Jane and I went up to East Croydon on Saturday and stayed in the nosiest hotel in the whole of Europe, after about 3 hours kip we got up at 4:15am up and set off, riding 5.5 miles to the start line at Clapham Common for a 6 am start, which was delayed by about 10 minutes, we finally set off in the bright sunshine and a little wind.

I was riding the 43 old BSA Tour De France road bike that I recently restored, the ride was the first time for me but the second time for the bike, the previous owner Alan Davies rode the event 15 years ago. Jane was riding her super light Carbon Trak Madone bike, and we agreed to ride at our own pace and meet at the end, so once over the start line I didn’t see Jane again until the finish line.

I was a bit concerned about riding the old bike, I didn’t really know how it was going to perform,  I hadn’t done a lot of training and I’m used to riding my much lighter Trek Madone with more and better gears I should have been better prepared.

Anyway the bike was comfortable to ride for the first 5 miles or so, then I hit a bump and the seat post slipped into the seat tube, so I fixed that and set off again then after about two miles it did it again, then again after another two miles. The problem was I couldn’t tighten up the nut enough without it is affecting the brake cable hanger which kept moving and tightening the brakes against the rear wheel.  I gave up and rode the bike with the saddle down until I got to a feed stop area that had a bike mechanic. They very helpfully sorted out the problem, and after a cheese sarnie and a cuppa I was on my way again.

Then after another 5 miles I hit a dip in the road and down it went again, but I was quite close to another feed stop ( there were lots of them on this event), this time I suggested that we make shim out of a drinks can to see if we could get that to stop the post slipping, after a bit of hunting around the side of the road I found a flattened Red Bull drinks can, the mechanic cut a couple of strips from it, fed them into the seat tube with the seat post tightened up and I was on my way again. Would it work?

After About 10 miles of riding it started to rain, and it kept raining for the rest of the ride to Brighton, first it was just light drizzle, but then it got worse, and then it poured and everyone got soaked and the riding was a bit more hazardous, the bike was performing well, the saddle seemed to be behaving itself and it was a comfortable machine to ride, even though it weighs a ton, and has old fashioned gears and not enough of them.

I managed to get up the hills at Woodmanstern, Chipstead, Nuffield got up all the hills except Ditchling, then the roads flattened out a bit or rolling lanes then riding was easier and relaxed and lot of banter and chats with other riders. I met a woman who was riding her uncles’ old bike, it was an old Raleigh with the same frame as mine just different branding.  She challenged me to race up the next hill and off we went, she was winning but I finally caught up and only just pipped her to the top.

The rest of the ride was uneventful the wind and the rain became more unpleasant and by the time I got to Ditchling I was feeling a bit despondent, and I didn’t even bother to try and cycle up the hill, though I was walking up it faster than some of those riding, one young lad was riding up doing a wheelie, most impressive. Once at the top I stopped to take photos, though there wasn’t much to see because of the low cloud then it was downhill all the way to Brighton and to the finish line, and an attack of cramp and a medal.

Jane had got there and hour and a half earlier!

It was mostly a good day out on the bike, in fact almost any day out on a bike is better than not being on one, the event was well organised, and the event crew were brilliant, just wish the weather had been better. My longest ride of the year so far, just over 59 miles.

Jane and I manged to raise about £250.00 each, Jane’s company will match her donation pound for pound so not a bad day’s fundraising so just over £750.00 in total.

Thanks very much to all of you who have supported us. The links below show how much has been raised, please note they are still open if you would like to add to the sum. We also have some cash donations which will be paid in separately.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/janepitt52 https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/carl-pettman1

Carl and Jane , Finches, Stream Road, Upton.

Uptonogood?

After a couple of years break, Uptonogood? will be back for 2019. The date will be Saturday the 15th June.

Over the past years the event has raised around £50K for the village and helped fund the Village Hall, new play area, and pump track. Other local organization’s involved with the day have also benefited including Blewbury School, Hagbourne Scouts, and Didcot Air Cadets. Uptonogood? is a celebration of mountain biking and attracts around a 1000 riders of all ages from 4 to 80!

To pull off the event requires one key ingredient however, the good folks of Upton! The routes are fully marshalled to ensure the safety of participants and this requires some 50 volunteers on the day.

If you would like to be part of this year’s event please contact Bob Lott or Mike Tibbetts on info@uptonogood.org.uk or complete our volunteering page online https:/www./uptonogood.org.uk/volunteer

A very big thank you to Simon Powell, John Dickens, Derek Vockins, Diane Rabbetts, John Lightfoot, Mike Collins, Rob Traynor, Peter Head, Stuart Fraser, Bob Lott, Paul Batho, Richard Clayton, Kieron Humphrey, Nick Thackray, Mike Brown and team leader Graham de Wilde for their efforts in maintaining the Recreation Ground and several of our footpaths in good order throughout another summer. A special thanks to Graham who with help from Rob Traynor has spent many hours beavering away on manual tasks in and around the Recreation Ground and the Village Hall keeping the whole area neat and tidy and a credit to the village.

This year turned out to be a very unusual one for the cutting of the main recreation ground. Everything was going okay until the first week in June and after that it was not cut again until a few days before the village fete in early September. Since then it has not been cut. As a result of the reduced number of cuts some of the mowing group didn’t get to cut at all but a big thank you for “being there” if required. The small children’s playground was cut a few times and has been helped by the thinning of the copper beech, the removal of a large tree at the corner of Station Road and some of the trees on the bank of Station Road have also been cut back so there’s much more light in the area now which should help the grass.

Thank you so much for your very generous donations to this year’s Poppy Appeal. This year marked the centenary of the Armistice and the village responded by donating the magnificent sum of £690.42, the highest total we have ever collected. My grateful thanks to the collectors for braving the cold and dark weather to raise this record amount. Helen Weston Poppy Appeal Organiser.

We could not have had a better day for the fete this year. The beautiful blue sky, the warm but not too hot sunshine with an occasional gentle breeze.

The support from the village is always amazing and this year was no exception.  Thank you everyone for the effort put into all the preparation that goes on beforehand.  The planning, making, donating and baking.  The putting up and taking down, all with a smile and never a frown.

All this however would have been to no avail without the good advertising so a special thank you to Lesley Shaw for the posters, boards and local papers, and to Frankie Jacklin for her internet updates.  This brought in so many visitors from outside the village all of which added to the feel good factor.

We also made some money!  The net profit being £2,502.93 which is divided between St Mary’s Church and the Village Hall

Jessie West

1st September starting at 1.00pm on the Village Recreation Ground

The day of the fete draws nigh and there are lots of things to look forward to this year. Amongst the new attractions will be a special children’s area which will include Carl the magician, a coconut shy and lots of prizes to be won, and music will be provided courtesy of Wantage Silver Band and the Hagbourne Community Choir. There’ll be a barbeque, pizzas and of course the traditional tea and cakes a-plenty together with lots of stalls including books, preserves, a beer stall (thanks to Kenny at the George and Dragon), plants, tombola – the list goes on. There’s a bigger-than-ever classic car display and there will be a chance to demonstrate the beauty and skills of your pooch at the dog show – dogs of all shapes and sizes are most welcome!

As ever, we will be looking for help on the day in putting everything together and taking it down at the end, and there will be lots to do during the fete itself. If you would like to help, please call Paul (851251), Brian (850158) or Jessie (851206). Many hands….

Finally, would you or your company like to sponsor one of the attractions? This would be a big help in keeping the costs down and maximising the vital contribution the fete makes to the running of the village hall and the church. Sponsorship is welcomed for the band, the dog show, birds of prey, barbeque provisions or children’s prizes. Liz Evans, who’s running the kid’s stalls, would especially welcome jam jars filled with small toys, wrapped sweets, marbles, new hair bands, clips etc plus cuddly toys for the teddy tombola and (ideally!) an unopened Lego box set as a prize for the ‘guess the number of Lego pieces’ competition.

Looking forward to seeing villagers and visitors on 1st September – don’t miss the fun!

Paul Batho

Join the Upton Journey Saver WhatsApp group in order to save making unnecessary journeys, to cut down on fuel costs and emissions and to help your neighbours.

Use the group to offer a lift, go halves on a trip to the tip or get someone to pick you up a pint of milk.

To join, send your name and mobile number to Kieron – 07971009603.

Kieron