Clifton CC

Right should put in a match (sorry, "ride") report seeing as I agreed to take one group today. Although I know the way, I'm very grateful to Mike M who's experience i needed when the group got a touch untidy out of Buttercrambe. We managed to sort ourselves out pretty well and kept a decent pace. I haven't got any accurate match stats but think we probably averaged about 19mph? I missed the loop of the TT circuit to come back with Mike G who wasn't feeling too well. Full ride stats anyone? Hope the other group was OK?

http://app.strava.com/activities/35946931

Some match stats...
Ave. speed 19.6
Roughly 50 miles

Speed seemed to have ramped up noticeably today, I know its now Jan but it seem a bit more chaotic and faster than a couple of weeks ago.

Stats from me
Avg Speed: 31.2 (Full loop, forgot to lap it leaving town)
Total distance: 81.6km

Given it is one of the hillier efforts the average speed is higher than anything that we have done on the flat routes thus far. Just saying is all.

Cheers

Sharpy

Err yeah, so all i can really say is sorry to Cam for dragging my sorry carcus along between Malton and Sheriff Hutton
Think i'll be giving the easterly route a miss in future so nobody has to wait for Sally slow coach here

A good, tight ride from Group 1 today and nicely tidied up by Pete at Buttercrambe - the key point is that the majority rode ‘tightly’, took turns and rode consistently, so speed is irrelevant...as it will inevitably increase as we move closer to the season

How do you think I felt then Fiona.lol.enjoyed the ride.thanx.kept getting a shock when I looked at my speedo between the point I joined the steadier group all the way to malton.fastest pace I've done on the training rides.my legs were shot just before 5 of us got to sheriff but still had bulmer bank to get up and castle howard on my route home.ouch is what my legs were screaming to me.

Yeah, group 1 was surprisingly quick today but without leaving behind a trail of bodies so we must've done something right. Finished with 72 miles at nearly 20mph after me and the boy chucked a loop in. Hence I am in a box and don't know what day it is anymore. I guess in another month or so as the racing season approaches it will go up a notch but most of those in that group today looked as though they could handle it. Good riding.

Nice run out today with the 2nd group. Such a difficult route to keep everyone together so early in the year!

18.2mph/1,846ft/50.2 miles/243W (Powercal)

Andy

Phew! My first training ride for AGES. Haven't been on the bike much either so was a bit apprehensive.
Group 2 for Will and I - think group one would have been a bit of a stretch to say the least! Anyway, felt surprisingly good on the climbs, and at Malton found myself in a group of 6 at the front. Cam gallantly sent us on and held back for the others so the second group sort of split there.

Had a bit of a look around and wasn't entirely sure what I was doing with these boys! Martin, Will, Richard, Mike and Greg were Ll going strong but I held on until we were part way into the lap of the 10, where (as I suspected) the wheels came off. . I limped to Strensall & Will towed me home.

Good ride though, felt tidy and a fast but manageable pace for us. 50 odd miles at about 18.5/19mph - not too shabby given the lumps!

I got dropped at the end of the 10 lap, just as the super steady ride came past (having come the direct way) and joined up to form one massive Greg-avoiding peloton, so you weren't the only one to fall off the back of the 'slightly steady' ride!

Fiona wrote:Err yeah, so all i can really say is sorry to Cam for dragging my sorry carcus along between Malton and Sheriff Hutton
Think i'll be giving the easterly route a miss in future so nobody has to wait for Sally slow coach here

Wouldn't say that Fiona....You looked strong today and it is a tough route. You certainly struggled less than few others. In hindsight, Andy and I should have waited for you on the flat 10...So sorry about that. I just thought it would be an idea to crank it up a bit at that point. I think if we can ride a bit quicker with tired legs, towards the end of a ride, it has to have a beneficial training effect. Sorry to the few others who were dropped. Difficult to keep everyone together especially after Malton. Only so many times that one can say "knock a mile off" . It looked like a few people were riding well and seemed happy to keep it at that pace (one or two people, I know, are planning to race in March so, quite rightly, want to start stretching their legs!) so seemed reasonable to call a split after Malton. Hopefully, everyone had a good workout and did not have to ride for too long in 'splendid isolation'...I certainly enjoyed the ride anyway...cheers

And the view from the back…..

To be honest the East route is beyond my capability – too old, poor power to weight ratio, inefficient training, insufficient training, lack of ability. Whilst it doesn’t stop me coming along it’s inevitable I’ll get dropped somewhere. I’m ok with that, that’s the way it is.

There was a steady group this week, so with staying out of the wind as much as possible, a bit of yo-yoing and Cam pacing me back on, I was still there by the ramp up on the last climb before Norton. Off the back I went, but it didn’t bother me because naively (it turns out) I thought I’d get back on, on the descent without really pushing it. It wasn’t the case, even peaking at 44mph wasn’t enough to bring the group back though I did hook up with Paul W? We came back together as the group soft pedalled in Malton but I knew I was spent and would go off the back again on the drag after the right turn out of Malton. Is it just me, whilst it doesn’t look steep it always seems one of the hardest bits of that route – maybe it’s the rough surface. So as we hit that drag I settled back into a steady tempo and watched the group disappear around the bend at the top. I wasn’t alone though, Paul W was still with me so when the drag eased off we began to ride together. Looking up the road Cam had decided to sacrifice his training and was riding a steady tempo for a few others who were beginning to form a steadier than the steady group around him. Naturally this was the bit between the teeth for Paul and I and we began to ride – me doing the flat and downward bits and Paul doing the upward bits – we began to make a consistent tempo, so with Cam soft pedalling we joined up before Coneythorpe making a nice group. Somehow Cam seemed to set the tempo just right for me on the two remaining drags so by Terrington bank I was hoping to be something more than just a passenger on the flatter roads into York.

It wasn’t to be though as I got a blow out on Terrington bank. I told everyone to go on, we were on the way back to York anyway. It wasn’t long before Dave and Nigel showed up and ably assisted with the puncture (thanks chaps). It was obvious we’d make a good three up team back to York, though the way Dave annihilated us on the rise up to Sheriff Hutton I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t well up the road with the other groups.

Thanks for the help Cam – I really don’t want you to feel obligated to wait for me at any time in the future though it certainly helped me get more out of the ride than I was expecting.

Really enjoyed the Sat Trg Ride; did not feel too bad after only a couple of shorter rides in Northern Ireland over Christmas; need to get stronger on the hills though! I will be missing the next couple of weeks due to work commitments so i will have to get out the turbo and try not to lose too much!