Weekend Roundup

[Rob]

Busy weekend for the club with lots going on. Shall I start?

3 Bridges Audax for me. Well done and big thanks to Mark and family for another enjoyable event. Not sure I'd want to ride through the flat lands of N Lincs every week, but it makes a nice change to Fleets Moss and Rosedale Chimney every now and again.

Lovely weather greeted the nearly 40 riders leaving Stammy Bridge at the civilised hour of 0900. 2 large groups stayed together all day. The 'Bernard and Mac' party of about 15 getting back just after 6. The front group also finished 15 riders together just after half 3 with a Hub-esk average speed of 19.5 mph. Afraid I don't know all the names in the front group, but included John Mc, JonG, Broomwagon, Skymoos, Darren N, Pete Kane, Howard, Koi man, Dr Dave, Richard D, Roo, Ian H.... sorry if I've missed you out!

I always find the route through Hessle to the Humber Bridge a little "knotty". "Don't worry" said the Garmin boys "leave it to us". Let's just say it was still a little "knotty". A quick stop at the visitor centre then across the Bridge - always an exhilarating experience, then into Gringo country. The wind starting to pick up and I for one was glad of the rest at the Waterway Museum in Goole. They're not used to 15 customers at once and nearly had a shedder. But the wait evidently revived us as Skymoos and the guy in the Koi top (sorry, never worked out a name) put in a heroic turn on the front, followed by Howard and Ian H. By the time the swung off the front we were nearly back. Impressive riding indeed.

Thanks for the company.

[barberj]

Ian, Lilly and Steph and I did the 85km Grassington Mountain Marathon today (Jez did the 75km much better than we did) . Was quite an eye opener in what bad weather can do to you. The wind was very strong and it was rather wet. At the top of one particular climb we had extremely strong wind and rain coming straight towards us. I could hardly see because of this and the trip down the other side was not a good experience. We eventually regrouped under a gazebo at the second refreshment stop where I was frozen with numb fingers, chattering teeth and shaking legs. There also seemed to be a lot of mountain bikers taking part who were falling over all over the place making it quite tricky to ride. We eventually finished but the considered view was it was "an experience". Though probably not of the good sort.

[Jon G]

Thanks for the ride Rob and all the others for pulling on the front. I spent a short time on the front with Howard early on but any sort of incline showed just how strong you have to be to stay up there. Even though it was a 'flat' 100 I was still pleased to have done it at 19.5mph Av.

I was too glad for the stop but that only refuelled everybody else for the final 25 mile back to Stamford Bridge and things didnt let up.

It made a change as Rob says to head south but the views are a bit industrial at times, however a strangely satifying day out and amazingly didnt feel that bad at the finish.

Wont one be out for a few weeks with trip to York Races next Saturday and the L'Etape looming just 2 weeks away.

Thanks for the ride.

Jon

[Darren N]

3 B’s for me too. Grabbed a seat on the turbo bus driven by the H-Leaguers & Boy Racers,…hung in there on the early lumpy stuff, then went through a bad patch in the windy flatlands outside Goole when I ran out of petrol and fell off the bus. Miraculously though, an impromptu pit-stop emerged almost immediately in the form of the Whitgift Church Fete!…the lovely ladies on the stalls swung into action like a synchronised racing team: watered us (in the church kitchen!), re-fuelled us and merrily waved us off! 6 miles later, we caught up with the turbo bus again enjoying lunch at the Goole Waterways Museum. Feeling revitalised, I jumped back on the bus, made my way to the back seat, and hung on all the way back to Stamford Bridge.

The thank you list is substantial: Many thanks to Mark & Family for organising a great day out; to Rob for navigating the majority of the way round and keeping a watchful eye on those of us in the cheap seats; to Mal who (should be added to Rob’s list above) financed me through the first snack stop at the Humber due to a lack of change (I haven’t forgotten I still owe you some shrapnel!); and of course to the half-dozen big-engined bus drivers at the front who towed us back to Stamford Bridge at breakneck speed. A sensational day out, and very pleased to enjoy an exhilarating ride on the turbo bus! Afterwards, staggered home, 138 miles on the clock d2d, put myself through the industrial cleaner, plonked myself in the backyard and cracked open a well-earned cold one…magic!

[HowardD]

Another 3Ber here.

Really enjoyed the day, great to make the (re)acquaintance of so many fellow Cliftonites.

Many thanks to Mal C for stepping in and buying me lunch when the Rab C Glaswegian at the cafe counter refused my note.

And, of course, I too would like to say a big thank you to MarkA and family for doing all the organizing.

Here're the stats/route followed for the group I was in:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39236658

[At the back as usual]

Just the 3 Bridges for myself on Saturday. Arrived at Stamford Bridge and after a quick look around I came to the conclusion that it was going to be a fast one. Decided to go with the 1st group with the thinking that if I can't hang in with them that there would be a group following up. A steady pace on the way out was soon ramped up beyond the 25mph mark and I don't think it came much below that for the whole day, not that I had the chance to check my speedometer as I was concentrating on staying with the group. Started to feel the legs getting heavy coming into Goole and was glad of the pit stop. Some reassurance from Nick (Koi Man) to hang on to someone's wheel on the way back into Stamford Bridge was greatly received and that's exactly what I did.

I have to reiterate the points already brought out by others above -
thanks to Mark A and family for the organisation, to Rob for keeping us all on the right track, to the host of people who took heroic turns on the front, I could only manage a couple of miles into that awful headwind after Humber Bridge and a big one to all who were in the peleton that kept me going throughout the day. D2D was over 120 miles and like Darren I too cracked open a few well deserved tinnies once I had recovered sufficiently

[Cam B]

I did a LVRC (the As and Bs race) at Pocklington on Sunday along with Paul M I think ? (apologies for not getting chance to say a proper hello before the start). After getting 'shelled out' after only 15 mins in the first couple of LVRC races I had done earlier in the season I was hoping for better things this time. Finishing in group at Tockwith gave me a bit more confidnce. On a sunny but very windy moring, this 50 mile course entailed 5 laps starting at Warter village. I understand that in previous years this race had run on quite poorly maintained roads resulting in a number of punctures. This time they had changed route and the roads were in pretty good nick all the way round. Apart from the sharpish climb just out of Warter the most difficult stretch was from Huggate to top of Kilnwick Percy Hill. There was a very strong crosswind/headwind/then cross wind again which slowed things down considerably. To combat this, an 'echelon' ( I think this is the correct term) took shape. A group of about 6 got away after a lap or two. I managed to stay in the the second group of about 10. Some attempts were made to chase down the the leading group to no avail. There was some degree of cooperation but things became much more ragged every time we hit the wind. An ill-time clearing of my throat and spitting lost me at least one friend in that particular group as the spittle went directly over my left shoulder as soon as it left my mouth. A 'yelp' from my right suggested that one rider may have recieved this direct in the face.
On lap 3 down the 'fast bit' a shout of "close the f......g gap" went up as the gap betwen me and another rider and group of about 5 stretched to a couple of bike lengths. The rider turned to me and indicated that he did not like being sworn at. As I was protesting my innocence the same shout went up again and was none too friendly ("heat of the battle"). I have to hand it to him though he was certainly right, since being in group made it considerably easier going up the bank to Huggate this time round. I had made an error of taking this rise far too quickly first time round and had to work v. hard to get back on.
Unfortunately lost contact middway round penultimate lap - predictably on the windy stretch. I took a tad too long a turn at the front than I had the legs for before other riders in the group swept past me and I could not get back on. I spent the the last lap and half in isolation. Did pass one rider and finished in about 18th. Although there were 40 entries not quite sure how any actually toed the line for As and Bs. I hung around a bit at finish but no-one else came in. I think some other riders had dropped out. Not sure if Paul was in that breakaway group or dropped out. All in all a reasonably satisfying day. Just left to rue missed chance to finish in group. Important lessons learnt for the day: Drink more and earlier ( a little and often) as was deperately thirsty in latter stages and most importantly always "close those f......g gaps!"
As Phil B has said before, these LVRC races are definitely worth look if you are over 40 and fancy a challenge. They are competative and generally friendly. After "dipping my toe in the water" with bike racing this year, would certainly look to do a few more of these next season.

[m-k-lewis@msn.com]

3Bs for me as well, though a slightly different day to that described so far!

I spent the day with the ladies and gentlemen of Bernard's very civilised "grupetto". We made stately progress out to the Humber bridge, with one or two Bernardesque course corrections on the way. Coming in to Swanland, I had arranged to meet some relatives on Main Street, so plodded off the front so as not to hold everyone up. Sure enough the relly's were there, we had a chat and waited for the gang to catch up so I could tag along again. 10 mins later, after congratulating myself for what must have been a much more impressive turn of speed than I had at first thought, in order to have opened up such a gap, I realised that another of Bernard's "course corrections" had probably kicked in!

I headed off for the bridge alone hoping to catch them. Got my card stamped and headed for the cafe. No sign! Went over the bridge resigned to an afternoon alone, when I caught site of a group disappearing off the other side of the bridge in the WRONG direction! I took a chance based on past experience of our route following and sure enough when I caught them up it was Bernard's group! Another "course correction" had taken them to a quieter spot for lunch.

Back on course we headed off for the next official cafe stop at the waterways museum, with only a couple of icecream breaks in between! Then it was straight (well almost) back to Stamford Bridge in time for Tea and Medals!

Great day out. I really enjoyed it! Many thanks to Mark and Family for organising and to Bernard for guiding us round. Thanks to the rest of the group for their company.


Mark

PS we never arrived after 1800h! It was 1745h at the latest!?

[Cyan Skymoos]

3 b's Nice and flat just they way I like it, I don't think we had much tailwind or perhaps it was just an headwind everytime I went to the front.
Nick was strong and probably spent the most time on the front.
Best bike of the day was the Bianchi closely followed by the green Trek.

[IanH]

Like each of the above posts have said it was a good days riding with quite a good sized peloton staying together well.

Talking to Dr Dave before the start he was telling me that he may not go with the first group due to training a bit less recently due to a bit of an injury niggle as I was telling him I was on a night out in town the night before so I may join him but as usual as the first group left the HQ Dave and I went with them and really glad I did cos as the day went on I felt a lot better, thanks to everyone for their very good company with a special thanks to Broomwagon for buying my usual beans on toast and a coffee at the museum to save me giving a tenner to the guy serving who had no change, my round next Steve.

Thanks to Mark and his hard working team for making it all happen the cakes at the end were really welcome.

Ian H

[Dr Dave]

3Bs for me as well. I've not been out as much recently - sore knee and then lower back. The bathroom scales confirm that there's just too much me at the moment - and boy did I know it on Saturday! At times I was chewing the bars just to sit in and as for taking a turn on the front - it simply wasn't going to happen (unless everyone else was going to be happy at 17mph) so apologies for not doing my bit.

I'm now suitably chastened and have a training plan in place if I can get my various aches and pains to collude in regaiing some semblance of fitness before the Ryedale Rumble and the restoration of regular 'H' races in the autumn.

Thanks to Mark and family, Rob and to the bunch-engines who did have the legs to tow us all round.

[mal]

With apologies to Isaac Newton and some 11th/12th century religious bod - "if I have ridden faster it is behind the wheels of giants".

Saturday's tour des trois ponts saw an all time fastest average speed, excluding my short but occasionally speedy TT days of forty odd years ago. Sitting, well in reality hanging grimly, on to a succession of rear wheels, and much to my surprise, I kept company with the aforementioned rouleurs de grande vitesse and much to my delight fetched up at the village hall with the same bunch I left with.

I would have loved to have done more on the front, but honest guys, I was, "as they say in cycling terms", on the rivet just to keep up at the back - so "chapeau" to all of you who pushed the pace along at the front.

Thanks to Mark for organising it all and especial thanks to the holder of the signing in stamp who endorsed my brevet card first, and one minute earlier than everybody else, which technically makes me the winner!

[bernard turgoose]

The route corrections were done just to make some parts of the ride a little safer, hence missing the A63 junction after N. ferriby, the rest with Mark tee'd up at the lunch stop worked pretty much as the route, did manage a total of 107.5 miles at 15.8mph with an official arrival of 17.34, courtesy of our stats lady Elaine. Well done everybody & especially Mark & Liz for a well organised day.
Bernard

[ClaireG]

OK, so it is obvious to me now that those who rode the 100mile+ of the 3 Bridges Event have recovered more quickly than those of us who grovelled the Club 25 mile Championship on Sunday morning! Their tales make cycling sound so pleasant, enjoyable and rewarding……and so soon posted after the w/e – surely their recovery time exposes their snugly ride (I really am joking now, honest!!)

11 of us testers (testers = another word for cycling time triallists) (bless me, touring God, for I have sinned) really did grovel on the A168, 25 mile Otley TT course, on what would have been a perfectly agreeable Sunday morning IF you weren’t putting yourself and bicycle against the clock!!

However, there is that strange satisfaction of putting oneself ‘on the line’ and there being absolutely nowhere to hide (and we can certainly vouch for that!).

The ‘Clifton Academy’ schedules, provided by our chief & mentor, Sir Scully, were soon thrown to the wind (ho ho) and it was one of those days where perseverance and a refusal to give in were going to reap the rewards.

We, unfortunately, rode for a far longer time into the teeth of a cruel headwind and sadly, for not so long a time with a roaring tailwind! I shall be thankful, however, that it was not the roar of articulated lorries, this bit of the A168 being almost devoid of traffic (sadly also of any wind-reducing hedges, trees etc etc!).

Suffice to say that it was heroic of all 11 Clifton CC riders to start and all 11 riders to finish! Huge admiration to Jon Cocker and Heather Tuffs who deservedly took the Club Championship titles. Congratulations!

Rob took plenty photos, hopefully soon to be posted on the website, my favourite being our team one after the event – and you can’t even tell that Dave H has just consumed the entire trolley of cakes from the HQ!

Looking forward to a rest and our 7 year old’s birthday party this weekend…

ClaireG

[paulM]

"I did a LVRC (the As and Bs race) at Pocklington on Sunday along with Paul M I think"

Yep that was me - I wish it wasn't but it was.
Managed 2 of the 5 laps before losing interest and heading for the hq. To be honest I was feeling a bit under the weather and felt and still feel like I'm coming down with something? Its a good circuit though and another day I reckon I could do a ride on it but LVRC races are frustrating with a small number of 1st cat level riders sharing the spoils each week and nothing for anyone else. Good ride Cameron - 6th in the A cat and 18th in the A/B group. Work that one out - kind of suggests age is no barrier. There is a report/placings on the LVRC website.
Congrats to those in the 25 or 3B - in hindsight the latter would have been a better choice for me!