England : Rutland Wiggle Rut 2012 - 27th October

[totallyfixed]

Well Leicestershire, how did you manage to get a headwind in EVERY direction? And one so cold too!

It was a bit lumpier than expected, but the views were well worth the climbs.

I had some bits of branchesblown into my rear wheelat about half way. The wheel is OK, but the cage with the jockey wheels is no longer spring loaded, so it dont take up the slack when in a small rear cog. Once it settles into a gear I tended to leave it and just use the front mech where possible.

Made it an interesting ride. I did the 72 miles in one go with the exception of 2 mins to give somenone a tube, and twice to get off and jiggle (read "swear at") the rear mech, so Im counting that as non-stop!

Yes there was a bit of wind out there today and with the temp only being around 6C the wind chill brought it down a lot lower, didn't stop many of the sportive riders we saw riding in shorts mostly in team Sky kit, hilarious. Never seen so many people on bikes grinding big gears with a cadence below 60 rpm. Unfortunately for us we ended up for a few miles on a long drag of a climb going in the same direction, one guy with a manic look on his face trying to catch us and two in front giving it everything. As we passed the two in front we said hello, I think the front one nearly came off as he realised the front one of us was a lady on a pink bike, might have killed him if he had seen we were on fixed. twenty seconds after we had passed them I looked back to see one of them on my wheel, I said "we have company", the hammer went down and that was that really, it did hurt a bit cos not fit yet, but fun .
The downside, and I can't prove this, was a car about a mile later passed us blaring his horn and giving the one finger salute out of the window, straight road no traffic whatsoever, what was that about? Never happened to us in Rutland before, left wondering if some Sportive riders had p****d him off in some way, if they had, not happy, we have a good relationship with traffic in these parts.

 

[ColinJ]

The downside, and I can't prove this, was a car about a mile later passed us blaring his horn and giving the one finger salute out of the window, straight road no traffic whatsoever, what was that about? Never happened to us in Rutland before, left wondering if some Sportive riders had p****d him off in some way, if they had, not happy, we have a good relationship with traffic in these parts.

Probably just some moron passing through! Even if somebody else had done something stupid a couple of miles back, it doesn't excuse his behaviour towards you and dr_pink!

I'm glad to see that you are getting out regularly again.

 

[PaulSecteur]

The downside, and I can't prove this, was a car about a mile later passed us blaring his horn and giving the one finger salute out of the window, straight road no traffic whatsoever, what was that about? Never happened to us in Rutland before, left wondering if some Sportive riders had p****d him off in some way, if they had, not happy, we have a good relationship with traffic in these parts.

Was that a red pick up 4X4 thing? If so, I saw that.

 

[totallyfixed]

Probably just some moron passing through! Even if somebody else had done something stupid a couple of miles back, it doesn't excuse his behaviour towards you and dr_pink!

I'm glad to see that you are getting out regularly again.

Thanks Colin, but I'm just hanging on to a wheel at the moment, and you know whose wheel that is, scary stuff the way spits out geared riders going uphill! You will be there sooner than you think, I suppose winter will be the biggest challenge, possibly sitting in front of the telly / computer.

Was that a red pick up 4X4 thing? If so, I saw that.

No, this was a black car, yours was another one, 2 in this area is unheard of .

 

[PaulSecteur]

No, this was a black car, yours was another one, 2 in this area is unheard of .

To be fair, there were riders 3 or 4 abreast, but there was no need for him to behave like he did, driving half on road and half on the grass.

 

[guttertrash]

I did the 72 mile yesterday, although I really struggled after the run along the bottom of Rutland Water. Was much more lumpy than I expected, rolling I guess I would call it, and I think I was completely unprepared for it. All my own fault, and I might learn one day. I dont think one McDonalds Sausage and Egg McMuffin is enough to do a 72 mile ride on, for me anyway Usual standard of KTG organisation. The HQ location wasn't great though. Nowhere near enough parking, and having the ride through a busy car park at the start and end wasn't ideal. Its the first KTG event Ive done where they didnt have some dedicated parking.

 

[PaulSecteur]

Photos are now up...

http://sportivephoto.thirdlight.com/viewcontainer.tlx?containerid=13544651856&home=1