by craigdabrown
Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:33 am
My usual personal propensity for preposterous punctuality (I'm a bit p'd off with myself) was my downfall on Saturday. Set off, normal time, for the Square. Got to Lendal Bridge and realised that I’d forgotten my rear light so decided to go back home for it. Made it to the Square for 10:02 but the Thixendale Spirographers had already departed, understandably assuming that when I wasn’t at the Square for 10am then I must not be coming along.
IanW then arrived, having cycled in from Stillington, and we decided to do the Spirograph anyway. Just after Stockton, we were joined by Dr. Joe but he’d done a big ride on the Thursday, was still feeling it in his legs and so we were back to a duo as we climbed Kirby Underdale and onto Thixendale.
All went well until we took a wrong turn just before lunch and climbed out past the Robert Fuller gallery instead of one of the other climbs. This got us out of synch with the natural flow of ascents and descents but we pressed on, did the correct climb and arrived at the cafe in Fridaythorpe to find the other riders, a really good mix from the A and K Groups, still in situ. They’d had a couple of punctures and were tackling the route in a slightly different order to us.
As Ian and I were on a different schedule to the other guys, we set off on our own after lunch to tackle the muddiest climb. On reaching the summit, Ian decided he’d had enough of Thixendale for one day, so we agreed that I’d cycle back down to do the final climb and we’d meet up around Leavening before going our separate ways.
In the end, I think I did all the Thixendale climbs but missed one descent and the additional Birdsall stretch, so not quite the full mileage or elevation. About 80 miles, including my false start, and really nice to be out as the weather was mild-ish, dry and there was no wind to speak. Road conditions were pretty dire though with lots of mud and plenty of potholes. We seem to have been allowed either good weather or good road conditions on the Saturday rides this winter. Thanks to Ian for agreeing to join me and putting up with my terrible navigation, I think the Spirograph sends Garmins into meltdown.
IanW then arrived, having cycled in from Stillington, and we decided to do the Spirograph anyway. Just after Stockton, we were joined by Dr. Joe but he’d done a big ride on the Thursday, was still feeling it in his legs and so we were back to a duo as we climbed Kirby Underdale and onto Thixendale.
All went well until we took a wrong turn just before lunch and climbed out past the Robert Fuller gallery instead of one of the other climbs. This got us out of synch with the natural flow of ascents and descents but we pressed on, did the correct climb and arrived at the cafe in Fridaythorpe to find the other riders, a really good mix from the A and K Groups, still in situ. They’d had a couple of punctures and were tackling the route in a slightly different order to us.
As Ian and I were on a different schedule to the other guys, we set off on our own after lunch to tackle the muddiest climb. On reaching the summit, Ian decided he’d had enough of Thixendale for one day, so we agreed that I’d cycle back down to do the final climb and we’d meet up around Leavening before going our separate ways.
In the end, I think I did all the Thixendale climbs but missed one descent and the additional Birdsall stretch, so not quite the full mileage or elevation. About 80 miles, including my false start, and really nice to be out as the weather was mild-ish, dry and there was no wind to speak. Road conditions were pretty dire though with lots of mud and plenty of potholes. We seem to have been allowed either good weather or good road conditions on the Saturday rides this winter. Thanks to Ian for agreeing to join me and putting up with my terrible navigation, I think the Spirograph sends Garmins into meltdown.