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3rd Annual CCA Geoff Denny 100 mile club ride, 4th July 2010
On behalf of Bob...
Sunday 4th July [yee-haw!] at 8.30am - the 3rd Annual Geoff Denny Memorial 100 mile Classic. A great circular route led by Bob and made up from Geoff's favourite rides.
A stop about halfway [Elmdon?], and the route is easy to peel off back to Ashwell at any time. Steady club average speed likely 14-15mph.
All welcome.
Route here.
Sunday 4th July [yee-haw!] at 8.30am - the 3rd Annual Geoff Denny Memorial 100 mile Classic. A great circular route led by Bob and made up from Geoff's favourite rides.
A stop about halfway [Elmdon?], and the route is easy to peel off back to Ashwell at any time. Steady club average speed likely 14-15mph.
All welcome.
Route here.
Comments
As Bob doesn't read the forum: can someone remind him - just in case! 8.30am, 4th July. Two Sunday's time.
that wes going to be my question (stef's post) will she be at the start so we can put our lunch supplies in to be retrieved at elmdon?
cheers stu
and yes geoff will stick in a track pump and if you can bring some spare tubes that would be great
oh boy am i flavour of the month for talking her into this one!
I will miss this one this year as i will just be touching down at gatwick at the time you roll out.
Hope you all have a good ride,i will try & get a few quick miles in when i get home around lunchtime.
Its still hot every day around 95 & very humid even so cant wait to get back on the bike.
All the best to all.
strappy.
Bring your lunchables to the start and Stef's wife will kindly take to Elmdon.
Weather forecast is very good. Quite a strong headwind for the second half - maybe some of this Autumn's Belgium workhorses can get some practice in?
Have a great ride.
car will meet us at elmdon on the green for lunch stop. will provide water, bananas, apples at the lunch stop.
should be a great ride, looking forward to it.
1st section of the ride is pretty flat and takes in sections from a lot of familiar club rides, two bridges in reverse, the primavera circuit, gamlingay, caxton, and on to haslingfield and harston. despite the blustery wind we made very good time and the peloton discipline was exemplary too. around haslingfield we were averaging 17.5 i think and about 40 miles in. lost 5 riders here who didnt want to do the full 100, tim d (first ride on a stunning rebuild, fully retro down to the shoes and cap), mark and stevie, john r, and dave.
on to fowlmere and up the hill to elmdon for a lunch stop at 55 miles. lost one more after lunch ken (carbon) who headed back. from here on the route got a bit lumpy and the legs tired somewhat from the brisk start. it was also now very windy... though could not detract from the stunning weather and beauty of 9 riders rotating in perfect harmony like a well oiled machine... well ok in practice the discipline wasnt quite as good as in the first half but hey, i calmed down eventually!
the garmin satnav held up pretty well though had a few late calls of direction, and a st trinians moment in manuden with groups going in opposite directions on the high street several times before sorting it out. mark c showed his chivalrous side, when he helped a lady cyclist who panicked (or swooned maybe) at the sight of us coming uphill towards her, and applied the brake sharply... just the front one unfortunately, the rear of the bike bucking like a rodeo pony and sending her tumbling into the ditch, anyway she was fine so no drama. other than that we had one chain off and just one puncture plus a spectacular explosion on trying to inflate the new tube with a co2 cannister.
we also had a few grumpy motorists (maybe because they were stuck in their horrible smelly cars on a hot day?), most notably in ashwell itself at the end of the ride, a gentleman who claimed he had a book saying that cyclists must ride single file.. scouse chris put him right.
in the closing miles we agreed no sprint as we came down from redhill to the a505, but you could tell no one really meant it. a mad dash resulted in a win for mark c and some very tired legs elsewhere. we then all finished pretty much together, and the perfect end to the ride was bumping into martin and gina and meeting new arrival gabriel who was asleep like most of us wanted to be by then. 6 of the nine then went to the three tuns for a well earned pint. for the record the nine that completed the 100 were pete, mark c, chris (scouse), paul (2nd claim, derby), paul (cca), stuart (newmarket), chris (newmarket), mick and me (apologies if ive got that wrong...)
final ride stats, 101.3 miles at 16.5 mph, 4400 feet of climbing. if ive missed anything sure others will fill in.
a great ride and hopefully a fitting celebration of geoff denny's life, not that i ever had the chance to meet him.
As a footnote, I'm pleased to report that I endured that sodding headwind all the way home.
Thanks again, (tired of Letchworth).
we should all chip a quid or so next wed as a show of thanks eh for the food and drink provided without which i would not have made it!?
i think tribute should be paid to the brave souls who went the extra mile and forced themselves to get a pint of the amber nectar down their neck at the tuns at the end!!
great ride by the way.
see you all soon.
stu