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I had mentally pencilled in Rob's Lincoln ride when I first saw it trailed. It has the makings of an epic and something I'd like to do. I'm looking forward to seeing how they got on. But for me fitness just hasn't come this year so I had to be realistic - it's humiliating and no fun for anyone else when you can't hold onto wheels with 80 miles in your legs but still 90 to go. Still as one opportunity closes another opens and seeing an MTB ride planned from Sutton bank I thought I'd give that a go.

So very generously on my part I left my good lady to look after the kids and tidy the house all day, loaded the MTB in the car and set off. As it happened, I passed the Lincoln squad on their way out passing Elvington airfield. This confirmed my decision had been the right one as the squad was heavily populated the usual suspects who eat babies for breakfast and ride a 100 miles at 20 mph before they really start putting the hammer down.

I arrived at Sutton visitors' centre in 35 minutes (l never knew it was so close) and settled down with a flask of coffee whilst smiling Clifton riders arrived at intervals. Soon we were off - up hill and down dale. These days whenever I go uphill on my road bike I'm always looking at my cassette in disbelief that there really are no easier gears left - at least on the MTB that doesn't usually happen (I fall over before I get to the easiest one), there is always a gear or two left which flatters a fat guy for whom fifty is approaching at an alarming rate (does anyone know to whom I write and complain, I'm sure I can't really be anywhere near that old). However, I have to complain about the amount of mud on the ride (I understand that MTBers love the stuff). Having mounted a brand new cassette specially for the ride (which looked so good out of the box I was almosted tempted to put it on a chain and wear it around my neck as bling and pass myself off as a hip hop star), I can confirm it now, looks like it's done 3000 winter off road miles. Still it was a great ride with superb scenery and excellent company. Even my obligatory MTB "off" wasn't bad and better than my usual fall in the car park before the ride. Though my new chain didn't get on well with my worn granny ring. Thanks Richard for identifying the mechanical reason and thanks for not mentioning the non-mechanical reason - that I'm crap at riding an MTB.

The bit back from Boltby with a tale wind along the Cleveland way was an absolute blast and it was great to tuck in at the back and watch off road riding done with aplomb. Alas the visitor centre arrived all too soon, still better to finish still wanting more than to have had more than enough.

Thanks for the great day out ladies and gents.

Lincoln Roll of Honour: IanH, Steen, Andy, DrDave, PeteP, Darren.
We always plan one long flat ride each year. In the past we've done Spurn Head, which is a great adventure, we've been to Cleethorpes, though maybe won't again for a while.... Lincoln route worked well. Lots of new, quiet lanes. Terrain was pleasantly rolling on the way out, pan flat on the return.

Everyone worked fantastically well, taking long turns on the front and looking out for each other. Hero of the day was definitely Ian, returning after his broken back and broken shoulder of 2013. Thanks to Steen for the navigational help. We were home at 8pm, with 171 miles on the clock, with a moving average of a gnat's todger under 18mph.

I can promise you something very different for next Sunday.......

Just to echo Rob's comments and pass on thanks to my fellow Lincolneers. Rob and Steen performed navigation miracles with hardly a wrong wheel's rotationworth of error. Everyone took turns and the miles ticked past.

My main issue was with the David:Saddle interface, a better padded item with a central void/recess might be better suited to these rides.......

Can't make next Sunday unfortunately but have really been enjoyed my exploits with the Sunday club-run and would recommend that if any Saturday regulars have been considering a Sunday outing that they should act on the impulse - you won't regret it.

On Saturday did the Yorks Coast 20 mile tt. It was a lumpy course and starting with a steep climb from Boynton up to Grindale, then along to Burton Fleming, Wolds Newton, Foxholes. a long drag up to Octon. Really fast for the last 5 miles with some downhill and tailwind. exciting!.

On Sunday did the Adventure x event starting in Dalby Forest and finishing there 100 k's later. It was an interesting course with a mixture of forest roads, single track, technical, tarmac roads, railway tracks and a bit of red route. Route took us to Langdale, Saltersgate, Fylingdales, Sneaton, Stainesacre, Robin Hoods Bay, Burniston, Forge Valley, Wykeham, Troutsdale, Dalby. Really enjoyed the event, well organized, arrowing superb. Saw Dave Ianson at the finish but I dodn't see any other Cliftonites.

I am organising the SPOCO with IanH on 26th June, Coneysthorpe, looking for 2 or 3 marshals. If you would like to marshal let me know or put your name down on the spreadsheet (link on weekly email).

Cheers

Dave

I just wanted to add to Rob and Dr Dave’s thoughts - the Lincoln ride was a great fun day out with everyone in great spirits throughout. I didn’t start the day with the breakfast menu proposed by Broomo above, preferring instead to stick with the regulation cereal and toast. The temperatures stayed cooler than forecast all day but thankfully the rain stayed away.

The run down to the Humber Bridge went by in a jiffy. I do have to recount my puncture story at the Swanland garden centre café though. After a quick coffee, we were riding out of the car park when I heard my back tyre go - I’d picked up a slither of glass. I stopped outside the main entrance with Dr Dave and Ian H on hand to assist. The comedy started when I pierced my dodgy thumb on the cog so that everything thereafter was covered in blood. After snapping a tyre lever, I pierced a second tube by not finding the glass shard in the tyre. A kind bloke who lived across the road then offered me his larger hand pumps which were supposed to be fantastic but actually didn’t work! Dr Dave then ordered me to stop the bleeding from my thumb before I ran dry and he took over the manhandling of the third tube. By this time, the guys up the road had returned wondering what was going on so there was a growing crowd slowly gathering outside the main entrance of the garden centre. This soon attracted the attention of the ladies in the café who came running across the car park thinking there had been a terrible accident. The growing hysteria was then attracting its own attention and was sucking in other curious garden centre visitors. With the café ladies in full flight, the only thing missing at this point was for the ambulance to turn up! I’m sure that would have represented a record for the most fuss ever made over a Clifton puncture,…unless someone has a better story? I don’t think I’ll be signed up to Rob’s F1 puncture repair team any time soon. Even Steen was kind enough to have a sympathy puncture late on with a view to offering me some tips!

After the Humber Bridge, we approached Lincoln from the East side via Caistor and Market Rasen. In Lincoln itself, we tried one café in the busy cobbled streets but were soon kicked out when the manager realised we were leaning our bikes on the front of his shop – Sacrilege! We ended up in the Bookstop Café by ourselves - probably doubling their turnover for the day! It was a café in a 1,000 year old cellar near the Cathedral and was thought to be one of the oldest dwellings in Europe. Inside was a library setting with operatic background music – I tried to get Andy G to read us a story over lunch or break into Nessun Dorma but he was having none of it.

After a civilised lunch, we then headed out of Lincoln in a North Westerly direction through Gainsborough, before traversing the forgotten lands along the east bank of the River Trent. We finally crossed the river at Gunness and picked up the 3 Bridges route to Goole. I hate that stretch as it has its own permanent headwind locked in a micro-climate and sure enough I had a bit of a crampy moment. I quickly stretched it out and got to Goole for a handy refuelling at the Co-op. We then literally raced along the B1228 from Howden back to York. (We noticed that AndyG was getting twitchy on this section so we skilfully managed to cage him in on the gutter ). Normally SAD describes those who get depression from Winter but for cyclists on a long ride, it translates as Sore A*se Disorder and I think we all had various degrees of SAD on the final stretch.

As Rob said, we got back to York at 8.00pm with 170 miles on the clock, exactly as advertised. When we crossed the A64, Rob shouted that “we were all officially awesome!” and I’m taking that as fact given that it was uttered by the Grand Master of Epic club runs himself. I agree with Dr Dave that the Sunday Club runs are always run off in great spirits and really do represent a fun day out. I agree with Rob's point about Ian too, well done indeed. Huge thanks go to Rob and Steen for successfully navigating us through the nowhere lands so that we all were able to enjoy a great day.



D.

Excellent write-ups. To briefly add to Broomwagons’, our group for this Sunday's monthly Clifton MTB ride was: Paul C, Rich and Steph S, Jeff, Steve W, Simon and Hannah W, Phil A, Alan R, Chris H and Steve R.

As the “ride guide” for the day I was frankly the least knowledgeable MTB’er of the group. So the natural move at the start was to lay out the OS map and ask how the proposed route could be improved. All credit to Paul C and Simon W as they knew a few tweaks, giving us an enjoyable 30 miles from Sutton Bank to a café stop at Osmotherley, arriving back 6 hours later.

Of course the route is only part of the fun. What really made the day was the great company.
The next MTB ride is Paul C's on July 20th and is in the Dales so that’ll be a nice change.