27/9 Rye Rotary- Tour Of The Marsh

The weather for the annual 'Rye Rotary' was almost perfect with lovely blue skies and only moderate winds.

The fast group led by JV and Lee had ridden over to the start while myself Nigel and Malc C drove over.

We all assembled at around 9;15 and were a bit miffed to find out that the Rye Rovers group had already left at 9:00. JV and company had been looking forward to trying to putting Rye through their paces.

Setting off together, I knew that with cold legs there was no way I was going to keep up with the fast riders for long and within a few miles I was well and truly dropped, unlike Malc C who had managed to stay with the group. I did give chase and kept them in sight but was very much on my own into a moderate head wind.

A familiar voice called out to me and suggested I ride with his group. It turned out to be Sean Reed and a group of mostly ex Bayeux riders including John Gumble and Jamie Larkin. Their pace was perfect for me and tucked within a group of around eight riders  it was so much easier to hold a decent pace.

Before long we came across the lonely figure of Malc C who had inevitably been dropped, so Malc joined onto the group as well.

Our group stayed together with riders taking turns at the front and we made good progress towards the 'Railway Cafe' stop at Hythe. Unfortunately at one point I hit a bit of a pothole and the sudden jerk caused my seat bag to come flying off , hitting the ground somewhere behind me. It only took me a couple of minutes to reattach it, but despite my best efforts I couldn't get back to Sean's group but with only a few miles to the cafe stop I rather enjoyed the solitude.

Before long I joined the queue  at the cafe with Sean, Malc C and the others. There was no sign of the JV group, that was because being coffee connoisseurs they had headed off for a more upmarket cafe in town. They had all stayed together except for Gareth who had got dropped about 5 miles before reaching Hythe. They ended up spending a whole hour at their upmarket cafe.

Sean informed myself and Malc that they were going weren't going to hang about getting back. We took this to me they would increase the pace a bit so told them we would set off back earlier than them and try to tag on as they came past.

As we left the cafe the familiar figure of Malc D rolled in. We didn't know Malc was riding . He had been late to the start so had been playing catch up all the way to Hythe. We knew he would most likely catch us up before we got back so didn't hang around for him.

Malc Enjoys The Refreshments On Offer!

Heading back on the main road Malc C reckoned he knew the route so when my Garmin indicated we needed to turn right I didn't pay too much attention to it but after a while I realised that following the main road was not the way to go. So we headed back towards where the indicated turn was but then saw Sean's group heading down the main road. We assumed that they knew the right way, and so did a U turn in the road and gave chase.We almost caught up with them but then got stuck behind two slow moving cars. After a good six miles or so of riding on the main road it occurred to me that when they said they were not hanging about getting back they must have meant they would main road it all the way back. We would much rather ride on the quiet back roads so we headed east until after five miles were were back on the official route.

Myself and Malc are a very good training match and we rode at a pace that was ideal for both of us. With the moderate wind now at our backs we were having a great ride.

Suddenly in the distance we caught side of a bunch of  familiar red/blue Hastings tops. All our comrades from the fast group plus Malc D, were there trying to fix a double pinch puncture in Andy's tyres.
We knew they would easilycatch us up, so didn't stop until we got to a refreshment point where we munched a few biscuits and cups of orange squash. Another familiar rider appeared, this time mark and his missus. They were also enjoying the ride in the fine weather.

Double Puncture Fixed, The Fast Group Are Back Up To Speed!

I decided to wait for the JV group to try to get some action camera shots as they rode past . For some reason the puncture fixing took ages. I almost gave up waiting but then suddenly there they were but then just as suddenly with a whir of rotating chains they were gone, being too far into the 'zone' to bother with stopping for biscuits and squash. Lee and Nigel were setting the pace and for much of the way back they were riding at around 23 mph. In the end it was only JV, who with a lot of suffering was able to stay with them. Nigel said later, that of all the club riders JV is the best one at being able to suffer and keep going.

Myself and Malc settled back into our own  rhythm, taking turns with each other at the front, so although we started to feel tired, it didn't take too long to get back to the HQ

The sandwiches, cakes and biscuits that were provided for us were  a very welcome treat.

Well done to the organisers of this event. The route was well sign posted and there were lots of marshals out at various points. As long as the weather is OK, I look forward to being there again next year.

Steve C