Topic Title

Well I've pre-empted Phil. How was it for you?

Not good for me this time. After paying the mortgage, keeping the kids clothed and fed and the cars fuelled (yes I know cars - I hate them too) I have to admit to my better half that she's no nearer to living in the style she expected to become accustomed to upon marrying me.

Consequently there's not a lot of money left at the moment for cycling bits and bobs so I've been busy trying the ignore the nasty noises coming from the rear hub and the wheel tracking all over shop under the sound engineering principle that if I ignore it, it will probably just go away. Luckily the crunching and cracking noises coming from the bottom bracket have helped me do the ignoring. But now it's got so bad the wheel's rubbing on the frame and I can't ignore it any longer.

This was probably the reason why once Jess had finished beasting me and I turned for home, I was probably in a bit of a sulk and failed to notice the relatively small puddle. A small puddle that contained a unique pothole in that as soon as I hit it, it instantly up-ended the bike propelling me face first into the verge. Thank goodness I landed on my face - no harm done then

"..instantly up-ended the bike propelling me face first into the verge"

Blimey! Hope there really *is* no harm done - sounds spectacular. And what with your wheel and Tom's bottom bracket, I reckon we should have enough for a dedicated "knackered bearings" group soon...

The second group of around nine riders slotted into paceline formation as it pulled away from the outer ring road, wound the speed up and pretty resolutely kept it there. There were a couple of untidy moments - mainly over the lumps and bumps - but generally it was fairly neat, with the middle (out of town) 2½hrs being despatched at 21.5mph and (for me) 236W. Good going, everyone!

How was it for everyone else?

had a great one actually managed to stick it out all the way to the end. thanks all for the slipstream now i just need to do my share of the work the whole time. thankyou also for staying so i could fix my puncture and for bieng so helpful

Tobz

My first training ride this year so nothing else to compare it with, but from where I was sat it looked pretty smooth. 3 hours of bit and bit is a llong time, and it aint gonna be perfect every minute of the ride.

Anyone who was pulling all the way round that ride will have no problem at all in 3/4, LVRC, or TLI races.

I also liked the fact it finished that side of York, a much nicer ride home for me.

Cheers everyone, and hope you're OK Broomie.

I had broom-style reasons to be nervous about this ride - earlier in the week, while giving my winter bike its semi-annual clean, I realised my bottom bracket was knackered. The cranks were happy to rock side-to-side a good half centimetre. (It's a cheap FSA Omega mega-exo crankset, but it's only 18months old so I'm not impressed). I've ordered a new BB but that won't arrive until next week, so I was sort of hoping for good weather & the chance to use my summer bike. Fat chance... so it was down to a drizzly square with mudguards and 'Avatar' cranks (moving in 3D).

I joined Phil's second group and as soon as we got through the endless red lights in town we got working. It's a good course, nearly all on wide roads (A168 to Boroughbridge, Milby circuit, home via Huby) but while it's not hilly, very little of it is flat. I reckon the optimum pace for a group is when the weaker riders can only just roll through, and I think we were around there for a good 2.5hours. I was struggling on the A168, got my legs back on Milby and suffered again on the way home. The creaky bike definitely wasn't helping. It looked like a few others were gasping too (except 'Moos, who was calling for more...) but everyone stuck in just about until the end. Cam seemed on fine form - but was too strong for his bladder (!). The group work wasn't too tidy but I can't complain, I was leaving gaps for Britain. Thanks everyone for a brutal workout.

Got back with customary child-scaring 'road tan'. And it's been sunny ever since! I guess the first group had been fixing punctures for a good 20 minutes when we passed them?

Broom - hope body + bike are recovering. Maybe time to sell the car and put kids on bikes? Or sell the kids...

Thanks to all for a good training ride. I think it must be the fastest of the winter so far on these rides. I did not feel entirely switched on today and my concentration not what it should be in the paceline. A minor but important thing - but learnt to keep pedalling when taking a swig from bottle or wait until back of line. Thanks for the tip Skymoos! I noticed how deftly both Darren and Paul were able to grab bottle/eat/ whatever without breaking there rythym. Darren did not pour himself a coffee from his flask today however (maybe the pace was just a little too brisk for that!). Apologies to Skymoos for foiling his attempt at a breakaway (?!) just after Crayke. I don't think I bottled it but genuinely need to "water the hedge". Apologies to Howard for nearly colliding with him as I remounted....I didn't look! Sorry H.
Is it just me who cannot go more than a couple of hours on bike before I need to stop for a "comfort break"? You lot must have bladders of steel.....

Crikey Broomwagon - sounds nasty! Hope you're ok though (and I sympathise with the bike issues - I've been ignoring some serious whirrs & clicks myself recently...)

Mixed ride for me - was just about hanging on to the second group & feeling ok, but decided to refuel just as the group set off on the milby lap - big mistake (and I note Cam's post about pedaling AND eating!) after a fair bit of fumbling about with a a mars bar, I managed to drop my water bottle. (grrr). Didn't much fancy chasing after the group round the the circuit so I cut my losses, took a hedge break & then scooted back to join group one. A steady ride home, but the group was looking pretty tight - despite some tired legs. I even had some breath left for a conversation!

Thanks to both groups for a good ride
Some interesting Garmin stats here - about 3mph between the groups.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67868324

Glad to hear you are OK Steve, always nice to get a soft landing! Hopefully no harm done to the bike too.

Group 1 averaged 19.4 for the middle out of town bit so a bit more steady. No-one had any pressing competitive dates in the diary so it seemed a sensible kind of pace we settled into sharing the load well. Very tidy through and off up towards Boroughbridge too

Nice to get out again anyway, hopefully with cleaner/drier roads soon...