HCC Sunday Social Cafe Ride
With another good week of warm weather, Hartlepool cyclists were out in force. But by Sunday, only two made it to the Golden Lion for the earlier start time of 7.45am to get most of the ride done before the hot sun appeared. The plan was to have an easy but hilly ride to Seaham harbour where the best bacon butties in the land can be found. The route was straight up the coast road via Easington Colliery and a few stops were required to put rain coats on and off due to the unexpected showers. When Steve and Sean reached the highly rated ‘Dulan Cafe’ it was only 9am but they still managed to consume a coffee and tea and two bacon butties followed by another two coffees and two delicious brownies with cream and toffee sauce. With items on the menu such as Dirty Fries and Chicken Humpit burgers, this was definately a cafe to explore again another time.
As they began their journey back past the statue of Tommy, they noticed that it was Seaham Carnival day, therefore Sean paused his Garmin for a brief moment to pose for his Mr Seaham picture with the main stage showcased in the background. The route back was via South Hetton and Haswell, then Wingate to Hart. By this time the weather was getting warmer as the pace increased and the pair soon found themselves back in town. In general this was a great ride of approx 40 to 45 miles at 14mph avg with 2300ft climbing.
Club/Racing News
On Wednesday night, it was the continuation of the Club Tens (Week 6 of 7) from Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park. The weather forecast was good and even though the event was advertised at short notice we still managed to get 5 riders take part inc 2 from HCC. Lee Morley was 1st home for the club in 23:53 with another excellent course PB by 2 seconds and Phil Wright was 2nd home for the club in 27:57 also with a new course PB by 3 seconds. Excellent rides guys! The event was won by Ryan Hall of Adept in 22:20 which was exactly the same time Ryan finished in Week 5.
After 6 weeks of racing, the league standings can be found below alongside this weeks results. There is only 1 week remaining in the club tens league for 2022. The next event will be July 27th as the next Croft Ten event takes place on July 20th. So please come along on Wednesday night 27th July for the final week of the season.
Lee Morley continued his great form in the Stockton Wheelers 25 mile TT on Sunday on the 252/3 course from Crathorne to Knayton and back. Lee finished in 57:10 with yet another excellent PB. Lee really is having an incredible season. Well done! The event was won by Adam Duggleby of (Chapeau! Vive Le Velo) in 49:03.
Strava Club Leaderboard
This week The Thirlwind reclaimed the the top spot in the general classification with 169.6 miles, Phil Wright was 2nd with 130.0 miles and Matthew Johnson was 3rd with 128.8 miles.
Matthew Johnson also took the King Of The Mountains polka dot jersey this week with 8,150 ft of climbing including a massive 128 miler to Alston in the heat, in which he claimed the highest single ride of the week. Superb cycling Matt!
This week 6 riders joined the 100 mile club for the week – The Thirlwind, Phil Wright, Matthew Johnson, Lee Morley, Trevor Jones and Bryan Blackelock. Well done to you all.
22 riders put miles on the board this week out of 52 Strava HCC members, well done to everyone and lets see more members out on their bikes! Well done to you all.
Achievements to note, a massive well done to Matthew Johnson for his epic 128 mile ride, Lee Morley for his string of PBs in time trial events and everyone else who is out enjoying their cycling this season! Be safe and most of all enjoy it and let the Tour De France continue to inspire you all to get out on your bikes!