Saturday CR Feedback

[huw williams]

After a high-volume week on the bike I started out with full intentions of behaving myself in the excellent Toks organised training group in an attempt to save my legs. It looked promising with about 10 riders saying they were up for it, but when we rolled out it seemed more like 25.

A look round the group revealed Dave Kennett, Steve Cave, Jim, Matt, Paul, Sylv, Kevin... Hmmm, its not usually possible for these boys to stay on the leash and sure enough Toks announced a 'fast' group breaking away over the three humps before Reigate. I still didn't want to play but when the group got within sight through the lights in town I decided to make the jump. That was my second mistake of the day.

My first was drinking an excellent cup of rocket-fuelled Cappucino in the cafe in Coulsdon South. Not normally a coffee drinker, the intense caffeine rush, so quickly following a high-speed warm up from Croydon in the air pocket behind a 466 bus, clearly influenced my mental stability. The result was a place in the hammerheads group for a high speed through and off to the Dual Carriageway.

It was very tidy, with everyone contributing in a very fast group. After Leigh the gravitational pull of the peleton was too great for a Skye Terrier on the side of the road who got so excited he joined us third wheel back. Much barking and shouting ensued and for a hundred yards or so the hound kept up and even managed to take a couple of turns on the front before his 4-inch legs capitulated to the relentless pace of messers Kennett and Cave.

The rest is a blur. All I could see in my head-down, hang-on riding stance was the three digits of my heart rate monitor, the last two of which were largely higher than any I've seen since last summer.

A few riders got shelled out before we'd even reached Newdigate and when the group took a right at Rusper for the extended Dual Carriageway I carried straight on to get the Hill before the regular dual carriageway in.

A massive turnout in the cafe was more reminiscent of the really hot days in mid-summer. The promised 'steady' ride back over Box Hill became another tear-up. This was my third mistake of the day as my legs fell off after an attack on the hill before crossing the A25.

Fortunately Paul and Robbie and Andrew H were around and we split the work back through Kingswood and Chipstead.

All told, with very positive reports coming from Toks's group, another excellent club-run day.

[Paul H]

Great experience to ride with the likes of Dave Kennet & Co. I managed to hold on to the end but it makes you realise how much faster some people are.

The general consensus in our Group was that the Toks peleton was a bit too big and it would be safer if it split into 2 groups.

[Dr Frigo]

Thanks to Toks for putting this together. I somehow got in the escape group after Reigate, but thought it would be polite not to renegade away from the main group. Well, that's my excuse anyway, and hearing people's accounts of the rest of the ride to Charlwood I realize how wise it might have been.

We kept a sustained but never furious pace, easing up on the hills, but still the constant through-and-off saw us reach the caf' with an average speed close to 34km/h. Richard just got piped by Yohan for the sprint, I'm sure he'll blame the bush that suddenly jumped at him when he decided to overtake from the left. Or more understandably, his two hard races previously in the week.

The stop at the caf? was refreshingly short, and all I can say is despite I think it was the fastest I've ever been up Box Hill, I was overtaken by a good handful of riders, including Dave Kennett who made me feel like I was standing still, Kevin who flew past then suddenly came to an actual standstill, Simon who was cranking a massive gear which I didn?t think he could sustain till the top (but he did), and Paul who for once didn?t spend the climb breathing in my neck before attacking at the last turn .

A trio of Paul, Simon and myself then rode home together at great speed, keeping up with the through and off. Simon kept injecting massive bursts of speed, then waiting for us two to catch up. After leaving them at Coulsdon, I warmed down on the way back, coming across George and his tandem passagère. Then I remembered Toks who?d said he had 20 miles more than everyone to ride home, so went for an extra loop up to Selsdon and Sanderstead.

[Matt Robbins]

Yep another great day out with the Addiscombe?my legs felt quite good as we were ascending the Col de Merstham and when Toks announced that the group was going to split (it was too big to be safe) I found myself riding up to the faster group. No sooner as we got south of Reigate I realised this may well have been a slight error of judgement as I saw the riders around me?still it was a great thrash and I managed to hold on doing my turns until about a mile into the dual carriageway at which point the lights went out and the curtain came down!!! A few miles of solo TT practice later and I only rolled into the cafe just after the group (got lucky with the traffic lights), so all in all a great experience?needless to say I thought I would give the Box Hill route a miss, but left the cafe a bit late took a wrong turn and ended up on the A23?more TT practice!!!

[Alex P]

It certainly was a great turnout at CSS with 82, add that to the 5 that were at the cafe when we got there makes it 87 - a record breaker! That is also with an ACC team in Majorca headed up by the Club Captain, so the big 100 cannot be far off . It makes me wonder that to sustain the large numbers that we get out now we must have at least 120+ rotating club runners out there.

This does mean that we have large numbers of cyclists out on Saturday and whilst we seem to be getting the groups right coming out of CSS, ability and number, there is always room for improvement but the Captain and Vice Captains will work on that. An area we (I) need to look at is after the cafe at Charlwood and break the groups up a bit, 44 collected at the church before Merstham hill.

That aside it was a great ride today and thanks to everybody for making it so. I even noticed the smiles on the Cafe owners (Coulsdon and Charlwood) as their holiday funds grew today

Roll on next week...

[Marek]

Alex to split it up after the cafe is a good idea as it gets a bit hairy going through Charlwood, especially when you get cars trying to overtake.

Probably best to try and do either a speed thing or just get people to set off in smallish groups of say 15 or so. I must admit that coming out after the cafe I tend to like to take it nice and easy for a bit to let me tea and toast settle so speed may not be best.

This should keep it a bit safer, by the time you get to the Church it should be splitting up as this is a place where the stronger riders tend to put in a bit of a dig on the hill and then it should be hammer and tong all the way back to CSS.

Cheers

Marek...

[Yohan]

..another good day riding on the CR.

Started out as a 19 from CSS, which picked up pace and was clser to 21 by the cafe.

Today I saw the Best Tactical Move since I joined ACC in the sprint for the cafe just after coming off the dual carrigeway..,the group briefly separated for the thru& off on the D.caraigeway, but quickly resumed again courtesy of traffic lights (approx 20+ riders)..after pulling off and re-grouping Paul H and Richad M took everyone by suprise by blasting off and drafting behind a small van, gaining about 150 yards on the peleton....sadly the organisation failed the group, and by the time we managed to launch an effort to pull them back it was too late....they had crossed the line!! ....all I can say is Well Done those Men!!

...interestingly tho there was a great sramble for the bunch sprint, this was won by Steve 'the Shadow', who pipped me on the line...good to see you back in the mix sir!

gotta say I was pretty wiped out gong up box hill...not sure if the heat drained me, as it was a pretty warm day...better get maself to GB's to buy some electrolyte

82 riders 2day...wow!! ...great achievement

cheers
Yohan