21/7 Tuesday Training Welcomes Steve Ferguson

This was only the second of the 'Tubbies' (Gareth and Steve's), occasional Tuesday training sessions. The ride follows the good old 24 mile Rye Broad Oak route finishing with the rather lovely Stonestile Lane. This ride is ideal for 'improvers' i.e newbies who have done a few BBR or time trial rides, and want to improve their fitness for the Friday night ride, club ride etc.

Taking up this opportunity was new rider, Steve Ferguson ( maybe the club should be named Steve Cycling, as we now have: Steve C, Steve B, Steve D, Steve S and Steve F) . Steve has only had a road bike for a couple of months, having done a few BBRs and time trials he was ready to tackle the 24 mile Friday night ride route.

Also out with us were the familiar (and svelte) figures of Patrick and Steve B

The road surface of battery Hill seems to get worse every week and I found it a jarring descent that left me relieved to get onto the flat section past the sea defences.

Steve F and Paul B, Glad to Arrive At Broad Oak!

All of a sudden the familiar shape of Paul Baxter road up alongside me.Paul lives at Fairlight so it was not  a complete  surprise to see him, but it was surprising to see him out on his 29er full suspension mtb. Having done the South downs Way in one day on Saturday I thought he would be glad to have a break from his mtb, but it turned out his Giant TCR was in the repair shop so he really had no choice.

We had heeded the advice from other riders about the increasing problem of broken mussel shells along the Harbour natural reserve path . In previous summers this was not a problem but this year, the seagulls seemed to have had a brain wave and discovered that if they bash the mussels down onto the hard path, the shells will break open to reveal lots of lovely fresh mussel meat. Unfortunately the bits of shell are as sharp as razors and the chance of you getting a puncture if you cycle through the reserve is about 33%. Not liking these odds we stuck to the main road and tried to ignore the aggressive car drivers shooting past us.

It was a relief to reach the turning for the broad oak drag. I told Steve B, Gareth and Patrick to push on ahead and that I would help shepherd Steve F up the drag.

Despite Trainers And Flats, Steve Beats Stonestile!

I have to admire Steve F's determination, as for the first mile he set a pace that I could not match and I felt rather silly offering to guide him up the climb. However, this was not  a pace he could maintain for long, neither could Paul who was at a massive disadvantage on his mtb.  Seeing that Paul and steve Were about the same pace, I decided I could be relieved on shepherding duties and road ahead of them both at my own speed.

On arriving at Broad Oak I was impressed to see that steve was only about  a minute behind. This is despite the handicap of riding with flats and ordinary trainers.

However, the next test is to get up Stonestile without putting a a foot down. Not everyone makes this the first time they try and without clipless pedals , I wasn't sure if Steve could do it?

I should have had more faith in Steve's determination because he did indeed succeed and totally deserved the obligatory photo at the top.

Weather permitting we intend to have another Tuesday training session next week (Fairlight lodge at 6:05 pm depart)

Steve C