28th April 2013 - The return to cold conditions didn't deter many riders, and the Market Square echoed to the babble of 32 riders keen to stretch their legs. The plan was for everyone to ride up to Oundle to visit The Gorilla Firm's Open Day, with Group 1 planning a small extra loop north of Oundle.
As is very unusual when Chris P is up to lead a ride, it was a sunny day (yeah - but not for long - Ed). A warm welcome to Tom and Chris who joined us this morning.
The original attempt to visit the Gorilla Firm a few months back was thwarted by flooded roads and ice patches the size of icebergs (just ask Andy Mc!). 22 "Group 2" and 10 "Group 1" riders left the Market Square, but as you'll see, it was difficult by the end of the day to be sure who had ridden with which group.
With 22 riders, we got strung out fairly quickly and the decision was made to split the group before the planned one at Winwick and we split after Barham Hill. Special mention must be made of Steve Rodley out on his very tasty singlespeed, as he did attempt the Barham climb but lack of ratios convinced him it was not to be and he turned for home (well, a lot of people big ring it - bigger sprocket needed?? - Ed).
Just after Barham, Group 1 rode through Group 2 and several riders in the faster section of Group 2 jumped on and rode with the now expanded Group 1 as far as Oundle. Group 1 then split, with some continuing without stopping and others pulling into the Gorilla Firm to view the colourful carbon and have a coffee from the excellent but very slow coffee machine. Look, Colnago, Cervelo and other delicious bikes were on view (although Alec was heard muttering under his breath something about "bloody Shimano on Italian frames").
The rest of Group 2 soon arrived and met up with the others at the shop, which, in addition to the bikes, had a micro brewery next door - beat that Nero's!
After a short rest the groups left the shop for the ride home, with a few refugees from Group 1. The faster bunch had a great ride in the strengthening headwind - although stretched out at times on the hills, people were strong enough to get back on - a good workout. The average in that bunch wasn't far short of Group 1's pace for the day. We split in Kimbolton with five Buckden Boys heading straight back and the rest heading towards Pertenhall, Spring Hill and the Bushmead sprint.
The steadier bunch had a fairly uneventful trip home until Tony showed great style and grace by failing to unclip in time and then proceeded to rip the bottom of his shoe off (temper, temper!) - queue lots of colourful language about not buying from Sports Direct. They decided that as time was getting on and Tony only being clipped in on one side they would head straight back to St Neots rather then enjoy Spring Hill and the Bushmead sprint.
Strava shows a full range of average speeds on the day from 15mph to 19.3mph - which is excellent as it demonstrates that there was a ride suitable for everyone. Distances ranged from 55 miles to 70 miles.