Topic Title

Forecast looks okay for Saturday; 9:00am start for the training ride. Suggest we skip the hillier "East" route for now and concentrate on steady riding as a group, so how about doing the "South" route again?

Quick warning - was out yesterday and there are road works (with closure) between Cliffe and the A163 (Cliffe->Skipwith). Not sure if this road is on the 'official' route, or if they will still be there at the weekend, but we used this road last time round. There's plenty of other (slightly muddy) options... eg. Hemingbrough to North Duffield.
tom

Another fine Saturday morning, another massive training ride, with an even larger group than last week heading off out to do the southern of the four regular routes. Again it all looked a bit alarming as we wiggled our way through Tang Hall but settled down to a disciplined bunch by the time we were rolling towards Elvington and out onto the endless flatlands.

Mechanical disaster struck in Howden - the furthest point on the day's ride - when Andy Coates' rear dérailleur completely fell apart. After a quick collective diagnosis Ruben pitched in with the surgical gloves on, removed dérailleur, removed required number of chain links (with the multi-tool he bought yesterday), re-joined the chain (with the powerlink he just happened to think might be a good idea to pop in his back pocket) to set Andy on his way gently (hopefully) homewards...

The rest of us regrouped and got a collective move on, eventually despatching 55 miles at just over 20mph. With everyone still together and taking turns it didn't feel unduly quick, just good group riding - well done all. However, I still reckon it would be sensible to split into two rides next week if the same number show up!

Got to feel a bit sorry for Andy, he punctured last week and rode home by himself, then his rear mech fell off this week. Hope you got home ok Andy.
I never got warm again after Howden, and got the hunger knock on the way home. I was willing it to go faster at times, to try warm up, but I can't argue with a 20mph average, that is plenty fast enough for November.
My next ride will probably be Tan Hill see you there.

Hi all;
Same here Andy hope you got home alright.If you had seen Howard and i shouting at Phil as he pounded down the other road to the rest of us it would have put a smile on youre face.
Seemed we got the rythmn alot better today seems so much easier when it is like that and a good pace will see us in good stead for later in the year or should i say early next year.
cheers Timj

I'm in agreement, I think if we're getting 16 or more, two groups would be better - less of an inconvenience to traffic and if the group's too big you don't get to spend much time at intensity.

I think both groups should do the same route though, just set off 5 mins apart.

That said I very much enjoyed this week, everyone worked very well together and everyone got a bit of time on the front. Nice to think that if we keep this up, by the time we're heading into the season, hopefully our speed will have naturally increased a couple of mph. If not perhaps one or two have ideas how we can push the intensity up a bit once we're into the new year (though when we do the East route it will be more than hard enough for me - that's what my face will look like).

Another enjoyable training ride. Agree about the group size. Seems to me (not that I'm an expert ) that the pace about right given that it's November. No need to go crazy now, it's steady miles time; we've plenty of time to ramp it up in the New Year.

[rant mode]I know the roads were OK this week but can I put in a plea for mudguards being a pre-requisite for the training ride. The structure of the ride means following a wheel closely almost the whole way round. To pitch up knowing that you're going to be spraying 'Belgian toothpaste' over whoever is behind is anti-social at the very least and in this day and age is almost a health and safety issue. [/rant mode] Cheers guys

I would love to see everyone with full guards and a mudflap 3 inch off the ground, just like the good old days.
Having said that, I still say it is better to see 20 riders in the square with or without guards than just half a dozen with.
If you're looking to split it into 2 groups put all the 'with guards' together.

Much better ride for me this week (possibly something to do with the complete lack of any sort of incline???) But I do think the group worked a lot better together, despite the size! Also hoping Andy got home OK, I was behind him & it looked(sounded!) pretty terminal at the time so I was impressed to see him back on the road.

As for the lack of mudguards, I hold my hands up, guilty as charged.
I have to say, I'm not sure I see much difference when following a wheel myself - If it's wet and and/or muddy then the inevitable is going to happen anyway, surely?

That said, it is clearly impolite & I don't like to upset folk, so I will make some time to try and pick some up. Though I don't fancy my chances at fitting the things. Pretty sure it is even worse etiquette to let a poorly fitting mudguard fly at the poor sod on my wheel....

Jess, you probably don't notice much difference because most people seem to be on the 'I'm alright Jack' race blade clip on mudguards.
They are better than nothing, but the only thing guaranteed to stop the belgium toothpaste is full size guards with a mudflap front and back.

Darren I too hold my hands up as being one of the culprits only having "Race Blades" this is due to my winter bike not being able to take full mudguards. I will attempt to fit some sort of mud flap to the back one before the weekend.

For anyone who rides just one bike all year, clip on "I'm alright Jack" jobbies are the only option. Some are a bit more protective than others, but likewise some look like inviting much more chance of a stone getting wedged in there and leading to a potential pile-up. If you decide to be public-spirited and fit DIY flaps please make sure the whole shebang is secure and - as Jess notes - not running any risk of an argument with the back wheel and whatever that may lead to.

I reckon you can make a reasonable mudflap using a length of gaffer tape folded over a short stout piece of card and stuck to the inside and outside of the bottom of the mudguard. if the tape covers the card completely, it won't go soggy.

The whole thing won't last forever (it will last longer if you make sure the guards are clean and dry before you stick anything to them) but it is cheap and fails safely - if anything snags it, the tape will rip off and even if it sticks to your tyre it's unlikely to damage the brakes on the way back round.

I'd better fit a couple to my (full-guarded winter) bike before I show up again... but I like the idea of splitting the groups by spray factor!
tom

Each winter I make a mudflap out of old printing blanket, litho plate and gaffer tape. I reckon an old water bottle would do an ok job. I secure it to the guard by drilling 2 small holes at the end of the mudguard and using m5 bolts nuts and washers (always use threadlock).
It lasts all winter and has just the right amount of flex for a mudflap. I have perfected the design over the years, and I have never had one fail, or cause me any problems.

Hows about this one.....http://carfreedays.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/ketchup-flaps2.jpg

ps. im in the alright jack camp