February Clubrun Report

This month's clubrun saw the group splitting into 2 main rides - although there was plenty more splitting later on. Ed and Gabriel (a brave man without gloves) went on a leisurely jaunt up to High Beech, leaving the rest of the group to zoom down the hill from Woodford towards Chigwell. A little later, after Scarlett's customary blast up the first notable climb, Les departed to put in a few hours of overtime at work. That left Sean to lead the main group, which consisted of Scarlett, Dervila, Gideon (puncture-meister extraordinaire), Armin, Wally, Dave & Anna.

Feeling the need to test out his newly adjusted position and flirt with his lactate threshold, Armin was soon timetrialling off the front, with most of the group in hot pursuit. Scarlett and Dervila found themselves way back in nomansland with Dervila carrying a cycling boutique's worth of accessories in her pannier, and they soon realized that it was a throwback to last year's February clubrun on which they were the only 2 riders. A chorus of ringtones from their jersey pockets rang out as Sean phoned them to pass on navigational instructions.

Once everyone had regrouped ready to tackle a stretch of the busy A113 to Ongar, Armin was instructed to buffer the wind at the front and keep a steady pace, but he soon drifted out into a timetrial fantasy world of his own. Scarlett went off to reel him in, but then discovered his idea of steady pace-setting on the drag up into Ongar meant he drifted out into a mountain stage fantasy of HIS own.

North of Ongar, a special cameo appearance was made by Trevor who was out on his own due to Derek languishing in bed in hangover hell. He joined the group for a while (shortly after passing a tangled mass of Crest CC riders in the middle of the road), chastising Scarlett for being on a slow ride, who in turn pointed out he'd already done 150miles that week and was entitled to a recovery ride. He left the group somewhere after Matching Green, but was then seen on the road side having made a very charitable stop to help a lone rider who'd decided he didn't need to carry spare tubes or patches.

The weather was fantastic, and perhaps a little too mild for some who were wearing particularly insulated layers, and thankfully no-one came a cropper on the slightly greasy road surface, especially at the healthy pace the bunch was moving round the bends. It was great to see new members making an appearance, and Dervila didn't fail to notice the ease with which Anna romped up the climbs. Maybe the club could have a shit-hot women's 2-up timetrial team this year...

For those who made it all the way back to the townhall, it ended up being about 50miles averaging around 15mph.

If anyone has ideas/comments/suggestions about future clubruns, the website forum is a good place to be heard (and of course the club nights at Eastway), and things may take on a different form as racing members are otherwise occupied in the near future.

Roll on March.