Brighton ride on the 15th

[Jonathan B]

Iam up for trying to hang on.

[George]

Well guy's the latest on the ride is that we are having a bit more of a lie in and meeting at a better time of
[size=200]7.00am[/size]
The Guru has ok'd this so don't be late and see you there for a prompt getaway on time.

[Steve B]

Thats a bit better, count me in

Who else is going?

Steve

[Antloony]

I may be there, going to set the alarm and see how I feel in the morning.

[MattI]

I might try and come along and see how far I can last

[Toks]

[quote="Antloony"]I may be there, going to set the alarm and see how I feel in the morning.

[Mark Leedham]

See you at 7:00

[George]

What a fantastic ride today, although I must say it was a tad fast I couldn't believe that we still had 7 of us at the finish in Coulsdon with averages of over 20mph for the whole ride.
Fastest Brighton and back ever.

Paul T ...............He's back and flying up the drags in the latter stages, relentless
Tok's .............. Super strong and not shy of working at the front, race win soon Surely
Antloony ............... This man is a natural, one ride a week your avin a laugh
Rob C ................ Mr smooth who overslept
Jonathan ................. Power of the incredible hulk
Steve B ................. He's right where he wants to be so watch out all 3rd cats
Moi .................. You guy's are kicking
Mark L .................. Oops we decided to carry on up the road

[Antloony]

Wow, as George said 'what a fantastic ride'. Thats the most fun Ive ever had on a bike. We flew down there, had the odd person trying to hang on to the Addiscombe express but they failed. Was great to ride on closed roads just thrashing along overtaking everbody. It was so funny going up Ditchling, Im no climber but its great passing people who are walking up and pushing 5K's worth of machine....all the gear, no idea is what we agreed.

A big thanks to you guys for making it a fast ride. Quite pleased with my efforts, only had one small bad patch on the way back but recovered enough to do a bit of work on the front heading back towards CCS. Did a few extra miles in just to get to the 100 mile mark.

Figures for my total ride from my front door and back again.

Total- 100.8 miles
Average- 19.7 (had a slow warm up ride to CCS from Sutton this morning)
Top speed- 53.7 mph.
Avge heart rate- 145
Highest heart rate- 181 (puffing and blowing up Ditchling)

Im going to start some serious training now after Toks and Georges kind words about my riding. Might try and do more than 1 day a week in the saddle, only ever do the club run, dare I say it I might even get a turbo trainer.

Its days like today that are the reason I love cyling so much, loved every minute.

[Toks]

Now that has to be the best ride this year so far (yeah I know I've said this already ) . Up at 5.15am and got going at 5.45am. Got to CSS at 6.55am to find just Jonathan B; then we were joined by Steph (the Bloke, not the newbie girl), Phil, George, Paul T, Mark L, Steve B and Anthony. A bit of fidling with Phil's STI levers and we got away around 7.10am. We peeled off the A23 and quickly joined the LTB route. A bit of overzealous riding up the drag unfortunately meant we dispatched Mark early doors (but he did return later ); then more testosterone flexing from yours truly meant we had to wave good bye to Phil and Stepth.

A coffee stop at the halfway mark soon brought us all back together again. Yah But some deadish roads and draggy bits resulted in yet another break up . So onwards and soon to be upwards - the magnificent 6 (Me, G, P, SB, JB and A) powered on. Oh by the way all sort of Billy-got-a-bikes tried to crash our party, most hung on for a mile or two until the watts went up again. One pesky little so and so did managed to stay with us and even did most of the work leading up to Ditchling Beacan.

At the top of the climb places 3,2,1 went to Steve, myself and George. Some real cool descending (53mph ) and we finally cruised up to Brighton Beach. An hour and a bit of R and R (including big fat baguettes and coffee) and then we got going again with Rob T. Paul T repeated his earlier hurculean effort by doing most of the pacing on the way back. Myself and Steve also did some big stints on the front but we didn't qite match the gurus dedication. On the way back there were some quiet off the beaten track sections so myself, Steve and a slightly below par George did some sprinting challenges - I think Steve got the points jersey.

With Gatwick and Crawley looming we blasted along the A23 and ramped the speed up to just under 30mph at some points. Once a week rider Anthony wasn't in it just for the ride and did a couple of impressive turns. George announced a 'first one up the Mersham drag competition' once we got to Redhill, I'm sure he changed his mind soon after though . I sat on the front of our yellow train as we approached the petrol station and began pressing hard on the pedals. A quick glance down -computer says...23mph. By the half way point it was just myself with Steve sat on my wheel. Back in the days I could've shook him off - alas no more - he's too bloody strong . Just after the first set of lights the rest of the boys latched on and we continued all the way back to CSS. What a beautiful day. Ride stats: Time: 6.22; dist 124miles; Av speed 19.5mph

[Will]

Sounds like a great ride!

The Addiscombe machine must have made an impressive sight streaking* through the countryside



* as in moving quickly rather than in readiness for the nudist beach

[Steve B]

[quote="Antloony"]Its days like today that are the reason I love cyling so much, loved every minute.

[Michelle]

I'm sooooooo jealous. You guys sound like you had the best time.

Mind you I beat your average today!!! 65 mph in the car

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]Steve B

Well if the previous two years are anything to go by its going to be quick, speeding up to quicker, and then once everyone has warmed up, it's going to be 'jump on the Addiscombe Train if you think you're hard enough' type pace

[Marky Mark]

You make it sound so easy, well done for that ride. I saw a clip on tv this morning of a woman who was so proud of doing LTB, she left at 6am to get into Brighton for 1 pm ahhhh bless.

Hats off to you all for a good training ride. See you soon.