Easter Rides

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Reminder - CSS 8:00am, back to East Croydon Station for 12:00 to meet Andrew Green and co to go on to Herne Hill.
Paul

[Andrew G]

Sorry Paul no can do tomorrow morn.

Re Herne Hill - If you've not been before worth taking a small bag or stuffing your pockets. The only food there is burger van stye fair and as you'll be there all afternoon you may want to take a sarnie etc. to dodge the greasy burger.

Sunday - If you're not out enjoying Paul's ride from CSS and want to join me for some hill training (It is pretty much all hills ) the route is roughly [url=http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=835854]this[/url] (you need to zoom out to see the start point and then follow from there). Comes out at 30 miles to a finish at Green Street Green as there are numerous routes back from there depending where you are going, say 40 total back to GBs).

Cheers,
Andrew.

[huw williams]

Andrew - I need a short easy ride on Sunday as I have to work in the afternoon, so I'll endeavour to see you at GBs 9.30.

I know a devilish route back from the top of Star which has a couple more leg-breakers in it

Anybody else coming?

H

[Stu Merckx Man]

huw were you out on wednesday coming back over farthing downs?

[huw williams]

YES that was me - where were you?

[Ian A4size]

farthing downs perhaps....

[huw williams]

didn't see anyone up there

Ian are you gonna join in on sunday now that your a super-grimpeur?

[Stu Merckx Man]

i was just walking back home over the downs, there would have been 3 of us, we were near the last cattle grid...



[quote] farthing downs perhaps....

[George]

Well Paul you've nearly notched up 100 of your 400 mile already.

This morning there were 4 of us out on the Tunnel Train.

Paul, Dominic, Marek and Myself, when I turned up Dom looked anxcious then Marek rocked up and he really looked worried:lol:

We set off normal club route then turned off headed out down part of the Addiscombe Henfold hill race route.

Down some beautiful country lanes through Rudgwick, near Loxwood, then back along A272 back up to the Horsham dual carrigeway.

We were absoloutley tanking along, it all seemed to turn into a mega training ride, which was nice

At Pease Pottage I needed some grub so we stopped at the M&S for some lovely custard Tarts

This gave me the boost I needed to steam on again, Paul was really going well today, he seems to get stronger and stronger towards the end of the ride when everyone else is getting weaker and weaker

Marek peeled off at Turners hill and we eased up slightly and turned north for home, Dominic was getting a little cooked but the ease of pace helped him recover again.

Dom turned off at Godstone then Paul and I hammered it back to Croydon which was very good training for the legs

The A22 drag up Caterham bypass was a real bitch after the mileage but we kept on pushing the legs home.

Thanks for the ride out today Paul, maybe see you on the CR tomorrow

[Marek]

Great ride, really enjoyed it, fast pace and great route, had 130km on the clock and got home at 11.30am, pretty damn good for a morning ride.

Blimey Tunnell is going so well it is awe inspiring. Think he has been getting in some secret training. On some drags, and I don't mean to sound patronising, but he was leading and I was thinking jeepers I am actually finding this pretty tough. The improvement from last year is just amazing.

George is George and whenever he went on the front we all had to get our heads down and concentrate like demons to stay on the wheel in front. The part of the ride where we were close to Billingshurst George dragged us for a few miles at a stupid pace, it was fantastic.

Dominic is not someone I have ridden with before but really strong and no shirker, did plenty of turns on the front at a good pace which was fantastic.

Overall a great group today. Should see you out tomorrow if the legs recover in time.

Cheers

Marek...

p.s. George thanks for letting me eat two of the custard tarts, they were great.

[Dominic]

Not much more to add except the rest for the custard tarts was almost as nice as the tart itself

George is not wrong, I was more than a little worried when he and Marek turned up. It was really nice riding with new people but somebody needs to tell the two of them to slow down on the hills.

As has been said Paul got stronger towards the end and he and George were very kind and gave me a tow for the last 10 miles or so, at a steady pace :

Got home with 82 miles on the clock and an average of 20.2mph, can't still quite believe it was so fast. Roll on the rest of the year!!!!!

[Andrew G]

Yikes scary stuff.

See you at GBs Huw.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Thanks for the generous comments.

I haven't done any speedwork yet, apart from a couple od SL's, just putting in lots of steady miles, so it came as a bit of shock when we set off with Marek alongside, cruising at 22mph (uphill ).

They kindly didn't mention that I got distanced on the first climb over Gatton!! Fortunately as the weather warmed up so did I and began to adapt the speed, although missed a right turn as we sped by with George at the helm.

Down through Capel and the lanes to Rudgwick were very pleasant, and towards Horsham. George towed us along on a steady downhill stretch at a steadt 32mph, which was badly needed as my average had dipped below 21mph (thanks George for pushing it back up again).

Turned off to Colgate and the 3 mile climb to Pease Pottage into the wind. Fortunately, not too steep. I started to feel strong here. Dominic was suffering a bit and George was getting hungry, so they stopped and got Custard tarts - sorry guys but pastry and creamy custard are not on my "allowed list" so Marek had 2!!

On to Turners Hill, Marek left us and headed home. We pottered along up to Godstone, where Dom turned off. George decided that he'd had enough of riding slowly, so off we went again, but doing about 50/50 work as I was feeling better now. Then we didn't drop below 25 mph til back in Croydon. Thanks again George.

Thanks to all 3 of you for an epic ride. 90 miles. 4:23 minutes. 20.5mph.

Did an extra 5 mile loop to warm down, then got in and fell asleep til Ruth came in, then spent 3 hours digging the garden.

Hope I'll survive tomorrow. I'll be there at 8:00am, to do an extra loop to get back to meet the clubrun if anyone cares to join me? Hopefully at an easier pace....
Regards
Paul

PS Good luck to Adam in Day 1 of the Surrey League 3-day. See you tomorrow, and Stuart

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Friday - 95 miles
Saturday - 75 miles

Sunday ?? Over to Dunsfold to see Stuart and Adam race. Approx 40 miles each way, plus a bit extra. 8:00am CSS

Paul

[Andrew G]

Sunday - 42 very hilly miles, thanks to Chris for the company. Just thought I'd mention it Huw as I know Chris went to Brighton with you yesterday.