The 6th instalment of the end-of-season road race training sessions took place on Saturday 29th November under grey and gloomy skies once again.

 

The elements didn’t deter 9 riders in turning out – one of the biggest groups so far for these rides – with myself being joined by Matt Johnson, Andy Carroll, Mike McAllister, Will Thomas, Graham Morgan, Rich Guymer, Josh Ravn and a welcome return by George Leighton, who’s being sorely missed for the passed few weeks.

 

 

Before we set off we saw Graham having something of a mechanical with his gears and Mike trying to do his bit for the club by interviewing the riders for the website. I was a bit camera shy with this one so I opted out – sorry Mike.

 

We eventually set off via the cycle lane towards Beverley, but took a detour off towards Walkington. Instead of going the usual Bishop Burton, Cherry Burton, Etton route I decided we’d go left in Walkington and head towards Newbald. It was also the first time I’d been passed the anti fracking campaigners out that way and was amazed at the size of the camp.

 

We were in no mood to protest though, not for fracking purposes anyhow, so we pressed on with me and Matt at the front. We allowed Andy and Josh to take over for a while until we hit the outskirts of Newbald. We didn’t quite get to the village as we’d decided to take a right and climb up Stoneknowle Hill on the way towards Gardham. George had joined Josh at the front and they were setting a fierce tempo. Unsurprisingly we saw a few splits, with Andy and Rich dropping off. We eased up to allow them to get back on and set off again, but not before a comment from Mike about the high speed and intensity we were going at – he was right!.

 

We eventually got to Gardham and whizzed through the hamlet on towards Etton. We bypassed the village and ended up going the opposite way on the Etton Road Race course into Kiplingcoates Valley. Using the momentum of the downhill, Josh flew up the opposite climb out of the valley to break free of the rest of us. We eventually reined him in and proceeded to head towards Middleton.

 

Just before the village we had a slight delay as part of Andy’s mudguard had flown off. Mike was the first to see it and immediately stopped to locate the missing piece. After a bit of rooting around he eventually found the missing piece and we were on our way again.

 

After a brief visit to Middleton, we took a left onto Warter Road, which was filthy from all of the rain and moisture we’ve had this past week. The road also has a gentle drag, which when taking at speed can cause some damage to a group such as ours. George was on the front with Graham and the pair of them seemed to be pushing, particularly George. This meant that me, Mike and Josh were the ones remaining at the head of the bunch with Will, Andy & Matt forming the second group with Rich just a bit further behind. We stopped to wait at the next junction before carrying on once more.

 

By this point I was struggling to see and like last week I couldn’t decipher which was the best option, no glasses and get better vision with the expense of grit in my eye or use my glasses which were now well and truly steamed up. I ended up flicking between the two not satisfied with either choice.

 

 

After a hairy descent through Londesborough we tackled the small climb up to Market Weighton with Will and Josh sprinting for the glory to be the first to the village. Despite hitting the old age of 25 last week, I’ve still got some power in my legs so I managed to use my weight advantage and slip by the pair of them to get to Market Weighton roundabout first. The rest weren’t far behind and we carried on towards Cliffe Road.

 

By the time we hit Cliffe Road the bunch was in about 3 groups due to the fact that crossing the A1079 caused delays for some more than others, in particular Andy, Mike and Rich. I waited and allowed the 3 to join me where we brought back the traditional through-and-off section of our rides. We worked well at around 23mph to bridge back up to the majority of the others. We managed to get the rest working too and we eventually pulled back Graham who was still a bit further up the road from the rest. We were working well for a sustained period of time but the impetus seemed to fizzle out and riders were reluctant to come to the front – something we need to work on for next week.

 

It wasn’t much longer however that we turned off Cliffe Road and hit the 11% climb into Hotham, which again caused gaps to appear between us all. I led the group with a fast panting Josh behind me and the rest not too far behind. Mike and Graham quickly caught up by the time we got into Hotham with the sun now starting to appear. Me and Mike then waited for the others with Josh and Graham perhaps not realising what was happening as they pressed on.

 

The wind was well and truly in our faces now and Trundlegate was appearing fast. Josh and Graham were the first to hit the lower slopes, with Mike, Matt and me going passed a tiring Andy about a minute in arrears. I was expecting George to feature but he decided to take it steady up to the top. The exposed climb of Trundlegate was now causing me trouble with the wind trying its best to pull me back. I suffered, grovelled and coaxed my way up to the rear of Josh and Graham’s wheel and couldn’t have been more relieved as it offered me some respite from the wind. Behind, Matt and Mike rode alongside each other and rejoined us at the junction at the top of the climb. Next up was Will and George – who’s fast pace at the start of the ride was perhaps starting to catch up with him. The group was complete when Rich came in a few yards ahead of Andy, who was also feeling the pace.

 

All that was left was a somewhat leisurely ride home, which wasn’t leisurely at all when Josh got on the front towards Raywell. He’d help catapult me towards home though, which by the time I got there meant I’d covered 53 miles at an average of 17.9mph, which wasn’t bad considering the elements and the terrain. I certainly looked like I’d ridden a proper winter ride when I got back, with my face blathered in mud but it was all good fun.

 

Rider of the day was a tough one with some very good performances by the likes of George, Will and Rich at times but I had to go with Josh for his endless amount of energy. He seems a jack of all trades with his climbing, sprinting and flat tempo riding, all of which we saw at some point during the ride. As long as his enthusiasm continues, I predict he’ll go very far in 2015. George Leighton and Matt Johnson, you’ve been warned!

 

Mark Walker
HTRC RR Secretary

 

Mike McAllister’s photos of the day via Flickr

 

…and Mike McAllister’s comments

 

Considering the conditions not a bad bunch of pics again, Josh was certainly having a great day, watching him duke it out (albeit in the distance) on Trundlegate with Mark Walker and Graham Morgan was great, well done Josh.

 

Thanks to everyone for making it another great ride and I hope you like the pics.

Cheers
Mike McAllister