed at the point where the assistance starts to ramp down. At this point the motor is only drawing around 2 to 3 amps.

When climbing, the human effort needed to maintain this speed may become unsustainable, therefore we drop down a gear to ease the effort. Still keeping the machine at assistance ramp-down in a lower gear means an increase in cadence, If the rider is not comfortable with "spinning" the pedals then it will not be possible to keep the road speed at the point where assistance begins to taper off. This places an emphesis on the importance of carefully matching the road gearing to the motor controllers characteristics.

So in short pedal harder to save the battery and use the gears properly.

 

[Blew it]

Part four

Some while back, there was a rather worrying thread concerning the reliability of the Phylion rack batteries. Following those reports I decided to check my own battery. The cables coming from the array were extremely stiff. In this situation, multi-strand "flex" would not be needed as no movement would be expected. The same cannot be said about the solder tags on both the fuse holder and keyswitch. These were very thin and flimsy, and I could see where fractures could occur. Just in case, I decided to do the outward journey on this battery. Another check I always do at around this mileage, is to quickly check the unused battery to make sure it has survived the trip thus far. If it wasn't still working, the ride would be terminated with enough left in the good battery for the ride home.

A welcome sight for my old legs, from here on, it's down hill.

As you can see, yet another deeply rutted section. Once again, I found a high level ledge used by walkers and chose to ride on that. Thinking back to those far of days when Stone and Iron Age travellers trudged along this route, I wondered why they would choose such a high and exposed track. The answer is, the landscape would have been completely different in those days. Prior to organised farming, the lowlands either side of the Ridgeway would have been heavily forested. In the absence of a compass, the only way they could navigate was by visual recognition of landmarks, only visible when up on high ground out of the forests.

My next way-point: Fyfield Down Nature Reserve

Also the crossroads of NCN Routes 45, 4 and 403. Pass through the gate, and head up to the "Field of Stones", if your lucky, you might even find "the sharpening stone" believed to have been used by Roman soldiers to sharpen their swords. Sarsen stones do not occur naturally on chalk downs, these were probably transported by glacier from Oxfordshire as the last Ice-Age receded.

Looking the other way, the large wooded area in the middle distance is my destination.

I turn right here in the direction shown by the yellow arrow, not placed there for my benefit but for an "Extreme mountain bike challenge" scheduled for the following weekend. I thought "have fun guys, but I did it first on my li'l ol' leccy bike!". A thankfully short bit of deeply rutted ground quickly changed to compacted chalk. Some nasty little mini-ravines carved out by storm-water were carefully avoided on this quite steep descent. Half way down I stopped to chat with a rider pounding up the slope. The gentleman was fascinated by the strange machine I was riding, and surprised how far I had come. He was even more surprised when I told him I would be returning to Swindon via the same route. He went on to explain he had transported his bike up to Hackpen Hill on his car, rode down to the village behind him for lunch, and was now returning to his car. He too, was from Swindon. Now that's what I call cheating!!.

The chalk changed to the blissfully smooth tarmac surface of the "Harepath" leading to a mysterious and magical place, with more than it's fair share of spirits from a bygone age.

To be continued.............

 

[Blew it]

Part five

Avebury Stone Circle

There isn't one single photo that can show the true size of the circle and the deep ditch surrounding it. The best way to view it is Google maps, just search for Avebury. In fact, you can follow my ride in the same way.

Ancient and modern, Wanna swap mate!

Slap bang in the centre of the circle, The Red Lion pub. A sit down lunch could be enjoyed here.

And of course, it's haunted. Sunday mornings sees a gathering of local motorcyclists in the car park with some very interesting machines on display. Some of the riders are of the "hairy" variety, but don't worry, they're a jolly bunch. The pub was there before the A361 was built straight through the centre of the circle, hence the S bend swerving around it. The original route into the village was from the Ridgeway by the Harepath, which continues on down the side of the pub. Just past the parked blue van is a track leading to the visitor centre with plenty of outside seating and refreshments.

Wiltshire has a great many ancient monuments like this. Just a short distance from here is the 130ft high pile of chalk, Silbury hill, alongside the old A4 trunk road. The most famous of all, 23 miles crow-fly to the Southwest, Stonehenge.

Inside the circle, the gap in the earth ramparts allows the A361 to pass through. They would never get away with doing that now!.

I joined some other cyclists at the visitor centre for a light lunch before starting the journey home.

To be continued.............

 

[jerrysimon]

Wow that takes me back about 15 years ago when I first visited the circle.

I also still love to visit and find Stonehenge facinating. I think part of it is the surrounding lanscape.

This is such a wonderful calming post.

Regards

Jerry