HCC Sunday Social Cafe Ride
This Sunday was another good weather day for cycling, even though the autumn weather is now upon us. It was an even better day as a ‘gaggle’ of riders (6) turned out at the Golden Lion for the 9am start – Sean, Steve A, Matt, Steve S, Csaba and the welcome return of Peter after his 3 weeks of blissful holidays (although he might say otherwise). This was a good turn out for the club and nicely manageable. With nice weather and a good turnout, the group decided to head for a slightly longer ride to Girsby.
The route took the group up Elwick Rise and round Dalton Piercy, towards Greatham Back Lane and then Cowpen Lane to Yarm Road. The route continued to Kirklevington and Crathorne before arriving at the Rusty Bike cafe in Swainby. A slight headwind all the way there and an unusually busy period with traffic past Stockton and along Yarm Road gave the group a nice appetite when they arrived at the cafe and Sean had already placed his order before he dismounted the bike.
The standard coffees and scones were consumed with the
luxury of sitting inside the cafe, which is usually very busy.
Steve S was particularly impressed with the cappucinos…
After re-fuelling, the group were keen to get back (in some cases too keen). They headed west towards East Rownton and Appleton Wiske and Horsby before going past Girsby, then Neasham and then towards Middleton St George. With the wind on their back, the pace picked up as they headed along past Long Newton, before reaching Norton, Wolviston and Newton Bewley where Sean decided to Time Trial the rest of the way home in an effort to get home in time before Asda closed. The rest of the group continued along the black path along Catcote Road and said their goodbyes for another fantastic days cycling.
The distance was 65-70 miles at 14-15mph. Great rides by everyone with each member looking after each other and also putting in the odd efforts up climbs. Well done to all!
Club/Racing News
There was no racing news this week as the racing season is almost over. Although please find below the 2022 Hartlepool CC Championship Trophy Winners. The winners will be awarded their respective cups/trophies at the Annual Social night in February 2023. Well done to all who took part in another successful year of racing.
Strava Club Leaderboard
This week for the 2nd week running, The Thirlwind claimed the top spot in the general classification with 175.4 miles, Lee Morley was 2nd with 150.2 miles and Max Headroom was 3rd with 140.8 miles.
Max Headroom took his first King Of The Mountains polka dot jersey with 6,568 ft of climbing. The biggest single ride of the week was by Trevor Jones with 86.0 miles.
This week 3 riders joined the 100 mile club for the week – The Thirlwind, Lee Morley and Max Headroom. Well done all!
This week only 14 riders put miles on the board out of 49 Strava HCC members. Well done to everyone! Achievements to note, well done on a great week of cycling for Max Headroom with 3rd place and highest elevation, also to Csaba Nadas for his longest ride to date of 63.7 miles and well done to everyone else who managed to get on the bike. But however you add the miles in, enjoy your cycling!