Clifton CC

Great weekends's cycling with loads going on.

For a few of us it was the Wiggy 100k Audax on Saturday. We went along as a family and I shared the tandem with Siobhan again. I was good to meet up with a few old faces - there was a big group up from our old stomping ground in Chesterfield and I had a long chat with Peter Holyoake at the end who I'd not seen for a while. He's still riding at 83, though just helping at this event. It was a standard route out to Brimham Rocks with ice cream at Ripley and a cafe at Spa Gardens on the way back. Near perfect cycling conditions. It was a typical Audax and Claire, Siobhan and I teamed up with Dave I'Anson to form what was probably the biggest group on the road. Despite the parcour it turned into quite a testing ride and Siobhan put in a big shift in the stoker seat. We were ready for the tea and cake at the finish.

Tired legs on Sunday morning so was pleased I'd planned a sensible Sunday ride. 7 of us in The Square in perfect cycling conditions. Jonny, Austen, Chris, Andy, Andrew, Broomy (remember him?) and self. Sunny, warm, fairly still, quiet roads, great countryside: a good-to-be-alive sort of day. Pock, M Weighton, Kiplingcoats, Middleton. Nunburnholme, Millington. Great coffee taken in the sun watching the swallows. Unfortunately, I'd lent my bike against Andy's electronic rear mech which had the effect of draining his battery, leaving him stuck in 34x24 for the ride home. Since he was spinning out at anything over 15kph, we took to pushing him, taking turns at 30-35kph! Much banter: "haven't you got any jump leads?", "you can't post this on Strava, Andy." etc etc

Thanks to all for great company this weekend!

Robin Hood's Bay Challenge ride next Sunday. Need to give this some respect - 0800 start. I'll post some more details mid week.

Sunday club run and the Di2 issues for me...

FWIW, I don't think the issue was a bike lent against it that caused the issues, I've tried all manner of different ideas to get it working at home with no avail. I Think that It just needs to be reset..

Anyway, it was a fantastic ride, good company and a fairly steady route. I managed to knock out 200 RPM on the way back, so at least I've set a new record today

For anyone's reference, for the 3 hours before I was pushed home, the average wattage was 203 (NP), so pretty steady...

Double ride weekend for me also. Started off with the inters on Saturday to Burton Agnes hall and the courtyard cafe. Can report the cafe was ok and one to add to the recommended destinations for future rides. Excellent group riding kept together with a sensible but decent pace by all. Along with one newcomer Chris, I was also joined by John B, John C who was on form with is usual banter , Dave C, Kevin N, Craig, Dr Dave, and Dave B, who let us know at the start to make sure we do our best to drop him, Dave left us at Leavening bank. Slight navigational issue on our way back south of Driffield. Lack of sign posts and local knowledge meant we ended taking a road sign posted as a dead end but it ended up been just a level crossing that pedestrians could cross but not motor vehicles, so now we know for future rides.
Thanks for company guys and good to finally I get are warm spring day

Having done a lengthy ride Saturday then the next one was the local charity Selby Bike ride today. Pan flat and fast but my legs were weary so was surprised to get round in a respectable 2 hours for the 40 or so mile. Ended up getting caught up in the atmosphere with some of the local club riders and selfishly drafted them most of way round . As Rob said excellent riding conditions on both days really. Hope they continue

Would be good to hear from the Fred Whitton crew if you survived hope to see you next week

Jon

I joined a group of 6 Saturday regulars fortunate enough to gain entry into the Fred Whitton Challenge.

Since we were all first-timers, we didn't have a firm plan. While we'd all trained, the goal was simply to complete the event, hopefully on two wheels, which meant a steadier pace than our Saturday rides.

I'm not accustomed to rising at 04:30, cramming down a low-GI breakfast and rushing out the door on my bike before 05:45, but we were far from being the only participants in what a rational observer would view as morning madness.

That said, we started at 06:30, availed ourselves of the feed stations and regrouped at the summit of many of the climbs. The group naturally split for the final leg, but everyone got around safely and completed the ride. Amazingly, we only had a single flat and no other mechanical issues throughout the day. My Garmin logged a ride time of 8:03 and an overall of just over 10 hours.

We also bumped into other Clifton members (Dave/Suzy and Steve/Dawn) throughout the day and they joined us for the post-ride meal in the finish area.

Some of the official photo's have started getting published online. I took a look through and found a few. Here's a snap of me crawling up the steep switchback near the top of Hardknott Pass http://www.steveflemingphoto.com/152222

...edit the number at the end of the above URL as follows to find pictures of;

Graham 151417, 151418, 151433
Ian 150835, 150837-2, 150852, 150853, 151238
James 150616, 150948, 150949, 150950, 150951
Joe 152702-2, 152703-2
Me 150903, 152218, 152219, 152220, 152222
Rich 153759

I didn't do an exhaustive search, so there may be other pics in there e.g. I also found a few of Steve/Dawn.

The highlights of the day;

- AMAZING weather; best weekend of the year so far.
- The camaraderie in the group = Good Times.
- Seeing Joe's smile; beaming ear-to-ear having ridden to the summit of Honister Pass
- Great route with incredible views at every turn
- Event signage and marshals were fantastic
- Local cycling club (Honister 92) setting up an unofficial feed station at the KOM of Cold Fell

Could be better;

- Given the weather, additional water/drinks stations would have been a good idea.
- First feed station had no tables/seating, huge (single) line-up and no tea/coffee


All considered, this was not just the day, but a weekend adventure with a great bunch of guys. Thanks all for your excellent company and the memories that will last a lifetime.

Well done to everyone who took part in the Fred Whitton event.

The following link shows people listed as Clifton CC.

https://www.resultsbase.net/event/3269/ ... ch=Clifton

Special kudos to Sam for an incredible time.