al yuille

Great day out . I wasn't even talking when Paul clocked me !

Great day out . I wasn't even talking when Paul clocked me !

Looks like Sunday is going to be the Beallachandrain. I might be in Ayrshire on Sat anyway so will see what weather doing.

Mainland Spain. Grenada ?

Just a reminder to all riders to be careful over the weekend as the revolution progresses !

Just a reminder to all riders to be careful over the weekend as the revolution progresses !

Border will be closed I'm afraid........ At our request!

You marshaling Billy ?

Yes

Nice one Chung. Can't believe you did that after seeing the shell shock last year. It's Milan next year remember !

"Power to the people" - revolution is obviously contagious Mr Carrigan !

"Power to the people" - revolution is obviously contagious Mr Carrigan !

Good training for the 400 Chung !

Let's pencil it in. If hols get in the way we can ride one of the others. Yes Chung, am back in summer ( well , spring anyway). Got a few weeks
left in Sydney and then we are moving down to Hobart in Tasmania. Was down there last weekend and you will be pleased to hear it was 13 C and blowing hard. It's about 1500 kms south of here ( in the Roaring Forties ) so weather may prove to be a challenge. Mt Wellington is right behind the city though so a nice 20 km alpine style climb literally on the doorstep. Really must get that compact ! See you in Spring.
 
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wellington_(Tasmania)

Let's pencil it in. If hols get in the way we can ride one of the others. Yes Chung, am back in summer ( well , spring anyway). Got a few weeks
left in Sydney and then we are moving down to Hobart in Tasmania. Was down there last weekend and you will be pleased to hear it was 13 C and blowing hard. It's about 1500 kms south of here ( in the Roaring Forties ) so weather may prove to be a challenge. Mt Wellington is right behind the city though so a nice 20 km alpine style climb literally on the doorstep. Really must get that compact ! See you in Spring.
 
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wellington_(Tasmania)

Let's pencil it in. If hols get in the way we can ride one of the others. Yes Chung, am back in summer ( well , spring anyway). Got a few weeks
left in Sydney and then we are moving down to Hobart in Tasmania. Was down there last weekend and you will be pleased to hear it was 13 C and blowing hard. It's about 1500 kms south of here ( in the Roaring Forties ) so weather may prove to be a challenge. Mt Wellington is right behind the city though so a nice 20 km alpine style climb literally on the doorstep. Really must get that compact ! See you in Spring.
 
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wellington_(Tasmania)

Cracking day out, pretty much ideal weather. Felt like its still summer!
 
Was in group 2 with Al, Alex and Colin - it looked like they were floating up the climbs and i was chewing the stem hoping not to get dropped. The rest of the group were ok - sometimes working well together sometimes not. It wasnt really helped by couple of riders (non Wheelers) who kept sitting in the moving up line only they weren't moving up and by doing so were blocking others. Someone also kept shouting that we should be going steadier on the flat bits...that was a bit annoying, suffering so much up the hills to then ease off on the flat. I eventually got dropped going up the final climb, but it was just as group 3 and the scratch riders caught so was easy enough to get back on over the descent. From then on probably about 40 riders for the run in, Alan really well placed about 4th wheel and an attack goes which he follows and they have a gap. To be honest at first it looked like a daft move but they were staying out and working well together so it started to look like it might work. I went to the front of the bunch to try and slow things down. That however definitely didnt work as i ended up getting swarmed pretty quickly. By then it was the finishing straight - i was next the kerb and boxed in so didnt bother going for it. Probably just as well i'd only have ended up sprinting for the wrong flag anyway!
 
Not that any of this mattered much - group 1 managed to stay away so chapeau to Charlie and Iain!

Great run guys. Cameron really enjoyed it too, although the hills over West Kilbride finished him off! I told Daryl we'd be heading back via Highfield to rejoin cycle track and managed to bump into some of the other group. 74 miles on 13 year old legs was some going. Chillies carry out beckons! Thanks again.

Yeah, well done Marco. Just goes to show that even the main bunch can be sociable ! Best bit of the day ? - letting Billy think we were going to wait at the top of the climb !

On the rest of the descent, the fatter you are the faster you go -  so Billy tells me.

Typically the case for the defense has several errors.
 
The 8 miles were to the O2 arena. After that we had to cross the Thames (not to be as easy as we had expected) then head for Olympic Park, a further 4 miles. We then rode to the opposite corner of the Olympic Park, adding several more miles.
Heading up the main dual carriageway to Blackwall tunnel with two lights to share between us was not a good idea and somewhat alarming. Mind you the Garmin 800 is very slow to update and is not very good for using as sat nav.  Unless, that is, you are trundling along and do not have a committee of three second guessing it all the time. Yes, a recipe for disaster, your honour. 
Nevertheless, in the inclement conditions, I sheltered McCuker and Yuille all the way to the start so that they would be fresh for the day's challenge, with ample time to waste before the start of the ride.
 
As mentioned above we set off at a cracking pace. The garmin gives me an average speed of 23mph for the first 30 miles.
It was higher but as we entered Richmond Park I took out a gel and dropped back a few riders from Al and Charlie. This was just before the first right hand turn where the guys in front, over cooked it and we ground to a halt. One foot on the ground I saw Charlie and Al disappear into the distance. I remember thinking on several occasions that I really should be in some sort of amphibious craft and undoubtedly I would be faster with a paddle. Perhaps I was hallucinating, but I am sure Moses made a cameo appearance near the diversion away from Leith Hill.
Despite going through the inevitable bad patch for about ten miles or so, speed was high and the only major incident was at a sharp left turn at the bottom of a hill just after the 75 mile marker. As we turned the previous corner and descended towards the next, we could see bodies everywhere lying in 5-6 inches of water. Braking heavily (should read frantically as carbon wheels and deluge is not a good combination!!) It seemed like an eternity waiting to get through the carnage but it was probably only a few minutes. There didn't appear to be any major injuries.
Riding along the Thames and passing the Houses of Parliament before heading for the Palace was a memorable experience, brilliant! I was in a little group of six at that point and won the sprint for the line.
I have to say that even though the weather was awful the people of London and Surrey were out in force and offered great encouragement.
The Garmin gives me 4h24m and an average speed a shade over 20mph which, for me, is considerably faster than any other ride over this distance.
You may well think that cycling in Biblical storms is insane and it probably is, but I enjoyed the whole thing.  Perhaps a bit like Paris-Roubaix though; not to be repeated!!
 
Finally two hours to get out of London; I blame the co-pilot. Which one? the App or McCusker, is for the jury to decide. 
I rest my case.
 
Tom

I crossed the line 11 mins in front of Charlie. Would have been more but I waited for him and Iain at the top of the only remaining significant climb ! McCusker insists he punctured but he finished with a tube in his pocket and no punctured one - the prosecution rests.

Great day out despite the rain. Very fast pace all the way but was sitting in a nice little group who were working well - Charlie and Iain were also in the group - until they weren't !

The pace was starting to flag a bit in the last10 miles so I had a couple of good pulls on the front including the last rise before the river and a great stretch at 25 plus along the river towards Westminster. The Big Ben bongs were striking 10 as we passed before the turn into the Mall. over the line in 3.47 where I waited in the torrential downpour till Charlie ambled in. As I was waiting I saw Voss finish in her world champ jersey before disappearing into the Media tent - yes she finished after me !

Yeah, a great day out despite the weather. Good craic in the pub and a good spot to stay warm between laps. Nice to see the hard working Welshman pick up something for himself.
 
Best of all, what a hoot riding round the course. I know exactly how Thomas must have felt !

ooft. Don't think you do facebook Mark, but a chap just sold a pair of brand new r500 for £65 in the 'bike parts for sale Scotland' group. At that price you couldn't say no, could you (unless you ride campag of course).

Ayrshire is .... Too tough for the fat !
 
Al
Drinking grand reserva in Catalunya