It's been a long time since I posted anything and during that time we've had 3 members complete the Etape, finishing up Mt Ventoux in excellent time, several well placed race finishes and the Monsal Hill Climb where 10 of us rode and each did a smashing time although naturally, next year will be faster.

 

So today, it seemed that we were to be punished for all the great weather we had during September and October and the clouds did everything they could to turn the ride into a swim.  Initially, six of us met at the Beauchief and Rich M and I were soaked before we even started thanks to a schoolboy error of standing to close to a puddle as a bus went past SPLASH!!!!  Thanks :-(

 

Setting off up to Oller Bar was fairly grim but we at least had a tail wind.  Bill left us in Bakewell, heading back to nurse his chest infection which seemed a sensible thing to do.  We carried on to Conksbury heading through 2 massive foot deep puddles and I don't think any of us have ever seen so much water on the road.  Heading up to Elton we were pedaling against the tide as we speechlessly climbed up the hill.  The fun wasn't over yet though, a sneaky way into Birchover proved to be one of the nastiest climbs I've ever seen.  It was painfully steep and narrow with no smooth tarmac and every square inch covered in soaking wet leaves giving no traction to slipping wheels - am I selling it to you?  This led onto a lovely route through Stanton down to Rowsley and the much needed tea stop in Beeley where the fire was burning and we could dry our gloves.

 

Thankfully, the sun came out and it was a dry but extremely gusty ride home to complete the drying process.  All-in-all a challenging ride of about 45 miles.  The roads were empty from other cyclists and even cars were strangely absent.

The last ride of April saw only 13 leave from the Beauchief for a great ride in the mid peak district.  Whilst the club rode through Bonsall early information led us to believe that the Bonsall cafe had sadly closed down, the club went past too fast to notice.  Anyway, a changed schedule had already been planned to go to Cromford which is an excellent cafe just outside Matlock and can be found on our cafe collection list.  I brought my oldest lad out to meet the club in Cromford and then we rode back up over the hills, across Beeley Moor to Sheffield.  The club was excellent at introducing him to his first club ride and helped to motivate him and encourage him up the hills.

 

Just as a reminder to those thinking of joining the club.  It's expected that all riders have third party insurance and both British Cycling and the CTC have good cover.  Naturally I would never have thought of riding with the club or bringing my son along if we weren't both covered, it's the responsible thing to do.

 

From May 1, the club meets at 8:30 until the first Sunday in June when it goes to 8:00.

Summer is over, did it ever really begin?  There was a good turn out this Sunday, 15 in all and we made a good pace heading towards Hartington.  The recent heavy rain had brought a load of muck onto the roads and as we went past farm gates and tracks there was a deluge of stones, grit and mud which made tough going at times.  A few of us decided, wisely, to bring winter bikes with full mud guards which meant the rest of the club was always looking to be behind those wheels.

 

Soon after leaving Owler Bar we had the first puncture on a stretch of road where this is not usual.

 

Q. How many cyclists does it take to fix a puncture?

 

A. 5.  One to do the fixing and 4 to tell him where he's going wrong.

 

As is always the case, the puncture victim has plenty of helpful advice given.

 

We headed out through Bakewell, Over Haddon and Monyash.  As we approached Crowdecott we saw all the riders on the Spud Riley coming up the hill.  In fact, just before we met them it started to rain and we all put our capes on, it was only a 20 minute shower but pretty heavy.  We turned off just before Longnor still watching dozens of riders on the Spud start their descent.  We rode towards Sheen when we had our second puncture.  This time it took one to fix and 12 to give advice.  Here I have to leave off because Bill and I had to leave the ride to head back to Sheffield.

 

By the end of the ride, I'd done around 60 miles with 1,450 metres of climbing.  A little less than the previous week but we are now starting at 8:30 as we head away from the summer.

 

Dom

It was the last day of summer and yet it felt like the last day in Autumn when we met at the Beauchief Hotel yesterday.  Many members of the club seemed to be still on their summer holiday and there were just 9 of us as we set off to Longnor.  We soon found ourselves up in the mist and fog as we snaked our way through Baslow and Ashford in the Water and Yourgreave before we started to head of to Warsley.  At around 35 miles we were looking like being too early to get to the cafe in Longnor so 4 of us split off to ride up to Royal Cottage through to Flash and then Longnor putting another 10-15 miles in the legs.  This would have been a great route with stunning views but the fog took visibility down to around 25 metres.  One driver who overtook us must have been putting his faith in beer because he zoomed past with no hope of telling what was in front, idiot.

 

A leisurely tea break then saw the 2 groups split again with one going via Earl Sterndale and one straight home through Crowdicate Dale, Monyash, Ashford in the Water with a quick run up Froggate.

 

By the time I got home it was 13:30 with 75 miles done at a speed of just over 15 MPH.  We also managed over 1,900 metres of climbing.

 

So despite the lack of views, it was a great ride.

Don't expect too much initlally but this might become used more over time.  Feel free to drop a comment to us.