27/9 HSCC Fri Night Ride- The Rider's Not For Turning

Marcus Joins Us For The First Time

Good turnout for a Friday with seven riders out on a perfect autumn evening. Joining us for the first time was Marcus. Although new to the club , Marcus is a very experienced cyclist and has put in some great times from some years back before starting a family. No problems with the decent of Battery Hill, all the gravel seems to have dissipated.We stayed together in good formation all the way to Rye with only Josef out of the peleton for a while to remove some excess clothing. At the turning for rye I noticed a cyclist coming towards us on the main road, this turned out to be Mark who had missed the start but using the main road had managed to catch up with us. As usual things perked up considerably once we started the broad oak drag. As the stronger riders started to pull away, Nigel was caught napping for a while before putting in an impressive acceleration to get up to the front with Marcus and Ivan. As the drag continued they pulled away with Ivan and gave it all they had to try to go past him. Ivan power is not to be messed with however and once Ivan put his foot down he was able to arrive alone at the top.Not wishing to delay anyone , instead of stopping at Broad Oak, I just kept going . Well before the turn off for Doleham lane, Marcus came flying past me with some of the others trying to catch him up. Unfortunately Marcus was so far ahead before the turn to Doleham lane that he missed it and despite Simon calling out to him he was gone up the main road. He must have wondered where we all went to? A great shame as this meant
Marcus could not be tested on Stonestile lane and our traditional Stonestile lane newbie photo was denied. Perhaps next week?