Fri Chain 3/5 - 'Angels On Bikes'

A record breaking and eventful Friday chaingang . With all the regulars plus Chris W and Josef we had a new record turnout of nine riders. A fast descent down battery hill left Ivan on his fixie struggling to keep up, but before long we had all regrouped at the sea defences. On entering the reserve there was a mature lady struggling to pick herself up, having  just slipped on the uneven tarmac. Simon G and Jon S rapidly went to her aid and helped her to her feet. She was very grateful and said that we were 'angels on bikes! Simon later joked that this was "the first woman he had picked up on a Friday night for 25 years"!

We were extremely Lucky To Miss This!

On the way out of the reserve there was a sudden loud hissing sound and jets of liquid started shooting out from Malcolm's rear wheel. This turned out to be a puncture in Malcolm's rear  tub and the strange spray was sealant coming out. After about 30 seconds the spray died down, the sealant had managed to plug the hole. We all stopped, expecting Malcolm to pump up the tyre but after giving it a squeeze he decided not to bother as it was till about 60% inflated.

Dan meets Us In Reverse

As usual everyone dropped me on the Broad Oak drag, but this time I had Josef just behind me for company. As we rode up I could hear sirens and soon I could see flashing blue lights through the trees. A badly crashed  sports car surrounded by police ambulance and fire engine came into view .Someone had driven down the road too fast, lost control and crashed the car. (the people in the car were sitting in the police car ,and seemed to be OK). If we had been coming up the hill about 15 minutes earlier , would we have got caught up in this accident? Fortunately we will never know the answer. On arriving at the Broad Oak junction I was very surprised to see Dan Harwood there. It turned out, Dan had meant to do the chaingang but had ended up running late and rather than chase us down had decided to ride in the opposite direction, good plan! This extended our new attendance record to ten riders.
We all road together until the base of Stonestile where Dan closely followed by Chris W and Simon attacked the climb. Nobody else went with them as Ivan's legs packed up , while Stuart and Malcolm were content to ride up with me as they were saving their legs for a big TT on Sunday. In the event it was Dan who got to the top first. Hopefully he stravared it, so we can see where he placed on the all time Stonestile rankings.

Victory For Dan On Stonestile

It was good fun to have Dan and so many of us out on the ride .We know how busy Dan is with his large/young family but he really enjoyed it and hopes to come more regularly .