12/2 HSLCC Fri Night Ride - Phantom Ultras

Events have recently conspired against me to prevent me riding the Friday night ride. Last night everything was perfect: no rain, quite light winds and no big ride at the weekend to save my old legs for.

How does Sargent G keep himself so impressively slim?

The two most regular Friday nighters, Dan and Sargent G turned up at the Fairlight lodge as did Nigel F  who we haven't seen much of this winter season. Nigel was out on his best carbon Verenti bike having purchased some new Campagnolo Zonda wheels. These were the same wheels that Chris C recommended at Christmas. Apparently they are strong and yet light and give just about the best bang for buck of any wheelset!

Also joining us was Duncan F. Duncan had had cycled all the way over from Cooden in a desperate attempt to improve his fitness before the imminent Majorca trip next week.

I set off four minutes before everyone else, enabling me  to make a more casual solo descent of Battery Hill. Just as I was pulling away three more riders appeared but it was so dark I couldn't see their faces however I knew one of them must be Stuart as he shouted a friendly hello just as I pushed myself off.

Reaching Winchelsea there was no sign of the others catching me up so I pressed on in quiet solitude arriving at the Nature reserve gates. Here I decided to wait  and turned around expecting to catch sight of lights in the distance. After a minute of waiting I stated to chill down so decided to keep riding gently through the reserve.

Halfway across the reserve my bike started to cast a shadow as some lights were now appearing some way behind me. A few minutes later I was overtaken by a formation of ultras in a 2x2 block formation. They glided past me in total silence and soon passed away like phantoms in the night.

Dan enjoyed the Friday night ride but Duncan's cold took its toll

One of the ultras turned out to be Dan who had  pulled up and waited for me . We were soon joined by Sargent Simon and  Duncan but where was Nigel? We were correctly given instructions to wait until Nigel had caught back up. The Friday night is a social ride with plenty of opportunities to stretch ones legs on the broad Oak drag and the Stonestile ascent.

Once were were all back together there was an unspoken agreement that we would ride the broad oak drag as a peloton. I usually get dropped on this drag so it was quite a novelty for me to ride in the company of others, and with people around me the drag felt a lot less daunting than normal.

Reaching the top of the drag I wasn't surprised to see the phantom ultras had disappeared, they must have got cold waiting for us?

Stonestile lane is now open to cyclists so there was no longer the excuse of riding the longer but easier main road up to the ridge. Not having done the Friday night ride for a while my climbing legs were a bit out of condition and this was one of my slowest ever ascents, so it was surprising that I overtook Duncan . This confirms his fears about not be in ideal Majorca condition, made worse by the start of a cold . Don't worry Duncan, you still have  a few days to get into shape!!!

Steve C