2012-04-29 - Windy Millers!

Moulton Mill

Clerkenwell Mill (remains)

The Short Version

A very manageable ton from Clerkenwell Windmill (defunct) to Moulton Mill (defunct, but soon not to be). An ideal first century - the last 30 miles are probably the flattest riding it is possible to do.

The Long TL;DR Version

A relative of mine (now in his mid 80s) was the miller at Moulton Mill (wiki), for almost his entire working life. Moulton Mill has the distinction of being the tallest tower mill in the country yet, since a gale in late 1894, operated (almost paradoxically) without sails.

A lengthy community project to restore sails to the mill came to fruition last November and the grand re-opening - complete with local television! - is on April 29th.

Upon discovering that my relative [WORLDS GREATEST NAME]John Thomas Biggadike[/WORLDS GREATEST NAME] still regularly cycles around Moulton, complete with walking stick in basket, I thought I'd ride up for the opening.

BBC (local) News - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-15844731

**Start: **Clerkenwell Windmill, 0800 (map: http://goo.gl/hqx24)

Should be easy to find - you can see the windmill base from the street. There's a gated driveway, we'll meet by the gates as there's enough space off the road for us to congregate there.

I'll be riding in from Morden so can pick up anybody en route who doesn't fancy navigating that early in the morning!

North London Pickup: Tesco Petrol Station Car Park, just off Ponders End, 0845 (map: http://goo.gl/byHgP)

Route:

On Garmin Connect here.
Ths route has been changed slightly a couple of times following the recce and some local advice. I'll have this in my Garmin and will bring a turn sheet but if anybody else want to stick it in a Garmin too as backup that'd be great.

RideWithGPS - this route is pre-changes and included for elevation interest only as I've been too lazy to update it.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/892529

It feels like quite a drag out of town, but will be quiet enough on a Sunday morning to make a decent pace. We will reach the highest point of the ride at 36.7 miles - net downhill all the way from there.

Pace / stops:

We have a long way to go so I've opted for an early start rather than having to go to quickly. We'll ride at a comfortable pace to suit everybody - so if the pace feels too much at any point please speak up. It's not a race or a training session, it's all about some sociable comfortable miles and riding as a bunch from start to finish. Regroup at the top of hills (such as they are).

I'm currently investigating some café stops on the way - there isn't much that'll be open until later in the day on sunday but I'll post up anything as I find.

**Self sufficiency:

**Everybody knows this of course - but please make sure you bring a couple of spare tubes and any other gear you normally carry. Make sure you have enough food and water (though of course there will be restocking opportunities as we go). A bit of cash and mobile phones are useful too.

There is a pub in Moulton opposite the windmill that will be open. Unlikely there will be food when we get there but we'll be all good for beer at least.

**Getting home:

**There are no trains from Spalding on the 29th, so going home is via Peterborough. This leaves two options:

1 - Splitting off the main route at Whittlesey and heading straight to Peterborough, ~90miles total.

2 - Riding back to Peterborough from Moulton, ~124 miles total (admittedly with a refreshment stop in Moulton)

I'll obviously be taking option 2 but can point anybody in the right direction for Peterborough if they don't fancy the longer version.

PM me for my mobile number if you want it (particularly anybody who's meeting us en route).

1 - No mates upstart

This sounds fun but it's not for FOREVER. I might have moved to China by then.

It's quite a long ride from there. I found out the re-opening date yesterday so got excited and posted up.

There will be a recce however - probably a train out of town to enjoy the last 60 or so.

yes Peterborough will be a treat.

:D

Which I spell S-H-I-T-H-O-L-E

Pencilled in........

Sounds good. In if the pace isn't too quick!

1 - No mates upstart

1. conker
   

According to the website,

THE SALES ARE NOW ON!!!!
**
**

they've been on since boxing day.

Ah, fenland education!

ian - I'll be doing it fixed so won't be too fast. I'll pull my finger out and stick the route in ride with gps and embed. After some rolling hills in hertfordshire it's practically snooker table flat so will be easy to do a fair lick without going silly.

Looks like a nicely quixotic adventure. It's a long way off, things change, etc. but provisionally - I'm in.

1 - No mates upstart

1. conker
   
2. middleofnowhere
   

See if you can spot where the fens start. And indeed, the section of Roman Road (Ermine Way)

[ame]http://ridewithgps.com/routes/892529[/ame
[/ame]

The little Spalding train should be fine with bikes, but you might have issues when you change at Peterborough for the GNER to London - they had restrictions the last time I was with a bike in the Fens (long time ago though).

Pencilled in

^^ thanks for the info. It's been a while since I travelled from Peterborough but there used to be a slower service to London (WAGN at the time) which was ok with bikes.

I think GNER is OK if you book a specific train, and say you're taking a bike when you book. I got a tandem on one of them not too long ago. That does rely on making a specific connection though. And might not be room for a legion of us.

Oh, and in.

1 - No mates upstart

1. conker
   
2. middleofnowhere
   
3. Dumps
   
   

@ upstart: Your mum's a Biggadike. Hang on, that's actually true.

Was Dumps.

Having had a quick squint at the trains it seems East Coast and First Capital Connect operate from Peterborough. East Coast have a 5 bike per train pre-booking policy and bikes can be booked on their website (useful to know for other destinations too). FCC run Class 365 stock ie. sliding door commuter trains, which means as many bikes as the guard allows on the day.

You said it Matt. Key-Oh-Tee all over. Sounds like a great idea. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

1 - No mates upstart

1. conker
   
2. middleofnowhere
   
3. Dumps
   
   1. Oliver Schick
      
      

This looks good. Not sure I'll be in London then, but I'll get on the list just in case. :)

Class 365 stock

I worked on the development and testing for the body and fittings for those as part of my apprenticeship. Mostly though I was building 158s, fixing crash damaged 150s and doing deep penetration welds on bogeys. /csb

Oh, and possibly in. I will keep an eye on the thread and may sign up closer to the day.

Looks like an awesome ride, but I only have a fixed. Will other fixed riders be riding?

I'll be doing it fixed, pretty sure Dumps will be too.

Looks like some good training for me. In provisionally.

1 - No mates upstart

1. conker
   
2. middleofnowhere
   
3. Dumps
   
4. Oliver Schick
   
5. Tenderloin