Clifton CC

...and a report back from the other group!

About eighteen of us - mostly old hands but a few faces we only see once in a while - hello AndyJ and IanH! With a group that size statistically you're probably going to have a few woes - we had one puncture just beyond Tockwith (with a punctured spare tube just to add to the frustrations), Broomwagon's front wheel started making noises like a knackered food mixer and then we had one slow puncture come to light approaching Sheriff on the return leg. But everyone waited patiently when required and got rolling swiftly afterwards. It all stayed together pretty well, although there was still a tendency to split into two when those on the front didn't allow riders held up at junctions or by oncoming cars to catch up. There seemed to be some sort of collective inability to avoid ramping up the pace which meant that we gave up the paceline experiment halfway up the A168 after a couple of brushes with 25mph.

The numbers (which do not lie) - average for the out-of-town chunk was around 19.7mph and Normalised Power around 210W, both of which I reckon are a bit pacy for November (although the romp up the A168 and the later three-up with the slow puncture may have skewed things upwards a bit!). Thanks to all though, and everyone's comments welcome.

Hi. Thanx for picking me up in crayke.altho I only stayed with yeh group for around 10 miles or so before heading home.of the 3 training rides I've had.today's had to be the best for my ability.the 30 second front man is in my opinion the best for us less experienced riders.I for 1 feel that I would benefit from this 8,50 group in future.well done to all that made it happen

I still think the steadier group should go off last - giving those who fancy having a crack at riding with the faster group the comfort of knowing if they get dropped there'll be a group behind to slip back to.

I quite liked the extension of the training route we did today, it's a road I know well and kept the undulations going a bit longer but with nothing too serious - 75 miles for me by the time I got home.

Sorry for not stopping with the last puncture especially as you'd all waited for me , but giving it all I could to nail myself to John's wheel up the rise before Sheriff, I just couldn't help it.

It split after sheriff hutton, I darted up the drag into Sheriff Hutton (I have to dart up things like that, I hate evil drags like that and just want them over and done with) then coasted till people were on then we seemed to get moving and it was apparent there was only half the group and the decision was made to keep chugging along, but sounds like the group behind was a reasonable size so it was another fast/slow group and we were taking it steadyish.

Was a longer than normal training ride for me with 112 miles door to door. The last 40 miles was horrible but I want to get some miles in and shave some weight off, not sure if I'll make a Sunday club run this week I can hardly walk down the stairs.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/241899329

Cheers for the ride today people.

I'd just like to say that for a group of eighteen riders, all of different abilities that I thought it was tidy. Its never going to be as smooth as the pro's make it look but they're not dodging potholes every ten yards and they are all at a similar level (the clean ones anyway).
Pace line, to be fair the A168 is difficult to get a smooth line out going, its constantly changing gradients are always going to expose who's strong and who's struggling.

Was good to see everyone again.

Andy

Good ride today in the second group. The pace did get a bit fiesty on the A168 but it was good learning experience of through and off. I slowed up at Sheriff Hutton for the puncture but was told to go with the group, unfortunately it was a bit late by then as they were off up the road. Thankfully Rick caught me up and helped me back on. Also thanks to the guy (sorry don't know your name ) who dropped back before Strensall to help us both back on.

I'm just wondering if some of the faster/stronger guys might welcome the option of setting off first in a 'faster' group like last year? I sensed (and heard) that a few might have been finding the pace a little too easy today.

First training ride for a few years for me, went off in the second group and really enjoyed it, thanks guys.

Dave Cook and I left the group at Brandsby to head for a cafe stop in Helmsley and add a few miles with it been such a nice day, had a Bradley Wiggins type (SMIDSY) incident in Ampleforth with a car failing to see us as he came out of a side road colliding with my rear wheel and pushing me forward on his front bumper for what seemed a while before he saw what was happening luckily I managed to stay upright but the wheel was buckled a bit but we managed to carry on with our ride .

Rode with Cath for a while from Flaxton nice to see her back on the bike after a lengthy lay off.

Ian H

Good training ride today, nice riding by all and as a whole it was pretty tidy. Thanks to Andy and Phil for hanging around when the slow puncture finally went too soft, a decent three up on the way back. Dead flat as I reached home, opportune!

For those interested a few stats from me:
Avg power 179w
Normalised power 221w (higher than Phils as I weigh more!)
Max power 737w

Avg moving speed 19.7mph

Avg cadence 94 rpm (i do spin high this time of year!)

Good ride again today in the second group, pace was generally okay but as others have said it got a bit fiesty on the old A1.

For some reason I had a tiny bladder today and had to stop twice, cue to hard efforts to get back on, but figured that was the price I would pay for being out boozing last night.

At closing in on 20 riders as we left York I would maybe think that we are still a bit heavy on numbers, 10-12 feels like a reasonable number to avoid causing too much grief with cars (although most were okay today!).

What were general thoughts on the group size today?

I went off in the first group today.To me this was a perfect training effort new riders or not and i prefer to do 3 hours in company than on my own..Reubens says it has to be a "training ride" but even real steady that is what it is for me ATM.The young riders did not get dropped which was the main aim when we set off and they will all know a bit more about riding in a group faster than on their own.Only Crayke split it as said and really not much vary in pace as riders went through.One thing is just because today went well the group do not have to start increasing pace yet.! Maybe it felt a bit steady but if people want a faster ride everyone is free to ride in any group as will happen in weeks to come.Good ride.82 miles@16.8mph 4h 35mins total so even steadier on the way in to York and home.cheers

Good ride today. Enjoyed it much more than last week which was probably due to the reduced numbers. I agree that the group was a few riders too large, but it was manageable and I got more than two turns at the front!

Pace on the a168 was too quick. I'm attempting the (probably now outdated) training method of keeping my heart rate below zone 3 at this stage of the season. I accept that on the hills it may creep above this, but it shouldn't on the flat.

I managed to keep it steady on all the climbs; however, at Sheriff, once Will had shot off and someone had whizzed past my right shoulder, I gave in to temptation and tried to keep up. Bit annoyed with myself really.

Anyway, kept my average heart rate nice and low at 133 and cadence nice and high at 94 so happy with that.

Martin

I went out with Reuben's ten to niners. I have to say as an intro to group riding it hit the spot. Anyone who hasn't ridden in a decent sized group before got a bit of everything- 2 up riding on the way out, through and off on the A168 and on the way back into town. No one got dropped, including several juniors (at least I think they were juniors, but everyone looks young compared to me!), and everyone managed turns on the front (although that bit's not so important- if people want to sit in it's not a problem).

I did wonder if we should have lifted the pace just a little after Crayke to give the new people a taste of how it feels to push on with tired legs (as that's where the real training benefit starts to kick in) but actually the average pace wasn't too shoddy for this time of year- 55 miles for me at an ave 18 mph.

Well done to Reuben for taking on the mantle of chief cat herder, getting such a mix of riders out and back without mishap is commendable.

I actually think this is the best mix- slowest group off early, fastest last and anyone in between, in between!

Not out next week (going to see how my daughter is drinking away my hard-earned cash at uni) but will be out the week after and happy to join the ten to niners again if needs be...

I was out with the 8.50 group and really enjoyed it. Pace seemed a tad slow at the start but it turned out to be just right once them legs were a bit tired. Anyone who wanted to test himself (or the others?) had his chance on the way up to Crayke.

I will definitely stick with this group the next few times to ease my way back into training. I don't know much about winter training plans but I wouldn't have thought that the pace needed to be a lot quicker at this time of the year anyways, there's a long winter ahead (yay!).

Great initiative and well organised! Thank you!

Nigel i had thought that as well but then what would have happened is people would be dropped or gaps getting bigger and we would wait so nobody would get anything out of it.Maybe it was wise to go like that until everyone is sure of what they are doing.

You're right Tim, Reuben called it right. I discussed whether we should lift it a bit but he said no and it was the right call. The speed was perfect for people to get used to the group stuff, and I really enjoyed it, had a good laugh as well. Perhaps as a thank you we could have a whip round and buy Reuben some proper overshoes