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I'll kick this one off this week as I'm in the happy position of having something to report for a change, instead of having spent the weekend with frozen peas packed against my neck.

I did the LVRC A1 Classic RR today; 60 miles on the Aldborough circuit just south of Boroughbridge. In addition to me in the A's & B's, Clifton had Dave Byworth and Ian H in the C's & D's. I'm sure Ian will tell his own tale on here, but Dave B punctured ( ) - when I caught up with him riding back to HQ he had the stricken tube draped around him bandolier style; with the vintage knitted wool VC York jersey and the Hell-of-the-North coating of crap, he looked seriously retro.

Needless to say it rained throughout but it wasn't too cold, though you nearly needed a snorkel on some of the dips along the main road. I rode the neutralised section on the front, nattering to Adept's Andy Moss, a LVRC stalwart - and very handy time-triallist; when the lead car pulled away, so did Andy. I hung on to his wheel as long as I could, and then sat in no-man's-land until another fella came across and we worked together. By the end of the first lap it was all back together and stayed that way, despite lots of attempts off the front, until a small group put in a big attack up the hill on the penultimate lap. Sadly this coincided exactly with both my thighs cramping up, so it was a last lap of desperately trying to be nice to my legs and finishing at the back of the bunch. Back home to toss down a handful of painkillers and a joyful reunion with the frozen peas!

I too was in action today at the Wetwang RR, six laps of a 7.5 mile course with one long climb up Life hill on every lap, it was my first time on this circuit and I didn't know what to expect. I'd had plenty of advice about the course and now having riden it can see why its a favorite of many riders, its tough with plenty of opportunities to attack. As Phil mentioned of his race at Boroughbridge it too threw it down all race.

A steady first couple of laps saw a small group go clear managing to stay away for a lap before being brought back, many attempts were made but nothing stuck. On the 2nd to last lap I managed to bridge across to a group of 4 that got a gap at the top of life hill, we initially worked well together but it soon started to fragment, so back into the pack I went. The race then stayed together to the finish and was decided by a bunch sprint, I had nothing left at this point and so finished towards the back of the pack, but I was still happy with my ride having managed to finish without being dropped like many others had been.

Im now looking forward to some nice weather, hopefully it can't be too far away.

The Saturday Social riders again formed 3 groups. On arriving at the square I learned that Howard's group were planning to go via Cockayne (?) and would likely be back somewhat later than my 4:30pm deadline. I therefore teamed up with a 'B' group of 6 riders, Kevin handed me a map with a route on and we set off to Malton via Strensall, Bulmer, and Coneysthorpe.
An early lunch in Malton was enjoyed by all at which point I realised that the marked route I had been given took us back to York a little more directly than I had hoped for so instead (forgive me Kevin for I have sinned!) we headed out via Settrington Bank and Duggleby before looping around to Birdsall and up Birdsall Bank.
Unfortunately about 2/3rd of the way up Birdsall Elaine realised that her front wheel was decidedly out of true - possibly as a consequence of having one less spoke than she started out with! After briefly contemplating a Taxi she elected to proceed slowly back to town with Dave (?) chivalrously offering to act as an escort so the Jons and I rode back together, arriving home just in time after 65 or so pleasant miles.

P.S. The road from North Grimstone towards Birdsall - I believe it is called Cordike Lane - has a terrible surface - very irregular and hence vibration inducing. It may be that this is what did for Elaine's spoke. Future route planners be warned!

West for me this week, warm with howling headwind at the top of Greenhow Hill. It's getting a bit tedious not being able to match weekend time to club run schedules but with a bit of luck I'll make next Sunday's.

Did I note somewhere it's an 08:30 start?

There were 4 of us in the Otley CC 25 on the Borobridge - Walshford course, latest round of the Clifton Open Series and 25 championship. The race was pushed back to the afternoon due to a clash with a tin-pot vets RR on the same roads in the morning I think we got the only dry bit of the day though Shame to miss the Wetwang RR, but wanted to support the Open Series.

Full result not yet out, but Blair Buss won the event with a "55". Nigel G rode a "59" (2008 Clifton 25 Champ - don't let it go to your head Nige!), I managed 1-1, Steve Wood 1-5 (a PB I believe) and Pete Skelton 1-6 (not too shabby for a 60 year old eh?)

With the ride out and back again I got 84 miles in, my longest of the year - and with all that on my low pro' I have a soar back and shoulders this am....!

The Sunday club run headed out to Lofthouse.

In a spirit of optimism Nick had got our summer bikes out on the saturday, so first thing to do sunday morning was to swap them over and put on the waterproofs.Does anyone have a pair of waterproof socks or gloves which actually work.I was tempted to leave in my wellie boots.We met up with Nigel and Bernard in the square and headed out.There was the option of a shorter route at Ripley but no one took it.By the top of the climb the rain had stopped, there was very little wind,it was a lot warmer than last week and there was a view.So feeling a little smug, if still soaking wet we headed for the cafe and home.
We met up with Colin, Robyin and their son in the cafe and they all looked really well;Robyin had competed in the three peaks fell race on the saturday and as it was still not raining Colin was going out on his good bike for a training ride.

The club run is heading of at 8-30am next week.

Helen

Rode the 80 mile Sportive around Kirklees taking in some breath taking scenery and stunning climbs!

The route took us around rural districts of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, including Holme Valley and Denby Dale including some of the famous South Pennine climbs including Holme Moss which we hit at the halfway mark, altough it was a still day the rain did nt stop until the last half hour of the ride. This is a seriously hilly ride even the last 10 miles are bumpy a great ride and work out in under 5 hours.

8 of us met up at Dalby Forest yesterday for a full day of MTBing, a good mix of regulars and new faces again.

Some of us had demo bikes booked at the Demo Centre so we could get early ideas for our Xmas list. We also had a steady, muddy, ride around most of the Red Route and a 'cake break' at Jingley. The rain eased off by the afternoon and it was warm so, apart from more bike washing , a good day.

Had a great weekend MTBing, left York Friday morning headed up to Newcastleton did a couple of laps round the red route, before driving up to Peebles.
Saturday, did the black route in Glentress with an extra loop around the red route's Spook wood and Super 'G' sections.
Sunday, over to Innertheithen did the black route followed by the new Blue at Glentress.
The weather was generally better than forecast, Sunday been the best biking day so far this year, shorts and T-shirt weather, with dry and dusty trails....Fantastic!!

Simon

I was in Dr Dave's ride to Malton on Saturday. I dont think Dave expected to have to lead a ride but did well anyway. At least he didnt lose anyone, not intentionally anyway. Newcomer Andrew who started with the group made is own way back to York from Malton and as Dave said Elaine had a mechanical issue. Dave said to me on the way back he wasnt used to leading when he is usually the one hanging of the back of Howards group. On the whole an enjoyable day with pleasant sunshine and another 'ton' clocked up by me personally. And I'll have to try to remember that way back into York we came from the Murton side through the Uni Campus and over the Fulford Millenium bridge for future rides.

Not strictly the weekend, but thought I'd sneak it on to this thread - had my first competitive outing on the road since last August on Thursday evening, and also my first since moving down to Hants.; clocked 28 mins dead in VC Venta's evening 10.25 mile club TT along the main Stockbridge-Romsey road to finish 6th out of 8 starters [1]. Not exactly an earth-shattering time, but OK given a lack of training, a hectic week at work, a sore left knee and using a bog-standard road bike with no tri-bars (making 4 excuses in all - is that too many? ). By the way, the new-look Clifton club kit was commented on favourably by riders from the local clubs down here!

Dave

[1] Rotten weather earlier in the day put a lot of prospective entrants off. Their loss - come the actual event it was a very pleasant evening.

I rode the Rutland Melton Classic RR (with off-road bits). The forecast rain never materialised although I did find the only muddy bit on the whole course to ride through. Once the break full of foreign riders had gone the rest of us rolled round watching each other with our numbers being gradually reduced by punctures, crashes and fatigue. I avoided all three and finished in the third group on the road (places 7th to about 30th) for 16th place, despite messing up my sprint by getting all sideways and slidy on the final corner.

The rough sections were surprisingly good fun and ranged from narrow tarmac roads with grass down the middle to dust and gravel farm tracks with multiple potholes and rocks. Method? Jump the holes, ride light on the rocks, don't try to steer/brake/pedal on the gravel and take immediate evasive action when crashes occur ahead.

I , like Phil and Dave Byworth did the LVRC A1 Classic at Boroughbridge on Sunday weather was wet but not too cold, decided to stay in the pack for all of the 7 laps (55 miles) which the C and D cats had to do, I felt I was going a lot better than the previous 2 races I have done and was even able to take part in the sprint for the finish, think I was about 15th to 20th.

Did a long steady ride in readiness for some long fast races I've got lined up.
Cath, Claire & co had gone up to Cockayne via a cafe in Hutton Le Hole, returning via Ampleforth and Yearsley on Saturday. They had a lovely day. I did the exact same route on Sunday (without the cafe). It pissed down for about 3 of the 4.5 hours it took. I'm getting quite used to it now and at least it was falling vertically rather than driving horizontally! Had to keep stopping to put on and take off the boil in the bag cape which helped to make the going harder than I would have liked.
Some serious climbing over most of the 77 miles helped keep the ave speed down to 17 mph but I felt like I was travelling as well in the final hour as I was in the first - which probably just means I wasn't going hard enough?
Decided to use the winter bike as there was no point making the ride any easier than it had to be, but it made for a more comfortable ride. So thats a 13x23 8spd cassette with a 39 x 48 double at the front. It trains your head aswell as your legs and the only problem encountered was trying to find some grip on the slippy tarmac!