The start of the new evening ride season is fast approaching!
Back in October 2021 we decided to trial using Spond. This is a system used by clubs and groups to organise their members, club activities and events.
After successfully using Spond through the winter, we are now adopting it as the go-to place for ALL official Spinners rides and events.
Reasons for using Spond:
Spond is a one-stop shop for all Spinners groups to which all members have access.
Insurance purposes. An event on Spond is a Honiton Spinners club ride (excluding Sportives and holiday events).
Ride leaders will know who is riding. Anyone turning up who has not indicated ATTEND should do so before setting off – via the App or via reply if they use email.
Spond records data of who attends a ride which can be downloaded from the Spond website as an Excel file.
Gives access to a rider’s mobile number if they become detached from group (providing the rider has agreed to share the mobile number).
Emergency contact details can be stored and accessed.
You can join Spond…
On your phone via the Spond App. Once you have installed Spond and created your account you will need to enter our Group Code BBODK.
There are currently 10 sub-groups:
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Winter Weekday
Weekend Social Ride
Spinners Holidays & Weekends
Off Road Ride
Night Ride
Initially users will be addded to the groups that they rode with last year. Please contact Hannah via messages in Spond to request to be added to or removed from any additional groups.
If you have any issues with setting up or using Spond, please let Hannah know via messages in Spond.
Are you thinking of doing some cross training as part of your fitness plan, or can’t run as a result of injury, or just looking for a gentle spin on your bike with a social group?
Honiton Spinners has a new group aimed at those who are thinking about extracting their bike from the depths of the garage and are looking for a gentle, short social ride. It would suit anyone who wants to build up riding stamina, or who hasn’t ridden for ages, or who just wants a bit of fresh air after work with lovely company.
We have 5 pace groups, so there are plenty of options. We meet at 6.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays near Honiton, starting on 29th March. If you can’t join us for club nights, we also have a social ride on Sundays, with a compulsory coffee and cake stop somewhere nice!
Honiton Running Club and Honiton Spinners hold a joint Duathlon every year, so this is a good way to get to know us and to make up a team.
The sun is shining. It’s the Spring Equinox. Evenings are getting lighter. The clocks change next weekend, so let’s welcome Honiton Spinners evening rides 2022! Members will be sent an email with specific details, but as a warm-up, here’s what your committee has in store for you:
Evening rides will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting on 29th March.
Five pace groups, all starting from the old A30 layby at 6.30.
Spinners Mile Challenge on Long Range Hill/Birdcage Hill on the fourth Thursday in each month April to September
Spinners Loop Challenge on a six-mile local route on the second Thursday in each month April to September
Spring family BBQ on 7th May near Cotleigh.
Longer Sunday rides starting from places such as Exmoor, Dartmoor, the Somerset Levels.
The committee encourages you to download the Spond app, or website (ask John or Hannah if this is new to you) so details of club rides, sportives and contact details etc are available. Finally, membership is due on 1st April via the British Cycling website. You don’t need to be a member of BC. Ask Ben if you have any questions.
On Sunday March 13th, 10 brave souls turned up for a 9.30am start at the Old A30 layby and in true style it rained on us right at the start. We were going to go to Dawlish but I cut the ride short due to some strong blustery winds and heavy downpours. On the way out we cut through West Hill and down Aylesbeare coming out at the airport. Then taking the back lane across to Clyst St Mary before turning up past the Exeter Chiefs . This brought us out by Countess Wear so a little Wiggle through the houses and we joined the main Rd using the cycle path over the Exe and canal. It was whilst crossing the bridge that Tony in the lead got a proper drenching by a car soaking him through to his skin.
We then followed the canal path past the Turf locks and onto the back of Powderham. There was then a debate on where we should stop for coffee, having none of it our leader rode on to the next stop which was a hut which sold coffee and cake at Starcross carpark complete with shelter from the sun. Yes that’s right. We stopped and the sun came out.
We then headed back along the canal path after observing the deer. Following the cycle path right up past Middlemore and turning right to follow the path to Blackhorse Lane. It was here that JB needed a rest so he got a puncture.
Being a gent he told the ladies to carry on leaving 4 guys to fix it. I went with the ladies to make sure they got back OK. My excuse and I am sticking with it.
A very windy blustery wet raining pouring soaked dry gusty sun shining ride. Tony rode with John Burgess, Roderic Inglis, Jennie Sleeman, Liz Polley, Lyn Pike, Nikki and Julian Gigg, Kevin Goss and Sue Jones.
On Sunday 19th September, Tony led a hardy bunch of Spinners on a 60 mile ride to Moretonhampstead and back, climbing over 5000ft. The good weather kept up their spirits and the cycle through Exeter High Street was interesting. Rod took the wrong route when he went off with a guy who was cycling by himself. Rod thought it was Dave who was also riding in a red top! Tony apologised for the climb out of Moretonhamstead, but blamed Garmin for the route. They set off after the coffee ‘n cake break to drop down a little hill before hitting a climb that even Nikki & Julian moaned about. It was brutal after the rest, as the legs were not ready for it. JB got cramp with10 miles to go so Kevin, Stephen and Tony nursed him back, only for JB to beat the 3 of them up to the top of Long Range.
Well done to Tony Peek, John Burgess, Stephen Driscoll, Roderic Inglis, Dave Hawton , Julian & Nikki Gigg and Kevin Goss for completing a challenging ride.
Presentation of the cheque for £100 to Payhembury School from the duathlon organised by Honiton Running Club members and Honiton Spinners. The school plan to use the money to pay for more cycle stands for the children.
In early August six members of Honiton Spinners headed north for a very enjoyable five days riding the Way of the Roses, a 170 mile cycle route that crosses the UK from Morecambe on the west coast to Bridlington on the east. The holiday was booked through Saddle Skedaddle, who arranged all the accommodation, transported us to the start and from the finish, and took our luggage from one stop to the next. We assembled at a hotel in York and the following morning were transported with our bikes to the start on Morecambe sea front.
First, a photo at the Eric Morecambe statue and another at the official start and then we were off on the first leg, a 35 mile ride to Settle in the Yorkshire Dales.
The first miles were on a cycle track alongside the river Lune but then the hills began with a testing climb onto the northern edge of the Forest of Bowland. A rolling route in perfect weather and with glorious views of the Yorkshire Dales took us to a welcome lunch stop in the village of Hornby. On then with the Yorkshire Three Peaks, Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent away to our left until a final climb gave us a nice descent into Settle. In the evening we had a good meal at an Indian restaurant and explored the start of High Hill Lane, a notorious climb that was the first course on tomorrow’s menu.
Leg 2, Settle to Pateley Bridge, starting with that hill, the hardest climb of the whole route. 2.4 miles long and a leg-sapping 20% at the bottom. After 50m of slow grinding effort you reach a bend and a 12% sign. If you can still breathe, you heave a sigh of relief, but round the bend the road rises up like a wall – 12%? Never! You either walk or keep forcing the peddles round. But at the top, the sun was out, the views were glorious and the long descent to Airton was great fun. We took a detour to Malham for a welcome coffee and cake stop, before riding up to see the very impressive Malham Cove.
Back on the main route the sun, took his hat off, dark clouds loomed ahead, and thunder rumbled. A few short miles from our lunch stop in Burnsall, we were riding in heavy rain and Sod’s Law came into play – Mike punctured! Eventually, after very welcome hot drinks, hot soup and chips at the Red Lion, we set off again, trusting our Met Office guru, Roger, that the satellite image was giving the all-clear for the rest of the day. 10 minutes down the road we were sheltering from more torrential rain under sun umbrellas outside a pub!
Nothing to be done but to ride through it and tackle the last major climb up onto Greenhough Hill, followed by a long, tricky, steep descent into Pateley Bridge. Another great, adventurous day riding this fabulous route.
Leg 3, Pateley Bridge to York was the longest ride at 50 miles. A steady climb took us out of the town but then came a long climb with 18% ramps as we headed up to the spectacular Brimham Rocks. The reward was a lovely, long, fast decent- steady Claire! – to Fountains Abbey visitor centre for coffee and cake. Then a short ride took us into Ripon and a quick photo outside the cathedral before we headed off on flat roads and cycle paths through the Vale of York battling a head wind all the way. Beningbrough Home Farm cafe provided an excellent lunch stop before we set off on the final miles to York. A cycle trail alongside the River Ouse took us into the city, where had one more stop while Mike dealt with his second puncture. Another perfect day, nicely rounded off with an Italian meal.
Leg 4, York to Wolds Village (not a village). After leaving the hotel, we soon joined a cycle path that took us out of York and on into Stamford Bridge via an old railway line. A few miles further on we stopped at The Hide café, Pocklington for a coffee and with cakes to die for – my choice, a pastry with blackcurrant filling and oodles of cream. Then on into the Yorkshire Wolds with steady climbs and increasing rain. We pulled off into a lunch stop just as the heavens opened. As we rode the final miles the rain had ceased but the sky was darkening ominously and a mile from the finish all hell broke loose – thunder, lightning and torrents of water bouncing off the road made riding a bike a bit of a challenge. As we rode into the Wolds Village yard, water was streaming down towards an open door where the owner was waiting. He quickly ushered us into a stone-flagged passage, bikes and all as the water threatened to overwhelm his drains. But we were soon warm and dry, and the accommodation & food were top notch – a fine end to another interesting day.
Leg 5 had no obvious coffee stop so we rode 30 uneventful miles to Bridlington, arriving in sunshine on the esplanade at the official end of the route. After a few photos we celebrated an excellent week’s cycling holiday with a welcome seaside meal of fish and chips.
The Way of The Roses is a ride that should be on every cyclist’s bucket list, and you couldn’t do better than booking through Saddle Skedaddle who were excellent in every way.
On 15 August 2021 Honiton Running Club and Honiton Spinners came together at the annual Payhembury Duathlon which consists of a 3.8 mile run followed by a 15 mile bike ride and finally a 2.4 mile run from the Payhembury village hall. This was the first ‘real’ event the Running Club had hosted for some time due to the Covid restrictions. The weather was mostly dry and not too hot which was ideal for the runners and riders.
There were 30 athletes comprising of 17 teams either of a single person doing all 3 legs or 2/3 persons per team each doing the run or ride. The winning team of Steve Davey (runs) and Julian Gigg (ride) in a time of 1:32:43 only entered the event 30 minutes before it started so the secret in winning maybe being unprepared for doing it! Husband and wife team Ceri and Warren Oak won the mixed team prize in a time of 1:38:48 after coming back from walking in Snowdonia. David Hatfield-Shaw was the first male back to do all three legs in a time of 1:39:46 and Hannah Brown the first female back having done all 3 legs in a time of 1:47:40. Finally mother and daughter team Judy Davey and Jo Buxton won the ladies team in a time of 1:47:59.
Mention should also be made of Julian Gigg for the fastest ride around the route and Mike Mears for the fastest times in both runs.
There was much cake on offer to be consumed afterwards to refuel the athletes. Thanks go to Jennie Sleeman and Roger Saunders for organising the event and to Payhembury School for allowing their playground to be used as the transition area. All profits from this event will go to the school.
The winning team of Steve Davey (runs) and Julian Gigg (ride) in a time of 1:32:43
Ceri and Warren Oak won the mixed team prize in a time of 1:38:48
David Hatfield-Shaw was the first male back to do all three legs in a time of 1:39:46
Hannah Brown the first female back having done all 3 legs in a time of 1:47:40
Judy Davey and Jo Buxton won the ladies team in a time of 1:47:59
Congratulations to all the Spinners who climbed their way over Dartmoor on Sunday – 7000ft on the Medio and 11,000ft on the Grande.
Simon & Suzie Bean and Rod Inglis rode the Grande. Simon and Rod got inside the Silver medal time with Suzie doing amazingly well to get round such a tough course with a time not far off a Silver after very few long rides this year.
On the Medio, Jennie, Kevin G, Sue J, Lin and Steve D. all did the Spinners proud. Jennie struck Gold in an impressive time of 5:22, and Sue came in with a Silver.
On Sunday June 6th, undaunted by the threat of rain all day, Lyn, Sue, Suzanne, Jennie and Mike met at a farm near Bridport to take on the Beyond Wessex Sportive. They all completed the Medium route along beautiful undulating (hilly!) landscape, fields, quiet back roads and pretty villages in Dorset and Somerset. The weather was ideal: cool and cloudy for most of the day, with no rain at all. The chocolate pancakes at the feed station were delicious, as was the ice cream eaten in the sunshine at the end. The route was well signposted until near the end when a sign had been turned to go down a very steep hill. After about 2.5 miles of descent, a Beyond Events van filled the narrow road. Yes, we then had to cycle back up the steep hill, squeezing past a vast combine harvester on the way. In all, they completed 66.6 miles.
