by Mulberry » Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:26 pm
[quote]One suggestion I have is for the regulars who are going to be coming along is that it might be worth while doing a sat CR with just yourselves so once out in the lanes you can practice the T&O in the day light on roads you know really well and those who've done them before teach the newbies. Just an idea guys, not trying to teach you to suck eggs or take over, just trying to help.
Antloony - that sounds very good as it's much easier to practise in daylight on quieter roads.
Key thing we've found on CGs is
communication. It's worth having a quick chat before and afterwards - we've even stopped halfway thru to try to say what's what! Shouting "last man" makes a big difference to ensure you've always got somebody following you thru up the chain. Also whilst it's OK to shout at people to give advice, experience has shown this can seriously antagonise some guys so if you can say it quietly, but directly as you go past that often has the desired effect.
The trickiest thing we always find is getting the strong guys to back off as it's v easy for them to stretch things too soon. With the length of the ACC route to LGW and back you've got long enough to test the legs of the strong guys on the way back esp with Merstham drag.
In late Aug & Sept we had smallish groups (4-6) often due to variable weather or other comitments, but this paid dividends as we were able to communicate v clearly and forced to ride smoothly for it to work with rapid improvements over the few weeks.
I'll try to get out on one with you guys soon and stretch my legs a bit too.
WELL DONE TO ANT, SYLV, SERGE, DAN & OTHERS FOR SETTING THIS UP AND KEEP PERSEVERING WITH IT AS IT WILL ONLY GET BETTER, SMOOTHER & FASTER - AND MORE FUN!
Marcus