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Over forty out on the three rides.  A strong southerly wind made the returns difficult although it was great to feel the warmth of the sun at last.  Despite the lack of necessity for many thermal layers of clothing, the meds encountered a frosty reception at the cafe stop.  Still, can't let someone else's bad-hair day ruin a good morning's ride.  A few punctures, but nothing unmanageable.

Tony Marriott rode this for the second year running. Conditions were opposite to last year with a strong head wind out and some tail on way home. He managed 1:03:43, some 5 minutes quicker than last year, so a course PB!
In the strong wind (~18 mph) he struggled to keep above 21 mph on way out but took only around 26 minutes for 12.5 miles on the return! He finished 15th. Winner was Tim Davies in 57:22.
You can view the stats of Tony's ride on Strava .

PhilY           23:50
MervP        27:23

A bit of a head wind on the Coach Road slowed people down. Tony's winter training has paid off and he took his first win of the year.

A bit of a head wind on the Coach Road slowed people down. Tony's winter training has paid off and he took his first win of the year.

Six intrepid Wheelers and one partner assembled at St Pancras International on Sunday morning, long before the clubruns were beginning, eagerly looking forward to a day of cycle racing and, well, France. The participants were Bruno C, Steve Wh, Bob B, Valdis B, Jane P, Jason T and Jason’s partner Louisa.
Having ridden the Eurostar to Lille, tourmeister Bruno spent 15 minutes negotiating a special group deal on tickets to somewhere out in the sticks called Orchies. This haggling was well worth it as it saved a packet on the fare.

With over twenty Herts Wheelers taking part in Audaxes, Sportives, Time Trials or going across the Channel to watch the Paris-Roubaix there would not be a great expectation for a good turnout for the club rides.  Wrong!  Thirty riders turned out including six guests.  Most took part in the easy with eighteen out.  Seven on the medium.  Six on the afternoon easy although one rider doubled up by riding the morning easy and the afternoon easy.  Compared with other days this year, today was a glorious day.  As the weather warms up it will probably be viewed (in retrospect) as a cold day.

Alex set the standard for everybody in the First Club TT of the year with a blistering 23:52. The time was all the more remarkable due to the gusting easterly wind and generally cold conditions.

Alex set the standard for everybody in the First Club TT of the year with a blistering 23:52. The time was all the more remarkable due to the gusting easterly wind and generally cold conditions.

Well that's March done with.  Despite the cold and strong wind, we have been getting good numbers out on club rides as people look to increase their winter mileage in preparation for warmer weather (it's got to come sometime).  Over twentysix took to the roads today with most supporting the easy ride.  Fourteen out on that one, with eight on the medium and four on the fast.  The only mechanical was on the fast, but they stuck together and got themselves sorted.

Three Wheelers rode this event; Brian Evans, Richard Clark and Spencer Stratford. Congratulations to Richard and Spencer who both got their first individual open TT under their belts .
Brian did a did a 1:04:17, Spencer a 1:08:48 despite a crash (see below) and Richard a 1:10:31 (on a road bike without TT bars).
Many thanks to Spencer for this account of his ride:

Nick Cramer rode his first "proper" road race of the season on Easter Sunday.
The race, run by Braintree Velo, consisted of 4 x 13.5 mile laps of a circuit just outside Sudbury in Suffolk. Nick likes this course but ice on the road delayed the start and gave him the "heebie jeebies"!
Self deprecating as usual, Nick reports " Did I learn from last years experience? No, it was a repeat performance and I rolled over the line 23rd out of 60 ". Most of us will be more likely to admire his determination to race at all in what passes for "spring" this year!

We were beaten by the weather.

Tony M rode this 18 mile SPOCO TT.
It was cold but, thankfully, not raining - though the road surface was wet in places. The race was on the E20/9 course just outside Maldon. The course was rolling, twisting and with a big hill called North Hill on each lap of a 9 mile loop which was ridden twice.
Tony was hoping to go under the hour and surprised himself by managing 52:57 - so was pleased with that time. He finished 27th out of 59 finishers his first time inside the top half.
Winner was Scott Cousins in 46:05. One Mr Dowsett rode (unofficially) - no time recorded.

About twenty innocent souls met in Ware not knowing what lay in front of them. Had they known, they'd have probably gone back to bed.  Everything started brightly with (for the mediums) a fairly quick, brisk journey northwards to Royston.  Lost two to a puncture, one needed to get back quickly (lucky him) and one was struggling with inner demons, illness and fatigue.  Then it was time to return - into the wind, rain and cold.  Not nice.  Meanwhile the easy was a much jollier affair with no problems reported.

Brian E and  Richard C rode this event on a course near Ugley - Richard's first 25 mile TT. Many congratulations to both of them for racing in such tough conditions. Here is Richard's account of their race.
" It was a day of first's - my first 25 mile TT, my first Open event, my first 2up, and my first time on my new bike....and it was snowing!  

Looking at the facebook page about people racing, doing sportives etc yesterday showed a common link - the cold.  And so it was with the clubriders.  Not a good day for riding enjoyment.  The medium riders had a conflab and decided that Hinxworth was too near the arctic circle to be viable so they did a shortened route.  The easy Hardriders meekly followed the Bob out to Hatfield Heath and managed to arrive before the main throng.  Tea and cake was welcome and at least on the return the wind had the dubious pleasure of chasing them back.  Fortunately there were no mechanical problems, espec

Probably due to the Redbridge visit there were not as many riders out today.  However we still managed over twenty.  A dozen took part in Mike's easy, whilst Barry decided to lead out eight others on a tortuous and circuitous tour of the home counties just to get to Wandon End, losing one and gaining two more riders for the more straightforward return.  Started off cold, warmed up, and then the sun vanished and a cold wind appeared as if from nowhere!  And of course it was a headwind.

Tony Marriott returned to Redbridge, this time for a 4th cat. race.
Given this event was only for 4th cats he was expecting a little less haste! However, the pace was quick from start again, though he found it marginally easier than the ELV Winter Series race two weeks previously - " if you can call that finish line hill easy! ". Tony compared his Garmin data with that from the earlier race and found the speeds were comparable, so he was very pleased to finish with the bunch. He was about 24th and in a photo finish with 2 other riders.

Lots of bods at Hertford, splitting roughly equally between the medium & easy with a couple vacillating between the fast or watching the Hardriders.  The easy took its usual way to Whitwell, whilst Valdis took eleven to Redbourn.  Unfortunately he only promised to get us there........!  It was a very cold day with flurries of snow but apart from the odd puncture it was always a question of trying to keep warm - a feat in itself.