HCC Sunday Social Cafe Ride
After a full downpour on Saturday night, Sunday turned out to be a glorious day for cycling apart from the usual ‘breeze’ and Peter, Matt, Sean and Steve S met up at the Golden Lion at 9am for more cycling adventures, cafe stops and mischief along the way.
Steve S just arrived in time as Sean was about to pull his jersey up from his wrist and check his Rolex analogue watch for precise timing (maybe he was on the olympic committee in a past life) as Steve S rolled into the Golden Lion car park. Anyway with no complaints the guys set off towards Catcote Road with a plan to reach the illusive Aviator cafe that Matt has dreamed of for such a long time. The route followed Greatham back lane to Cowpen Bewley and then via Wolviston to Carlton through to Bishopton to Great Stainton and then right towards Morden, Bradbury and upto Ferryhill Station and then right through Bishop Middleham and then finally up the 10% climb to arrive at the Aviator cafe after 30 miles in the saddle!
Whilst Peter, Sean and Matt were deliberating with the staff on whether we were allowed to sit outside to drink coffee and cake, Steve S had made friends with a lady and her dog named Tulip. Eventually we got a table outside and Steve S friend was happy to take a picture of the group. The coffee and cake arrived and they put the world to rights as usual before setting off for home via Trimdon and Elwick.
The ride was 40-45 mile at 14-15 mph average. It was a really nice day on the bike!
Club/Racing News
On Wednesday night it was the 5th Croft Ten event out of 7 held this year. This event continues to be an excellent traffic free course round the Croft Motor Circuit, attracting cyclists from all round the country. Two Hartlepool CC riders completed the 5 laps of the circuit (10 Mile) as follows. Lee Morley finishing in a fantastic time of 23:22 to finish in 4th place overall and achieving a course PB and Steve Rhodes also finished well in 26:47 in 26th place out of 78 riders. Great ride guys! The next event is 21st September at 6.30pm.
On Sunday, Phil Wright travelled to Lindale (South Of Kendal) to compete in the Wigan Wheelers VTTA National 30 Mile TT Championship on the L308 course. The race started in Sedgwick near Levens and turned at Lindale and included some hills. There were 58 riders scheduled to start, but at the time of writing this, full details were not yet published. Although Phil finished in a great time of 1:24:15 + 3:50 which was also a medal ride for Phil. Excellent ride Phil, even though he lost his Power data.
Strava Club Leaderboard
This week Trevor Jones claimed the top spot in the general classification with an amazing 266.8 miles, The Thirlwind was 2nd with 183.1 miles and Max Headwind was 3rd with 145.4 miles.
Trevor Jones also took this weeks King Of The Mountains polka dot jersey with a fantastic 10,243 ft of climbing and also achieved the biggest single ride of the week with 93.0 miles. Well done Trevor, brilliant week of cycling!
This week 5 riders joined the 100 mile club for the week – Trevor Jones, The Thirlwind, Max Headwind, Phil Wright and Lee Morley. Well done to all 5 of you, great mileage!
This week only 16 riders put miles on the board out of 50 Strava HCC members. Well done to everyone! Achievements to note, a massive well done to Trevor Jones for an amazing week of cycling, claiming most miles, most miles in a single ride and highest feet climbed. Also a massive well done to all other club members who are enjoying getting some miles in this season! Be safe and most of all enjoy it.