Whilst
most of the previous entries on this
blog have been about equipment, I do actually cycle as well. I started by just riding by myself but was persuaded to join the Derby Branch of the Cycling Touring Club (
CTC ) and am now a regular on the Thursday rides. The majority of us are Old
Age Pensioners but occasionally we are joined by a younger set who have taken a
day off work or who are on school
holidays. What follows is an account of one of our recent rides.
Girls Galore
It
is 09-25 at the Market Place with the rain pelting down, and forecast to get
worse, and I am all alone.
Where
are all the intrepid hardy veterans who make up the Thursday Squad?
A
few phone calls later and the truth is laid bare.
.”too wet “, “too cold “, “ too
blowy”, “ too tired “.
What
shall I do?
And
then, out of the darkness two young women arrive, Emma and Tracey; both decked
out in Derby Mercury Racing Club kit and looking extremely lithe and fit
putting my pooh bear shape to shame.
And
so, for the first time in recorded history, the Thursday Ride gets under way
with more women than men in the peleton. We wind our way through the city
traffic and out to Markeaton and then up towards Mickleover and Radbourne,
Tracey hammering out a punishing tempo at the front. The next
psychological blow comes when Emma tells me about her latest training and
racing day on the boards at Manchester Velodrome, my legs instantly feel
weaker. Perhaps I need to alter the route to put a few steep hills in on the
basis that sprinters are not good on climbs, but then neither am I, so I stick
to the planned route as we move through Sutton and on towards Mount Pleasant. A
tea stop is obviously needed so we head to the Salt Box at Hatton, the long
straight flat road giving the girls an opportunity to open up the throttle as I
try and cling to the back wheel. Refuelling over we set out again through
Scropton. To have any hope of surviving this day I need to find a way of
restraining these athletic girls and so I plot a route through the back lanes
and head to Sudbury prison :-) The Secret Diner provides us with an excellent
lunch and a time for my legs and lungs to recover. After lunch we head
towards Foston where I point out a property well noted for its Alsation guard
dogs which have the freedom of the fenced grounds. On cue, the dogs hurtle
towards the fence barking loudly, and it is only then that we notice that
someone has left the gate open! The girls went into turbo sprint mode and
my heart rate monitor soared to a new record for maximum count. Excitement over
we eased off the throttle and wound our way through Church Broughton, Longford
and back to Radbourne and then onto Derby.
Total
distance 65km
Speed,
very fast in veteran units
And
thanks to the girls for excellent company.
Sounds like a terrible ride ;¬)
ReplyDeleteChapeau!
How awful, the wind and the rain and those other thing, what were they? Oh the girls.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that the start of cycling and more importantly cycle clubs, put an end to the interbreeding that had taken place in the small communities in early Victorian times. Of course the weather was better then and tea shops were few and far between, so the riders had to make do! Very lucky you had Sudbury prison for comfort.