30/1-BBR: Girl Power

After pulling out of the 'Hill & Mills' audax due to a chest infection and forecast of heavy rain , I arrived early at Di Paulos's all kitted out in a cheap waterproof ready to take on the weather but relieved not to have to worry about icy conditions.

Warm welcome to Caroline on her first BBR

Next to arrive was Celia who was looking forward to her second BBR. Celia has only recently come back to cycling having purchased a second hand carbon road bike. She said she liked the bike but complained to me about how much movement there was on the stem. When I found out that this was one of those adjustable jobs I advised her to get rid of it as soon as possible, telling her the story of how I used to have one until the bolt in the centre snapped  leaving me holding handlebars that were no longer attached to the bike , resulting in a nasty crash face down into the road. This must have played on her mind, as within a few miles of starting the ride she would go on to complain to others about the stem flex and  abandoned the ride to head straight for the bike shop to have it replaced with a solid stem!

The cafe soon began to fill up ,so that by the time everyone arrived we had eclipsed last weeks attendance by an additional two people to give a record 20 riders. As well as Celia we had Sue Landy and Caroline on their first ever BBR. We also had some new male riders; Derek had brought along his friend Jim and Duncan had brought along his two youngest sons Conor and Jem ( just how many sons has Duncan got?)

After a couple of weeks absence, my fellow St Richards inmate, young Theo Tadros was there but informed us that this would be his last BBR for some time as the TT seasons begins in February and he would be time trialling every weekend  with his Dad (local TT legend Pete Tadros) until their rest period in late summer.

Sue outperforms most of the men despite it being her first ever BBR

By the time we set off, the rain had just about petered out and my new bright red waterproof was flapping about in the wind, doing a good impression of  a small sail so at the first opportunity I took it off even though I would end up feeling slightly chilled for the rest of the ride. 

I found it especially heartening to see see Tom out again  , but sans his Bianchi which is still awaiting the obscure crank bolt it needs to get back on the road . This left Tom with his old faithful steel audax bike but this was definitely the heaviest (and oldest ) bike on the ride.

Chris took us again on the Tilley lane variation due to all the flooding but many of us actually prefer this variation over the 'standard horse walk' variation and would happily do this all the year round. 

The only really big hill is Boreham street. Having had a couple of low mileage weeks, my legs felt well rested and I found it an easy climb and  arrived about half
way up the long string of riders grinding their way to the top.Duncan's sons look young and very slim, so I hope they didn't mind waiting to long for the whole company to arrive at the top?

The rest of the ride proceeded without any incidents at all , not even a puncture! With all the recent rain there was a great deal of water running down some of the roads but this was always flowing down the sides so was easily avoided.

Today's Boreham Street league table

By Rushlake green, our numbers were down to 16 as Malc D, Duncan and his boys had broken away for other engagements. All that was left was to head east along the A271 ,then turn south for Pevenesey. Feeling strong and with gravity on my side I decided to pump the old leg muscles a bit harder and found myself overtaking everybody (or so I thought) with only Andy L able to stay with me.

Eventually Andy's superior leg strength got the better of me and he towed me the last couple of miles into the Starbuck's cafe' . Here I was surprised to see that we were not the first to arrive as both Tom and Sue's bikes were proudly propped up outside. This was particularly impressive as this was Sue's first ever BBR and Tom was on his old steel audax bike.Sue was ecstatic about the BBR having thoroughly enjoyed it , so I think we have gained a regular BBR rider there? Derek's pal Jim also rode really well, despite being on flats and a  borrowed bike he kept up with the main field so hopefully he will also join us again?

We were trying out the 'Starbucks'' for the first time as our numbers are now so large that it takes too long to get served at Chile farm. Myself and lord Buss understand why we may have to switch to this cafe but I must admit we did feel homesick for the friendly ambience of the 'warming room' at Chile farm.

Many thanks to 'The Colnel' for leading another wonderful BBR.

PS-Myself and some of the regulars wont be there next week as we are doing our annual 'Snargate Social'. This ride will go ahead no matter what the weather as I need to shed my unfortunate moniker of cancellation Curt!

Steve C