Origami
Phoenix Monthly Cycle
Ride
Contents
About
the Origami Phoenix Ride
Planned
meetings
How
to get to Meriden
Reports
on past rides
About
the Origami Phoenix Ride
The
'Origami Phoenix Ride' is a
cycle ride usually held in the
English Midlands, normally on the second Saturday of every month. The
location varies from month to month. The ride was originally held
particularly for the
owners of folding (hence the 'Origami' of the ride name) and separable
cycles, but anyone riding any kind of cycle is welcome - indeed, you
are welcome to join us at the start for breakfast and a chat even if
you don't have a cycle or don't feel like riding! Many of those who
attend are either members of The
Moulton
Bicycle Club,
the VCC
(Veteran-Cycle Club) or The
Folding Society (or subscribers
to A
to B
magazine), but as mentioned
before, anyone, and any kind of
cycle,
is welcome.
The
usual
arrangement is to meet from about 10:30, with a ride starting at about
11:00. The distance covered is typically 15 to 25 miles. This is a
social ride, and we ride at the pace of the slowest, with plenty of
stops along the way to regroup if necessary. Rides start
and end at the same location, which is usually near a railway station,
so that those who do not choose to travel by car can easily get to and
from the event. When the ride is located at Meriden, the starting point
is Meriden Tearooms, where a very satisfying breakfast can be
obtained at the Tearooms before the ride starts.
The
Origami ride attracts a
wide variety of cycles and riders. You do not even have to come on a
folder, as the Marin mountain bike seen here shows!
The first Origami
Ride was held in
August 1994, but was a one off,
and it was not until April 1997 that the ride was revived on a monthly
basis (hence the 'Phoenix' of the ride name). The ride was originated
and organised until his death in February 2002 by John
Pinkerton.
Although we no longer have a formal organiser for the rides, they still
take place every month, unless the date (second Saturday of the month)
coincides with a Bank Holiday, Moulton Bicycle Club BoA Weekend, or
another major cycling event.
Planned
future meetings
For all rides, we meet from
about
10:30am, with the ride starting at 11:00am, unless stated otherwise.
The finishing time will depend on a number of factors, for instance
ride length and time of year, but will always be before dusk. Riders
who need to return for a specific time should consult the ride leader,
but be prepared to return under their own navigation.
Note that as the location
of these rides
varies from month to month, it is important to check the location
before travelling
to an event - the planned rides are listed on this page (see below).
You can
also check by contacting the Origami team via email here to see
what is planned.
Further details
will be added for the
rides as they are available.
Planned
2013 rides
A Map of the rides
planned for 2013 is here
May
11th
Milton Keynes
Meet
from 10:00am for an 11:00am start at Wetherspoons , 201
Midsummer Boulevard, Bouverie Square, Milton
Keynes, MK9 1EA.
With
your back to the entrance of the railway station cycle straight ahead,
up left side of Midsummer Boulevard, Wetherspoons
is on your left at around 400 metres / yards.
Getting
there:
By
Rail:
Milton
Keynes Central is served frequently from the south, and north by London
Midland trains, Virgin trains and less frequently by Southern trains
from the south only.
By
Road:
From
the north or south the M1 passes nearby, exit Junction 14 and
follow the A509 Portway Westbound till you reach the 'North Grafton
Roundabout' (count 10 roundabouts from M1), turn left into 'Grafton
Gate'. On
the 2nd block from the roundabout you will see the railway station on
your right.
Parking:
There
is free Saturday parking at the Railway station in the blue and black
stripe zone as shown on the Milton Keynes Parking Map.
The
Ride:
From
Wetherspoons the ride will be on the Milton Keynes
‘Redway’ cycle path system to Newport Pagnell, then
on relatively quiet tarmac roads to Sherington and the White Hart Pub
for lunch. After lunch more quiet undulating tarmac roads to Cranfield airport
for tea/coffee break at ‘Café
Pacific’ then back to Milton Keynes and
Wetherspoons for a debriefing (drinkies) for those interested. The railway
station is only around 400 metres away.
Total
distance for ride around will be about 26 miles.
NOTE: For those riders
coming by train could they please book their return journey for after
5:00pm.or be prepared to make their own way back under their
own navigation to suit their train times.
June
8th
Shrewsbury
July
13th
Leominster/Shobdon
August
10th
Didcot
September 21st
Swindon - Note this is the third Saturday to avoid clashing with the Moulton Club weekend and is combined with Swindon Smallwheeels
October 12th
Duffield
November
9th Melton Mowbray
December
14th West Midlands
Origami
mailing list
We
have a mailing list,
who are usually sent details of each
ride about 1 - 2 weeks before the event. Normally there
will only be one email per month (possibly 2 if there is a real need),
and the list is normally only used to give information specifically
about the
Origami Rides. If you would like to be included on the list, please
send an email indicating this to origami@foldsoc.co.uk.
No personal details are held apart from simply
the email address.
Travelling by
train to Origami rides
While folding bikes are
usually carried as 'luggage' without
restrictions carriage of non-folding bicycles by rail in the UK can be
complicated. The excellent a to b
website has useful information on carriage of bicycles by train here.
How to
get to Meriden
By Cycle
See notes below on routes
from stations etc. Meriden is on the
B4102, just off the A45 Birmingham to Coventry road, OS map 139, SP 239
823 CV7 7LN.
By Train and Cycle
The
nearest station to Meriden (for those occasions when the ride is
based there) is Hampton in Arden, which is about 2 miles from Meriden -
a fairly flat ride on reasonably quiet roads. This is the line from
Coventry to Birmingham and Wolverhampton, and is served by local trains
every 30 minutes. The local trains carry
bicycles free of charge and with no restriction on numbers.
If you are travelling by
main line train you can either change to the local at Coventry or (from
the Birmingham direction) at Birmingham International. Alternatively,
you may prefer to travel to Birmingham International and cycle all the
way from there (an extra 2 miles). From Hampton in Arden, turn right
out of the station, and follow the B4102 to Meriden. Take care at the
roundabout where this road crosses the busy A452. Go straight on at the
roundabout in Meriden, and you will see the Tearooms almost immediately
on your right. From Birmingham International, descend to ground level
and
turn left. Bear right at the first small roundabout, and then left at
the next, larger, roundabout. Go straight on at the large roundabout
above the A45, and then follow the B4438 towards Hampton in Arden.
There is a
shared cycle/foot path on the right hand side of the road for much of
the way. Take the third road on the left, signposted as unsuitable for
heavy
vehicles, and follow this lane to Hampton in Arden. Turn left in
Hampton in Arden, passing the station on the right almost immediately,
and then follow the route described earlier.
Rail
Information
By Car
Access by road is easy -
see road information and map
reference above. Meriden is only a couple of miles from junction 6 of
the M42, which in turn is close to the M6/M42 junction.
Reports on past rides
Since we changed
to using a more convenient 'blog' system
for posting Folding Society news, we will usually report on Origami
Rides there rather than below. The news blog is available by accessing The Folding Society web site.
Photographs of
more recent rides can
be viewed on a FlickR group (UK
Origami-Phoenix) that has been set up for this purpose.
Anyone joining an Origami ride is encouraged to join the group and
upload their photos of the ride.
Folding
Society home page