Saturday breakfast ride

Testing conditions for this mornings club ride to the Fiddle Drill at Goodmanham - I got out of bed this morning wondering how many of the hardcore would turn up for this mornings ride knowing that the forecast was for 0 degrees and not to get much warmer throughout the morning and also with the possibility of rain. I had sort of half committed myself by saying I would download the route and assist with navigation so felt obliged to turn up regardless! It turns out that there were 4 others as daft as me so when I turned up at HQ Sarah Caroline Hulme, Iain Callaghan and Mark Gilmour were already there and Steve Chapman arrived just in time to make the cut (bit tardy there Steve but I'll forgive you given my mistake a few weeks ago 😊). We set off and things were going steady but ok until we got on the road between Skidby and Little Weighton and encountered the first of our many showers be they rain or sleet and a small mechanical on my bike. Conditions continued to be grim and not helped by a double puncture enabling us all to get even colder as they were repaired. We resisted the temptation to cut the ride short and head to café Velo and the camaraderie and banter as well as the star jumps and impromptu Karaoke session kept the spirits up (don’t know what the casual passer by would make of three guys in their fifties singing Arctic Monkey songs though, never mind us all surreptitiously hiding behind a hedge in an attempt to keep out of the wind). The worst was yet to come though – when we got to Walkington heads it was completely white over with frost so we had to ride really steadily just when we needed to work hard to get warmer. The remaining 11 miles to the café went ok but it was noticeably quieter in there than usual and it would be an understatement if I said we were relieved when the café stop came! Once we were at the fiddle drill we made the most of the available radiator space for our cold /wet gear and a well earned, longer than usual double coffee break followed. It was with reluctance but with warm outer clothes that we left the Fiddle drill for the 21 mile ride back to HQ which turned out to be less eventful but challenging for each of us at times. Thanks all for the company and being part of a group that kept together and made the ride worthwhile and It was good to see out of town member Iain Callaghan turning out for a ride whilst in the area. If we keep doing these ‘character building’ rides I wonder which group of super heroes we’ll turn into! As has been said – winter miles, Summer smiles – you all just wait lol 😉