Ride report: women’s ride at Ashton Court + Leigh Woods

By Sarah Selwood

“Waiting for Sarah ….”

The sun was shining, the trails were dry and Phil Mayger, Club Chairman was joining us as an honorary lady!

The ride was led by myself, Sarah Selwood, with Sharon Bassindale, newly appointed Ladies Officer, helping me along on my maiden voyage; and help I certainly needed! We were joined by Kate Bevan, Fay Tocknell, Kerry Davison, Bridget Cooke, Hana La Porte, Natasha Lincoln, Sarah Bailey, Sarah Carrigan and Wendy Matthews. What a turnout.

Due to the parking situation at Ashton Court, I chose Leigh Woods Car Park as a meeting point. This worked very well with copious space and only a short distance from Ashton Court.

We rode over to Ashton Court, where we due to meet Sarah C, who was joining us from Reading (on the train!). Sadly, Sarah got a little lost on the journey from the Station to AC, so after waiting for a short while we decided to head off and meet up with her at the end of our first lap. Natasha and Sarah B, following a minor fall, then left to head home. They had arrived at the trail early and had managed to put in a sneaky lap before everyone arrived.

The group then headed off for a second lap, once Sarah C had emerged from the ladies. A theme was building here! The second lap was approached with a little more speed and most of the girls tackled the red loop with great gusto!

It was then time for the customary tea and cake, kindly provided by Sharon and Sheffords Bakery in Faringdon.

Hana, Wendy and Fay had to leave us at this point, so now there were only 6. We headed over to Leigh Woods, but not before we had to wait for Sarah C, once again! Oh, and did we give her some stick.

We accessed Leigh Woods via North Road and did a lap around the Yer Tiz trail, including the Skills Area, where much whooping could be heard!

Bridget then very kindly escorted Sarah C back to the railway station where a sneaky pint was consumed on the way.

Sharon, Kate, Kerry and I finally left the Car Park at 4pm ish after meeting up with the HAB’s (Husband’s and Boyfriend’s) for a post ride chat.

In my short time of being an MB Swindon club member (6 months), I have met some lovely people and ridden on some great rides. I was very flattered to be asked to lead a ride and hope that I made the grade. Sharon is going to make a great Ladies Officer and hope that we can build on the ladies only rides and give the men a run for their money.

Thank you to everyone today for a totally wicked time.

Look out for more ladies rides in our events calendar.

See previous ride reports.

See more photos of Ashton Court and route map.