Saturday saw me duck out of the Grimpeur in favour of a more local excersion to Bridlington. 4 hours of sunshine and rolling roads.
Sundays - Yorkshire Championships Road Race v. wet with some agreesive riding from local riders in both the Elite race and Juniors paying dividends. Thanks to those that braved the foul weather to marshal, Gill for the cakes, Nick & Daughter for a smooth and professional signing on, my Wife for putting up with the late night phone calls !!!! and the rest of my family for helping out Son=Marshalling, Father=Marshalling, Wife=running cafe, Daughter=running cafe, Mother making cakes Sister in Law=running cafe. If every member had this sort of support for one day of the year just think what would be possible? Special thanks to those who rode out in the rain Phil B, Willy H & Mac he is a legend already putting his hand up for September 7th Road Race.
Sunday morning was not a morning you'd choose to stand marshalling - good show all. How did the Clifton riders get on?
Lots of Clifton riders split into groupettos all over the Dales on Saturday in the Grimpeur. Jon Cocker and Dave Cook disappeared into the distrance at the start never to be seen again. Nick, Helen and Broomwagon came tramming past us in the last couple of hours, on the longer route, and looked to be moving well. Mark did an excellent job helping Andrew round the 140. Brian and Stacey were putting finishing touches to their RAAM prep in the 180. I rode the 180 with Cath, Bernard and Claire. It was a "step up" for all of them and the time limit was always going to be an issue (we eventually beat it by just 9 mins!) Cath and Bernard both had demons to exorcise - Cath's cattlegrid from 2001 and Bernard's abandonment with a bad back a few years later. Proud of all of them - got through well with some seriously gritted teeth - all agreed it was the hardest ride ever. What a route!
I can confirm Sunday wasn't a good day for spectating either. Change of plans left me at a loose end so thought I'd go and give some moral support. All I can say is well done to everybody that was out there - riders and marshalls alike. The Cliftonites looked grim but determined.
Just standing by the roadside was an event in itself. I got involved in some high speed wheel changing, gave my coat and shelter to some guy who dropped out until he got picked up, shoved the stalled lead car out of the way and waved the bunch round it - good job it restarted more or less straightaway. In the end I was so cold and wet I had to go home.
As for riding a bike - well let's say I'll be approaching the White Rose well rested!
I thoroughly enjoyed the 140 grimpeur, although it worked out at 150k!
That start is plain horrific though, what a way to start a long day.
I was flat out by then end, but the weather and the route made it a thoroughly enjoyable day out, navigating sheep and a herd of cattle in the middle of the road that plainly weren't going to shift.
Thanks again to Mark for pulling me round.
I binned the idea of riding out to Sherriff Hutton on Sunday when I woke up with delicate legs and saw the torrents of water running down the road.
Saturday? Wow - what a day! Definitely the hardest ride I have ever done & only the fifth or sixth time in as many years that I've ridden more than 100 miles. Had a fantastic time, couldn't ask for better weather (glad it wasn't on Sunday).
I can't think which was the most memorable bit, there were so many - probably the mad dash from Lofthouse to Pately to make the time limit. The cattlegrid sent a bit of a cold shiver but then it was gone - & thats one Demon out of the way.
Thanks to Rob, Claire & Bernard for making it such a great ride!
Saturday was glorious; the sun shone,there was a light breeze,lots of hills
and pleasant company on the roads.We had a just under 12 hour target time for the 200k route and riding conditions were so favourable we were able to do it and still had time for 2 cafe stops.Special mention for Sean because it only costs £5 to enter and there was route cards( with answers supplied) tea and toast at the start and veggie stew,salad,pudding,tea and much appreciated cold squash at the end. I turn up every year to do 1 of the routes offered and I can't remember having better conditions.
I felt for the riders and marshals on Sunday.Nick and Alice(14) turned up at 8:15 to help with the signing on and as helped was needed, they then stayed and marshalled at Sherriff Hutton.After about 3 hours Nick sent Alice in for a break, she was so wet and cold, but she was back out for the finnish.Despite all this and missing seeing them at Bulmer she said the racing was really inspiring and it had been good to see.
It was a pity about the muck up over the lap bord,resulting in the bunch in the men's race not finnishing especially as Paul was in it.
I worked most of Saturday but decided I couldn't waste the sunshine completely and headed out for a hill sprints session late afternoon - I think it was about the first time my knees have seen the sun this season.
On Sunday, after getting soaked riding up to Sheriff to help with signing-on, I spent the rest of the event in the comfort of the commissaire's car, writing up the event (hopefully it'll make it into The Press, if there weren't too many cats up trees or surprises in crown bowls over the weekend). It was an interesting viewpoint on a race which I've never had before - from nowhere is suffering quite so obvious as from the following car up Bulmer Bank. Mind you, my grey hair quota got a big boost from the ***mph chase up to the front group once we left the bunch about five minutes behind the leaders.
Well done to Paul and Charlie who worked hard, but without success, to try to get the bunch back in contention - and then ultimately missed out on points due to a mix-up about laps remaining. Well done also to all who marshalled; it was a truly foul day. A special mention also to the Sewell family from Fangfoss who I know have joined many of the club's weekend rides - they had dad in the Masters, sons in the Seniors and Juniors and daughter in the Womens events, which must be some sort of regional record?
Knees. If only. My bum had something to say as i went over the first speed bump on the Brompton this morning. How Lance Armstrong ever finished the T de F on a Concor i don't know.
A good p.b for me in a 10m TT on saturday, I did a 22:33.Then sunday I was helping out with bottles at the road race, which depite the weather I enjoyed every bit of it.
SteveWood wrote:A good p.b for me in a 10m TT on saturday, I did a 22:33.Then sunday I was helping out with bottles at the road race, which depite the weather I enjoyed every bit of it.
What 10m TT was this? Was that the hilly route at sherrif hutton or was it somewhere else?
Awesome ride by Steve on Saturday. Congratulations!
Cheers to Woody too for his team support role yesterday. He did everything I could have asked for (apart from a massage, which I did ask for, but for some reason was refused!).
The Grimpeur - rode it on Saturday. I did this ride two years ago with some good training miles in my legs and quite a bit less fat around my stomach. I swore I would never do it again, this is the hardest ride I know. I rode Keith Benton's 300K in less time than it takes me to ride the 200K grimpeur. So it was with some trepidation having done only one ride over hundred miles (and that pretty flat) this year, I turned up on Saturday. Still it really is an epic bike ride and I can think of no quicker way of getting fit.
To cut a long story short the weather was lovely and the scenery is breathtaking. And strangely I did the ride at a slightly faster speed than I did two years ago, no doubt helped by being kindly looked after by Nick and Helen for the last third of the ride.
And I must have enjoyed it more than last time or at least disliked it less because I think I might do it next year too, though not without the ability to climb a bit better - 2 to 3mph on climbs is not nice.
already putting his hand up for September 7th Road Race.