Easter weekend Roundup

[Dr Dave]

Looks like everyone is still out riding so I'll kick off again:

The Inters had a 'kiss and make up' ride out to Glaisdale on Saturday. The weather did us proud with broken cloud and plenty of sunshine - hooray!
11 riders left the square promptly at 10;15 (should we try and make this a regular cut-off time for departure?); Ian H, Dave C, John B, Darren N, Karl, Graham, Jon G, Eric, Allison, Neil S, myself and a new (to me at least) rider named Ed. Out via Flaxton, Amotherby and Pickering (where the usual bank Holiday traffic caused a slight delay) and then up the drag towards Stape. Knowing there were a few hills to tackle we made steady rather than rapid progress with all taking turns to share the load. Ian and Neil turned L at the Cropton junction needing to get back (great to see both lads back out with the Inters - I'm sure they'll soon be towing us all the way round in a couple of weeks). The remainder headed on across the moors towards Egton Bridge on another of my favourite roads with undulating gradients and excellent views over the moors and out to the sea. After the steep plummet into Egton Bridge we skirted round to Glaisdale where John B again demonstrated his prowess at the 'steep gradient tumble into the gulley' manoeuvre, this time enhanced by the aerial front wheel variation. Fortunately this time no harm was done (at least, no physical damage was sustained ). Then came the grovel up Caper Hill where Eric, Ed and Karl levitated up the road whilst we lesser earthbound mortals crawled at walking pace in their wake. A quick regrouping at the top and then a brief dip and sprint up the other side had us at the top of the drop into Rosedale with the chimney taunting us from across the dale.
Lunch saw a brief dalliance with the prospect of the chimney quickly brushed aside apart from Ed who announced that he hadn't come this far to merely skulk off back to York but would tackle the beast en-route to a few more ascents before turning for home after reaching Thirsk. The remainder of us - suitably humbled - took the easier (aka more rational) option of heading south through Appleton, Great Edstone, Nunnington, Farlington and eventually to York.
Many thanks to all for excellent company - I hope the scenery was adequate compensation for the sore legs

Next Saturday is the Thixendale Spirograph with Rob's 200K Park Rash ride on the Sunday. I imagine these will provide all the miles an Inters regular could wish for. Anyone doing both?

[Darren N]

I wanted to thank Dr Dave for leading an awesome ride on Saturday, I think we probably crossed the qualifying threshold of Big Day Out into Huge Day Out.

The day began with me freezing my butt off in the Square, it really was brass monkey stuff for the team huddle before we took off, I had mistakenly expected it to be warmer. I was seriously underdressed and harboured thoughts of dying of hyperthermia on the top of the Moors. Luckily, it got sunnier and warmer as we rode deeper into the Moors – don’t think I’ll get away with that again though as it normally does the opposite - and the view of the sea from the tops was majestic.

We did some serious climbing too, about 6.5k feet’s worth. The climb out of the ford on the way across the Moors got the serious climbing stats ticking over, and of course anything within a bull’s roar of Egton Bridge is going to cause damage. Glaisdale wasn’t exactly a stroll in the park, and I’d forgotten how hard Caper Hill is, after having grunted up that a couple of years ago in the Ryedale Rumble. It didn’t help that I was on the front as we travelled along Glaisdale and could see the ‘wall’ ahead in the distance ascending into the heavens. I felt a bit crampy as we edged towards the top and I was somewhat relieved afterwards to hear the big guys talking about ‘twitchy hammies’ as well. After the descent down into Rosedale, I for one wasn’t queuing for tickets to have a go at the Chimney across the road.

The group rode quite nicely too, finally heeding the big lesson that if someone wants to stretch their legs off the front, there’s no need for the rest of the group to chase! Dr Dave mentioned John’s ‘lay down’, well it would be remiss of me not to mention the rally driving performance of Dr Dave himself as he descended the bank before Farlington. He hit gravel at serious pace and had the bike sideways both ways before driving out of it - an absolutely sensational recovery! I would have stood up and applauded him myself had I not been barrelling down the same bank at pace immediately behind him.

Thanks again to Dr Dave for a great day, I’m sure we will benefit over the next few weeks from having such a huge ride in our legs. Not sure which ride I’ll do next w/e, happy to take bribes. Could do both, just waiting for Rob to offer the extra points for doing them both in the same day! See some of you next w/e, whichever day that is.

D.

[Karl M]

Yes Dr. Dave gave us a lovely ride into the Moors. Other highlights were:
# Passing Easter picnickers at different beauty spots in the Moors- they’ve driven to one spot in their tin cans, whereas we saw all the best spots with our windows fully down.
# Short steep climbs that almost had the front wheel lifting off the ground!
# Impressive riding by two recent newcomers- Ed and Richard. The secret to their strength: Have a picture of a loved one on the bike’s top tube. Or an ‘e-cigarette’ in the back pocket on a low 0.4mg of nicotine setting! (well done to that guy).

It seems that the Intermediates’ shared goal each week is to have 7-15 riders genuinely enjoying a good time.
We surely did that with a big ride on Saturday.

(P.S. Wonder if Froome and Wiggins would sign a Clifton jersey in July? Or sign an opening plaque for the new velodrome which is currently having the foundations laid?).

[Jon G]

Indeed it was a good route picked by Dave on Saturday. Tough but very scenic. Did a similar route a couple of years ago and remembered some of the route so knew what was coming, including the 33% downhill bit called limber hill . I kept it quiet on the day but last time i went down it I over shot the bend at the bottom and ended up in the grass verge. No harm done just comical thankfully. Shaun W came back looking for me to see if was alright. Negoiated it this time without drama. Also caper hill like Darren rembered it from the ryedale rumble and had wiped it from my memory of how tough it was.

I would also like to mention that the drafting assistance I get on the return leg each week from the rest of the group is greatly appreciated knowing that I ride back home which adds extra miles. So thanks guys.

Jon