Golden Rule Adventure Club: Senior Team Meet

Alberto and his good lady Jen were kind enough to host a little gathering in Sheriff Hutton, and the team spent the weekend trying to stay in the local pub as long as possible, as well as dodging showers that threatened our every move.

Our delightful base in Sheriff Hutton. The blue sky has been added courtesy of Photoshop ;-)

Thankfully, we only got wet in the pub, Alberto skilfully directing us away from all the large black clouds building over this delightful part of Yorkshire.

Our warm-up ride of 45km took us west to Easingwold, and we were fortunate enough to be joined by Alansandro Prattachi and his wife, who has yet to be christened properly as a club member. But she certainly earned her place, churning relentlessly uphill without complaint!

Setting off for our little warm-up ride. Not sure who the fella with the fuzz is second left...

The following day saw the main event, a 100 km circuit through the Howardian Hills, a lunch stop in the remarkable town of Ampleforth, followed, of course, by the essential club rehydration programme.

A great day out for all, just enough effort not to kill us older chaps, a good lunch in the hospitable White Horse Inn, and the rain only started as we got back to base. Our climb up through Castle Howard was entertaining as our ride coincided with a classic car rally, but we were soon out on the empty roads northwards with views to the North Yorkshire Moors.

There were no major climbs to endure, but the constantly lumpy terrain meant that we accrued over 1,000m of ascent during the day. It is notable, however, that Heyddie managed two different rides on the same day...I think they call that technical doping...