Clifton CC

Despite an afternoon of massive, thundery downpours the 3rd round of the TLI series took place in dry and - almost - calm conditions last night. The usual Clifton presence; I went off in the second main group with Ian, Paul B and Tom. Due to a combination of lack of pace and Cliff's rather bizarre handicapping, we got caught by the scratch group about a lap later. The vague organisation then broke down completely, and this - coupled by many of the fast blokes' unwillingness to take turns on the front - meant we utterly failed to chase down the first groups. This was despite Tom doing some whopping turns on the front, and the average speed being up over 25mph. There was a lively and pointless sprint for 20th. A good night out though.

Bah, I was supposed to be there too, but had family commitments.

Last night saw the 4th round of the series on the flat-with-a-few-lumps Milby circuit, with most of the usual Clifton contingent being split between the first two groups of Cliff's new improved four-group handicap system. Dave C and Broomwagon off in the first group, Ian H, Tom and me in the second. Our lot set off like the clappers, and although the organisation became fragmented as time went by, we caught the first group by midway through the second lap. It all went into a bit of a huddle after that, but we still pressed on, helped by another of Tom's monster turns on the front. I was in about sixth wheel with a mile to go but this year's trademark cramps meant a rather wobbly sprint for 12th. The scratch group just caught us at the finish but couldn't get through the mass of bodies, preferring to swear a lot instead. Great fun. Lots of photos at http://doubletake.fpic.co.uk/c1707185.html

Eh! There's an imposter I tell you. I wasn't there, having not entered this knowing I'd be in no shape to race having done the 220K grimpeur. Who is my doppleganger, I'll not have this, someone pretending to be me.....unless he won, in which case it was me

I didn't have me specs on - it could have been anyone!

Broomwagon, it was Tim who has been doing really well so far in the series.

Don't blame you for giving this race a miss after doing the Grimpeur, it was a bit fast and furious at times.

Phil, I've never seen so many photo's for one event.

Garmin stats below.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/6437790

Ian hagyard wrote:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/6437790

Now I know why I'm too intimidated to try these!

Set off in the first group with Tim j with most of us doing some work. With about a lap (of the 3 and a half) to go Group2 joined in. I was trying to find gaps to get in a decent position and had a good run to the finish, 13th I think. Very enjoyable and no dramas Dr Dave!

Link to pics: http://doubletake.fpic.co.uk/c1707507.html

Dave

Adding my 2.5p'th: it was a lovely evening for racing, and the division into four smaller groups (I went off with Phil and Ian in the second) seemed to make ours work much better than previous races. We began as a proper chain, going fast and sharing out the work nicely.

In the last race we failed to catch the first group, so I was determined to do whatever I could this time round to avoid a repeat. Inevitably the smooth-running chain broke down, but I stuck in with the 'workers' at the front and soon enough we captured the first stragglers.

I felt strong enough to to chase down one escaper and try to join another break, neither of which amounted to anything. But after we caught the rest of the first group the whole bunch clogged up and it became much harder to hold position. I messed up and ended up trapped in the middle near the finish, but managed to sprint my way up to a couple of places behind Phil and Dave.

It was a really good race though - we caught the firsts and held off the scratch group, which made all the work worthwhile. Aldborough next...

Aldborough course 160609

First time on this course, a bit hairy sometimes out the back.

Set off in Group 1 with Tim J. There was only about 4 or 5 of us doing any work so consequently were caught half way round lap 2 of 4. I kept in the bunch and lined up well for the sprint to the line but didn't have the legs for the uphill finish. Ian, Tom, Paul and Tim looked as though they finished well.

Dave

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7221654

HR not working properly 1 st lap for some reason!

Same good weather, same old faces (minus Phil doing his marshalling duty), completely different race.

Last time I was in the 2nd of four groups. It worked well from the off, we caught the first group and stayed away from the rest right until the finish. I got in a few turns, fluffed the sprint and it felt like a good race.

This time I was in the 3rd of four, with quite a few of the others from last round's strong 2nd group. It was disorganised from the off, we managed to catch the 2nds after half a lap, then it got really sluggish and congested, and all the groups came together a lap later.

That made for a huge bunch and some impressively dangerous riding as people battled to squeeze through on every side. A break got away on the last lap and stayed away as far as I could tell. Even the finish, uphill on the broad A168, was clogged as people went insanely wide only to find traffic coming the other way. I'm pretty sure I saw a couple of Clifton Jerseys up near the front though.

Not a good race for me, but we're back on Milby next time. Hoping to keep the scratch group at bay again...

tom

The omens were not good for last night's TLI on the Milby circuit at Borougbridge; my ride to the event got me to Tockwith before I realised the sky ahead of me was pitch black and clearly heaving vast quantities of rain on a wide area. A detour via Wixley got me to race HQ in the dry where I found race organisers Cliff and Brenda sat in the pub gazebo. About thirty seconds later a blinding flash and a crack of thunder signalled half an hour's massive downpour. I donned race numbers and got out for a further warm-up as soon as it ended, but ten minutes before the start I was stood under a large tree as rain once again lashed down. Thankfully it stopped just before 7:30, but the roads were very, very wet.

With Dave C and Ian H marshalling, Tim, Tom and I set off in the second group and Richard in the third(?). Clearly there was determination in the air as well as a lot of water, as we caught the first group just after one lap into the race and then further upped the pace to give the following groups a harder task. It clearly worked, as we stayed away. Rather confusingly the bell was used to signal two prime laps, causing a few of us to wonder whether the race had been shortened due to weather/light and causing me to perform a futile sprint at the end of the penultimate lap. In the event I was back up front as we rounded the last tight right-hander, but got jumped on the run-up to the final rise, made my customary tactical hash of it, and rolled over the line about 20th, in close company with T & T.

Curiously, given the road conditions and the fact that we ended up soaked and covered in cr*p, it was great fun.

Stats, for those that care:-
Duration: 1:16:52
Normalised Power: 240 watts
Distance: 32.8 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 755 212 watts
Heart Rate: 84 182 159 bpm
Cadence: 20 149 98 rpm
Speed: 3.4 32.1 25.7 mph

... Yes, after problems with my gears (I couldn't get onto the big ring), the first two groups had set off by the time I finaly got in gear! Right from the off it was like a team time trial (8 of the 10-12 riders were Chevin riders) and hitting speeds of 29-30mph chain gang style. This certainly took its toll, and after some big turns on the front by the time we caught the 1st and 2nd group, I was struggling to hang on around the back. My gear problems then moved to the rear derailleur and the damb thing kept switching cogs making a hairy wet race even hairyer. 56 mins in, and almost crahing in to someone - I decided to call it quits.

But as Phill said, it was rather enjoyable in the wet (but let that be the last wet one of the series!)

See you all agian in Wistow.

Shame. Must be that cheap Colnago kit! Now a Planet-X, that's a true Yorkshire bike made for ugly weather

It's a measure of how confusing the race was (especially through mud-coated specs) that I couldn't figure out if we'd been caught by the 3rd group at all.

But it was fun - and my shoes have nearly dried out now.

So - last round tomorrow, last chance to get some Clifton points on the board. Who will be there? Or is everyone still stuck up Mont Ventoux...?