showmethecakes Sun Feb 28, 2016 7:13 pm
An astonishing 22 riders turned out for this little gem, probably 'cos it was dry and there were no icebergs. Any other lettuce references welcome.
Lots of personal bests set from Puxton to Sandford. Can't think why. Shame that bloody great tractor and trailer got in the way and spoiled the view of the road - couldn't see a thing from 2 feet behind it.
Ivan was clearly distressed as we hit the back roads of Blagdon as usually by now about 99% of the bunch would have gone for a short option but everyone bar lofty was still there. A panic phone call to Mr Hartley to advise of numbers was made before we continued up Blagdon High Street. A mini rant took place down towards Ubley where Ivan conveniently left the shout for the left turn until the first 5 or 6 riders had blasted past it at 30 mph. Like angry bees they soon swarmed back together around the back end of Ubley.
From the lakes up through East Harptree and Litton to Chewton Mendip, Burns the Bread and Scott set a stupid pace up the steady incline. The lead group of 7 was soon down to 2 as Bread and Banana combined beautifully to make the basis of a good cake. Ade and Neil somehow managed to close the gap and added a little more umph to the whole mixture. Meanwhile Pants on Fire and Cakes were struggling to stay in contention like a couple of broken eggs on the road. Never mind, we still got to the top a good 7.5 minutes ahead of the last rider.
In true Gordon style we then found the shittiest lane in Somerset to ride along up to Binegar. The bunch was pretty much in pieces by now and I regret showing the small lead group which way to go as they then raced away from me up the hill to Hartley's.
Mr Hartley had prepared well with the meet and greet waitresses providing a guard of honour with pens and pads at the ready. As the room filled the volume increased but apart from a snapshot of a very pleased Ivan and his Eggs Benedict I couldn't detect much crudeness.
The ride home was riddled with ridiculous rants, the first of which culminated in four abreast heading down the Horringtons at 38 mph. A brief split in Wells was rectified by Wookey where another rant took place to Wedmore. Jim put in a spurt and rode his bike quite fast too. Jeannie, Martin, Ade, Neil, Scott all put in big efforts with Scott taking the prize money in Wedmore. Jeannie then set about fixing a flat while the rest considerately stood around chatting. Only when the job was almost done did a couple of volunteers step in to help. As Jeannie rode away I smugly said to her that I too had a flat last night at 11 but pumped it up good and hard and boasted that it was staying up okay. About 200 metres later I could feel something hard hitting my rim. Strange as I was sitting on my saddle at the time. However the tell tale signs were there. The slight bulge between wheel and road showed that all my pumping was in vane. We stopped for a temporary fix and then carried on home. A little more pumping was required but I made it home safely as I am sure everyone else did as well.
Now, as for stats for this week I think we need to look at Strava. By my reckoning, between us we clocked up 53 top tens on Strava. Chapeau to Jeannie who took twenty of these and also to Scott who got FIVE KOM's in one ride. Commiserations go to Ade who had a KOM only because he put his ride on Strava before Scott uploaded his ride and took it straight off him. I think the next challenge will be to get 20 riders to take the top 20 places down the Horringtons in one go. That would be funny.
Anyway, my tea is calling. Farewell mad friends of the bottom bracket brigade and hope to see you all next week for a fine and dandy ride.
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