Clifton CC

Intermediate ride for me. 9 riders on a spirited trip to Pateley Bridge. Lumpy route via Greenhow then back via Markington. 84 miles by the time I got home.

Hardest ride for ages with all the ups and downs. Still , good to start pushing the endurance as will be spring before we know it and those epic rides beckon

Fantastic Sunday Clubrun today. Guess the weather forecast put a lot off and only 4 of us The Square. Indeed, it was a bit icy around Bossall, but we finessed the route and got back onto roads with more grit and no problems... It never really got very warm, but the sun came out later on and the snowy fields across the Wolds looked just fantastic.

Good to see MarkD out again and hooked up with Muzzy for the run in. About 80 miles, the average speed was an irrelevance.

Thinking of badging next week's Sunday Clubrun as the "Clifton Dinner Hang-over Cure". Thornton-le-Dale, nice and steady.

I agree with Dr Dave, a huge day out for the Inters on Saturday. Tbh, I didn’t expect to be doing a ride as big as this in the 2nd week of Jan but I am truly glad to have it banked in the legs. Dr Dave, Finlay, Jenny, Karl, Stu, Matt, Tony, Dan (older), Dan (younger) & myself left the Square. Tony took a different direction at Pannal and Dan (older) turned back soon after. The remaining eight then enjoyed a lively chase past Fewston reservoir and on up to Greenhow, plenty of climbing at a combative pace. We joked at lunch that the ‘race’ for the lunchtime café normally starts with about 5 miles to go but for some reason, the early skirmishes started about 10-15 miles out! It was pretty murky on the top of Greenhow and the cold wind had frozen our faces. On dry roads in the Summer, I normally enjoy the long, fast descent into Pateley Bridge from the Greenhow side, but on slippery roads with greasy brakes, it was a bit of nightmare tbh, especially with a huge tractor and a line of banked-up traffic coming up the other side of the road.

After lunch, the map pointed us towards the extra hills out of Pateley through to Markington, some of them quite steep, but we all thought it was great pre-season training. Somewhere in the middle of all this, Finlay started a craze of sprinting for intermediate points at each village sign. I think he had the green jersey in the bag by mid-afternoon, although Stu ‘did a Cav’ on Finlay towards the end, got over the hills and then cleaned everyone up in the sprint! It was a bit of fun when we didn’t really have the legs. At Marton, Dr Dave and I split off from the main group, who were taking the Aldwark Bridge route back, and we literally 2-upped back through Cattal and Tockwith in virtual darkness. I had 88 miles on the clock when I got home, loads of elevation gain and an average speed that made me realise why my legs hurt! I fear what would have happened had someone been with us who was underdone on the fitness front, I think their head would have wobbled off near Markington somewhere! It was a grand day out and one we all enjoyed.

D.

I fear what would have happened had someone been with us who was underdone on the fitness front, I think their head would have wobbled off near Markington somewhere!

Why I decided to head for home after Pannal, I could see what was coming.

After taking a 7 month Sabbatical my fitness certainly has decreased. Was going to join Kevin but Tony assured me it would be a steady ride and I'd have nothing to worry about. The initial pace was'nt too bad but we were assisted by a tailwind. By the time we got to Pannal I was blowing out of my ass and thought enough is enough and time to head home. 50 miles covered and home just after 1pm. Kevins group for the next couple of weeks to get some miles in my legs and fitness back.

Sounded like an epic ride for January chapeau.

After a week in the sick bay with a strain of the coughing bug which is doing the rounds at the moment I thought I would give the A ride a miss which after reading the reports of this "lively" ride it looks like a good move for me.

After convincing Kevin that I think his ride would be better for me this week and a promise that I would produce a note from me mam we set off to Ripley, the group then split into two so the faster guys could get to the cafe first so we did not arrive in a large group, it was one of those days when the mud on the roads was causing some problems for those of us with close fitting mudguards.

Bit of a mystery why a cafe which has beans also toast on the menu don't do beans on toast so Julia had to settle for a sandwich, still what we did have was very nice, after the first group set off home we followed a while later when riding into a slight cold headwind it justified me going with Kev's group when I was hiding at the back feeling very tired.

Still glad I made the effort to go and as always thanks to Kevin and the rest of the group for a good day out.

Ian H