North By Northwest-Ride Report

Hi everyone

A good day was had by all once more, here are the hotly anticipated Ride Leaders reports:

Sally(Steadys)

Great day out with the steadies!!Eight of us set off sharpish at 10.  

Sabina kindly back marked in the early stages, getting us nicely out of town without losing anyone.
Weather was good, which always helps and the group were well matched on ability, so pretty much stayed together. Apparently longest ride for Paola, though if she hadn’t told me I wouldn’t have realised ….. Well done Paola! What’s your next distance target?

 Nice cafe stop at Chalfont st Giles, which maybe felt a little too far for some, but all seemed revived after the break.  Couple of navigation errors ( caused by leaders Garmin!!), always adds a little interest to the day.  However, we got back on track fairly swiftly. 

Then there was Southall!! Southall Sunday traffic was a little much for some, although the delightful restaurant odours and colourful garb intrigued first timers to that area.  

 We had no mechanicals, apart from a couple of chain drops and Sam struggling a bit with a back problem.  We had a chat about possible causes….. A bike fit might be in the offing.  

 All in all good day, thank you steadies. 

Sally

Ian(Intermediates)

Intermediate gang ride report

 After an additional warm-up half lap introduced by the navigationally challenged leader, – we settled down to working our way out of London.  It took a few miles for us to group together to get any draughting benefit.  Simon back marked.

 After a quick lunch in the Berkhamstead we got straight back into the swing of things with a short steep climb and then enjoyed some hills on the way back.  We also seemed to gain another Simon (to add the two we had)!

JD, Ali and others took some great turns on the front, helping me out considerably (thankyou).  We could perhaps have tried more of a chain-gang which would have kept the pace up better with everyone on the front for a short period (1-3mins).

 Good communication helped with plenty of shouts of ‘car up’ when necessary keeping everyone safe.

Ian

Sam(Advanced)

So the advanced crew this week consisted of myself, Matt, Rich, Andrew, Ohashi, Damien, and the almighty Sloth!  (Simon even made a guest appearance for a few of the early miles)

 It began with 10 miles of stop/start getting out of London, wonderfully led by our Founder and Chairman, Mr Chidgey (That should earn me some brownie points…).  Worth the battle though as heading north was a welcome change.  

 Leaving the big smoke behind us, we hit the open road with nothing but a surprisingly lengthy puncture stop ; )  (Rich), and a few bumps along the way (no prizes for guessing who was first up every one of them……..) between us and the lunch stop in Berkhamsted.

 Lunch consisted of a Sunday Roast for some, whilst the rest popped next door to the garage for a delightful array of dubious treats,   I’m still not convinced that was chicken………..??

 The return leg meant finding a spot in line behind Sloth and keeping your head down.  We made cracking progress on the way back, even yours truly took a solid 7 mins on the front.(Out of a 5 hour ride, and in 2 different shifts…)

 In typical ‘advanced’ fashion, there was the battle to hold on to the lead wheel for the closing miles, not easy when the Sloth (Mark) is rattling through North London at over 40km/h at times.  Sadly it proved too much for a few pairs of legs, and we saw Damien and Ohashi drop off the back.  BUT, in good old RPR fashion, we waited, regrouped, and rolled into the pub as one.

A solid day riding with very few issues, one or two erratic moves by one or two individuals, and a lack of signalling by some, but all things that can be worked on.

All in all a cracking day in the saddle!

See you all soon and ride safe!

 Sam

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