I set of towards Wavin for the 9:30 start...
We set off following the route sheet and naturally split up into various groups, I of course turned it into a race again!!!! (Until it came to the hills and I reminded everybody it wasn't a race :-)
The route was fantastic and the weather was perfect, although to start of with it was cold! By the time we had climbed Broad Town hill I had a good sweat on! We joined the A4361 at Winterbourne Bassett and had the most fantastic sprint to Avebury, I was in front for most of the sprint, but as I started to tire Richard passed in front and I slotted in behind and slipstreamed and the pace picked up again :-)
At Avebury we turned left onto the A4 for a short stretch then right onto the back roads towards Alton, there is quite a long drawn out hill before a fantastic descent into Alton, I took the opportunity to take a photo of the rest of the group
Unfortunately sweaty cloaths and camera don't mix to well!
We stopped at the Garden Centre at Woodborough where I treated myself to a Bacon Sarnie and shared a large pot of tea.
We followed the route sheet back as far as Blacklands then deviated for a pleasant ride through Headington, Stockley and a Fast descent back into Chippenham from Sandy Lane.
I have REALLY enjoyed this weekend's club rides, nice fast pace and an excellent route today, all I need to do is loose a bit more weight and climb the hills a bit faster, but with the people I ride with to spur me on that should not be a problem!
The Garmin had today's ride as 53.61 miles in 3 hours 2 minutes (Ride time) with an average speed of 17.6 mph, the GPS trace can be found here...
On a different note I finished the woodwork and painting on the fireplace yesterday evening, after I got showered and changed today I did the finishing touches to the trim - all we need now is the ashpan and ashpan cover to turn up...
7 comments:
" I of course turned it into a race again!!!! (Until it came to the hills and I reminded everybody it wasn't a race :-)"
Lol. I seem to do this a lot too!
Agree, cracking ride today John. My legs feel like they have had a workout. I was beginning to tire from Heddington so apologies for drafting excessively. Fireplace looking very Victorian which is I guess the intention :)
Ahhh the really funny thing is I know I am doing it :-).....It was a bloody good ride though, best club weekend in my short club experience so far!
Stunning fireplace!
Thanks mate...It was tuff to fitt in DIY and cycling....but I managed it :-)
Hi John,
Thanks for towing me around on Sunday. It certainly was a brilliant ride. A quick question - I've been looking at these Garmin thingies -What model do you have and are you pleased with it? Thanks again. Paul (Black Cannondale with rider with no energy left)
Ahhh Paul....it was no problem, I like to ride at my pace.....which just appears to be faster than most...
I have a Garmin Edge 605, it is the same as the 705 but does not support Cadence/Heart Rate sensors and does not have a barometric altimeter (Altitude on the 605 is calculated from the GPS), I bought it primarily as a navigation and tracking tool, however as a straight forward cycle computer it proved to be excellent.
As I am progressing I now wish I had the ability to monitor cadence! but the 705 Edge computers are so expensive I would find it hard to justify the extra expense for the nice to haves!
I would have no issue in recommending the Edge computers to anyone, If you want Navigation and a good multifunction computer with GPS tracking the 605 is a good buy (I would like to have a play with a 305 to compare!) If you want 605 features AND Cadence, Heart Rate and accurate Altitude the 705 is the only option (Again I would like to play with an Edge 305!)
The 605 and 705 do NOT come with usable maps, the Garmin maps are expensive!....but the open source maps are free and good! I have both Garmin UK map and open source maps running on my Edge and in many ways the Open Source maps are better!......
One of the really good features of the Edge is teh ability to race against yourself...you can ride a route you have ridden before and you ride against your previous time.
See you on a chain gang soon :-)
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