PTW

Another cracking ride on an equally cracking end of summer Sunday!Quite a well attended ride as some of the regulars were on race duty(organising,marshalling,time keeping etc), well done to them and everyone else involved in the 25tt.A sun drenched afan valley saw the group set off at roughly 10:30, a photo session was arranged at the old station and then we headed off towards the ever beconing "brick", that several of the group seemed to enjoy at the halfway point.Nice to see Mrs Jones out on the ride, but Mrs H failed again (never mind theres always next week) and I bet she'll run out of excuses before Paul!. Anyhoo! young Tom rode well again, the tandems had a rest this week due to Helen not having a stoker, there were one or two complaints of sore legs from the Rattenbury girls , but I think that was down to the absence of Eileen and her 400-500 yard pep talks(get well soon Eileen).The present Mrs R was able to get out on her mountain bike and exclaimed " thats much easier than the tandem",probably because she didn't have to peddle for two people!. The ride has certainly attracted some attention and quite a few couples and families have expressed an interest in joining the ride over the next couple of weeks. George was doing a sterling job of stopping and answering any questions about the ride and it's intentions(it looked like he handed out a small forest worth of introduction cards) and if they all turn up on the same day, they'll have to put more staff on at the mountain bike center!.As I say, another good ride with equally good company and we'll hopefully see you next week.

Good write up Kevin (especially for a boy from the Ferry) and I wished I could have been in two places at once on Sunday but until I fix the flux capacitor on my Tardis it ain't gonna happen.

Anyhoo, what on earth does F.F. and N.C.W.R. men? Is the latter an old railway?

Good write up! My parents are certainly enjoying it, and my dad is even talking about venturing out onto the road... 1st new member recruited on the back of these rides?!

Great write up Kev.
Bit of news!
The new banner advertising the ride will hopefully be up and in place to greet you all by next Sunday.
Thanks to Cj on that one

Friends,family and new comers welcome ride!I wasn't to sure if the ride had a propper handle, but on second thoughts,after seeing the new tee shirts,it might be titled ,the "Port talbot wheelers off road ride", anyone shed any light on this.I'm not originaly from the "fairy"(as it's pronounced by the locals), Alf, just that somebody's got to live here. I've got a gangly pin for a flux capacitor, if it's any good to you Alf?, I myself am working on the Big Bang theory, which nearly took place after squeezing myself into a pair of size 3 3/4 bibs and bending down to tighten the straps on my shoes,a very close call, disaster was only averted when the present Mrs Rattenbury had the presence of mind to scream "STOP" just in the nick of time

Chortle Chortle (as they used to say in the Beano)

Kevin, I have made excuses but excuse is my middle name ho ho ho. I cant come out this sunday due to a pending commitment elsewhere. But I will come the week after. I did speak briefly with Alf as he walked home for lunch today but never found out where everyone meets. Does anyone cycle up from the PLaza? Or do you take your cars and meet at Afan agoed? Well done to Alf for becoming a single speed mountain biker or was I hearing things? lol!!!

Er yes, we could do with some official joining instructions for our About page. Locations, times, age range, speed, standard, types of bike, etc.

no-legs wrote

... or was I hearing things? lol!!!

Yes, you were hearing things. I said I've got a single-speed road bike and that I ride up because the ride starts from Afan Argoed. However, you could ride up from the Plaza but would need to leave at bang-on 10.00hrs to get there in time.

Four new riders today together with two existing members who have sampled the delights of the Afan Valley on a most glorious Autumn day.

Tim O'Leary came along with Becky and our new club treasurer, Jeff Griffiths, brought his daughter along with her two children - Summer and Jordan. Sian and Bethan are now fully fledged solo riders and Kevin might just have two tandems for sale! Actually, we were hoping that Kevin had a spare tandem in the van so that Martin and Anne could have had a ride after the MTB hire shop had run out of bikes!

My apologies for turning short but I had a good blast coming back!

Well done everyone - see you all next week.

As you say Alf, nice to see some new faces along with some veteran "On Tracx" riders.The ride now into it's 4th week saw some new faces and the return of Mr Anthony Vallario.Fantastic to see three generations of the Griffiths family, all of which, for a first ride gave a more than adequate account of themselves with young Jordan riding a very fanciable hybrid type steed.I think Jeff had a few reservations about the pace of the ride before the start,but in all fairness to him he did manage to hold a wheel for the entire ride.Mr + Mrs Edwards weren't the only ones to miss out on the ride,young Tom Hanson was unable to attend due to his dad suffering from a late summer cold(or early winter),get well soon John.Don't know why Mrs H coudn't make it,but I've got Paul leading 3-2 on the excuse meter,it was reported that Mrs Jones failed to attend due to being forced to partake in more falling down water than she's actually been training for(been there myself,PLEASE,stop the HAMMERING) .Anyway, another enjoyable ride in exceptional late summer weather.Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope to see you all next week.

Bill Gannon wrote

Er yes, we could do with some official joining instructions for our About page. Locations, times, age range, speed, standard, types of bike, etc.

Theres a good writeup on the main site but no instructions!!!!!

Alfie wrote

no-legs wrote

... or was I hearing things? lol!!!

Yes, you were hearing things. I said I've got a single-speed road bike and that I ride up because the ride starts from Afan Argoed. However, you could ride up from the Plaza but would need to leave at bang-on 10.00hrs to get there in time.

I'll make my own way up if theres no one else riding up on MTB'S. What time does it all set off? 11am at Afan Agoed??

10.30hrs - as per the original news item.

http://www.porttalbotwheelers.co.uk/news.php?artID=394

Alfie wrote

10.30hrs - as per the original news item.

http://www.porttalbotwheelers.co.uk/news.php?artID=394

sorry Alf.

Okay, got it. I have now updated the rides list on our About page. I mentioned Bike Hire. Please correct me if anything is amiss.

Hi All!It's your roving reporter Weinnman Collingyew, your man out in the woods(I'm not sure if it's arrestable,but hey they gotta catch me first) . A very wet start to the day saw me riding solo on route to Afan Argoed, when I thought to myself "I wonder if anyone's out on the club ride", so I headed towards the Plaza arriving at 2 mins to 10 a.m and leaving at 2 mins past, yes you've guest it, no-one there, so I'd like to claim my club ride points for taking the club ride to Afan Argoed , then on to the mountain bike center . I arrived at A.A.(afan argoed, not where you lot were thinking) at 10:25 a.m. and waited outside the gents toilets( ain't done George Michaels career any harm) , I started to feel a bit conspicuous, so I moved away and as I was doing so, George(hussey) and Eileen arrived bringing with them dry weather. We hung around 'till 10:40 then, George, Myself and Eileen(there's a film there somewhere) set off in quite dry conditions which stayed that way for the entire ride and also our journey home. Not a lot to report this week, but it was nice to see Eileen back on the bike and between the three of us, we did manage to put the world to rights over a giant coffee. Shame about the weather this week, if the girls faces were anything to go by this morning, when I said "fancy going on the bikes girls", a lot of people must have felt the same.Anyway, there's always next week and don't let the weather put you off,it might turn out to be dry .

Who'd have thunk it. The best Sunday of the year in mid-October. Remarkable.

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