Bucks 100 - September 2014

The main ride, Sunday 14 September, in support of Action Medical Research

Training ride across the wooded hills of south Bucks, a quick 40km and 383m of ascent

In the pretty village of Hambledon on a short training ride between Marlow and Henley. Welcome, Mike, second left, as our guest rider.

So, the Club meets again, this time at Measham Manor in Beaconsfield. A training ride filled the afternoon, and the evening was spent carbo-loading and ensuring we were properly hydrated, in true Club fashion. The evening ended with some limbering exercises, mainly to the tune of Pharrell William's 'Happy', and the President and Mrs Merckx showing how this intricate series of stretching moves can be done to perfection.

Serious hydration session in full swing...

Stewie carbo-loading on profiteroles

President and Mrs Merckx demonstrating an advanced warm-up routine 

Sunday was all too quickly upon us, and a drive through the leafy lanes to Aylesbury and beyond eventually brought us to Waddesdon Manor, built in the Neo-Renaissance style of a French château between 1874 and 1889 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, and bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957.

Our ride took us out through the beautiful grounds of the manor, and initially south east to hit the hills around Wendover, with a good climb up into Wendover Woods, the highest point of the Chilterns, and beautifully managed by the Forestry Commission.

Our start point, Waddesdon Manor

Alberto camping it up with his NEW SHOES

After our descent from the woods we caught our breath at a refreshment stop in Cholesbury Village Hall before riding northwards through some gorgeous villages, many with 'chocolate box' thatched cottages and great looking pubs.

Alberto showing the way up a typical Chilterns hill, his new shoes making a huge difference!

Alas, no time to enjoy these local hostelries, and more hills to climb before a lunch stop at 80km, a good feed provided at Stewkley Village Hall, before we turned south towards the finish. The only negatives of the day were the universally poor road surfaces of the Buckinghamshire roads - coarse tarmac, potholes and bumps galore. You would have thought that the well-healed burghers of Bucks wouldn't tolerate such shabby surfaces!

Lunch stop. Feed station at Stewkley

Our final 30km was ridden at a good pace, with one particularly long hill providing the team with an opportunity to set a new land speed record, hotly contested between Jan, Heyddie and guest rider Mike. Once again, their speeds proved too much for the technology. All appear to have missed the much sought after 70km/h barrier, but only by a small margin. Alberto and the President, were, as usual, eminently sensible on descent but still got the wind in their hair (well, maybe not, Alberto...).

[Postscript: Heyddie has since made the claim for the land speed record, achieved on a training ride with the Marlow Cycling Club. This claim, of 79.5km/h on 9 August 2014, will need careful vetting by the Club Secretary Jan, and therefore remains to be fully validated].

Jan, Stewie and Mike steaming down one of the last hills. Note the President wisely holding back...

Another sportive safely completed :-)

Stats for the day: 111.6km, 1196m of ascent, moving time 4 hours 35 minutes, average speed 24.3 km/h.

So, another good day out, with a couple of pints of St. Austell Breweries' Tribute enjoyed by the more discerning Club members, and further hydration in Beaconsfield later. Once again, splendid hospitality was provided by Mr and Mrs Merckx, the latter a super chef and warm-up exercise leader. Well done all.

Wolds Way - July 2014

Passing aptly named villages like Burnbutts, Wetwang and Painsthorpe, the Club enjoyed a fine weekend cycling the Wolds Way and exploring the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Pre-briefing hydration session in Sheriff Hutton. Guest appearance by our Director of Meteorology, Johan and his lovely WAG greatly welcomed by the team.

From our base at Whitworth Towers in Sheriff Hutton, near York, we managed a total distance of 263km, with climbs totalling 2,100m over the two days.

Saturday took us south, then east, then north, then east, then south, then west - Alberto was navigating ;-) - on the Wolds Way, passing through Kirkham Priory, Norton and Hunmanby before reaching Bridlington on the east coast.

Day 1 - Sheriff Hutton to Bridlington, finishing at Nafferton 124km, 914m of ascent, 2158kCal

The weather was challenging from the start, with rain dampening us a little just as we set off, and low cloud for the first hour or so. But the sun finally shone, drying us out in readiness for some good hills (Settringdon Hill, Kirby Road south to Sledmere House and Ganton Hill up on to Willerby Wold), with Mario in fine form on his new bike, a rather natty looking Cube carbon number (with matching shoes…).

Rolling hills, empty roads, and it's stopped raining...perfect!

Selfies on the move...a Club first!

Typical Wolds scenery

Fish and chips in Bridlington (a town renowned for its upmarket following), refuelled us for the final leg to Nafferton. But not before we all got a good drenching in a thunderstorm as we passed through Sands Wood. Mario excelled himself again, showing us all how (not) to unclip from his bike just as we reached Nafferton.

The team reach Bridlington

KOM contenders carbo loading

Alanssandro and Carlos chillin' on the transfer back to Sheriff Hutton...not a good look guys ;-)

Rehydration and further refuelling at The Grapes in Slingsby just north of Castle Howard enjoyed by all.

Day 2 - Nafferton back to Sheriff Hutton. 139km, ascent 1186m, 2697kCal

Our second day proved to be long one, with a long coffee and pork pie break in Beverley, an unplanned tour of the same town just afterwards, and another puncture for Carlos. But the day gave us bright weather, dry roads with good surfaces for the most part, and some wonderful scenery through the very distinctive landscapes of Millington Dale and Thixendale, buried deep in the hills north of our lunch stop at Pocklington. And a lot more hills than some had expected – the long drag from Walkington to New Newbold, Sancton Hill, and the 11% ramp out of Millington Dale, but with the reward of great views over the northern section of the Wolds and the North Yorkshire Moors before a superb descent (watch out for that hairpin Carlos!) into Leavening.

Entering Millington Dale

The final 11% section out of Millington Dale, Jan leading the charge!

Miguel and Alberto topping out from Millington Dale

Team GRAC on the Wolds

Thixendale

Big views before an exhilarating descent into Leavening

So, a great weekend. A good test for all. Some superb individual efforts, Mario leading out on the final 10km back into Sheriff Hutton being particularly notable, and Miguel learning how to clean his bike. Happy days J

Cake and cheese at Whitworth Towers :-)

Thanks again to Alberto and Mrs Johntador for their splendid hospitality, to Alberto, Jen and Jan for all the route recces and detailed planning.
Oh, and commiserations to Team Captain Heyddie for missing this little adventure due to business commitments and to Academy member and expert domestique  Stewie who was away on a romantic tryst ;-)