Fifteen riders, two degrees above freezing. Those that rode in Hardriders on Sunday seemed to be on form and nice to see return of some regulars we haven't seen in a while, among them Shaun, Nathan R and Paul H-H with a new job road testing a flash german carbon bike for a website. Unpadded carbon fiber saddle has added bonus of a free pound of raw mince with every long ride. In fact the exotica arms race just got hotter as Barney unveiled his new racebike; 6.2 kg with the good wheels on, shaking it down for upcoming Tour of Malta. If this keeps up I'll have to consider putting my 9.5 kg 1970s steel winter bike out to pasture or on a diet, could lose the comfy brooks saddle for 600g for starters, but then again, as the Great Boffo himself always said,
"Remember, its the man not the machine"
so maybe I'll keep training and crashing into ditches on old clunkers and save the race bike for best, tho' it could stand lose a kilo or two as well.
Simon N punctured first on Herbrand walk, lots of stray pebbles and pot holes along here, then Stuart Hodd, while ripping along in the lead. Otherwise a lively enjoyable ride, large-ish front group with Nathan R riding strong on the front but enough room for a bit of tactical fun for the rest of us.
All the best to our Time Trial team this Sat in the Southborough "10" and to Tom Norris riding the 200km "Men of Kent" Audax on Sunday.
Chris Watson
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