Club run reports - 20th August

Category 3 ride led by Ian Bembridge

The perfect day for cycling, being warm but not too hot as we headed for the station café in Rayne. Alex seemed particularly pleased that we managed to get to Matching Green without going through Sawbridgeworth.

The south westerly wind gave us a hand in getting to Rayne at an average speed of 16.1 mph. 

This cafe has to be one of the best venues on the circuit, especially if you like your trains as much as Graeme! The coffee and food are good and reasonably priced. Unfortunately, Barry ruined Alex’s day by reporting on progress of the ladies playing for queen and country in Australia!

The ride back into the wind was a bit more of a test, and by the time we got back to Ware our average speed had dropped to 15.8 mph, much to the disappointment of Denis who wanted to keep it above 16!

Today’s riders were Denis, Graeme, Barry, Alex and Ian.

Tour De Broads - report by Tony Dos Santos 

Five riders lined up for this Sportive or, for the purist, Cyclosportive, but let’s not go there, eh! Richard and I left Hertford for the trek to Norfolk with one thing on our minds, a McDonalds at Duxford. We got there at around 6ish (I think), the sun blaring through, looking forward to a nice cup of coffee, only to find out there was a technical error and no coffee was available. Not being deterred we had our double sausage and egg McMuffins and hash browns with an orange juice. We were now happy campers.

 
The sun was rising higher as we only had a few more miles to go. We arrived in Norfolk at 7:50. Lots of riders were there as we set our bikes up. Then I realised I had forgot my water bottles. Luckily, after a cry for help, Claire confirmed she had a spare. We waited in the field for others to arrive. Just as we were set to go, Graham rang me and asked where we were. I had completely forgotten Graham was coming. Sorry Graham )-:

At the start were Richard (Kev), Claire, Graham, David and me. Amanda also drove up with hubby who was doing the 100 miler; unfortunately Amanda was on “doggy duty”, so she wasn’t riding. We said our goodbyes and at three minutes past nine we rode off. 
Now, if you know Norfolk, it’s not very hilly, but it can have some horrible winds. 

We were two miles into the ride and we had lost David. After a quick phone call he told us he had dropped something and wouldn’t be long. Back up to the famous five in minutes, the miles were being eaten up swiftly and before we knew it, we were at the first feed station. Flapjacks were consumed and a cups of coffee drunk. We met a really nice couple who were on their first sportive and enjoyed good banter. 

We continued and, a few miles up the road, I asked if we should try and get an average speed today of 15 mph. Everyone agreed we would. Then we turned west and were met but a brutal, yes brutal 200 mph headwind. It was about 10 mph really, but it hurt the average pace. Claire, being Claire, the monster power house, decided she would be the domestique for the day and took the front. Richard and I sat in her draft and tried to keep up. We got to 40 odd miles and Claire had dropped us with Richard saying words to the effect that he couldn’t keep up. I was so pleased he said that, as I was blowing up too. Claire looked behind her and noticed she had dropped us. 

We did our duty as a club and helped some poor chap who had a puncture, getting him back on the road in minutes. Only 10 miles to go and Claire, being Claire, said we could still achieve 15 mph. My Garmin said I was on 14.8 and I honestly believed we could still reach 15. How wrong! We got to a slight incline and my legs were screaming and that is when I decided there was no way I was even going to try. We had a nice last 10 miles ride,  passing and being passed by the same riders constantly; the banter was funny. We crossed the line, tired and happy. The weather was exceptional, hitting 30° C at some points. The company was great. David made me laugh most of the ride with his absolutely awful jokes, but so so amusing. 

All in all, a great ride and great company. We all had to apologise to Claire for not being able to hit the magic 15 mph. We all went our separate ways and fish and chips were consumed before we left.