Spring is in the air....

Apologies for inexcusable delays in writing up the Blog but a few of us have discovered Strava over the last few weeks and the novelty hasn't yet worn off. Weather looks fair for the next few days, so we're off to Lake Vyrnwy this weekend. See you on the road.

Broken gears, broken bodies - Saturday 08/02/14

The Rocket threw down the gauntlet midweek by proclaiming that any rider who cried off this week because of bad weather should hang up their overshoes and take up knitting instead! Well that's not exactly what he said, but you get the idea..... Ronnie, Rocket, Robbo, Patron, Lantern, Craig, Vino, Chrissy, Brownie and Tudor therefore took up the challenge for what should have been an easy 47 mile loop to Prees. The weather had other ideas though, and a shocking side wind splintered us into 3 groups between Overton and Whitchurch, and it stayed that way until the welcome cafe stop at Prees. The final pairing was made up of Patron and Lantern but it was a solitary Lantern who rolled into the Raven with news of Le patron's return to base as a result of a snapped rear mech cable. A tailwind offered a brief respite on the initial return leg to Whitchurch but this soon changed again to a cross wind which again broke us up into 2 groups along Oldcastle road. The section from Worthenbury to Bangor was predictably hard as we turned further into the wind but I can honestly say that the final 5 miles from Overton to Ellesmere into the bared teeth of a hail and rain infested gale was the hardest thing I've done since Mont Ventoux. A hard but enjoyable day for those who made it and here's a useful link for those who didn't ;-) www.letsknit.co.uk

Just another winter's tale.....

Brownie, Craig, Coppi, Mike, Robbo, Ronnie, Chrissy, Lantern, Patron. Destination Corwen. Every year it happens. Sometime around late September, you'll hear the crapi's say they're "looking forward to winter so we can take it nice and steady for a bit". Everyone mutters and nods in agreement, as legs tired from Summer hilly outings yearn for steady social winter rides and cosy warm cafe stops. After all, winter miles equals summer smiles right? What happens in practice is quite different. Le patron issues the autumnal decree proclaiming the arrival of winter steeds, and for about a week or so from late October everyone's content to amble along. Something then happens to upset this finely balanced equilibrium. Invariably it's because we're just little kids in blokes bodies without the discipline and self-restraint needed to ride together sensibly. Today was one of those days! Bloody good fun!