Club Run 28/04/07

[carl f]

My first jaunt out with the training group,thanks guys
felt pretty good until last couple of miles to cafe and i think the effects of fridays 5k race took its toll(exuse 137!)
Thanks to matt for towing me back from GB's to palace
recovered in garden in the sun with a beer

[mlocke]

I have seen the sticky but match of the day is on and I have some photos from the top of bx hill that will load tomorrow if I remember.

Well today I took my second ride with the 18's after moving up last week from the 15's. My advice to anyone thinking of making a move up a group or two then just give it a try its not as scary as you might think!!

We left coulsdon and straight away the 18 was an 18 as opposed to the 20 + that Graeme O and Stu were inflicting on us last week to the cafe. Strangely though this week felt physcally harder but mentally I was more confident as I knew I could do it.

My second piece of advice to anyone is dont try to eat a banana or i suppose anything and ride up a hill - you will be dropped - i was dropped.

At Rusper (I think) I was dropped and it took me about 3-4 miles just before the sprint to catch the group again. I had already had a large amount of time on the front and now I was on my lonesome.

Just as I had caught the group with the help of the group leader of the day (sorry forgot your name but thanks) and the sprint began. I came From last through the group to I think third in the spint. Everyone had problems i think i.e. forcing there way through and with a car pulling out near the line.

Eventually the leader fo our group who gave me the hand proved the strongest and won it. Very deserved particularly after hanging back helping me back into the back of the group.

Well, three cups of tea and a mars bar later and we were all leaving the cafe with myself having the intention of going straight home. But such with such a large group going to Box Hill I could hardly say no and joined in. I was paranoid about being dropped on the way as i have only done it once before and soon found myself clinging onto the back of a group that regularly found itself travelling at 30mph plus that included Graeme O, and Pete (I only remember as he has the same name as my dad) etc. I personally love riding this fast and find it a shame that i cant keep it up for longer. Just before box hill most of us regrouped and then we hit the hill.

I found myslef wondering when the pain would end as within a short people of going uphill my group had all passed me an people from the "slower" group to box hill passed me on the ascent itself. however i made it up the hill (eventualy) and the view was good and the sense of personal satisfaction was greater!!!

The ride home I have to thank Paul (on the pearson I think ) for guiding me home as the last few miles I was dropped by the main (faster) group but we remained together and as I didnt know the way back I was very motivated to maintain contact with him!

When I got home I realised that this is now my longest ride EVER! at nearly 60 miles and although not my fastest ride it would have been up untill a few weeks ago and this included box hill so I was very happy.

Just like to say thanks to everyone; today was a good ride and I had a nice chat with large number of people. I'm in Mexico now so will see you all in about three weeks!!

[Alan M]

As we predicted from the fast Sunday ride you moved up a group with comparative ease. What are you up to in Mexico?

Alan

[Alan M]

The 19 group seemed well organised and I think that the ride to the beginning of the through and off was my fastest ever with 21.4 average.

AJ was impressive during the earlier stages, fresh and rested from his fun run, but he peeled off early, presumably to collect money, and we thankfully lost super fast Toby to a puncture.

The dual carriageway was fun and very tidy - Andrew was pushing the pace, having done a lion's share of the work on the main part of the ride - I am hoping that his hair style doesn't become obligatory - but it is at least distinctive! The rest you know from Ian's posting above. Well done on the sprint Steve (again).

The ride back over BH was at first sedate and the head wind tended to limit the damage for those happy to sit in, which I certainly did in the latter stages. Sylvain, Toby and Graham seemed super fast and Brian has clearly clawed back his fitness, notwithstanding his rugged beat-up look. Heading back to Kingswood 3 got away but were limited by a slow car so a good sized group came back together for the final frantic push to Coulsdon.

Got back at 1.20pm which is pretty early given the length of a very enjoyable ride.

[huw williams]

Excellent reportage from a good ride today

Supposed to be 19mph so we did 19mph... up the hills You can tell its summer because nobody seemed to mind when occasional attacks raised the pace a little and we managed a 21.5mph av to the (longer) dual carriageway t & o withot seemingly trying too hard.

Av speed actually came down on the dual carriageway due to the large group, a nasty headwind and a couple of dead stops for traffic at the roundabouts and lights, but the sprint was safe and clean. Me and Polish Andrew couldn't quite hold that damn shadow's wheel.

Enjoyed a leisurely social ride with some Box Hill route virgins on the return but from the cafe at the top it was business as usuall with no prisoners taken on the ride to Coulsdon.

A high speed paceline down the long straight had me thinking "I'm getting too old for this" when Alan Malarkey sailed past for a turn on the front mocking my ageist excuses so I attacked on the camel humps before the Kingswood roundabout to try and sort it out. After a regroup at the lights Five (I think) of us got away in the Chipstead valley and took turns battering into the awfull headwind trying to keep it over 20mph. Brutal, and some tired legs by this point.

Some nice bikes out today:

The Shadow's Ridley, Alan's Colnago, Sylv's Look... all lovely, I'll have to bring my new Merlin out next week or I'll get dropped in the biking bling contest.

Never seen such a big group going back via the Box Hill route. And even the slower riders now seem to be hacking along at 18mph quite comfortably. When I first joined ACC the training group used to be a 19mph ride!!!

Speaking of back in the day. it was good to see Richard Claridge back on the club run. When I first joined ACC in 2001, Richard was a stalwart of the club run and one of only about 2 ACC riders who used to race regularly. Since then personal issues have kept him off the bike so it was great to see him back riding... how long before we see him challenging for the sprint at Charlwood?

[Grahame]

[quote="mlocke"]
Eventually the leader fo our group who gave me the hand proved the strongest and won it. Very deserved particularly after hanging back helping me back into the back of the group.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]Speaking of back in the day. it was good to see Richard Claridge back on the club run. When I first joined ACC in 2001, Richard was a stalwart of the club run and one of only about 2 ACC riders who used to race regularly

[Steve B]

Ah, the old "didn't do any work on the front" chestnut again!
Maybe I was pushing so hard at the front Ian, you didn't have enough energy left to lift your head to see me. Just for the record, as people who don't ride in the same group as me and may believe these scandolous accusations, I was at the front, with Andrew, from the T-junction at Parkgate to the climb through the woods, approx 2.9 miles.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, only joking right back at you Ian.

Good ride yesterday. Still with the Mallorcan miles in my legs, I had decided to do a nice and steady 17 or 18 group. So 19 group it was then, with Huw saying I'll be fine. But with the average speed over 21mph, I felt almost on the edge the whole ride.
Yeah ok, I still won the sprint, but as Adam says, I can't help being a fast twitcher. Sorry guys but your going to have to do some more sprint training.

Now with really tired legs and with a slight calf strain from the sprint, I stupidly decided to go back via Box Hill, thinking it would be a piece of cake after the climbs in Mallorca. How wrong. Being near the front at the bottom of the climb, I tried to stay in that position, but with super fast Sylv and Toby in front of me, trying to hold the gap proved too much for the legs and lungs - 95% of max the whole way up - I blew on the last hairpin bend and had to lay on the grass when I reached the top.

The ride back started nice and steady, which was good, but as usual things hotted up and the pace got quite fierce along the straight road through Walton golf course. Alan, Sylv, Graeme and others were all banging out a fast tempo at the front, and when Huw pushed up the last rise, I decide to give my last ounce of energy, and chase him as I knew the roundabout was near and I could peel off on my own and poodle home at my own slow pace. Then at the roundabout I heard "I'm going your way too". It was Toby. Bloody hell, I just wan't to ride home slowly. Anyway, lucky for me, he turned off at the next lights. Yes, 12mph all the way home.

Sore legs today!

Great ride, thanks guys

Steve

[-Adam-]

Yeah you tell 'em Steve! So im likely to be on the CR on the 12th... Fancy some competition!?

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Hang on guys, is this the ACC club RUN, or the ACC club RACE

[Andrew G]

Ignore the nasty men Steve. As a sprinter you should be safely shepherded to the line with the minimum of effort from yourself.

[Snoop Doug]

Speaking as the resident snail.....

I always have a real problem with all this macho we'll go in the x mph group today and then rip it up to x +mph. For me - the club run should do what it states from the outset, ie 18mph ave MEANS 18 mph average. As someone looking to improve this year I need the confidence that when I step up a group, I'm not going to get shelled out the back in a shower of testosterone (eeewwww).

Why can't people who want to rip along just step up a group and do so?

Answers on a postcard.

Confused of Carshalton

[huw williams]

Note your concern Snoop but usually the stated aim of the group, 17, 18, 19mph or whatever is adhered to by the vc(s) in charge of the group.

I've noticed though that many ACC members are a little conservative in their choice of groups. ie they tend to ride below their level of ability which slows their development as riders.

If I'm leading a group I can usually establish what the speed is going to be (by looking at the riders in it) by the time we get over the three humps before Reigate. If we're doing an 18 for example and riders are struggling I'll make sure we stick to an 18 average religiously and anyone wanting to ride faster can head up the road alone.

Saturday's was a classic case of an early season, sun on you backs for the first time kind of ride where the 19mph was full of decent riders (including a few comfortable with the training group) who were well capable of more than 19mph.

Consequently everyone was tapping along unruffled by 20mph up to Hooley, 27mph down the other side and 18mph over the three humps.
So nobody complained when I upped the pace over Reigate common and through the lanes, no-one was dropped as we regrouped after major junctions and before the dual carriageway and everyone split turns on the front and shared the through and off. In short it was clear from what was going on in the group what the sensile pace should be.

The end result was that a few 19mph group virgins found themselves at Charlwood a lot earlier than they thought possible - and didn't feel half dead from their efforts to get there. You could see the sense of achivement written all over the smiling faces. To my mind that's a sensible way for stronger riders in the club to help less strong riders improve.

I don't think its macho posturing. Macho posturing would be going out with slower riders and attacking until everyone's split all over the road then bragging about how you dropped everyone repeatedly. OK this might happen in reports from the training group, but that's what a training group should be like!

Upping the pace slightly to a point that riders are working a little harder than they might be used to is not attacking wontonly to make the ride unbearable. Traditionally thats been the domain of racing oriented clubs all over the country and largely the reason many of those clubs have a problem recruiting new members.

ACC don't have that problem - largely because we have a dependable structure of groups where you can rely on the VCs to adhere to the pace they say they're going to do. As VCs we try to evaluate what the standard in the group is like and adjust the pace accordingly - if anyone's struggling we'll slow down.

I was amazed on saturday when I joined a group made up largely of riders from the 18mph and below groups back via Box Hill - even the slowest and least experienced riders were tapping along comfortably at 19mph through the lanes. This would have been unheard of just a few years ago in the ACC when the 19mph group used to be the training group. I think its testament to the group structure working quite well and helping riders develop.

Anyway - there's always room for improvement and all suggestions regarding how the club run is structured are welcome.

And here's a picture of AJ carrying his sponsorship money home from Charlwood


[img]http://i12.tinypic.com/4kdtzl4.jpg[/img]

[-Adam-]

Spot on Huw, even the training group is often quite steady. In that we/they don't always just ride off up the road. Its a good hard ride, and it makes you work harder than you would in a race. But we always regroup for the dual carriage way. Which is then pretty disciplined until were off onto the run in into Charlwood.

But i agree fully that riders ride in a group too easy for them sometimes, and then tear it up un-wittingly. I for example was caught out when the groups were spilt up a couple of months ago. I was chatting at the back of the group as the last 18's headed out and monty told me i was too late to join in as the group was 'too big' (i was racing the next day so wanted an easier ride) anyway, the 17's was a bit too slow for my liking so i stormed off the front of it almost as soon as we left css. looked about and i think the group knew full well that they weren't going to see me again til the cafe. so i put my head down and was with the 18's by merstham, which i thought was a fairly decent ride

Anyway, the moral of the story is, don't be affraid of the step up!

[Mike I]

[quote]the 19mph was full of decent riders (including a few comfortable with the training group) who were well capable of more than 19mph