The lowest turn-out for many a week took a jaunt along the A5 to Corwen, where a breakfast meeting with Mike was scheduled for 10.30am. “Is this it?” enquired Robbo, as he surveyed the dynamic duo of Ronnie and Patron at the Whitehurst meeting point. Further enquiries revealed that Chrissy was full of cold and Cabbage was a no-show. Mark had broken a shifter mid-week (doesn’t know his own strength that boy), Vino was enjoying apres-ski in some exotic Alpine retreat, Lamby was on granddad duty, whilst International man of mystery Craig was said to be undertaking a critical diplomatic mission somewhere in the Far East. Coppi is still convalescing and is now nursing a newly diagnosed broken collar bone and shoulder, whilst an eleventh hour sick note text from Lantern was predictably received shortly before kick-off, despite daily assurances to the contrary all week.
The motley triumvirate made steady progress through Llan until the Patron’s engine warning light came on shortly before the drag up past Berwyn station. A quick roadside diagnostic check (don’t ask where we had to plug it in) revealed a lack of power to the two main engines, with a rogue can of a well known brand of deodorant being the likely culprit. I know, it’s a long story, better ask him when you see him.................
Mike was patiently waiting the arrival of the grupetto in Corwen, where all four tucked into a full breakfast and mug of tea for under a fiver. Ronnie looked happy....
Shortly after leaving Corwen, we caught up with a tractor doing what tractors do best – causing bad tempers, long queues of irate drivers and general carnage on the road behind them. A bit like cyclists really. Downhill sections saw us easily catch the shit spreading ship of the vale and its rosy cheeked captain, only for it to tauntingly pull away from us on the drags. At the foot of the butterfly hill Ronnie had clearly had enough, and launched a last ditch attempt to get into the Massey’s slip stream for a free tow uphill, closely followed by Robbo. A few minutes later, the grinning pair were at the crest of the hill celebrating a 20mph average all the way up the drag. Cheers farmer.
Mike peeled off at Berwyn to get in some quality climbing over the shoe on the way back to Ruthin, and Robbo bid farewell to Ronnie and Patron at Chirk. Hopefully the peloton will be restored to some semblance of order next week.
Saturday 28 January 2012
Friday 27 January 2012
21/01/12 - OTB - The Patron Returns - Winter Pace Still Missing!!
The Patron, fully revived after a week of coughing his lungs up, restored the traditional 9am start for a “gentle” (his word) ride out to Maesbury.
Reporting for duty were Chris, Ron, Candle and the Lantern. The peleton set out for a meeting with Matinee, Roger & Brian the Beast at Moreton Garden Centre. After collecting the said motley bunch, the peleton set off through Western Rhyn. The somewhat benign base to Oswestry gave no hint of the carnage to come. Upon entering Oswestry the Patron, true to his character, eschewed the easy options and called for a right turn to allow Craig and Robbo to test themselves on 39x25 ascent of Racecourse hill
Soon the air was rent by the sounds of middle aged, rotund (and that’s just the fit buggers!!) cyclists wheezing their way up the climb. The Lantern took up his usual position somewhere off the back and the Patron rode station some 100 yards ahead, rather light a wartime destroyer escorting a ponderous bulk carrier across the Atlantic.
After a short rest at the top the Lantern thought he must be hallucinating as he could have sworn the Patron’s next suggested route was to head up the Beast and then turn right halfway up to come out in Trefonen. No, he must have heard that wrong……
F**king gentle ride my a**e thought the Lantern as the peleton barrelled along to the bottom of the Beast and then splintered mightily on the climb with Chris apparently eager to animate things at the front of the race (or so a certain 1950’s style movie idol told me).
Whilst Chris was labouring to repair the Candle’s mud guard which now included a cut out section (on the plus side you couldn’t here his approach from 2 miles away anymore) the Patron was attempting to keep both Ron and the Lantern in sight. No easy feat unless you’re cross eyed. The Lantern managed to catch up just as the final climb levelled out. True to form Ron then swept past the turning despite the Patron’s words “Take the next left Ron” still ringing in his ears.
At the bottom of Blodwell the peleton reconvened and Matinee suggested we all stick together on the run down to the café. Quite why he then decided to time trial down to the crossroads was anybody’s guess. Never mind thought the Lantern we’re bound to take the short route to the café today……
Once over the crossroads things went a bit Pete Tong as Matinee, Craig and initially Brian and Ron put the hammer down to about 35mph. Unsurprising the peleton split faster than a fat bird’s knickers doing the twist. The result was that Matinee and Craig screamed off up the road and missed the short cut turn off for the café. As a result they were last to arrive.
After refreshment the Matinee was somewhat perturbed that his plan to go back up the side of the racecourse had been voted down. For once it wasn’t the Lantern that spoke his mind but he certainly didn’t object to the change of route.
The peleton now headed towards Whittington, via the by now almost obligatory piss stop (why they didn’t go at the café lord only knows) and Brian led the bunch towards Gobowen.
The group then trundled back up towards Western Rhyn. By now cracks were starting to appear in the peleton once again. The Lantern was joined off the back by Brian and the Candle who appeared to be taking a breather.
By Chirk Bank the Lantern was suffering and that continued up the Tally Ho and back home. Sitting in Patron’s Transport Café afterwards Chris, Ron and the Patron all agreed it had been a hard ride. Funny how every ride for the last few weeks has ended with bodies strewn about the lanes, heartfelt endorsements to any statement about the pace being too high and yet I guarantee you next week no one (well no one apart from me and I don’t count) will suggest going any slower.
Another hard yet ultimately enjoyable ride but I for one won’t mind if you take things a little slower next week guys!!!
Reporting for duty were Chris, Ron, Candle and the Lantern. The peleton set out for a meeting with Matinee, Roger & Brian the Beast at Moreton Garden Centre. After collecting the said motley bunch, the peleton set off through Western Rhyn. The somewhat benign base to Oswestry gave no hint of the carnage to come. Upon entering Oswestry the Patron, true to his character, eschewed the easy options and called for a right turn to allow Craig and Robbo to test themselves on 39x25 ascent of Racecourse hill
Soon the air was rent by the sounds of middle aged, rotund (and that’s just the fit buggers!!) cyclists wheezing their way up the climb. The Lantern took up his usual position somewhere off the back and the Patron rode station some 100 yards ahead, rather light a wartime destroyer escorting a ponderous bulk carrier across the Atlantic.
After a short rest at the top the Lantern thought he must be hallucinating as he could have sworn the Patron’s next suggested route was to head up the Beast and then turn right halfway up to come out in Trefonen. No, he must have heard that wrong……
F**king gentle ride my a**e thought the Lantern as the peleton barrelled along to the bottom of the Beast and then splintered mightily on the climb with Chris apparently eager to animate things at the front of the race (or so a certain 1950’s style movie idol told me).
Whilst Chris was labouring to repair the Candle’s mud guard which now included a cut out section (on the plus side you couldn’t here his approach from 2 miles away anymore) the Patron was attempting to keep both Ron and the Lantern in sight. No easy feat unless you’re cross eyed. The Lantern managed to catch up just as the final climb levelled out. True to form Ron then swept past the turning despite the Patron’s words “Take the next left Ron” still ringing in his ears.
At the bottom of Blodwell the peleton reconvened and Matinee suggested we all stick together on the run down to the café. Quite why he then decided to time trial down to the crossroads was anybody’s guess. Never mind thought the Lantern we’re bound to take the short route to the café today……
Once over the crossroads things went a bit Pete Tong as Matinee, Craig and initially Brian and Ron put the hammer down to about 35mph. Unsurprising the peleton split faster than a fat bird’s knickers doing the twist. The result was that Matinee and Craig screamed off up the road and missed the short cut turn off for the café. As a result they were last to arrive.
After refreshment the Matinee was somewhat perturbed that his plan to go back up the side of the racecourse had been voted down. For once it wasn’t the Lantern that spoke his mind but he certainly didn’t object to the change of route.
The peleton now headed towards Whittington, via the by now almost obligatory piss stop (why they didn’t go at the café lord only knows) and Brian led the bunch towards Gobowen.
The group then trundled back up towards Western Rhyn. By now cracks were starting to appear in the peleton once again. The Lantern was joined off the back by Brian and the Candle who appeared to be taking a breather.
By Chirk Bank the Lantern was suffering and that continued up the Tally Ho and back home. Sitting in Patron’s Transport Café afterwards Chris, Ron and the Patron all agreed it had been a hard ride. Funny how every ride for the last few weeks has ended with bodies strewn about the lanes, heartfelt endorsements to any statement about the pace being too high and yet I guarantee you next week no one (well no one apart from me and I don’t count) will suggest going any slower.
Another hard yet ultimately enjoyable ride but I for one won’t mind if you take things a little slower next week guys!!!
Saturday 21 January 2012
Tuesday 17 January 2012
OTB - 14/01/12 - A Foggy Day in Shropshire
Two developments on the morning of the ride; one a major surprise the other maybe not so much. The Lantern arrived at the car park by the Patron’s to find Roger Whitaker whistling tunelessly & the Candle almost dressed. “Hmm maybe they have turned over a new leaf” he thought. This was immediately dispelled by Candle’s opening line saying he’d forgotten his overshoes (only the coldest ride for about 10 months). A text to Patron (he’s bound to have a spare set!!) elicited the shock news that the Candle could use his as he was full of cold and wouldn’t be joining us (later betting was suspended when odds reached 5-4 on, that he’d go out “Just for an hour you know” on his own on Sunday).
So leaderless the peloton of Vino (muffled up like Scott of the Antarctic), Chris, Ron, Roger, Candle and Lantern set off. Somewhere by the bridge over the A483 Cabbage caught up, and was nice enough not to mention we’d fecked off without him.
The Candle set a brisk pace up from Newbridge towards the A5 whilst Chris indulged his bike porn fetish by quizzing Roger about his proposed new steed. It was later commented that if his bike gets any more high tech, Team GB are going to be increasing their gold medal prospects and Brad Wiggins will be out of a job.
Matinee was collected and, after consulting with Chris, it was quickly decided we’d climb up to Trefonen and down Blodwell on the way to the café. Willy’s were non too discreetly waved on the drag up to Trefonen (not at all, lazy arse Lantern just wasn't trying hard enough - Ed) whilst Carl paced himself (as I’ve said before hats off for coming out with the lads and then racing on a Sunday!!)Candle & the Lantern at the rear.
The Candle was still feeling the effects of his night out/late night when he somehow failed to see either Roger’s rear wheel or a**e just above it (I suspect he may have fallen asleep on his bike!!). Once at the bottom of Blodwell, Robbo and Chris decreed to turn right and go through Llansantffraid and Llanymynech. “It looks a bit foggy” the Lantern thought. Ten minutes later the peleton was cycling through frozen fog that resembled a real pea-souper from old London town. All traffic appearing out of the gloom had a man with a red flag walking in front of them.
Matinee and a few hardy others had a piss stop, whilst those with stronger bladders keep a steady pace to keep warm. The group came back together in Llanymynech. The Candle hit the front here, only to be overtaken quickly by a fast moving Chris who was followed by the equally flying Ron. Ron peeled off and the Candle hit the front, only for Matinee to pile past. “Don’t let him go on the front” the Lantern wailed. Matinee slowly turned the screw on the way to the Knockin junction. A mere 50 yards from the junction (which to be fair you couldn’t see in the fog) the Candle pulled off & looked like Jens Voight after an epic turn on the front (i.e. absolutely f**ked!!). The Lantern held on as he knew the road a bit better, but the hurt had been put on and no mistake, and he cursed Robbo on the road to Maesbury.
After some lovely soup at Maesbury cafe, the group got back on the bikes and all agreed the temperature had now reached “f**king freezing”. After stopping for a team photo (coming to a website near you - is it just me or has the Candle got a Beyonce arse thing going on in the photos?).
Carl, maybe due to impending frostbite, hit the front and ramped the pace up on the way down to Whittington. This left the Lantern with the task of leading the bunch out of Whittington and up towards Gobowen. Jesus I hate that stretch of road!! Anyway the task was accomplished without too much sniggering.
After bidding farewell to Robbo at Gledrid, the peloton fractured on the ride back to Rhostyllen. Cabbage and Ron went off the front followed by Roger and Vino, leaving Chris to shepherd home the Lantern and the Candle.
The Patron put in an appearance whilst the lads were loading up the cars to go home to check on his brood. Overall not as fast as last week but still a hard ride and at 54 miles longish for a winter outing. Once the extremities had thawed out it was definitely better than last week for me (but not for a couple of others…) & looking forward to getting out next week.
Thanks as always to the rest of you for making it an enjoyable, if somewhat chilly, ride. Hope to see as many as possible next weekend.
So leaderless the peloton of Vino (muffled up like Scott of the Antarctic), Chris, Ron, Roger, Candle and Lantern set off. Somewhere by the bridge over the A483 Cabbage caught up, and was nice enough not to mention we’d fecked off without him.
The Candle set a brisk pace up from Newbridge towards the A5 whilst Chris indulged his bike porn fetish by quizzing Roger about his proposed new steed. It was later commented that if his bike gets any more high tech, Team GB are going to be increasing their gold medal prospects and Brad Wiggins will be out of a job.
Matinee was collected and, after consulting with Chris, it was quickly decided we’d climb up to Trefonen and down Blodwell on the way to the café. Willy’s were non too discreetly waved on the drag up to Trefonen (not at all, lazy arse Lantern just wasn't trying hard enough - Ed) whilst Carl paced himself (as I’ve said before hats off for coming out with the lads and then racing on a Sunday!!)Candle & the Lantern at the rear.
The Candle was still feeling the effects of his night out/late night when he somehow failed to see either Roger’s rear wheel or a**e just above it (I suspect he may have fallen asleep on his bike!!). Once at the bottom of Blodwell, Robbo and Chris decreed to turn right and go through Llansantffraid and Llanymynech. “It looks a bit foggy” the Lantern thought. Ten minutes later the peleton was cycling through frozen fog that resembled a real pea-souper from old London town. All traffic appearing out of the gloom had a man with a red flag walking in front of them.
Matinee and a few hardy others had a piss stop, whilst those with stronger bladders keep a steady pace to keep warm. The group came back together in Llanymynech. The Candle hit the front here, only to be overtaken quickly by a fast moving Chris who was followed by the equally flying Ron. Ron peeled off and the Candle hit the front, only for Matinee to pile past. “Don’t let him go on the front” the Lantern wailed. Matinee slowly turned the screw on the way to the Knockin junction. A mere 50 yards from the junction (which to be fair you couldn’t see in the fog) the Candle pulled off & looked like Jens Voight after an epic turn on the front (i.e. absolutely f**ked!!). The Lantern held on as he knew the road a bit better, but the hurt had been put on and no mistake, and he cursed Robbo on the road to Maesbury.
After some lovely soup at Maesbury cafe, the group got back on the bikes and all agreed the temperature had now reached “f**king freezing”. After stopping for a team photo (coming to a website near you - is it just me or has the Candle got a Beyonce arse thing going on in the photos?).
Carl, maybe due to impending frostbite, hit the front and ramped the pace up on the way down to Whittington. This left the Lantern with the task of leading the bunch out of Whittington and up towards Gobowen. Jesus I hate that stretch of road!! Anyway the task was accomplished without too much sniggering.
After bidding farewell to Robbo at Gledrid, the peloton fractured on the ride back to Rhostyllen. Cabbage and Ron went off the front followed by Roger and Vino, leaving Chris to shepherd home the Lantern and the Candle.
The Patron put in an appearance whilst the lads were loading up the cars to go home to check on his brood. Overall not as fast as last week but still a hard ride and at 54 miles longish for a winter outing. Once the extremities had thawed out it was definitely better than last week for me (but not for a couple of others…) & looking forward to getting out next week.
Thanks as always to the rest of you for making it an enjoyable, if somewhat chilly, ride. Hope to see as many as possible next weekend.
Saturday 14 January 2012
Todays Ride in the Fog
Thanks to Craig for uploading the Garmin stats and route details.
The weatherman had promised sunshine, fog and sub-zero temperatures, and that's exactly what Robbo, Craig, Chrissy, Vino, Cabbage, Lantern, Mike and Ronnie got today. Observant readers will note that le Patron was absent from today's proceedings. Alas the Granddaddy of the peloton had succumbed to a virulent dose of cyclist's lung, and was laid up on the sofa with only a Rush DVD box set, a jar of Vicks and a packet of tissues for company......
Meanwhile, the Crapi's threaded their way gingerly up hill and down fog shrouded dale and on through the backwaters of Shropshire. The Candle was regrettably snuffed out early, when a momentary lapse of concentration resulted in a close encounter with Craig's back wheel, and an even closer encounter with the cold hard tarmac. Undeterred, he brushed himself down, straightened his diminished but still usable wick, and ploughed stoically on.
The rest of the ride was a blur (no really it was, my eyes didn't stop watering it was that cold) and I'm confident that the Lantern will shortly let us have his unabridged fairytale version of events for the fiction lovers amongst you. We also managed to get a few pics of today's ride, and I'll post these up once official photographer Ronnie sends them to me.
Tuesday 10 January 2012
OTB - 08/01/12 A Nice Gentle Ride……
N.B. For those guests unfamiliar with various nicknames the real name of the rider is in brackets after nickname’s first use.
The first ride of the New Year saw a mammoth turnout in the peleton. Closer inspection revealed it to be merely the Lantern (Ian) who’d had a very good Xmas. On parade at the Patron’s house were Chris, Ron, Rocket man Mark, Cabbage (Cabbage!!), guest stars Gaz & Ed, Patron (Big Al), Lantern and, unbelievably, the Candle (Mike) who was not only there but ready to ride at 9am. Could 2012 finally be the year he gets his act together?!!?
The peleton looked more like a conga line as it made its way down towards Overton and a rendezvous with Matinee (Paul) and the Beast (Brian). Once Matinee had commented on the amazing size of the Patron’s peleton the group set off en route for Prees.
Chris found time after one of his stints on the front to regale the Lantern with the spec of his 1907, its like its brand new, lead weighted, triple butted (or something like that) frame with a 47 big cog thingy on it. Well it was something like that anyway!! He’s seen me glaze over often enough by now when he talks spec to know the Lantern has no idea.
Cabbage tapped out his fast cadence in the middle of the bunch.
Meanwhile Gaz and Ed were looking frisky up the front of the bunch, and the Beast & Matinee put the hurt on by riding through drags without apparent effort whilst the Davies brothers started to rue their Xmas excesses.
Ron (God bless him) was his usual erratic self on the front; fast on the flat; faster on the drags and like Driving Miss Daisy on the descents. Has he been watching too much Strictly do you think (quick, slow, quick, quick, slow) The peleton concertinaed like, well a concertina I suppose.
Cabbage tapped out his fast cadence in the middle of the bunch.
Al called a right turn to keep out of the traffic and the Lantern, as is his wont, carried far too much speed into the turn (honestly guys I can’t help my momentum) and was only saved from sprawling on the grass by Patron’s urgent “Gravel” cry. He may have sounded like Len Ganley on helium but the Lantern whispered a prayer of thanks as he very niftily parked up against the kerb before catching up.
The pace down to Prees was somewhat sprightly given that Gaz and Ed had professed a desire to be back in Hawarden by 1pm. The average to Prees was easily 17.5mph and, as the Lantern termed it “Far to f**king fast”. The highlight of the café stop was undoubtedly Ron’s admission that after reading that Gladys (a mate of both Mike and Craig’s whose real name is James) was going with him to France, Mrs Ron very nearly put an end to Ron’s Alpine adventure!!!!!
After a hearty feed and Ron’s first full café experience for weeks, the group headed back home via Wem, Ellesmere, etc.
Chris got things rolling on the front and the rest of the group followed like a well oiled machine. The only disconcerting thing was the length of time it took to drift to the back following a turn on the front. Mark “I haven’t been out for weeks” was also showing well up the front along with the usual suspects.
A couple of riders tried to reduce the number in the peleton at the Wem turn off by making a suicidal dive in front of oncoming traffic. Thankfully everyone emerged unscathed and the pacey bas**rds once again set off on the front.
Cabbage tapped out his fast cadence in the middle of the bunch.
By the time we got to Ellesmere the strain was starting to show for a few of the peleton. The Lantern was starting to yo-yo, Gaz was looking a bit worse for wear, the Candle was looking snuffed and Ed looked like his impressive first outing was on the wane. Unfortunately there was no respite as Matinee and the Beast didn’t turn off here as expected. No doubt they didn’t want the like of Chris and Ron getting any extra mileage in on them.
After Ellesmere the Lantern managed to catch up whilst Gaz drifted off the back and the Patron, as ever, faded back to keep a paternal eye on him. One gel later and Gaz was back up the front and the group was pretty much together by the time Matinee and the Beast split off in Overton.
Cabbage tapped out his fast cadence in the middle of the bunch.
The rolling road from the Plassey back the A483 snared a few victims with the Lantern pedalling like he had no power left in his legs (guess why that was..!!). Gaz was swearing to the Patron that the last ten miles had been the hardest he’d ever done (didn’t he say that last time he came out?). Chris on his 400lb bike was also starting to struggle. It was a very fractured peleton who arrived back at the Patron’s.
Ron, Cabbage, Ed (who appeared to be full of vim and vigour again) and the Candle finished somewhere up the road followed by Gaz, the Patron and the Lantern with Chris and Mark bringing up the rear. Tales of who dropped who swirled around him but frankly the Lantern was far too f**ked to care by this stage. “So much for sodding winter pace” he thought bitterly as his melting thigh muscles slowly pooled in his ankles. The gist appeared to be that Cabbage dropped everyone and Al has decreed that Cabbage is having a lead framed bike for his birthday.
Of course a few days later it doesn’t seem so bad and next week’s ride is creeping over the horizon. Thanks to everyone who came and made the ride so enjoyable (well bearable anyway). Hopefully we’ll see Ed & Gaz before too long and if we can get Roger Whitaker & Vino out we’ll have a Baker’s dozen. See you all next week guys.
The first ride of the New Year saw a mammoth turnout in the peleton. Closer inspection revealed it to be merely the Lantern (Ian) who’d had a very good Xmas. On parade at the Patron’s house were Chris, Ron, Rocket man Mark, Cabbage (Cabbage!!), guest stars Gaz & Ed, Patron (Big Al), Lantern and, unbelievably, the Candle (Mike) who was not only there but ready to ride at 9am. Could 2012 finally be the year he gets his act together?!!?
The peleton looked more like a conga line as it made its way down towards Overton and a rendezvous with Matinee (Paul) and the Beast (Brian). Once Matinee had commented on the amazing size of the Patron’s peleton the group set off en route for Prees.
Chris found time after one of his stints on the front to regale the Lantern with the spec of his 1907, its like its brand new, lead weighted, triple butted (or something like that) frame with a 47 big cog thingy on it. Well it was something like that anyway!! He’s seen me glaze over often enough by now when he talks spec to know the Lantern has no idea.
Cabbage tapped out his fast cadence in the middle of the bunch.
Meanwhile Gaz and Ed were looking frisky up the front of the bunch, and the Beast & Matinee put the hurt on by riding through drags without apparent effort whilst the Davies brothers started to rue their Xmas excesses.
Ron (God bless him) was his usual erratic self on the front; fast on the flat; faster on the drags and like Driving Miss Daisy on the descents. Has he been watching too much Strictly do you think (quick, slow, quick, quick, slow) The peleton concertinaed like, well a concertina I suppose.
Cabbage tapped out his fast cadence in the middle of the bunch.
Al called a right turn to keep out of the traffic and the Lantern, as is his wont, carried far too much speed into the turn (honestly guys I can’t help my momentum) and was only saved from sprawling on the grass by Patron’s urgent “Gravel” cry. He may have sounded like Len Ganley on helium but the Lantern whispered a prayer of thanks as he very niftily parked up against the kerb before catching up.
The pace down to Prees was somewhat sprightly given that Gaz and Ed had professed a desire to be back in Hawarden by 1pm. The average to Prees was easily 17.5mph and, as the Lantern termed it “Far to f**king fast”. The highlight of the café stop was undoubtedly Ron’s admission that after reading that Gladys (a mate of both Mike and Craig’s whose real name is James) was going with him to France, Mrs Ron very nearly put an end to Ron’s Alpine adventure!!!!!
After a hearty feed and Ron’s first full café experience for weeks, the group headed back home via Wem, Ellesmere, etc.
Chris got things rolling on the front and the rest of the group followed like a well oiled machine. The only disconcerting thing was the length of time it took to drift to the back following a turn on the front. Mark “I haven’t been out for weeks” was also showing well up the front along with the usual suspects.
A couple of riders tried to reduce the number in the peleton at the Wem turn off by making a suicidal dive in front of oncoming traffic. Thankfully everyone emerged unscathed and the pacey bas**rds once again set off on the front.
Cabbage tapped out his fast cadence in the middle of the bunch.
By the time we got to Ellesmere the strain was starting to show for a few of the peleton. The Lantern was starting to yo-yo, Gaz was looking a bit worse for wear, the Candle was looking snuffed and Ed looked like his impressive first outing was on the wane. Unfortunately there was no respite as Matinee and the Beast didn’t turn off here as expected. No doubt they didn’t want the like of Chris and Ron getting any extra mileage in on them.
After Ellesmere the Lantern managed to catch up whilst Gaz drifted off the back and the Patron, as ever, faded back to keep a paternal eye on him. One gel later and Gaz was back up the front and the group was pretty much together by the time Matinee and the Beast split off in Overton.
Cabbage tapped out his fast cadence in the middle of the bunch.
The rolling road from the Plassey back the A483 snared a few victims with the Lantern pedalling like he had no power left in his legs (guess why that was..!!). Gaz was swearing to the Patron that the last ten miles had been the hardest he’d ever done (didn’t he say that last time he came out?). Chris on his 400lb bike was also starting to struggle. It was a very fractured peleton who arrived back at the Patron’s.
Ron, Cabbage, Ed (who appeared to be full of vim and vigour again) and the Candle finished somewhere up the road followed by Gaz, the Patron and the Lantern with Chris and Mark bringing up the rear. Tales of who dropped who swirled around him but frankly the Lantern was far too f**ked to care by this stage. “So much for sodding winter pace” he thought bitterly as his melting thigh muscles slowly pooled in his ankles. The gist appeared to be that Cabbage dropped everyone and Al has decreed that Cabbage is having a lead framed bike for his birthday.
Of course a few days later it doesn’t seem so bad and next week’s ride is creeping over the horizon. Thanks to everyone who came and made the ride so enjoyable (well bearable anyway). Hopefully we’ll see Ed & Gaz before too long and if we can get Roger Whitaker & Vino out we’ll have a Baker’s dozen. See you all next week guys.
Sunday 8 January 2012
Winter pace?
The best turnout for many a month brought the Crapi peleton up to 11 in strength, for the traditional Winter rolling ride to The Raven cafe at Prees. Present and correct were Patron, Robbo, Chrissy, Lamby, Ronnie, Mike, Rocket, Cabbage, Lantern, Gaz and Ed. The quality of the assembled steeds varied from the modern and shiny on one hand, to skinny framed steelies that were last seen either on antiques road show or in a skip.
Following the planned rendezvous at Overton, the assembled peloton then wound its way through Penley and Whixhall to Prees. Ronnie was absolutely delighted with this week's cafe stop, as he knew he could get breakfast and a brew, and still have enough change left out of a fiver for 2 cinema tickets, a bottle of pop and a bag of fish and chips on the way home. Aah, those were the days, hey Ron.
The rather brisk pace to the Raven was a mere appetiser for the return leg, which continued over rolling roads into a lively but strength sapping headwind through Prees, Wem and Ellesmere. Someone had also thrown in a smattering of stinging little hills on the way, just to keep it interesting. By the time we reached the outskirts of Ellesmere, a broom wagon was beginning to seem like a good idea to pick up members of the grumbling grupetto who'd over indulged at Christmas. On a couple of occasions, I was worried that a hearse might have been an even better idea.....
Eventually it all came back together on the road into Overton, where the gentle descent and slower pace made the headwinds around Wem nothing but a fading memory. Great ride boys, see you next week.
Following the planned rendezvous at Overton, the assembled peloton then wound its way through Penley and Whixhall to Prees. Ronnie was absolutely delighted with this week's cafe stop, as he knew he could get breakfast and a brew, and still have enough change left out of a fiver for 2 cinema tickets, a bottle of pop and a bag of fish and chips on the way home. Aah, those were the days, hey Ron.
The rather brisk pace to the Raven was a mere appetiser for the return leg, which continued over rolling roads into a lively but strength sapping headwind through Prees, Wem and Ellesmere. Someone had also thrown in a smattering of stinging little hills on the way, just to keep it interesting. By the time we reached the outskirts of Ellesmere, a broom wagon was beginning to seem like a good idea to pick up members of the grumbling grupetto who'd over indulged at Christmas. On a couple of occasions, I was worried that a hearse might have been an even better idea.....
Eventually it all came back together on the road into Overton, where the gentle descent and slower pace made the headwinds around Wem nothing but a fading memory. Great ride boys, see you next week.
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