WEEKEND RIDE REPORTS – 21st & 22nd February 2015

Saturday 21st February.

A chilly start, and back to reality with a thump. After the glorious sunshine of the previous Sunday, we were all certain spring had arrived early. Sadly not the case. A solid turn out for the Saturday ride saw us rolling north towards Maypole Green in some breezy and damp conditions, before turning for home on a narrow yet elongated route into Suffolk. 117km total distance planned. Our lone coffee stop was at Corn Craft in Monks Eleigh after roughly 45km, where we found a rider who had pre-empted our stop and was looking to join the ride for the duration of the route. A nice touch.

Cyclist paranoia maybe, but it felt like the wind was always on our nose this day! Given the out and back nature of the loop this doesn’t seem possible, but it certainly felt that way. The ride was a little stop start with puncture here, and a wrong turn there, but all riders made it through the ride and back to Colchester in good time. It was one mucky ride, and personally speaking my bike took a lot longer to clean once the ride was finished than it normally does!

Spirits were high throughout the ride, and we’re pleased with the club dynamic being built with spring around the corner. Long may this continue.

Sunday 22nd February.

And now for something completely different….Sunday saw our first MTB/CX ride. The Collective spoke and we changed it up. 50 odd kilometres on an open route, taking in suggestions from the riders in attendance we set out from Velo! on a Mountain and CycloX bikes for some mud and trails.

Some impassable sections that required a bit of walking, and some fantastic gravel sections that were taken at speed. A splendid way to spend a bright, if not chilly Sunday morning. As I rolled out of the house on Sunday Morning there was a good amount of ice about. So no better way to deal with it other than to break out the knobbly tyres and head for the trails. This is certainly something we’ll look to do again in the future. We’re already analysing the route ridden and forming it into something that might be used in our homage to Paris – Roubaix this spring….!

As for those days where the weather may beat us, this could be a good way to get some miles in on the bike and beat the slavery of the turbo trainer! ColVelo has taken note.

Gravel is good.