It turns out this ride was not an affectionate nod towards a 70 year old car shaped like a jelly-mould. Moreover, it’s a salute to William Morris the victorian textile designer, who when not designing your curtains, also found time to be a poet, an artist, a writer and a major influence on the British Arts and Crafts movement. A remarkable man whose designs still look contemporary today and whose literary skills contributed to the modern fantasy genre. But most importantly he was the inspiration for a couple of outstandingly picturesque Audax rides through the Cotswolds. As well as the “Minor” 100km ride, there was a 200km ride run on the same day. This is called the “Morris Major”, which is an even larger jelly-mould shaped car than the Morris Minor.
Paul, Sylvene and Marianne had ridden the “Minor” in 2023 and were very impressed with the ride and the organisation. They enthused us to give it a spin, however our ears really pricked up when they casually mentioned the prodigious spread of food that was included in the bargain entry fee of eight quid. Within seconds the organisers email must have been pinging like a frenzied pin ball machine, as we all immediately and simultaneously signed up for the ride and its dining attractions.
The ”Minor” and the “Major” were run last Saturday (7th Sep 24) and started in the Morris Memorial Hall in Kelmscott in Oxfordshire, which is twixt Oxford and Swindon. The hall was gifted to the village by William Morris’s daughter, May. It is not often that you start a ride in such an attractive Grade II Listed building, featuring mullioned windows with leaded panes, together with a beautiful high beamed ceiling. None of this blended with our loud lycra kit; tweed apparel would have chimed more appropriately.
The “Depart” from the Morris Memorial Hall
But what about the food and the ride? Pre-ride cuppas and as much toast as you wanted set us up for the day ahead after our longish drives to the start. There were nine riders from the Willesden CC, plus two very good friends. An excellent turn out from the club.
As we set off it was clear I had accidentally loaded up our GPSs with some weird type of GPS file. This displayed a route that consisted of just a couple of dozen straights lines. These ignored anything that was rideable and instead cut straight across fields, back gardens, woods, farms and rivers. So Mrs Back and I resorted to the impeccably prepared paper route sheet. This was actually fun and gave us a chance to relive our old days of Audax riding, when this was the navigational norm.
The first few miles of the ride were along lanes that were generously puddled and muddied from the previous day’s heavy rain. Well, they say that mud guards are basic potty training for cyclists. Those who had mudguards emerged pristine; those who did not had abundantly soiled themselves by the first turn on the route sheet! You mucky pups!
There was complete agreement on the right road to take
The worst was now over and the route progressed along mainly dry roads, threaded with pretty village after pretty village. “Coo” was often emitted from our peloton as we passed some of the finer examples. The “Cafe” stop was at 60km, but it was actually in a pub! There we were greeted by a long tables, loaded with cakes of every description and genre. It was all free!! By this point a good chunk of the advertised 1,000m of gain had been climbed. Except for one belter of a climb, just around the corner from our stop. Quite a challenge for those whose seams were beginning to part from recent cake over-indulgence
The Cafe stop was in a very quaint pub!
The route took us through Bourton-on-the Water, which was crammed with tourists and then back through quiet rural lanes to Kelmscott. After the Brevet formalities were completed we were treated to a choice between Chilli con Carne, or Chickpea stew for the non-meat eaters. Just the job after the ride. More cake was produced and a dessert if you could manage it. Curiously there was no jelly of any shape, perhaps the mould had gone missing?
A truly great day out in wonderful company and country.
Post ride banqueting
Miles Back of Willesden
