Seeing as the race is over i’ll finally post the Prologue pictures
The camera battery finally gave up the ghost after this shot so I had to revert to the old camera. Results are much the same and but
five seconds to go and he hasn’t made the start yet.
Pity it turned out the way it did for Ramussen but I allways wanted Contador to win ever since he won Paris-Nice.
This was my first ride out with the North End, it started off with me following Dave at 25 mph to catchup with the others heading out to Woodbank. It was down to the Dee cyclepath and along that to Saltney Ferry footbridge. Just past Bretton one of the group picks up a puncture which slows things down a bit.
Now this is my first time out with the North end so I don’t know what the pace is going to be. The first test is when we turn off the Mold Road for a 5% climb up to the A55 footbridge. Climbs like this blow groups apart and I move off the front on this one. There is a comment about a drug test at the end of it as I am in my Discovery Channel kit.
For me this is my natural pace for a hill like this. At the gate it’s a wait for the group to reform. Another climb and then we cross the A55 and head for Pennyfford. The group reforms again but splits as most of it is going to the cafe at Ceffyn y Bedd. Dave, Mark, AN other and moi split off on a more direct route as the cafe closes at midday.
Once there Dave, Mark and I turn off up the Ffrwd Road. I’ve been down this road and it’s a blast, climbing it is a different matter. Dave gives me some instructions about waiting at the cross roads which I thought was a bit premature but proved to be the case. It’s not called the steps or staircase for nothing. Parts of this climb are steep, around 15%, it’s do-able in the middle ring. This had me maxxed out at 177 BPM on the Garmin HRM. Mark had dropped me on this climb as he is a natural climber. I’d clawed some of it back but the gap went out again. Contador I am not, YET.
We turned off for the Mountain Bike Centre even tho it is not signed. When we got there it was packed. You only have to look at the bike racks to see that there is some serious money here. By the looks of it we are the only ones that have arrived by our own power. It’s a pity that this stretch of road needs resurfacing otherwise it’s more suited to a 4X4 on the route we took.
I ended up having a piece of cake and a cup of tea, Dave and Mark ordered toast. What arrived was a two doorsteps per plate, then another two plates arrived. Once this was over it was time to head back to the Eureka. It’s a fast descent from the centre. There is one short climb that registers 16% on the Garmin Edge 305 but other than that it’s all downhill. The whole ride is at a quicker pace than what I’ve been doing for the last year. This is just what I need at the moment. The routes maybe not as scenic as some but it’s early days yet.
Had a few look at the new bars on The Toy , once I have sorted the lever height they will be perfect. There is even a moulding to rest your thumbs on when on the top. Superb.
It was an early start on Prologue day to secure a decent viewing position. took the tube from Paddington to Trafalgar Square to find things fairly quiet but the start was at least five hours away. I’ve had to split the post as it’s going to be too large otherwise.
This was the view down Whitehall with the Start ramp outside the Banquetting House and opposite Horseguards.
Discovery Channel at Trafalgar Square.
Various teams were warming up on the course in the morning and we were treated to the rollout of the Tour caravan
You can see the two Horseguards in the background, nothing seems to faze them. Throughout the day crowds of tourists were coming up to have their picture taken with them even though the Prologue was happening in front of them.
There was a barrier that is about to get moved that obstructs riders having a practice start while no one was looking.
Our Police motorcyclists looked overdressed compared with the Garde Républicaine.
More later , with the Prologue itself as a seperate post.
What a weekend this turned out to be, everything went to plan with an early flight from Manchester to London City Airport. The Docklands Light Railway dumping us at Bank right in the middle of rush hour. There had been a derailment on the Central line the day before so it meant a change of station.
We made our way to the Hotel and left our bags as we couldn’t book in until 2 pm. The hotel wasn’t too far from Hyde park so it was time to see the sights and walk the Prologue course. There were Tour De France support vehicles everywhere, the logistics of hosting this event must be huge. A lot of the Prologue Course was already closed but traffic was still going down Constitution Hill, well it was untill the Changing of the Guard. Everything stops for this. Nothing passes, no one crosses, it’s a slick well organised event.
With the changing of the guards over it was time to have a look at the finishing line and then walk up to Trafalgar Square to see what the venue was like. It looked good, mind you the whole place looked fantastic. Back to the hotel to book in then out to get a place at the presentation. Now they reckon there were 60,000 there for the presentation I wouldn’t know if the numbers are correct but it was packed.
Ken Livingstone and the Mayor of Paris opened the evening up with a good speech, reminding us of the anniversary of the tube and bus bombings and that an event like this meant that they haven’t won. That led us to the presentation of the teams.
Now Discovery have changed their kit with the blue being replaced by green. It looks really good, the bad news is I can’t get any of it. It’s supposed to be about the team going carbon neutral. I’m of the opinion that AMD are set to become the main sponsor now that Discovery Channel are ending their sponsorship.
George Hincapie getting interviewed.
The screens they put up were cystal clear the camera puts a moire pattern on them.
Every team got a rousing reception and it made for a great evening, took loads of pictures and I’m still working out the best format to display them on the site.
More later.
On the Tuesday prior to the Team Time Trial Steve took a minute out of me in less than 2 miles on the Brimstage Time Trial . On the Sunday Discovery Channel were leading after the final time check when Steve was brought down by his team mate breaking his elbow.
Now I’m watching the Tour de France second stage on Eurosport and Steve gets a mention with this link. Ouch, I wince every time I watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2I3X_5ZRDs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmSMNnVhpi8
Get well soon Steve.
More later.
Now this is the third and final TLI Oulton Park Road Race for this year. I’ve done the first two with mixed results if a result is finishing in the group. If competing and doing your best is a result then I’ve had the best results of my life over the last month or so.
On the last event I was shelled off the back due to a lack of experience and once off the back it can’t be regained. More than one has told me how competitive the Vets are, I think it it a mixture of race experience and years of just being at a fitness level I didn’t know existed.
For this week I’ve had a wheel upgrade to unbranded carbon rims and tubular tyres.They are not Zipp,s Hedd,s or Corimas but most of this like weightloss is in the mind. I know now that I am fighting the law of diminishing returns, the only thing limiting my performance these days is me.
I’d been lining up for this event for a week and the weather forecast was mxed. I’d spent a day trying to get cork brake pads for the carbon rims with no result. This had worn me out before I’d even started. Anyway I’d signed on in good time and spent some time circulating the wet carpark.
This is moi talking to Chris who is about to flag us off. The funny thing is Chris was talking to me me about this website, he’d found it on a Google search. TLI Oulton Park I think. The thing was we were talking about helping someone else maybe with a spinning class. I’m really glad when events like this happen as I don’t actively seek to publish (other than this blog) what I’ve acheived. Just being able to take the line is an acheivment for me.
And so to the event. Chris gave us good warning about the standing water at Old Hall and with that we set off down Deer Leap. Unlike last time I was taking my time letting others take it up this week. Just like the other week there were loads of bunnies running for cover as the leaders came through.
Mixed results with the pictures this week, there are a lot of blurred ones as the camera prefers to focus on stationary objects like the Bennetts hoarding on the armco.
Now I know where I went wrong last week and I’m not going to make the same mistake week. There were times when I was tempted to go off the front as things slow up on various parts of the lap like Island bend to Lakeside. You are into a headwind here and no one wants to lead out here. At least I don’t this time, it was this part of the track that has been my undoing once too often.
The reason is the sprint up Dentons with things easing off slightly on the Avenue. Things picking up again as we head for the line. Now it was all about hanging on with the bunch tonight and not getting dropped again. I’d settled into things OK this week and once I’d realised that for me it was all about the climb up Dentons, where I was weak, at least it was giving me the opportunity to stay on the back.
I’d spoken with one of The Sunlight guys and he passed comments about not wanting to be further back than this, looking back there was only one other rider behind us. That focused the mind but at least I hadn’t done anything stupid like go off the front this week. Last week I’d gone from the front to the back on Dentons and then dropped by Druids.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/dashboard.mb?episodePk.pkValue=3200883
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Lap
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Time | Distance | Max Spd | Hr max/ave | Caden | Energy | |
| 1 | 06:53 | 2.68 | 34 | 149 | 161 | 83 | 216 |
| 2 | 06:38 | 2.66 | 33.3 | 153 | 171 | 83 | 204 |
| 3 | 06:36 | 2.66 | 32.4 | 161 | 170 | 88 | 214 |
| 4 | 06:24 | 2.67 | 34.9 | 160 | 171 | 89 | 203 |
| 5 | 06:29 | 2.67 | 35.8 | 157 | 167 | 92 | 205 |
| 6 | 06:37 | 2.66 | 36.5 | 152 | 163 | 89 | 210 |
| 7 | 06:30 | 2.67 | 35.6 | 153 | 162 | 87 | 205 |
| 8 | 06:46 | 2.67 | 36.5 | 149 | 167 | 87 | 212 |
| 9 | 06:28 | 2.67 | 37.1 | 153 | 158 | 90 | 199 |
| 10 | 06:25 | 2.65 | 34.7 | 153 | 170 | 85 | 201 |
From the above data you should be able to gather that the last two laps were fast but my lap four was the fastest of the race. The last lap coming out at only 1 second over that shows I wasn’t blown at the end. Yes I’ve finished with the group this week but lets not forget I was riding out of my age group so respect is due.
Coming out of Shell hairpin and going along Lakeside the guy in front of me has a spoke break with a loud ping. He wasn’t aware of what was up at at the time but you could see the wheel was out of true. I’ve been warned off Mavics with alloy spokes and sure enough this was a Mavic Ksyrium letting go.
There are plenty of blurred shots of the pack going over the finish line so I won’t waste bandwidth putting the pictures up here.
I forgot to mention that I am riding Barry Sheene,s lucky number 7. It’s all about the last two laps as things hot up. On the 9th lap I’m consious about not loosing places on Dentons again but coming out of the saddle like most around me doesn’t feel right on these new bars. This time I get chance to here the bell as we cross the line for the final lap. This time up Dentons I’m at least holding position and after that I’m actually picking up a place or two. Dentons has taken a bit too much out of nearly half the field and it starts to thin out on the run up from Old Hall to the finish line. I pull another few places back but no one is counting except me.
Great to finish, great to finish on the same lap, great to finish in the group.
Now you may wonder why I am having my picture taken with an Audi R8, well the fact is something was going on at Oulton Park on this day and the pit lane was full of them.So much so that we wern’t allowed in the pit lane. There were 18 that I could see and at £82,000 for a base model before extras (and everything is an extra) that equates to £1,476,000 for a base model if that’s what they were.Nice looking car but a bit out of my league.
I bumped in to another Frank from New Brighton CC after this as his lad had won the last event and had been upgraded to the senior group. The group that managed to drop me after a lap!. In fact I bumped in to a fair few that I have come across since taking this up.
It’s been another great evening, thanks to all involved. I’m still on this journey of Discovery (there’s a pun in there). Finally, a year ago I didn’t ride with a group as up untill August I didn’t think I was up to it. A year before that I was trying to drop out of the morbidly obese weightclass. It’s hard to write the last sentence these days as I just want to look forward to the next challenge.
With most of the country worrying about the weather, I’m pondering whether to use “The Toy” or use the Iceni training/wet weather bike. One look out the window meant it was time to prep the Iceni. Nothing too drastic, just swap the bag, bottles and put the Garmin Edge 305 on the bars. The other important thing is to take the right shoes as the Iceni is fitted with SPD,s.
This was the better of the two shots as it includes the church.
It’s looking a bit grim driving down the A55 to Bangor but I’d allowed enough time in case I had difficulty find the start. Numbers were nearly 50% down on those that had entered but it didn’t look too bad on the day. Two out of our planned group were no shows but we gained Margaritte. Bangor was busy as we set out and it wan’t until a few mile down the road that I realised I hadn’t pressed start on the Garmin Edge 305. Hence the gap on the google map.
Ray had programmed us in to take the main road and not the cycle way to Carnarvon (english spelling) due to the path being grit. The wet conditions meaning any dirt rapidly becomes grinding paste on the rims. There was plenty of water around as we headed down the hill to Carnarvon and the Castle. I dropped off the back here to get a picture of the Castle as it’s not everyday you ride past historic landmarks like this. Further down the road we arrive at our first control point with a few riders getting their cards signed.
After the control things get a bit breezy and the speed is cut to 10-11mph. The road is very exposed here and it’s not until we head inland that things ease up.
Lowrie (in the blue,centre)of Wrexham CTC gets around, last week it was the Cheshire cycleway 100 miler.
It’s a tad windy after the checkpoint.
The next stop is Tremadog where all the climbers congregate before and after they climb the the rockfaces across the the the road from the cafe. There is the matter of a 700 ft climb to tackle before you get to it. It also means 700ft of descent too. There is a diversion off the main road that rejoins a bit further on. Prior to to that I see Nazareth Post Office, or at least it looks like that as we ride past.
Now the Eagle eyed might have gathered that I am a Nazareth fan(the 70,s group)and the urge to photograph the post office was stong , but i was at the back so it didn’t happen. Well not this time at least. AKA Whitebicycle.
This is after the climb, boy it was bleak. Bleak was waiting at the turn and having to go back down the hill to see if one of the riders was OK.Soft is someone whingeing about having a change of dry clothing after having walked from the Lamberis Pass cafe to the coach in the carpark.
I might as well talk about the climb as it is the highlight of the ride, not knowing what was coming up it looked harder than what it was. This was only the second long climb I’ve tackled, most have been shorter but maybe a bit steeper. Yes I know, I need to get out more.
The map player on the MotionBased site gives all the details of the climb . There is a section that is steep at the bottom but then it opens out. You can see the viewing point that cuts into the side of the mountain in the distance. That looks steep and who knows what lurks around the bend. As the climb opens up there is a chance to got up a gear and the speed goes up to 12mph from 10mph. Going up another gear has it up to 14mph in places. I passed three or four fellow riders on the climb and felt on top form. Only stopping at the junction to go up to PenYPass.
Looking at my watch I figure I’m about ten minutes clear of the others and it was time to regroup before going on to the control point. The weather turns nasty at this point and up until this point I have been reasonably dry. I’ve a pair of Polaris trousers on over a pair of shorts with Sealskin waterproof socks keeping my feet dry, until now.
One of the problems with waterproof gear is that when it gets overwhelmed like here there is nowhere for the water to go. So now I’ve got wet feet. I should have put the Altura overtrousers on earlier as they proved quite effective on the descent.
The next section up to the Cafe is steep, the weather is horrendous and as we round a steep uphill bend we are hit by a wind that nearly stops you in your tracks. No chance of dancing up at 14mph here,more like 8 with 10mph at best when it leveled out. A bleep on the Garmin means we are at the control point.
Now you don’t want to leave the relative comfort of the cafe to set off in a downpour but we’ve a ride to finish. I finally don the Altura overtrousers for the descent into Llanberis. Boy what a descent this was. This was going to be fast, it would have been very very fast if it was dry.
Once I’d got an idea of what was involved I was soon up to speed, this felt like about 30 mph. As we descended there were literally rivers running across the road. This isn’t a day for taking the racing line and I wave a car past, a Merc follows thru. The thing is they aren’t that much quicker than me. Max speed was 37 but there were lots of sections where I was dragging the brakes to keep the rims clear of water.
I’m on the drops for this descent, you need the leverage on the brakes to control your speed. Being on the hoods is not an option you just can’t get enough leverage. There is good feel on the drops and Dura-Ace pads are soft enough not to wear the rims out. I must mention the driving rain at the top as it was really stinging the face so much so as I was thinking of slowing down at one point.
Craig is next down and he doesn’t like this sort of descent.
30 mph near the bottom was no problem and I had a bit of a wait for the rest to catch up hence the shots.
There were glimpses of sunlight as we rode out of Llanberis which coincided with a shower as soon as i uttered the words. Further on we opted for a stop to take off the rain gear. The weather had brightened up and there was some stunning scenery that we had just cycled. My final piece of malt loaf was consumed and we headed of to the finish. It was a good day and the piece of cake at the finish was something else. At about 6pm the first of the 200km riders returned. This was some feat considering the weather.
I’ll post some stats later.
Thanks Robert, it’s a great route and I really enjoyed myself, got to see plenty of graveyards on the route for some reason.
This is the fourth Tuesday on the run where I’ve had another eventful unique experience. Some may have taken the opening of my last TLI write up as me being a bit down, far from it. I knew I was out of my depth, you just don’t know how far on your first event.
I’ve made a few changes to the bike since last time, including wheels , tyres, gearing, bars, and saddle. As we all know it’s not the bike but the rider, I still got dropped but this time by the vets. I forgot to mention I was riding in the vets class (50 +). I’m not going to improve in two weeks to do justice to the main field and anyway I’d qualify for it soon enough.
There are a couple of decent shots that I can post here , but as it was I had a great start. Or did I?. Unlike the previous ride I was straight into the pedal and although not first going down Dear Leap a good second. After Old Hall I drew alongside the guy in the lead and said this wasn’t going to last.
This is where it was a bit surreal, on the first ride I was already struggling to stay on the back. This week I am off the front and have the unique view of clearing the track of bunny rabbits. There are loads of the little buggers of various sizes sunning thenselves on the early evening tarmac.
This goes on until after Druids where it becomes a bit more exposed and the bunnies have scarpered. No roadkill here, they probably get plenty of warning on a trackday.40-50 oldtimers doesn’t compare to 120 db of open pipe mayhem.
I’m under no illusion about what is happening on this ride, whereas on the first I was struggling to stay on the back this week I am off the front. Never in a million years is this sustainable but at least it lasts until the straight after the Shell hairpin. You don’t realise how long this stretch of track is and it’s all into a good strong headwind. I manage to slot in to the pack after having been given a warning by one of the New Brighton guys.
This week things are a bit different and I’m still in the main bunch after 1 lap. The next couple of laps involve learning how to ride in a group and this is where I don’t learn from my first lap escapade.
This is lap 3 and who is the soft sod leading the chase here, you guessed it moi. The pack had slowed to a crawl and I’d gone from the back to the front in the run up from Old Hall to the finish line.
There are times when the group slows to a pace that just invites the inexperienced like me to go off the front, well it happened again. Bear in mind in my first event i was on my own for eight laps with no hiding place.
The above is lap 4 and I’ve gone from the front to the back twice now. If I’d have had any sense I’d have took Big Phils advice and stayed with the bunch as it wasn’t going to happen a third time. From Druids to Shell Hairpin you can really get sucked along in with the bunch. It’s fast and you are in close company. You have momentum for the climb and the descent is fast usually with the wind behind you.
On lap six I am off the back with another guy. I’d wasted effort by going off the front once too often and this was payback time. The thing was it’s not until you look back and see no one behind you except the broom wagon that you realise that if you can’t put that extra effort in to stay with the main bunch your well and truly finished.
Two laps to go and the timekeepers are waiting to change over to the last lap sign.
Once I was off the back it was just like the previous event. As I passed one of the Marshall boxes on the Avenue one of the wits that was in it commented “Your getting your moneys worth”, “Always do” was the reply. One of the lighter moments of the evening. The thing is there is a tendency to call it a day and pull in if you can’t maintain the pace.
I think Frank is going to want the original of the above.
Maybe the chap was right I was getting my moneys worth, but all I’m looking to do is finish on the same lap. It’s all about finishing in my eyes. Pulling out isn’t an option.
This is me getting flagged off with a lap to go, I was not a happy bunny at the time. I’m half a lap behind the group and so wanted to do the full distance this week.
Next week I’ll use a bit of common.
Re live the first 6 laps at least with this link:
Now I was half a lap behind these guys, next Tuesday the aim is to finnish on the same lap. Don’t do anything stupid and just get the hang of things. These guys have been doing this for a long long time most of them. I’m way out of my depth and finnishing on the same lap is a bonus.
I’ve no hard feelings about being taken off early as the way things were the previous week it would be getting dark by the time I had finished.
This was Tuesday on Wednesday I went out with the CTC for 54 miles and then went to my Lifestyle and Weight management follow up class. I’m still on this plan and less than a year ago I was just riding on my own. On August 1st 06 I joined the CTC . So effectivley I’ve been riding with the retired and pensioners for a year. Everyone has to start somewhere and this was my start. What does amaze me is the mileage some of these guys do.
It was a bit of a quiet ride this on with only 3 of us doing it. It got even quieter when the rear light with nine lives bounced off the back of the saddle bag and I stopped to retrieve it. Cliff was leading the run that was marked down as going into Wales but the forecast was bad so a run to Utkinton was decided on instead.
Nothing much to report on the way out, Cliff is setting a higher pace than normal as he’s trying to give me a bit of a challenging ride. There is a stop for rain gear when a shower blows over. The Discovery Channel windshell comes out the back pocket, it can cope with a shower as the raindrops bead off. It can’t cope with torrential rain, more of which later.
At Tarporley we bump into some of the guys I’ve met on the Steve Cummings Training ride at Delamere Cafe. We rode with them as far as the garden centre where we stopped for lunch. They are gearing up for Sunday Lunches and I settle for a barm with pork on it, tea and a piece of cake to round it off. I wasn’t feeling fast today as I had rode out to Eureka for my breakfast.
Cliff has a route sorted for the return to the Eureka, it’s just as well he told me it as it all went a bit pear shaped later on. I’ve got to mention Wilington Hall again, today it looks like they’ve got the Ferrari Owners club in the grounds. Cliff had pedaled off ahead and missed it. Next up is Clotton and Corkscrew Lane and just past the cottage with the pond on the bend things go wrong.
There is a tractor following us and then the light with nine lives bounces off, I pull in and let the tractor and following car past then double back to find the light. It is usually in bits in the road but is nowhere to be seen this time. Just as well as the tractor would have surely flattened it. Anyway it is in the grass undamaged again, so I set off at a great rate of knots to catch Cliff and Janet.
Bits of this ride are on the Steve Cummings training ride so when the next junction comes up I have no hesitation about taking it. About a mile down the road I realise Cliff and Janet have gone straight on and are heading to Eaton again. Nothing for it but to go The Ice Cream farm for a cup of tea and a scone (jam no butter). Weather is still good so it’s time to top up the bottle and head back to Chester.
The routes on the map and I call in at the Bike Factory to see what they have in stock, coming out empty handed it’s time to head down to the River Dee and see if the others turn up. I have another stop at the Bandstand to listen to the group that were playing there. Had it been another time I’d have probably stayed longer.
After this it was a ride around the racecourse and onto the River Dee Cyclepath. Here it started to rain. I could see that it was wet up ahead but it turned out to be a right downpour. This wasn’t fun, no mudguards mean’t there was enough water coming off the wheels to give me a good soaking.
The windshell was just that, the rain was no longer beading and bouncing off, it was just going straight through the nylon. This went on for a few miles then it stopped with a sharp transition to a dry path.
Back up past Sealand and then it was time to chance the A5117. Because of heavy traffic and the conditions it wasn’t too bad. Moving up to the lights I’m going faster than the traffic and at worst level with it. Peeled off up Woodbank and to the Eureka.
Ray and others from the Chester Road club are there so i join them and Roy and Joan join us too. This is when I have great difficulty in opening a Munchman Oat Bar. My finger tips are too soft with all that rain and I have to resort to piercing the plastic wrapper with a fork.
Talking about Munchman Oat Bars I’m always buying these from the Eureka. They are locally made and there is always one in the saddlebag in case of emergencies. I allways take one or two on an Audax as they go to some pretty remote places and you do need to be eating regulary on an Audax. Now I’ve had someone do a Google keyword search for them in the US and they have ended up at this site.
It was looking pretty grim looking out from the Eureka and I held off leaving untill I thought I had to do something. A couple of miles down the road and I was in sunshine. Back up Resthill mucking around with 12-27 gearing just seeing what was what and pressing the stop button at the junction.
69 miles, what seemed like an inch of rain, but largely bright, another good day and a fitting end to a fantastic week.
If you play around the Google map in hybrid mode you can see where I cycled along The groves and around the Roodee. Also my detour to the Ice Cream Farm.
This is my first go at this ride as I’ve only been with the CTC a mere 10 months. Thanks to Janet the route sheet was sent out to me by return of post and I was able to program the Garmin with it. I’ll submit it to the CTC rides website so others can share it.
I’d parked up at the sports centre and signed on, a few now familar faces and a good turnout from The Sunlight. Now I was geared up for a hard day having driven the route on Saturday. Chris in the middle of the picture was going to have a short ride.
Just before Willington Hall he has chain trouble and that was the last we saw of him.
I’ve written about the start from Willington Hall for the Tour of the Berwyns, I can’t reccomend it highly enough, it exudes class.
And then there were six, first up was Kelsall and a trip to Delamere. The Switchback at Delamere is on the Steve Cummings training ride. It’s a rolling climb and the dips give you momentum for the next. You can really feel good doing this climb by having a go. It’s not a drag and you gain speed as you crest each rise.
The stop at the Ice cream farm at Great Budworth was quite relaxed and it was here Roy and Joan caught us up. Time for a picture of them with Allan.
It was then on to the first real climb of the day, up the hill to The Wizard of Edge, Alderley Edge that is. It went quite well, I’m going to have to find time to visit some of these locations, you pass so many when you are out on these runs.
Had a good chat with the Sunlight lads at the control point. I’m looking to take things to the next level, so maybe I’ll be a club rider after all. Thanks for the positive comments about the site TJ. I’ve only ever wanted to show other what can be done. I thought I was doing well when I was over 100 Kg. This morning I was 82.0kg so 50KG or two bags of cement lighter than at my heaviest. I don’t know about this site beeing inspirational but the last years been 10 fold better than previous years.
The next section promised to be hilly, as I’d driven it in the car the previous dayI was concened I was going to struggle. It was low gear stuff and seemed particually steep in the car. I needn’t have worried, I still had the Wild Wales gearing on and sailed up everything. Don’t forget I’m on a triple.
I took these shots while on the bike, they haven’t turned out too badly, mind you I had to put the camera away for the climb as I haven’t got to the stage where I can do a 15% climb one handed. (yet)
The view from the top. Weather wasn’t too bad, a bit more sun would have been better but I can’t complain.
Things had been going at a steady pace all day and we thought we were going to get passed by the Sunlight at some stage. Seeing this pack descend on us, I’d thought they had caught us up.
This was after the canal crossing with the swing bridge.
Don’t know who they are but they didn’t hang around. Steadycam mode seemed to have worked well here. And so it was until the next control point at The Canal Centre.
It was quite relaxed here. The Sunlight sailed past at 20 mph having to retrace to sign in at the chap under the umbrella.
For whatever reason Cliff didn’t manage to take a photograph of me here so I don’t appear in any of them today.
There were four of us left for the final leg from Eaton to The Ring of Bells , Janet was riding shotgun with Laurie I think. Myself Cliff Allan and Adelle formed a CTC chaingang on the run back to Waverton, the speed was 19-20 mph and it worked quite well. The Sunlight didn’t catch us, they were having enough problems with punctures and other things. The group size wasn’t in their favour either large groups mean long stops.
As I had stopped the Garmin at the door of the Ring of Bells that was where my route finished with a bleep and a course complete message on the Garmin. We signed in, received our certificates and were sitting outside drinking tea and chatting about the ride when Janet arrives with The Sunlight in tow. Allan passes commment about it and I was just in time to snatch the above picture.
It was a good end to a good day, Allan said the pace was just right, Adelle found some speed in that new bike of hers and we all have another 100 under our belts. Only one casualty Chris with a broken chain. The Sunlight said they had 6 punctures, somethings amiss there. Thanks all I’ve had another great day.
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