Club Run 5/5/2007

[huw williams]

Oh don't be so sentimental Sean, people who race have to get used to crashing, its part of the territory - until you've been involved in a few you're not really racing.

Can't ever remember so may riders from one team going down though - maybe all our recent successes meant there were 'hitmen' in the pelotons at Chertsey... Hope all you guys involved get better soon and bounce back stronger.

Club Run: Awesome. 80 odd riders but it was COLD eh? Monty did his big subs drive speech at CSS making everyone feel guilty for not paying or not being members. He does this really well... I even felt guilty for coming out and I HAVE paid!

Anyway. I can only report on the 19mph group which arrived at the (long route) dual carriageway re-group with an average of 21.5. Outrageous I hear you cry and you'd be right. The reason? George had no mates (they were all crashing at Chertsey) so he sat in with us and pounded along at the front. Even with constant tugs on his reins we still did that ridiculous speed and we let it go largely unchallenged to give everyone a feel for what the training group is like.

Good through and off which increased in pace right to the end with George, despite having spend the best part of one and a half hours on the front launching a sprint from about 7 miles out, surprising everyone bar the shadow who went with him and in the great tradition of shadow sprints, shamelessly came round hia for the win. The rest of us almost got back to them but it was a tatterdemeliain pack that entered the cafe, stuffed after our self imposed savagery.

Alan Malarkey got a special prize for best presented bike/rider combination. His matching Colnago gear and permanent tan makes him look like an ex-pro.

Nice quiet ride back in a massive group - thought I'd police it steadily up past the golf course and discourage any random attacks 'till the bloody shadow appeared again, stuffing it up the inside with everything he had left. This ignited George's fuse pulling the two of us away over the top. Now I'm not a religious man but the speed we went to get to the church was almost pious in it's urgency.

Had enough by then so twiddled back over Merstham with Amy. It was freezing!

The groups:
Let's not kid ourselves guys - the last two weeks we have been going much too fast for a 19 group. So from now on the 19 group should officialy be called the 21 group. This contains a hardcore of riders including; The Shadow, Alan Malarkey, Mike Ingram, Mark McLoughlin, Toby, Ray, Jon Hemming, Myself, anyone sitiing in from the training group, and anyone else who wants to ride with us.

These people have been named! If we say at CSS that we're doing 19mph, DON'T BELIEVE US. We are going to ride at 21mph! At least!
Please, someone else feel free to organise a proper 19 group that goes at 19!

I'd suggest the faster groups do this from now on:

Training group - 21mph + attacks/hill sprints etc = anywhere between 21 and 24mph av

21mph group = a more even paced 21mph as lots of riders are comfortable at that speed but not comfortable if someone attacks when going that fast and they get dropped.

19mph group = 19mph

All others as normal.

Now, time to prepare for The Circus!

[Sylv]

Good report Huw. When I joined I always assumed the announced average speed for such and such group was for the whole ride though, way back to Coulsdon included - the ride to the café is much faster, with more downhills and the dual carriageway. It's gotta be hard to keep it down to 19.

That was at the time when the rides back (via Box Hill or not) were equally split though, now it's usually just one big group that sometimes splits on the way back.

[Alan M]

As ever I enjoyed today's ride; I agree with Huw about the 21 mph label and the difference between this and the training group being the absence of Marek style attacks. I also think it is one of the safest groups I have riden with, pretty good discipline and drive-spring George apart, a reasonably shared workload. I found myself sandwiched between George and Andrew on the dual carriageway - both power their way through their turns so it was pretty hard stepping on the gas all the time.

The wind up to the sprint came very early and only Steve was mentally prepared to cover George's break. Ray went a little late but soon faded and the rest of us tried to play catch up but never quite organised ourselves, hence the result, with Steve on the wheel of George, well within his comfort zone and shielded from a reasonably stiff head wind.

The ride back was fine but a bit nippy and Graeme was steadfast in the lead until George pinged off the front again. We stayed, more or less as a group and gathered at the church. George took the front again at the Merstham drag, with a steady group of me, Steve and Mark hanging on. He kicked hard at the top of the drag and I faded from the group, eventually so did Mark and Steve and George seemed happy to continue their earlier competition all the way to Coulsdon where we gathered at the bypass.

Finally, with reference to comments on my attire, it was never my intention to become a retro cycling fashion victim, but hey, what the hell!

[Jon H]

Wasn't racing today so decided to make a rare appearance on the clubrun. Thought the 19 group would be ideal for getting some brisk but steady miles in. Little did I know it would be a race pace thrash. Needed to keep some matches to burn in tomorrow's TT, so dropped off the back approaching Rusper, and as the group went right I went left down through Faygate onto the dual carriageway. Opted for the Box Hill route back which was a little more sedate until the every man for himself assault on the zig-zags. Got back to Coulsdon and spied some riders (who shall remain nameless) on their third cafe stop!

With all those bling bikes out, I need to get my finger out and complete my new project bike.

By the way Alan, there's a Colnago carbon pen on Ebay, just waiting for your bid. [url]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COLNAGO-CARBON-PEN-exslusive_W0QQitemZ320108857500QQihZ011QQcategoryZ2904QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

[Steve B]

Really bad news about the crashes at Chertsey yesterday. I hope everyone involved gets well soon.

Yesterday's club run started off quite badly, having an asthma attack on the way to Coulsdon (going from warm air indoors to cold air outside) and then for the first half hour after Coulsdon, I felt really sh*t, almost stopping and waiting for the next group to come along. So glad I didn't as it turned out to be, personally, one of the most intense club runs I've ever been on.

Once I'd warmed up, I started feeling ok and with George in the group I knew it was going to be a spicey one. Just tuck in guys and enjoy the ride. Well enjoy may not be the right word but it was amazing being all in a line just trying to hang on to George who sat on the front for most of the day and dragged the rest of us along.
Apart from a couple of short respites for regrouping, my heart rate was between 85 and 95% all the way. On the run in to the cafe George made a characteristic early break, and although everyone knew it was going to happen, no one really knew what to do about it. Ray was the first to react and I jumped with him, urging him on to get on to Georges wheel. But when he shouted "I've had it" or something to that effect, I was on my own with a mad man in front and a mad pack behind. I had to make the gap. Adrenalin kicked in and I was on his wheel. From there I showed fantastically why I am known as 'The Shadow'. Ian, you would have been proud of me! George did all the work and I came round him for the win. Actually I wasn't very proud of that one. George, your awesome mate!

The ride back started badly as well. Helping somebody get their tyre back on the rim after a puncture, with Monty holding my bike, the group left. 30 seconds later I grabbed my bike and monty set off. I jumped on mine and tried to put my feet in the pedals and then wondered why I couldn't. B@ll@cks, cleat covers.
Playing catch up, it was into TT mode. Head down, arse up and another stint at 90%max HR, picking up a few late starters along the way.Finally caught the group and sat in for a rest.

Up through the golf course was another lung buster, but the Merstham drag was an all out assault on my whole body.
George led before the drag, up the drag and down the other side. Alan, myself and Mark tried to hang on, but by the top I was the only one left sucking Georges wheel. I tried to do a turn on the front but I was already at 93%max, so it was only a short one. Finally we got caught at lights and I then realised how hard I was breathing. George just smiled and said "do you want to go again". The man's a bloody animal. So from those last lights down to the new roundabout and up the new bypass, we, as Mark said afterwards, ripped each others legs off, until mine actually felt like they had been.

Fantastic ride - never ridden at above 90%max HR for such a long perid of time.

See you next week

Steve

[Ian A4size]

[quote] From there I showed fantastically why I am known as 'The Shadow'

[Mike I]

Oh dear, named and shamed . I did try to get on the front to ease things up a bit, but every time I came alongside him George upped the pace again so I couldn't pull across. And there's enough taking out Agreeables going on at Chertsey, without introducing it to CR as well.

Slightly disturbed that Alan should find himself "sandwiched between George and Andrew", but I can't find him anywhere here ...



[img]http://i15.tinypic.com/4xvlcoi.jpg[/img]

[Alan M]

I can take it like a man

[adrian]

[quote]
WHAM! BAM!
I AM! A MAN!
JOB OR NO JOB,
YOU CAN'T TELL ME THAT I'M NOT.
DO! YOU!
ENJOY WHAT YOU DO?
IF NOT, JUST STOP!
DON'T STAY THERE AND ROT!

[Elliot M]

which one are you?

the pub man, the club man?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA8qUZE6BRY

[adrian]

Clue: I'm not the jet-black guy with the hip hi-fi

[Richard (Apples)]

A white cool cat with a trilby hat

[adrian]

Maybe leather and studs - oh, do let's not

[Andrew G]

You really have shouldn't have let that skeleton out Adrian.

Ahhhh Pepsi and Shirley......

[Sylv]

didn't know you wore glasses adrian