Chapeau Andrew. Hilly 50 thread.

[Ian A4size]

Post your tales here.

OOOh the pain.

More later.

[Andrew G]

Well I know I've been giving this a bit of a shove lately so I was hoping for a reasonable turnout and some new faces to this ride. Thought about 12ish.

I got to CSS at 8:50 and there were already about 15 there! ...and still they kept arriving. I forgot to do a count but it must have been about 40 riders in total.

The route out to Box was a bit eventful as Huw had said the main road was closed so we tried a back cut through. A little correction and nip over the dual carriageway put us on track though so no problems.

Collected a couple more at Ryka's and off we set. The early stages saw a few faster riders seperate a bit, which wouldn't have been a problem as there was easily enough for 2 groups. We regrouped at the top of the first couple of hills before moving on.

After the third there was a bit of a break up as Lisa was sadly suffering the effects of having raced hard yesterday and her legs weren't very appreciative of having steep hills thrown in their way. Lisa and Chris turned off and Pete joined them. We also had a little mechanical which was going to stop Sam using his bottom gear or two. He'd just have to use his youthful exuberance to get up the hills instead.

With this slight delay we weren't going to hit the 1pm return to BH so Snoop, Alex and possibly another turned off as they had things on this afternoon.

The rest of us moved on and after the pain that is Friday Street regrouped with all the others who'd been waiting.

We then rode the rest of the ride as a complete group, regrouping after hills, to a triumphant return up Box Hill to a crowded cafe at 1:30 where we all collapsed on the grass and enjoyed our rewards.

Thanks to everybody who came out today, it was very enjoyable to see you all suffering.

Although I wasn't on the usual blast around trying to keep Huw in sight it was still an exhausting ride. The hills aren't any easier, and I was doing a bit of sheep-dogging up and down the group on the bits between.

Thanks to Ian for his help in troop marshalling thoughout the ride, and a huge thank you to Amy who rode tail gunner and swept up. It wouldn't have been possible without you.

Final Palace race of the year tomorrow so I'd obviously like to do that, but I'll see how the legs feel - could be a fly or die affair. I'll be there to support if I don't race so come on ACC, a win for George.

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Snoop Doug]

Top day in the saddle. A last minute decision for me, having been at a wedding in Aberdeen Friday wasn't sure I'd have recovered enough. It was a full on do, ceilidh, the works.

Anyhoo - a lovely sunny day and off we went. I knew I was in the all comers and so no pressure today. After a detour through poshville (were we looking for a new gaff for someone...?) we set off from Ryka's Caff. I have to say I thought I coped with going up Ranmore pretty well although all my good work was soon undone. I HATE fast descents and soon found myself waaaaaaay back off the bunch.

No worries - caught everyone up and then along came Coldharbour. Just afore this one I made the mistake of telling Carole that so far, I didn't think things had been too hilly . Ooooof. So - I had to dig in and make like Coldharbour was no problem, yeah right.

Didn't like that Logmore Lane one bit - should rename it Suicide Alley. Turn left at the bottom - up another hill to a pub in Wotton.

T'was here that myself and the rt. hon. Alex P decided to turn about. We both had family commitments and so on and so on (excuses eh...?). Rode back up Ranmore and then stopped for coffee and cake @ top of Box Hill. Had a very pleasant twiddle back with Alex at a good pace.

So - not the full ride but a few tough hills and a very enjoyable day out. Nice one Andrew for putting this together. Boy do my legs hurt !

Cheers - Snoop.

[Ian A4size]

I turned up at CSS expecting 15/16 riders and when I arrived it looked like a full blown CR!
There were a lot of riders who had not done the route or any of the areas finest hills so they were in for a treat.
A nice gentle ride out with everybody just spinning along- it all went a bit "Pete Tong" when we had to cut thru the warren, we must have gone down every road- luckily Amy sorted us out and we soon found the main road.
This set the scene for many "version excursions" of which i played my part.
Out to box for the first time- I never tire of going down it,in the sunshine it was really beautiful and I must say even I go up it far more often.

A quick stop at Rykers and we're off! Ranmore here we come- loads of groaning, puffing and the odd expletive (Carole)- regroup at the top and we are off thru Dorking on our way to Coldharbour.
I saw Sam and John Camden who were just about to go the wrong way and gave them a shout. That must have been the only time I gave the right directions all day
Logmore road must rate as one of the worse descents in the area, it really is a shocker- it makes Tanhurst lane look like a billiard table.
At the top of said road Huw found someone to play with and he shot off, most of us are far too slow up the hills for him.
Up next was coast hill on the A25, a gentle 12%er- so its straight into the big ring (at the back), left at the pub and onto Friday street.
A nice short sharp 20%er bought out a few nice smiles as the summit was reached.
I have forgotten to mention that Sylv was doing all the hills twice - just to make sure.

A nice bit of downhill then up we go again to the space science lab- another de-tour here for the front runners as they just kept on climbing insted of turning left- a quick phone call bought them hurtling back.
A nice downhill bit then follows as we get to Ewhurst, right at the roundabout( where George had his crash yesterday) and up the nice little climb of Pitch Hill.
I sportingly sent the front runners the wrong way- making sure that the slower riders got to the top of the hill first, another quick phone call- and an extra hill and it was re-group time again.
A superb long descent down into Shere, a suicidal right turn and off to Peaselake we go.
A bit of separation and I take the group the long way round to Hoe lane.
Another phone call and we're back together.
OK, just Raikes lane then we are nearly at white down.
I stopped for a drain down near the bottom of the climb and so I was rewarded with a super view of the entire peleton weaving and wobbling (and swearing) their way up the gentle slope.

My legs were a bit tired now- but it's a great roller coaster ride along ranmore common, plus we're getting near the cake shop so a few of the stronger riders pushed on a bit.
The shadow punctured going down the ranmore descent- luckily it was near the bottom so we had scrubbed of a bit of speed by then.
Well its just box to go now then. Even tho its the easiest climb % wise, it seems very long.
I stayed on Marks wheel all the way up (Ajay would have been proud), it must have looked like we were on a tandem .
I've haven't been up there so fast for a long time, he did all the work as I did'nt have the strength to go past, and at the final hairpin he kicked and the string broke.
A slightly shakey Fat Nav( malfuntioning) sat down at the top and soon polished off a large date slice and a cold coffee that Joanna had bought me about 30 mins previously.
An extremely well rested Mr Williams was also there- having already dined- and had his usual 30 min mid afternoon siesta.
No rush to get home saw us all lolling about in the sun.
Box hill was absolutely bogging.

A great day out with the club again.
Amy gets a special mention for her sheparding, also Andrew for sticking his neck out and organizing the ride.

Lovely.

[Toks]

Hey Hey great report Mr Munnery - all lovely paragraphs, cheeky name checks, climb references, piss taking and the most important thing on any cyclo report is..............knowing the writer suffered a bit. Chapeau dude

[jeza]

thanks for organising that andrew.really enjoyed .hope there are more & i can be there.sorry icould'nt make box but a promise to my mate meant i had to take a flatter route back after white down or whatever it's called.was looking forward to a good fight up box. never mind . next time. the bannana was a bugger to scrape out!!!!!!!!!!!!
cheers

[jeza]

thanks for organising that andrew.really enjoyed .hope there are more & i can be there.sorry i could'nt make box but a promise to my mate meant i had to take a flatter route back after white down or whatever it's called.was looking forward to a good fight up box. never mind . next time. the bannana was a bugger to scrape out!!!!!!!!!!!!
cheers

[jeza]

oops sorry about the doubling up!! one too many bottles of the red stuff

[Andrew G]

[quote]Didn't like that Logmore Lane one bit - should rename it Suicide Alley.

[Alex P]

Andrew, what a great ride, thanks for organising it and introducing me to new hills (even though I had to cut it short), I'll be on the next one if you do it again (alternative club run route on a Sat perhaps )

I counted 45 on the off from CSS...

[Jon H]

[quote="Andrew G"] and I was doing a bit of sheep-dogging

[huw williams]

Excellent day out yesterday.

40 riders I'm sure I don't have to remind you that thats about four times as many as we used to get on the clun run only seven or eight yeras ago.

I've always wanted to try and get round the Hilly 50 in under two hours cos its short enough to attack the climbs with little danger of blowing up as its only a 50. So after a steady start up Ranmore and Coldharbour I pinned my ears back on the dreadful descent to Wooton expecting to drag a couple of the faster guys away. On the nasty climb up to Friday street I caught a guy from SWRC who said he was training on the 50 course cos he wanted to beat up on Gary Dodd come the official event early next year. He was a 2nd cat just back from training in Spain cos he wants a few points for 1st cat license.

So the red mist came down and we were off - Blasted the long climb out of Cranleigh in the big ring just to stay in touch with him but he was pulling away over the top. Chased like hell down the other side and all through the lanes towards Peaslake and finally caught him on another horrendous descent down Hoe Lane.

Attacked him up Whitedown cos he was a really big fella and I was lighter on the steep climbs. Got a bit of a gap at the top and made the stupid error of trying to nail it accross the top of Ranmoor and stay away.

I was going allright too, edging 30mph along the roller-coasters past the top car park when he came past me like a meteorite shower and opened a gap of about a 100 yards It was like I was standing still and just goes to show the difference between proper racers and mere mortals - I was already chewing my bars... how was I supposed to respond to that?

Anyway he slowed to wait for me by the church befopre descending to Westhumble and we hammered it through the lanes to Box Hill finishing in a reasonable 1:54 - He'll have to quicker if he wants to beat Doddy but he won't have me holding him back I guess

A convivial group at the top so we had tea and cakes to wait for the main group. The ride back was turning into another slugfest on the main road up to the big roundabout and we were just winding it up for the inevitable sprintfest down the Chipstead valley when Alan Malarkey got t-boned by a rogue family out leisure-riding on the private road above kingswood. An ambulance had to be called but fortunately only minor cuts and scrapes seemed to be the case and no damage to the glorious Colnago was evident.

A fine days entertainment and greta to see so many riders of all abilities out. Thanks to Andrew Greene for the instigation - we should make a 'special' ride like this a regular on bank holiday weekends

[Snoop Doug]

Alan.....ouch! Your mega high bling factor obviously acted as some kind of cool magnet yesterday. Hope you and the steed are fully recovered.

Snoop

[Sylv]

Thanks for the ride. Those downhills were good fun (they do pale in comparison with the 1.6 mile vertical decline of the Alpe d'Huez Mégavalanche course though). Hope you're ok Alan.

[Alan M]

A great ride except for my mishap towards the end. Not quite sure whose fault it was but the rider I hit seemed to appear from nowhere and was seemingly crossing the road - that I didn't see him until too late is a bit of a mystery.

Thanks so much all for waiting and being kind, especially Connor who rode most of the way home with me. It feels like I have had a kicking and I have some scrapes but I did some bike errands today at a sedate pace and felt OK except mounting and dismounting. Anyway, I am conscious of George's crash so don't want to make too much of this.

I set off with the aim of saving my legs and by dint of get losts, catch ups and tea stops - managed it well, so by the end my legs had lost their tiredness - in my feeble brain I had reserved something to impress you all up Box hill - but Steve's puncture and the escaping group frustrated this - I manage to hang onto Steve about a third of the way up and then 'ping' - but he bought me tea so .....

Thanks again

Alan