Clifton CC

The prospect of 14 degree temperatures tempted a fair number of riders to the Square on Saturday for the three 10am rides to Selby, Thirsk and Osmotherley.

With a number of cyclists braving shorts, we had the usual conversations regarding exactly how much clothing is appropriate for such conditions. I’m obviously becoming a bit of a soft southerner as I was still attired in full-length shorts and multiple layers.

The “K” ride, consisting of Kevin, Nick, Tony, Mark, MarkB, Arnie, PeteS and myself set off for Thirsk and it was quite difficult to judge exactly where the wind was coming from as we headed out via Haxby, Sutton on the Forest and Crayke, although I suspected it would be quite prominent on the return leg.

As per last week, we were setting quite a pace and I didn't really have the legs on the flat bits but felt a lot better when we hit a couple climbs, turning left at Kilburn and over towards Sutton under Whitestonecliffe. We should all know by now that whenever you see a signpost with your destination and a favourable mileage marked on it then that will definitely not be the route you’ll be taking and so it transpired when we spotted "Thirsk 4 miles" at about 11:45 but headed to Kirby Knowle and Upsall instead.

Nick hadn't been out for a couple of weeks and was struggling with a touch of cramp by lunchtime and so decided to continue on his own rather than stop at the cafe. I hope you got back safely Nick, I thought I had your number but couldn't find it when I got back. We were really well looked after at the cafe with one of the waitresses offering to refill our water bottles before lunch and putting them in the fridge to chill and collect afterwards. The food was good once again and we had some excellent banter over lunch, although I would later regret not having my piece of carrot cake.

As suspected, there was a bit of a headwind after lunch and Kevin did a brilliant job of keeping the pace up as we battled against it back towards York. I lasted until just after Helperby, where I overheated a bit and decided to drop off the main pace along with MarkB and Arnie. We had a regroup after the railway bridge at Shipton but I was content to cycle home on my own from that point.

A tough ride for me on Saturday but I still feel ahead of the game for this time of year with another 65 miles or so under my belt. Just need to work on that continuous pace over flat terrain bit and perhaps stay off the pizzas, samosas and burgers at offsite works lunches during the week.

Craig

Thirteen I think on the A ride to Osmotherley this week - Dave C, Ian H, Rob, Luke, Tony G, Kevin W and Kevin, Stu, Graham, John G, Dr Joe, Simon and self. Owing to a maintenance issue my winter bike was out of commission so I dusted down the summer one and was feeling guilty as we headed out through Strensall. A few route discussions followed before we passed via Farlington to Brandsby and up to Yearsley where Stu baled out feeling unwell. Rob's rear wheel then began to suffer from 'slipping skewer syndrome' and this became a recurrent theme of the day. At the T junction at Ampleforth we encountered Neil and 3 friends and so teamed up across to White Horse bank en-masse. Going up here, Dr Joe's lack of recent miles told a bit but he kept going and we re-grouped at the top before crossing the A170 and decending to Hawnby.
By this time the varying abilities were staring to create gaps in the peloton and then Dr Joe punctured whilst off the back with Graham and Jon. We stopped to wait at Hawnby whilst Neil's group kept on going,Tony and Kevin also went on ahead whilst the rest of us waited until Joe was moving again before proceeding on the saw-tooth profile of the Snilesworth Moor rd to Osmotherley. This is one of my favourite roads although it never seems to get any easier!
I arrived at Osmotherley to find Simon, Luke and Rob waiting at the junction before the village so we headed on up the cafe to get our orders in before the rest of the group arrived. We didn't see either Neil's group or Tony & Kevin again.The food arrived quickly and was consumed eagerly - by the time the rest of the group sat down we were almost finished so we just had to have some date slice - Rob even choosing Toffee sauce and ice-cream
It was 2:30 before we all set off home. Joe's was struggling a little on the climbs and so Simon, Graham and Luke went on ahead with the rest of us pacing Joe through Felixkirk, Sutton, Kilburn and Coxwold to Husthwaite where Joe selflessly 'did an Oates' by instructing the rest of us to carry on whilst he made his own way back alone. Despite our entreaties he insisted and so we did as instructed.
Hubris then struck as Rob's rear tyre spontaneously blew itself off the rim with a loud bang. In the course of fixing this, 2 CO2 cannisters suffered from premature emission and then first Joe passed us, then - surprise - Simon, Graham and Luke caught up having taken a detour somewhere and been via Thirsk.
By now it was starting to get dark, the headwind was apparent and it was getting time to be home so we lined out and tried to team time-trial back from Easingwold. This lead to a few splits in the bunch after Tollerton and in dribs and drabs we returned to York.
All in all a slightly disjointed ride but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves in the early spring warmth. 90 miles door to door for me, thanks to all for the company.
Not sure where to next week - perhaps Langdale End and Dalby Forest Drive?

P.S. See Luke's comment re this ride he's posted in last weekend's thread

Absolutely fantastic route, most elevation I've climbed in one ride, I really enjoyed myself. I look forward to the next one!

101 miles clocked up on this one. Can't wait for next Saturday!

Glad you enjoyed the ride Luke.

Well if next weeks ride is langdale end, it will be a few more miles and probably equal amount of climbing

Enjoyed the ride to osmotherly even though as Dave says it was a bit stretched at times and graham and I plodded back into York together, I guess everyone wanted to be putting their feet up

Hope you got back ok joe, as we never caught you up coming back into York.

Jon

Jon G wrote:
Hope you got back ok joe, as we never caught you up coming back into York.

Jon

Forgot to mention that I finally caught up with Joe about a mile outside the ring road and we crossed York together as far as Dringhouses.

Hello everyone

What was the pace of the 'K' ride ? The account states it was a bit hard on the flat. I thought the K ride was for newbies?

Regards

José G

Sunday group headed for Bolton Abbey and had a uneventful ride in comparison. Select group of the two Andys, Steen, Eric Nigel, Sean and self. Eric had been riding in the Moors the day before, but you couldn't really tell.

Standard route up Wharfedale. These lanes were busy back in the days when cycling was a minority sport. These days though you have to ride single file to avoid head-on collisions with groups coming the other way.

Cafe at Bolton Abbey, then that cracking lane up The Strid and eventually out at Fan Carl just below Stump Cross Caverns. The Brownlees passed going the other way: "did you see them, they were the Clifton.....!" Up on Duck Street there was a Sportif going on. Lots of riders looking like they were having an ordeal in the strong cross wind.

We headed for home down Pennypot and the wind got behind us for a great ride back.

100 miles door to door and lovely buzzing legs all evening. Thanks everyone.

Hi José

The average pace of the "K" Ride was, pretty much, as per normal, at about 15 mph, and was governed by the riders who were out on the day. I simply posted that I didn't really have the legs from the off on Saturday. The return leg from Thirsk was a bit of a slog into a warmish headwind/crosswind, I spent a bit too long on the front at one point and so dropped off the pace for the last part of the ride. On Saturday, the group consisted of experienced riders who were able to judge what pace they wanted to ride home at. If there had been lesser experienced riders in the group then the group pace would have been adjusted accordingly.

The "K" ride isn't for "newbies" as such. There are normally 3 rides, "A" - Intermediates, "K" - led by Kevin and "J" - normally led by Julia, leaving the Square at 10am on a Saturday morning. The "A" and "K" rides are detailed on the Club website and the "J" ride is a steadier paced and, normally, shorter ride than the "K" ride. Obviously there can be subtle changes to the pace of each ride on the day itself, depending on conditions and the experience of participating riders.

Regards,

Craig