Another great turn out on Sunday 9th May of 9 riders departed at 9am from Sainsbury’s; Mike Castelete was given a test for his sprinting skills as he signed up late and we set off before he arrived – but he soon caught up.
Heading out of town and up the hill to Pytchley, cracks started to appear in the group. James Belton, who’d been fighting off a cold all week was finding the pace a bit tough so I (Andy Parker) rode with him for the next few miles. With a peloton driven on by Andrea Woolcott, Darren Gillings, Mike, Steve Wong, Iain Callaghan, Scott Barber and Roy Crombie, debut season rider Salvatore Seminerio fought hard to stay with the group saying “I was blowing through my….” – he ran out of breath before he could finish the sentence!
At Moulton, Salv, John, Andy and James, taking a more leisurely pace through the Houghtons and Preston Deanery to meet the group at Salcey Forest. Discretion, being the better part of valour, led James to call for his support crew and waited at Salcey for his wife to collect him so he could get some recovery for his cold.
The return journey was pretty swift. Blown by a 15 mph southerly wind, the speed cranked up. Occasionally, riders dropped off a little bit but were regathered at the next junction. The long drag up Earl’s Barton hill was tackled well by a lead and following group and everyone gather for the Mad Mile into Great Harrowden. Here the pace was cranked up, with Darren and Andrea piling on the pressure. From the rear of the peloton (after checking there were no cars behind) I took the opportunity to get to the front for the final 250 metres but, as expected, heard the whirling wheels of Steve Wong on my outside easily taking the unofficial sprint to the village sign. Enormous fun. Steve recorded an average speed for the ride of 30 kmph (around 18.6 mph) and even though I had ridden slower to work with James, my average speed came out at 27.2 kmph (16.9 mph).
Enormous fun in OK weather!
I took the opportunity to get to the front for the final 250 metres but, as expected, heard the whirling wheels of Steve Wong on my outside easily taking the unofficial sprint to the village sign. Enormous fun.