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Sixteen met in Hertford and split into two equal groups in order to do the medium\fast and the easy pacer.  The faster group did a nonstop tour whilst the easiers took a more sedate pace and smelled the roses.  A stop at Emily's proved to be a welcome break and all returned safely.  Meanwhile the four on the Ely tour did not have any problems until about 2 miles from the end when the heavens opened.  Probably saved having a shower later.

Eighteen set off from Ware, soon to be joined by the speeding RichardH.  After heading out via Fanhams Hall the group took in Much Hadham and Puckeridge before blasting back down the old A10.

Again decent weather.  Again an excellent turnout.  Again a warm welcome to all those out on their first ride with the club.  After the Old Skool TT fourteen riders took off for a slightly roundabout route to Wandon End.  Away from the race Danny led about ten on the easy pacer to Buntingford.  Neither group encountered any major difficulties and all benefitted from the good rides and good company.

  
     
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Lovely sunshine, but a bit windy going up the A414.  Nick Cramer was head and shoulders above everyone else!!
  

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Lovely sunshine, but a bit windy going up the A414.  Nick Cramer was head and shoulders above everyone else!!
  

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Merv and Phil rode the Verulam 25 on the F1 course. A rising wind from the south made things difficult on the final 10 miles. Times Phil 1:0:23 Merv 1:6:48.

An incredibly fast course with the right conditions.  And these were the right conditions.  Sadly, Peter wasn't.  Did 2:07:29.  Should have got in faster than two hours.

Nineteen took to the hills on an occasion when it did not rain.  From Ware to Hertford, Bayford, Tylers Causeway, Essendon and back to Ware.  Twas a good ride on a good evening.

Merv rode this event at Leighton Buzzard in torrential rain and recorded 26:48.

No roadworks, no rain - so we have a result!

Wheelers

A decent day.  It didn't rain!  Not too windy!  Big yellow thing in the sky!  Can't last?  And so HWCC took full advantage with over 30 riders out on the roads either on one of the clubruns or a charity ride.  Ten rode from Ware to Hatfield Heath on a fairly painless journey whilst nearly twenty met at Hertford.  Fortunately this group split with a dozen off to Hudnall Corner and the rest on the medium\fast trainer.  The Hudnall Corner group only suffered two punctures and most had a good day out although there were still some major "lakes" to negotiate especially on the 250 yard off road b

On a circuit just north of Holmes Chapel, Peter started the 100 in good spirits and full of hope.  And for the first 40 miles everything went well.  Sadly in his preparations he had forgotten to eat and he had no food with him.  So he "hit the wall".  He struggled on to the 75 mile mark where for the first time in a race he stopped due to exhaustion.  A rider passed him and offered some food - gratefully accepted.  This got him through the next 10 miles when he stopped again - totally spent.  A spectator took pity on him and fed him with enough to get him to the finish.  With about 14 miles

This event was on the E2 course near Newmarket. The first half of field had torrential rain and most did not ride. The other half had no rain and good oxygen levels, seven riders were inside 50mins and one of these was 60 years old!
Phil rode in the first half but still managed to record a personal best and club age record of 54:49. This time bettered his 55:12 recorded 20 years ago!

At 19:00 seventeen riders turned up for the Weds evening tour.  Alas the foul weather turned up at the same time.  From standing around in goodish weather awaiting the start, by the time we set off it was raining hard.  As we made our way up the A10 we encountered a storm.  Was a tad scary!!  Riding down the road from Levens Green to Dane End would have been easier in a canoe and at the bottom of the descent there was a deep lake.  We had to ford it as there was no return back up the hill.

The appalling conditions prevented the nine strong medium group from getting to the appropriately named destination of Rayne.  At about the halfway stage the group negotiated one lake too many and the decision was made to retrace their steps - back through all the lakes and rivers that would have been much more enjoyable with MTB's.  A small group of four eventually took refuge in a pub at Much Hadham.  Despite everything nobody had any mechanical problems.  Contrast this to the easy group where Chris continued his attempts to take the puncture repair record:- and Bob had a diction slip.

Another blank night. Roadworks on the A10 meant that the appalling weather was of no consequence.

The Weds evening rides are proving to be extremely popular as people try to get over the Hump Day.  Richard led the ride north up the A10 to Levens Green, Dane End, Benington, Aston and across the A602 to return via Datchworth.  From there came the somewhat obligatory race back.

Good turnout today over the four rides.  With the reclassification of the "fast training ride" to a more general "medium\fast ride", it meant that riders who previously would not have attempted it due to the thought of soon being left behind, decided to give it a go.  Five went offoad.  The seven easy riders met up with Peter, who had driven across, at Emily's.  Three riders took up the afternoon challenge.  Sorry Bob, you're not catching up yet!

Sixteen riders out although how many came just to see John's new Banana-Boat is unclear.  Still he gave an impressive display of its speed and his agility, despite the fact that the machine has the turning capabilities of a tanker.  However it has no problem in turning heads, as demonstrated down the hill between Wadesmill & Thundridge.

Congratulations to Tony Marriott on winning this year's Garrett Cup with 1:01:50.  It would have been quicker had he stuck to the correct route.  Still he did better than Barry who just got lost.  Peter's time of 1:04:43 was affected by the previous afternoon's exertions.  Saturday's racing was all done with an average heart rate of 145+ whereas Sunday's was ridden at an average of 134 - he never got out of Zone 5.  Again Alex Dowsett made a mockery of the conditions with a course record of 47:53, beating 2nd place by 5 and a half minutes.  How come the course conditions never seem to affec