Something Different..

[Yohan]

Thought I'd try a differnt ride on sunday, and went out with the D-Vers lot from streatham on the charity ride London-Windsor. Being out with another club made me realise how diferently ACC operate...let me elaborate.

started badly, missed the start time by 1hr...bad translastion of time, how did 8.45 sound like quater to eight?! But thought I'd jus power on on my own. Met thier 30 strong group at the finish line having gained back 30mins on them with 50miles on the clock, they couldn't belive h0ow I did this...an neither did i, as there was a strong headwind.

Talk of 'we're taking it easy' on the way back led to initial feelings of dispointment as i was looking forward to mixing it with thier fast boys. Little did i know that taking it easy meant crawling along at 15mph! and this applied to the Whole group..

I didnt know the route so sat in and chatted to a few, nice bunch of guys for most of the way. I noticed road discipline is rather different, with red Light jumping being all part of the experience, and when 20-30 or so bikers are piling thru a red on a crossroads, suicide springs to mind!

The pain of limitation took its toll and as we pull into Kingston I had to jump off the front and power the reamaining 15 miles back to croydon, it felt good, I looked around an no-one had come with me.

Overall put 80 miles on the clock, & experienced other cycle club ethics, lookin 4ward to a nice session on the CR now!

[Yohan]

[quote]Which Club Ride is next on your hit list Hit Man Yohan?

[adrian]

Yes, I went on a Brighton and back with DeVer earlier this summer at the kind invitation of sometime Agreeable Steve. I found them to be a very nice bunch of lads indeed - very friendly and down-to-earth. I didn't find the pace a problem - in fact, I thought they were 'a little bit tasty'. You must have caught them on a quiet day!

Wasn't so keen on some other aspects that you touch on, Yohan. Adherence to the rules of the road, for example. There just isn't any with these boys. Red lights? Pedestrians halfway across the crossing? Giving way at roundabouts, or anywhere else? Pah! I got an early taste of this - they actually cycled through a police 'crime scene - do not cross' cordon in Croydon!

There was a fair amount of littering, as well, which I'm not keen on in any walk of life, and which you don't see with the Addiscombes.

But, yeah, nice lads and some good riders.

[Toks]

There's no denying they're a nice bunch; but a couple of ACC part timers have told me their rides are a real mixed bag. 1. dodgy start times; for a 1pm ride on a couple of occassions they we're still waiting for the main guy at 1.45pm. 2. There is definitely no respect for red lights; and 3, the rides can be race pace one week (when Maurice is training for The Etape) or 15mph the next. Mmmm - you decide! PS This much I do know - they generally always treat Charity rides and Cyclosportivs like a real race.

Back in 2003/4 I was a bit of a bike Tart and can definitely say that following clubs do pretty good club runs
* London Dynamo
* Islington CC (not many people)
* Willesden CC

BUT ACC ARE UNQUESTIONABLY THE BEST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Yohan]

[quote]in fact, I thought they were 'a little bit tasty'. You must have caught them on a quiet day!

[Graham O]

Yohan,

I tried a local club a couple of weeks ago myself, and found a different story. I turned up at the meet time, but only 2 others did. Bit crap..

I have been having a look at the web sites and dulwich seem to have a good idea. They do a 17 group, and a sporting group. The sporting group looks to do 70 to 80 miles at a sporting pace (i.e. 20 mph average). Thats quite a long quick ride, and quite a challenge.

Personally, I think that the sunday ride should be a long steady affair, aiming to build up endurance. When you read the books, they say it should be level 1 training (able to talk) for 3 to 5 hours. This looks to be what dulwich do, but it seems that they have got good at it.

I think that we should be leaving the speed training for specific rides (aka chain gang / interval / race etc). That is also what some more serous race clubs do I think. Dulwich's chain gang aims for 25 mph average, and this is through and off on a reasonable lumpy circuit. They also have agreed wait times. If you miss the times, you're out.

I will be out on Sunday if you fancy a ride.

Ta,

Graham.