Clifton CC

Another good turn out for the Inters' ride this week. Thirteen of us left the square, namely myself, Tony, Rich, Graham, Dr Joe, Dr Dave, Simon, Andy, George, Jon G, Ian H, Ian W and Stuart. There was some discussion beforehand about which route we wanted to take, with most preferring the idea of tackling Blakey Bank but waiting to see how they felt when we got there.

Dry conditions prevailed with a brisk tailwind to help us on our way out through the northern 'burbs of Huntington and Strensall before heading over Castle Howard and on through Slingsby and West Ness and up to Welburn. Ian H declared that he was not feeling so good and elected to turn back at this stage. The rest of us pressed on up the long drag to Fadmoor where most of us decided that we wanted to head up Farndale and tackle the Bank with just Graham and Jon G going for the alternative route up Blakey Ridge. The road surface along Farndale is beginning to resemble a goat track in places, although I noticed that it is due to be closed for repairs from Monday 22nd, so hopefully we will have a nice smooth piece of tarmac to roll on next time we venture up that way. The climb up Blakey Bank was as tough as ever but was somewhat wind assisted. I don't think I realised just how strong the wind was until I got to the top and was almost blown across the road and down the other side to Rosedale! Jon G was just making his way up the ridge as the front runners got to the top of the bank, with Graham a couple of minutes behind him. We sought shelter out of the wind while we waited for the rest of the group to make their way up. Chapeau to Dr Dave for making it up this time as his fitness gradually improves, and to Simon for grinding his way up his 39 x 23 bottom gear. Rather you than me, Simon!
Conditions for the ride up past The Lion were blustery to say the least with most of us adopting a pronounced leaning to left to counter the effects of the gale coming from that direction. For the sake of political balance the leaning to the left became a leaning to the right as we descended in to Rosedale for a well earned cafe stop, sans Dr Dave who had headed home from the top of Blakey Bank. It was good to see Dave C at the cafe having made his own way there and gradually getting back to full fitness.

Figuring that the Chimney Bank might be one hill too many, particularly with full stomachs and on cold legs, we headed back down towards Hartoft End running the gauntlet of the tarmacking crews who were busy doing much needed road repairs. On through Appleton le Moors, Great Edstone, Brawby and Great Barugh, stopping just outside Amotherby for Stuart to repair a puncture, the second of the day following George's customary flat on the way out. Remarkably the wind, which had helped us on our way out had moved round to the west and didn't provide us with any problems on the way back, which was just as well as, by the time we got to Coneysthorpe/Terrington area a good few of us, myself included, were flagging somewhat. We had a brief stop at Sheriff Hutton while we waited for the stragglers to catch up and where I was fortunate enough to beg a gel off George which undoubtedly helped while I hung to his and Tony's back wheels on the final run back in to York. Thanks George!

Arrived home around 6pm with 88 miles on the clock, just under 6000 feet of climbing and nothing left in the tank. As the days lengthen along with our rides I shall have to remember to take more food with me as my usual winter back pocket pantry proved completely inadequate on this occasion.

There were some strong rides with most of us, despite fatigue setting in, just about holding on to the end. I'm sure we're all looking forward to upping the mileage as the days get longer and our fitness improves. Many thanks to Tony, as ever, for setting the route.

Thanks for the excellent write-up, James.

While I think it was sensible not to take on the 'Chimney yesterday (especially in light of some riders feeling cooked and/or with 'Jello' legs on the home stretch), it's somewhat sobering to think that we completed barely HALF the climbing required for the FW. Ten weeks of training to go...

Thanks all for the great company.

Just a heads up for the guys doing "The Fred". I've not got in this year but did it in 2014 & 2015 & both times it was wet/cold & windy. The key is to pace yourself, eat even if you don't feel hungry & make sure you wear plenty of clothing because if it's wet/cold you may get hot while climbing but you'll freeze once over the top & going down the other side of the passes if you not wearing enough. It's a hard ride but the sense of achievement & relief once you've crossed the finish line is awesome.

Good luck & here's what it looked like for me in 2014

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/497628310

Its was a good ride Tony, thanks for picking it. Good write up James. a route I've done quite a few times so couldn't quite get my head round why we were back so late . alright we had a couple of punctures and usual regrouping stops but nothing major, slow service in café didn't help but we were quite a big group I suppose but we were the only ones there really. it did feel a tough ride with that wind though and the climbing, glad I'm not training for the FW. Arrived home and it was nearly 7pm. Have done much longer rides and arrived home earlier I know we seemed to lose joe at Sheriff Hutton, hope you got back OK. I followed Graham all the way back into York from Strensall and then encountered a strengthening westerly on the way back . just short of 120 miles door to door for me. Good ride for February.

Jon

I could see it was going to be a late return to York - hence my decision to turn back when I did. Hopefully as everyone gets fitter (and in my case, slimmer! ) this won't be an ongoing problem but my observations would be that it is tricky when you have fitter riders wanting to build their riding towards the summer events and others, less fit and perhaps less experienced, who let the wheel in front go and then have to struggle in the wind, thereby getting even slower, more fatigued (and often demoralised). Having (I think it's fair to say) spent many hours in both roles I'd like to think I can identify with the feelings of both 'the hammer' and 'the nail'. It is easy to say that the stronger riders should 'knock one off' and up to a point this is true but they would point that they won't get fitter by taking it easy and that if slower riders held the wheel they wouldn't get dropped.

Perhaps there is a case for having the Inters ride split into a faster group and a slower group, both doing the same route. As the spring progresses numbers are likely to rise anyway and if the ability spread is making the ride unwieldy this might alleviate things - it would make the cafe stop faster too. In a few weeks, as everyone gets fitter, the ability spread will narrow (power required increases at the cube of your speed - twice as fast needs 8x the power!) and people can select which group they ride with.

Just my ha'pennyworth, nothing original, and I'm sure others might disagree (but it's all good )

This is a good explanation of wind resistance effects btw for anyone interested:

http://mccraw.co.uk/wind-resistance-cycling-speed/

Not sure I'm out next Saturday - have fun guys!

An esteemed collection of seven (Jacqui, Bernard, MarkB, PeteS, JohnB, Kevin and myself) riders opted for the “K” Ride to Malton on Saturday. Really good to see JohnB out again, following his long layoff with a broken collarbone.

First time I’d been out with the Club since early January and the crew set a fair old pace heading out of York via Haxby, Strensall and Sutton on the Forest. As mentioned in the weekly e-mail, Sand Lane, when exiting Huby, was closed and so we chose a minor detour to the left and headed to Easingwold rather than Crayke.

Out the back of Easingwold and across to Yearsley, I enjoyed the route of the old Club hill-climb. However, I made a bit of an error at that point and led the group down to Hovingham instead of across to Dalby and Coneysthorpe as planned.

The descent was very pleasant, as I’ve only ever ridden that section in the opposite direction and it can be a bit of a drag at the end of a long day. My joy was somewhat curtailed when I realised we’d now have to ride the direct, and quite busy, route across to Malton. Some subtle “Would have helped if we’d stuck to the proposed route!” comments from my learned friends indicated that they felt the same, ha-ha. MarkB, PeteS and JohnB made the most of things and used the amended route as an excuse to put in some big-gear work, with the rest of us following not too far behind.

A nice cafe stop in Malton and then home, into a strong headwind, via Menethorpe, Howsham, Claxton and Murton. 65 miles on the clock for me and a really good ride to get back into things, thanks all.

I’m interested in the ongoing discussions regarding, whenever necessary, splitting the “A” ride into two groups. During the season, I regularly flit between the “A” and “K” rides, just depends how I feel when I get to the Square, and I think there are a number of riders who fall into that category.

Dear all, what a lovely ride indeed and I do see Dave's point I think splitting the group might be in the short-term a viable solution for both groups of riders to get a challenging ride at the end of the day ( The already fit and the soon to be fit! ).
I found out by pacing myself, I reached fatigue at a much later stage at the expense of time and tackling the climbs weren't that much of a problem. However because I remain consistent I was able to catch up with the group upon arrival at the cafe. This is partly due to Tony's uploading of the route which has been tremendously helpful as you are all aware my sense of direction as Dave put it " I can't find my ****hole with his hands tied behind his back ".

However I am more than happy to keep the status as is and plea to everyone that if I get to the point that I need to take things down a notch please don't wait for me as that is what can be frustrating for both the riders and I. Although I would never leave a rider behind personally and I am certain that no one else would either; I believe sometimes leaving a rider behind is quite different from a rider asking the group to go on. As the alternative would be for said riders to be alienated from the A group, as the group pace is significantly different between both the K & A rides that going on the K rides as an alternative will platau the riders performance gains pretty quickly. Which for me to no longer come on the A rides would not only be a shame it would also be counter-productive too. This being more evident amongst the group recently due to the variation in midweek training / rides the different members of the group are able to commit to. Hopefully this will last only until fitness returns and winter weight is once again shed.

On a different note; I discovered something rather interesting last Saturday, that if one doesn't charge his D I 2 as a safety measure once the battery gets low it automatically locks out the big ring (happened along the ups and downs before terrington bank ) and locks out the lower gears on the cassette when the battery gets dangerously low ( happened when I got closer to home ) . Hence in the absence of Kevin Norman last Saturday; on the return journey I carried the spinning / cadence torch painfully high !

Looking like Saturday is going to be a nice 5°C with very little in terms of South East wind up to 7 miles an hour. See you at the square

I think to some extent Joe's posting also highlights the sense of belonging that we all develop. As evidenced by the decline in events like the club annual dinner in recent years, would it be a reasonable observation to suggest that there has been a move towards riders having an affinity with a particular ride/cohort of riders and away from the Clifton CC as a whole??

Good discussion, guys. I discussed this with Craig at the square last Saturday, plus JonG has occasionally offered to lead a 2nd A-group ride.

Rather than split at the square, the consensus last weekend was that we decide who's taking which route at the Blakey turn-off. Unfortunately, rather than a firm decision, this was ultimately decided by pace. Stu and I held back, hoping that Joe, Graham and Jon would catch up, but evidently the latter two elected for the Ridge route.

I do agree that we have a strong camaraderie in the group, so I'd be reluctant to cleave the group permanently, especially as Joe points out, with a number fitness transitions in-progress. Not wishing to alienate anyone, I think the more sensible option is that based on turnout and how people feel, we loosely organise into pace groups on the same route.

Not sure who went to the AGM last night, but in the absence of other social opportunities. perhaps we should borrow a leaf from the K-group guidebook and plan a pub/restaurant social evening?

Finally, I'm seeing light NE winds for Saturday, so torn between hitting Jordan's Moss/Brimham Rocks and taking a flyer up to Dalby Forest.

Hi Tony,

With regard to a social event, I mooted the possibility last year of organising a regular get-together, every few weeks or so, on a particular evening.

I canvassed opinion from riders in the Square on a Saturday and Committee members and everyone thought it was a good idea.

I also ran the idea past Stu Weston, who runs the Cross Keys and Knavesmire pubs and he was very receptive to it, suggesting a Wednesday evening in the Knavesmire would work best for him.

This also tied in with the MTB section, as they have regular Wednesday evening rides, and the thought was that they could organise their rides around York on the social nights in question.

The positive aspect of all this was that Club members from different rides and disciplines, who might not meet otherwise, would be able to talk to each other and discuss things Club-related, cycling-related - whatever!

Unfortunately, things just got too busy at work and I let the idea slip but I'm happy to resurrect it.

Cheers,

Craig

Social, if it concerns beer I'm in !!!

We haven't been west for a while, so Jordon's Moss would be nice. As far as splitting the group goes it really does depend on who turns up on the day. The FW crew are conscious of getting plenty of hills in but I do think the onus is on those who are doing the FW to organise their own training up to a point. I realise that can be easier said than done, but come the end of March and the lighter nights there will be more opportunity to get out and hit the hills of an evening. As you know I'm usually available a couple of days a week if anyone else anyone else wants to get in touch it would be nice to have some company on training runs. I'm tending to head out to the edge of the Wolds round Leavening/Acklam/Kirby Underdale and Thixendale as I think it offers the tightest concentration of 15-20% slopes within easy reach of York.
As for social evenings - why not? Let's get on and organise something. I'm sure once we've bitten the bullet and sorted the first one out the rest will flow like the beer I'm sure we'll all be supping!
See you in the square Saturday. Happy cycling.

I'd be up for a week-night social - Wednesday would suit too.
Knavesmire has decent beer and plenty of room........

Finally worked out how to get on to this forum!

I'm all up for a new format of the 'A' ride splitting up into 2 groups. Although I can't think of a better group of cyclists to ride with and the social aspect of the ride is fantastic, I do feel that there is a wide range of abilities in the A ride. I agree with Dr Dave that the A ride should be split up into 2 groups.

I propose that the A group sets off together from the square and splits at an agreed point just before the climbs begin. Setting off together will allow the social aspect to take place and catch up on things.

A while back, everyone set off from the square together arriving into Helmsley where the faster group went on ahead. This turned out to be a great ride, because everyone was working together and no waiting around too long at the top of climbs. Another example was a Langdale end ride where we split at the bottom of Settrington bank, attacking the hills where riders had similar ability.

Each rider can select which group to ride in and will be able to switch groups depending on their level of fitness or how strong they are feeling on the day. Allowing the A ride to split will enable those riding with the K ride to progress into the slower group of the 'A' ride without feeling like they are going to get a complete thrashing. Enabling them to build up fitness and strength. If I want an easy ride, do you think Kevin will allow me to ride on the K ride?

This new format will encourage riders to keep turning up to the Clifton club runs and feel that they are getting the most from the ride.

Ah, that's a shame! Wednesday evenings are when I work late and I would love to meet you guys at Stuarts pub. Am I the only one who can't make Wednesday nights?

Simon