Author: Aynsley Brown

A new range of regalia will be stocked on a limited basis, with designs and themes that will be changed at regular intervals.

This year’s exiting designs will be as popular as ever with Moultoneers. Pictures will be posted in the Regalia page on this website to coincide with the release at BOA over the weekend of Fri 9th to Sun 11th Sept.

Regalia Items will also be available for purchase from your Regalia Secretary post BOA by contacting regalia@moultoneers.info, where a price list, payment methods and P&P costs can be requested,

Pat Doocey, MBC’s  Webmaster is the winner of the 2016 Irish Ultra Challenge in the Race Around Ireland. He also set a new record for the Race as he covered the 1118.4km (699 miles) route in a time of 60 hours and 26 minutes. A new record average speed of 18.51km/h (11.56 miles/hour)!

Pictures of Pat on different  stages of the Race can be found on his Facebook page. Moultoneers could wonder if those big wheels didn't slow him down!!

The Open University Digital Archive (OUDA) recently informed us that as part of an online feature of the bicycle to tie-in with Rio Olympics, they had digitised a 20 minute video of Alex Moulton talking about the development of the Moulton Bicycle. The link to this video is here.  Note: This video will not play from this page on some mobile devices, if this happens just click on the “See Full Record” link just beneath it.

The video was originally made in 1971 for the OU’s T100 module Man-made world: a Foundation Course in Technology.

The OUDA have also made available online, The Science Behind the Bike, a series of films that investigates how science and technology have transformed the sport of cycling. There are 4 parts to this series. The link to the Alex Moulton video opens a page that leads to this series.

The Club would like to thank Amanda Saladine of the Open University Archive in Milton Keynes for telling us about the availability of the Alex Moulton video.

Thank you to all the intrepid Moultoneers who made the trip to London for our Monopoly Ride.

17 made it from a far and wide geographical area. Manchester to Dorset and points in between. One brave soul made a 2 hour cycle ride from the outskirts of Surrey to be with us and one Moultoneer from not 1/4 mile away from our meeting point.

After registration for CTC insurance cover we set off in to the already heavily congested roads.

Our Monopoly Ride rule was the first rider to see and call our designation point and seen by another would be good enough. The London Prudential Cycle Weekend was having quite an effect around the closed roads routes with Tower Bridge suffering horrific traffic jams. We on our Moultons managed to nip in and out of the trouble with very little delay, if any, on our way down to the Old Kent Road. We were lucky that I remembered that the Tower of London itself is in fact a genuine prison and still has the capability of being used as such. More notable recent prisoners held there was Rudolph Hess in 1941 also Ronnie & Reggie Kray in 1952 .

We trundled along the embankment, ticking off places on the board as we passed. The entire Embankment was given over to cyclists and we rode in a huge peloton. Kids on tricycles, mums on Dutch bikes, hipsters on fixies and Lycra warriors on carbon stealth-like machines. Bromptons were in attendance by the 1000, I kid you not! If I had a £ for every Brompton I saw I would have had enough to buy a Moulton !

We were zig-zagging off route to cover a good number of points on our Monopoly board , we took lunch at St Paul's Cathedral cycle zone ...moving off from there we moved on to Leadenhall Market where frame-building exhibitions and leather cycle luggage were showing their wares.... Time was getting on and our group of riders had begun to thin out ... One puncture during the day didn't dampen our quest but time and 1,000s upon 1,000s of other cyclists and road closures beat our goal .... Nonetheless, the social aspect was well worth every pedal stroke ... I know many people in the Club but I can now claim to have met even more through this ride, ... Planning is quite simple, we all have the same aim and each rider on a Moulton ride supports each other , rides can be fast or slow (mine are very slow and more of a social event!) ....I plan to organise a London ride ever year of some description ... We could join the London Bridges Ride or even the Midnight Ride. Thanks all for coming ..... I'll keep you posted ...... Craig Elliott.

 

‘Didn’t we have a lovely day, the day we went to London!'

It’s the small things that make a ride memorable.

At the start of the Monopoly Ride, Craig gave every participant five beautiful designed Moulton frame stickers. (Clearly the Pearly Gates will hold no barrier to Craig!). An unexpected and thoughtful gesture that put everyone in a positive frame of mind.

Seventeen riders took in all the sights of our capital city, be it that they were focused on the Monopoly board.

Great fun and enjoyment was had by all.

Craig gave a running commentary regarding points of interest –about historic London sites or the areas of the Monopoly board we were passing through. The only slight drawback was that we were joined by another 70,000 plus cyclists on something called ‘Prudential Ride London.’ What a cheek!

I hope our ride insurance covered this! Steering seventeen riders though the masses, proved problematic but Craig rose to the challenge admirably.

It’s not just the riding that makes participation so good but also the like-minded banter regarding all things Moulton that makes the day.

What did all this fun and enjoyment for seventeen Moultoneers, organised by Craig, involve?

Some pre-planning of the route, advertising on the club website, locating suitable break stops, ensuring club insurance cover and a prayer for good weather. A small undertaking that gives such pleasure to others. Why don’t you join a ride or better still, if you have an idea for a ride, don’t hold back – go for it!

Robert McCann