Club Run 2/6

[quote="seanieh.ThePengeAvenger©"][quote]Went in the 19/21s with the usual suspects, and Adam recovering from his crash so 2 of us had some form of bandage on today.

[Brian Nolan]

George - you just keep getting stronger - you animal !
I was pleased to just hang on to that training ride.. I've only been out once on the bike this week so even though I did not do much work, I was pleased that I didn't get dropped although you, Sylv & Andrew were really winding things up and waited for myself, Toby and The Shadow at one point .. The thru 'n off was a wellcome relief - we were pretty smooth there for a while.. After all your efforts it prob was only right that you took the sprint from Sylv by maybe half a wheel or so.. and you 2 had enough in your tanks to set the fastest time so far on the Box Hill leaderboard
great ride today lads,

cheers,
brian

[Alex P]

For those that ride in the 19 mph group, do you think that there would be any support for a 20mph group. I hear rumours that sometimes the 19mph group pushes it up to 20mph+ average. This would give another step level before the leap to the training group which might be a 'bridge too far' which turn out 22,23+mph.

I welcome comments as I might call out a 20mph group next Sat....

[Graham O]

Bit of a mixed day for me. Cleat came loose on the reigate steps, so had to stop, then on the way back I started to get cramp on box hill. Had a really funny cramp/problem in my shin which worried me a little.

Anyhow..On the upside, I had some pace in places. Just need to get used to going fast again I guess..

Anyhow, hoping to have a go at palace on tuesday, so maybe see some of you there...

Oh..and this will make you laugh. I have broke another seat post clamp. This time though, about 30 mins after tighening the bolt, it decided to make a bid for freedown and shot off the bike. It turns out that the nut was made of brass and stripped..bugger..

[Steve B]

What a lovely day for riding your bike

Felt tired first thing this morning and my legs decided that they definately weren't going with the training group, but once at Coulsdon, I made them. Pah, should have listened to my body.

George led the group of 7 out of Coulsdon and up through Hooley at another ridiculous pace, and I knew then I'd made a mistake. Thoughts of dropping back to the next group kept crossing my mind, especially when we were doing 30mph up the drag through the golf course in Reigate, but I kept telling myself to hang in there. 20mins later and my legs died. As I tailed off Toby and Brian seemed to say " thank god for that", and dropped back with me. We thought we were going to have a nice steady ride to the cafe until we saw George, Sylv and Andrew waiting at the end of the road, damn!

We all managed to stay together until the drag up to rusper, where George and Sylv decided to rip each others legs off, and mine just fell off. . As the others rode off into the distance, I thought that I could do the shorter thru&off and get a 5 min rest while I wait at the layby for the others who would be doing the longer route.
Damn, damn and damn again, they were bloody waiting for me at the top of the hill on the shorter route
However, it was not too bad and the thru&off was quite steady. Coming to the opening where the plane spotters are, I decided to sit at the back of the group and save whatever I had left in my legs, which wasn't a lot as it turned out. Andrew was the sacraficial lamb on the front, and he did a good job, but once the sprint started it was all over for him. George made the first move, Toby followed and I, him. Sylv seemed to get trapped but came like a steam train up the inside at the death. George showed great speed. Toby got to within a bike length but couldn't quite make it. I needed another 50m as I only got into full flow towards the end. George, Sylv, Toby then me, all four of us within two bike lengths. Great sprint

Decided to do box hill today. The fast boys got away straight from the cafe. I found myself, with Andrew G in no mans land, so we waited for the main group. I ended up doing quite a big share on the front and suprisingly my legs didn't feel too bad now , so put everything I had into the climb up box hill. Toby got 20m on me at the turn at the bottom, which gave me someone to chase. By the first hairpin we were side by side. I then played mind games to see how much Toby had left. I got in front, knocked it down 2 sprockets, got out of the saddle and gave a quick burst. Once I heard "Oh b*ll*cks", I knew he was beat. I sat back down, got into a rhythm and tried to keep the same momentum all the way up, which I did but my heart was trying to get out of my chest. The last quarter mile it was at 98% of max

Another good day in the saddle

Steve

[Andrew G]

[quote="Alex P"]For those that ride in the 19 mph group, do you think that there would be any support for a 20mph group. I hear rumours that sometimes the 19mph group pushes it up to 20mph+ average. This would give another step level before the leap to the training group which might be a 'bridge too far' which turn out 22,23+mph.

I welcome comments as I might call out a 20mph group next Sat....