Saturday 27th of February

No ride last weekend (thank to the 3 inches of snow that fell Saturday night) so Big Al thought he'd better throw in a few extra miles this weekend for good measure. Iron Man Lewis and Robbo met the Wrexham boys in Overton. I won't bore you with full details, suffice to say the first 5 minutes of conversation concerned the whereabouts of our absent rear gunner Ian (although to be fair, if I got home at 1.30am after watching the rugby I wouldn't have made it either!). I remain fairly confident that his French preparations are under control and he will surprise us all when he puts in a PB on Alpe D'Huez in this Summer.

We steadily made our way via Penley, Hanmer and Whitchurch to the Raven cafe at Prees, where we enjoyed a full breakfast and mug of tea for less than the cost of a spare tube. After Prees, the pace inevitably picked up. Mark led a long and valiant attack on the draggy climb past Prees village, before Robbo demonstrated a little over-exuberance on the road to Wem. As soon as things had calmed down, Mark again did a sterling turn on the front, only to be rewarded by a group acceleration up a very steep hill. Ron continued to show tip-top form for so early in the year, dancing up each and every rise like Fred Astaire on a cocktail of Iron Bru and Pro-plus!

As the group rolled into Ellesmere Robbo had a choice a) go home to a hot shower, hot coffee and an afternoon of rugby on the telly or b) ride straight past his house and carry on over the Brow to Whittington with the rest of the bunch in the ever deteriorating weather. The ascent of the Brow was steady and was rewarded with a fast approach into Whittington, before turning for St Martins and the stinging little climbs ahead. A subsequent telephone conversation between Robbo and Big Al later in the afternoon confirmed that there were tired hearts and legs by the time we all got home. All in all this was quite a tough day in the saddle in pretty bad weather, 60 odd miles and just under 18mph average. But as Lewis might sagely say, Winter miles = Summer smiles.

St Valentine's Day Massacre

I'd arranged to meet the Wrexham lads at Chirk, and was joined by not one, but two Iron Man fitness freaks this week, Al Lewis and Mark. Our numbers were swelled to nine when we were joined by the Wrexham lads as we made our merry way to Oswestry and the hilly challenges ahead. First up - The Racecourse Hill. Alan and I watched from a safe distance as Craig and Iron Man Mark vied for leadership glory up the testing climb, before steadily panting our way past to snatch the summit. The rest of the boys followed quickly, but where was Ian, had he turned back? After a few minutes our hero rolled into view, weaving around like Andy Powell in a golf buggy. Next came the 'beast' shortly after Llansilin, with Chris ably rising to the challenge to ride the whole way seated on a 39 x 25. Remind me never to bet against him if there's money involved. After a fast descent to Maesbury via Blodwell bank, we all settled in for the usual fare at Canal Central before the heavy legged return trip. Big Al has since checked his records and has confirmed that we did the same ride this time last year on our Summer bikes, but at a slower pace. Looks like it's going to be one heck of a Summer.

Sunday 7th February 2010

Happy New Year!

January saw a slightly reduced Crapi peloton as the after effects of Christmas colds and apathy clung on to one or two weary members. A few hardy souls braved the frosts and ice for a trip to Bala two weeks ago, but our numbers were swelled to six this week (welcome to Craig)for a 50 mile route of the Tour of Flanders (the windswept undulating badlands between Ellesmere and Ruyton). Erstwhile rearguard rider Ian regrettably failed to make the outing, having succumbed to an acute case of gutrot.