15/11 ESCA Reliability Trial

It was time for the annual ESCA reliability trail.We managed to field a team of eight riders which isn't too bad historically but our contribution rather pails into insignificance when measured against  clubs such as Eastbourne Rovers who managed an impressive 38 entrants!

Quick Last Minute Adjustment For Shirley's Steed!

We had three different ability groups. First time reliability riders Shirley and Justin were in the 4 hour group, myself Tom and Malc C were in the 3.5 hour group, while Patrick Gareth and Malc D were in the 3 hour group.

Justin And Shirley Set Off On Their First Reliability trial!

After waving goodbye to Shirley and Justin my group had a thirty minute wait before it was time for the 3.5 hour riders to set off . There was quite a large group waiting for the off but for some strange reason the timekeeper set us off first and said that we were late? This meant that for the first eight miles or so we saw no other riders. Riding down a very long straight road called the 'Broyle Side' I wandered if it was going to be like this all the way round? The only exciting thing that happened was when Malc C broke a spoke which we had to bend around another spoke to stop it flapping about.

Riding through Ringmer myself and Tom got  a little ahead of Malc C and slowed down for him to catch up. Somehow Tom managed to do a low speed tumble while still attached (Shirley style) to his pedals. Tom's amusement at this was cut short when I looked up to see a massive group of mainly 'Lewes Wanders'  approaching at speed. Shouting a warning to Tom I hastily set off worried that I would be caught up in a clash of alloy and carbon. For the next half hour we managed to stay with this large group enjoying the slipstream effect of so many riders, only for them to pull away from us on some unnamed hill.

After an unpromising start the route was becoming really enjoyable. The organisers had managed to plot a route without 'shitty little lanes' and there were plenty of moderate hills. Malc C was suffering a bit today and thought it was really hilly but riding in my favourite ( mild winter) conditions I was finding it pretty easy.

The 3.5 Hour Group At Checkpoint Two!

Somewhere up ahead were Shirley and Justin. Shirley is not fast but she does have tremendous endurance and like me was finding the route easy. Justin has never ridden further than BBR before and so started to suffer with painful legs after thirty miles but with Shirley's encouragement managed to keep going ( they must have been going quite well as we failed to catch them up )

There were three check points on route but thankfully none of those annoying questions that some organisers make you answer. On the last one we were just getting our cards stamped when the familiar figures of Gareth, Malc C and Patrick arrived. They had caught us up having put in an impressive pace that Patrick said he had had difficulty maintaining. Also there was the mercurial figure of steve D. Steve seems to make a habit of appearing out of nowhere on many of these types of rides.

All that was left was an easy mainly downhill descent for 7 miles.Ourselves and lots of riders from various clubs cruised along at a gentle pace towards East Hoathley . Lulled into a semi comatose decent by the gentle whirr of a dozen or so chains and wheels, I suddenly realised there were only five minutes left and we still had over 1.5 miles to do and the last bit was on a bit of a climb. Determined not to miss out on being reliable; myself, Tom and Malc C had to make one more big effort and arrived at the finish with less than two minutes to spare. The fast group had to hold back for a while before they also crossed the finish in a reliable time. Shirley and Justin had also met their 4 hour time so HSLCC may not have had a large turnout but at least the club are 100% reliable. 

Celebrating Our 100% reliability Ride At 'The Kings Head'!

Steve C