Topic Title

We'll broadly follow last week's format this Saturday - steady ride out in one group then split into 2/3 groups for a race-distance number of laps of a local circuit, then re-group and a steady ride back home. Changes will be:-

-We'll do the Wheldrake/Thorganby circuit (hasn't been used recently for events but will be fine for our needs) for a change of scenery this week, and...
-We'll try to split the groups into ones of roughly equal ability, so they hopefully stay together for longer than last week.

Hope that suits everyone. 9:00 kick-off from the square, forecast is chilly but dry....

Hey,

Not gunna join you this week, got work and things to do so I'll go out at a different time and won't be as tired for the rest of the day,

Enjoy

Tobz

I won't be out yet again, what a shame especially as it's planned to be up my end . I've got family stuff to do - my six year old's birthday party so there's no getting out of that.

Quick note - there has been resurfacing work at the junction of Wheldrake lane and Skipwith rd just south of Escrick - but the good news is I rode through there just now and it's all done. Road is smooth but quite greasy so be careful.

I'll be encumbered with kids so won't be able to join in again. If I can persuade them to move we may wonder down and hurl some abuse/encouragement.

tom

A chilly but (initially) dry morning and just over a dozen out in the square - most of the by-now-familiar faces plus a couple of occasional visitors including local vet racer Simon Wright. A brisk ride over to Escrick and then a bit of nervous shuffling as people worked out whether they wanted to be in the faster or slower group. Will leave others to post their experiences on here!

I set off with the faster group, which - with Tim shouting encouragement ("Keep it moving! PULL THROUGH!!! ..please..") set off at a rate of knots. Yesterday's 2x20's quickly caught up with me and I slipped off the back to keep Rich and Wayne company, leaving Cam, Tim and Andy to it. We worked steadily together though and kept within a couple of hundred yards of the fast lads for much of the three laps distance. 34 miles at 21.5mph average for our lot, and it cost me 234W Normalised Power to do it.

It almost cost me a change of shorts too - as a bit of drizzle livened up the rather muddy roads I ended up going about three feet sideways around the left-hander before Wheldrake, almost taking out a very wide-eyed Rich who was following me. Due caution was exercised after that....

Phil i am glad you remembered" the please"!
No this was for me a good ride My stats read 35 miles@22 mph in the race section and 87 miles in total.3 of us left to press on out of6 at start although i feel Phil was being a bit harsh on himself.The pace was pretty hot to start and hardly let up til we had 2 drop off and our rythmn was disrupted for a while.Cam was the driving force today and i was quite happy to sit in sometimes to recover from the expossed bits .For me this course seemed to be a bit more draggy than Bishopwood and it told on me.Andy was also in our group and he was pulling his weight in the 3 up.All told ready for next weeks Neil White race if i get a ride.
cheers

Like you Phil, I nearly came off at the Wheldrake bend...managing to stay on....I know not how........delighted to hear that you did....

As an LVRC Cat D (almost) rider with two artificial knees, I have to protect myself when racing because of swelling both during and after races.....so any protection I get in the bunch is necessary to enable me to finish before swelling disables the knee....hope you understand...happy to chat further if needed.

Have a good week and to the season's beginning next Sunday...knees permittting......Andy

After a few weeks away from the training ride and feeling quite tired from a week's skiing, I deciding to tag along nonetheless.

After successfully hiding in the group on the steady ride out, I then kept my head down when groups were being sorted for the laps and hid amongst the 'slow' group to see how long I could survive. The pace was a (not too slow) low 20s most of the way round and Simon(?) did a could job of organising us into an efficient line. I half expected the fast group to mop us up fairly quickly but they clearly had a puncture or something

By the end of lap 2 my legs were feeling the pace and the lack of recent miles and I was in danger of being spotted as the passenger so I peeled off as the others set off for lap 3. I think I managed not to blow my cover.

A lone steady ride back to York before I met up with Jess and Allan just in time for them to witness some nice lady trying to assault me with her Vauxhall Astra. 55m, 19 ave door to door wasn't too shabby.

BTW I also found some of those bends greasy. Kept checking my rear for a flat as it has that 'wandering' feeling occasionally.

I have to say, each training ride I do, I learn something.

This week's pearls of wisdom for Jess? Training ride + hangover = yuck, yuck, yuck.
f
Hung in there for an appallingly rubbish one lap. Kept trying to sneakily slip off the back but the boys (especially I think Simon) were being very team focused & kept getting me back on the wheel (so, er thanks for that guys ).

Managed to escape on lap two & regained my composure before wobbling back to York where I caught up with Allan & Paul who seemed to be vying for a 'best-run-in-with-a-numpty-motorist' prize.

Went back to bed. Next time, I will stay there.

I opted to go with the fast group and soon realised that there was no way I was keeping up with Tim, Cam and Andy who were flying! Phil rescued me just before Wheldrake and also provided me with a great demo in how to slide your bike round a sharp bend and sprint out the other end!!! Just about pulled my weight in our mini group with Wayne so pleased with our 21.5mph average. Looks like my extra effort on the turbo may be starting to pay off!!

Sorry I couldn't join the fun, especially as it was at the end of my road! I did manage to shout some 'encouragement' at group 2 from a farm turning as I dragged my children out shopping.
Greasiness seems to confirm a bit of cycling lore I've heard: the slippiest road is one just wetted after a dry spell. It feels as if the slight rain gets the grease and muck, left on the road all the time by vehicles, up and mixed into a sort of slime. A real downpour washes this stuff away and just leaves you puddling to deal with, which isn't the same.
Last time I came off on the road was in just those sort of conditions (turning off the A19 towards skipwith, low speed, bike just slid without warning).
Anyone about next week or is it NeilW for all?
cheers
tom