Speedy Ride for food-Olympic RoadRace Route-Sat 14th Jan

[jayonabike]

My Dad passed away late last night. Thank you all for your kind words. Jay

 

[martint235]

Very sorry to hear that Jay. Take care of yourself and your family.

M

 

[gbs]

A big thankyou to Abs for guiding us around what turned out to be a more demanding ride than I anticipated.

The pace and vertical gains were not excessive, my bike was 100% comfortable (although Mill Way, the lane through the golf course after Box Hill has maintained its boneshaking qualities) and yet the impact was greater than other longer more bumpy rides. Strange!

PS at 1100: the penny has dropped - dehydration. I had 1 hot chocolate, about 500ml of diluted OJ, pint of water, 1/2 pint bitter. Doh!

 

[bobcolover]

Many thanks to Abs for leading; and also to everyone else for waiting so patiently for this older unfit person to catch up on such a ridiculous machine!.... even so I think if I had been riding an upright bike I would have been even slower [ if thats possible]. So all in all a great day out. Bc

 

[Alberto]

It was an excellent and cold day out. Really enjoyed those roads in the Surrey area, but have also noticed how unfit one can get after the Xmas holiday...Really need to put more miles in over the next few months!

Many thanks for Ian/Abs for organising, and all the others for the great company. Looking forward to the next one.

 

[HaloJ]

It was a good ride but very cold and much slower than I'd have preferred especially as it's one of the easier rides on the speedy food calendar. 12 hours was my total out time when I feel it should have been under 10.

I've had a few comments with regards the ride and riders that I feel I must express.

The road etiquette of the group was quite poor. Fifteen riders makes for a large road obsticle and our image is not bettered with other road users when we fail to yield to single file after a shout of car up. I was witness to a couple of these incidents and they annoyed me but for others to comment then the matter needed to be raised. Car up is shouted both as a matter of safety and also of courtesy. Cyclists can be seen as a nuisance by drivers without us helping bolster the image by unnecessarily hindering them.

The other issue raised was undertaking. It shouldn't happen but it does when riding at speed. If you do end up on someone's inside please, please, please ensure that you shout "on your left" so that they are aware of you. This is for both your safety as the last thing the undertaker needs is being swept into the curbside.

All those things said, it was a great ride and I still keep chuckling at Alberto's drink freezing and about the ice forming on my glasses as we passed Newark Abbey shrouded in frost and fog.

115 miles total for me with hardly any personal bests on any section of the ride.

 

[simgsxr]

Excellent day out, thanks Abs. As mentioned it was an extremely cold & thankfully virtually windless day, otherwise I think we would have all been turned into popsicles (or should that be pop-cycles?) Thoroughly enjoyed the outward & inward ride back through London, first time along these roads on the bike. Richmond & Bushy Parks, jubilant Chelsea fans (lucky win Ian & you were correct in stating there were only a couple of Ca-hills on route) Cracking lunch stop, no mechanicals & superb company as usual!!

 

[Aperitif]

Thanks for the visuals, Simon - it looks a perfect ride day. Did you lads cycle down and back? Good effort if you did...Without Stuaff's immediate appraisal on the Saturday night, I wondered if something had gone amiss.
And well done Abs - "hardly any personal bests" is still a good result. As an aside, have you 'touched base' with WatfordVelo? I tracked a lad along the A5 last week and he was quick(ish) and he was dressed in their gear. Their 'Gold' ride looks right up your street!

 

[HaloJ]

And well done Abs - "hardly any personal bests" is still a good result. As an aside, have you 'touched base' with WatfordVelo? I tracked a lad along the A5 last week and he was quick(ish) and he was dressed in their gear. Their 'Gold' ride looks right up your street!

I've not seen any of the Watford Velo club but plenty of the Gregarios. Not managed to make it to their club run yet though but I am keeping an eye on the FB group and a couple of their riders on Strava.

 

[Aperitif]

Ah yes, 'Gregarios' - I have met a couple of them along the way, too, and had a nice chat. Very pleasant (and well 'tooled up'...nice club armwarmers etc..!) One of the guys I chatted with said they meet at the Alpine, at the top of Brookshill...(that's a schlep, that hill ) and they like a bit of Italy...

 

[HaloJ]

Which is handy as I'm in love with Italia and make a superb lasagne. I rather like the climb up to the Alpine but I never thought I'd say this, I'm missing Swain's.

 

[Aperitif]

Just been searching and they have a nice website! Seem to take it a bit tongue-in-cheek - which is good, and reflected the easy-going chat I had last year...
http://www.gregarios.co.uk/cycling-clubs/Diego-Ulissi.html And Paolo Bettini is a 'member' too!

 

[CharlieB]

Thank you all for a grand day out, especially to Abs for leading it, and for showing me a great alternative commute route. I now just need to get over my trepidation at actually using the A5 at rush hour on a weekday. That merge at the bottom end of the Staples Corner flyover is a bit scary. A shame Ian, as protagonist, couldn't make it.
Bless you too, Abs, for greeting me at Watford with a bacon sandwich, which unfortunately I had to decline for veggie diet reasons.
I just hope they resurface some of those roads before the day.

 

[Aperitif]

Thank you all for a grand day out, especially to Abs for leading it, and for showing me a great alternative commute route. I now just need to get over my trepidation at actually using the A5 at rush hour on a weekday. That merge at the bottom end of the Staples Corner flyover is a bit scary. A shame Ian, as protagonist, couldn't make it.
Bless you too, Abs, for greeting me at Watford with a bacon sandwich, which unfortunately I had to decline for veggie diet reasons.
I just hope they resurface some of those roads before the day.

You can do it Charlie - the Royal Free A&E is superb, and there's a nice café downstairs!

 

[HaloJ]

Depends on the time of day and if you feel up to keeping the pace high. If it's looking busy I'll duck down to the roundabout and lights. If it's quiet or I'm feeling up for a sprint then I'll go over the fly over but the trick is not to cross the on the lane too early. You have right of way and a good strong position keeps you seen and gives you room to manoeuvre if an impatient psycho decides to jump on the A5 without waiting for you to pass.

EDIT : That said it was busy on my return journey and I gave my brakes a very good testing when someone pulled across me turning right but then stalled blocking both lanes.