Rain? What rain?...yes, it was hammering it down when we all woke up on Sunday, so two of the three club runs got cancelled, but the forecast was for the rain to stop, and so it came to pass. By 10am, it was dry and by 11am it was warmish and sunny, so hopefully most got out anyway. The three club runs were combined, for a less-than-populous trip to Cobhouse. Only me, Andy Wrightson and Si Woodward were on the club run. Andy W tried ringing Vince and Si Woodward tried ringing Si Turner to see if they were about to turn up. Both of them were in bed (not together
), but Vince decided to get out and hot-foot it after us, arriving at Cobhouse for a well-deserved coffee and cake. Si Turner responded with a well-known two-word anglo-saxon phrase where the second word is 'off' 
Pride of place goes this week to Celia Brown again, who smashed the South Bristol CC hill climb by over a minute. She is riding fantastically well at present. More details here:
https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/ra ... WjE#anchor
Are you riding the National Hill climb championships next Sunday, Celia? I see that the course is the Old Horseshoe Pass up to the Ponderosa cafe in Llangollen...we rode that hill a couple of years ago and it's incredibly steep - we absolutely hated it!!
Only one rider on the Cross racing this week, young Matt Russell again, wearing the colours and getting super muddy out in Wolverhampton, timing his last swoop to overtake his rival on the last bend.... well done Matt!
Let's try and simplify club runs and lose the B-, C+, C++ etc confusions, and just have A, B, C, and D rides from now on, please. The guidelines are:
A-Ride: 16mph+
B-Ride: 14-16mph
C-Ride: 12-14mph
D-Ride: 10-12mph
...and these are just guidelines, so if you're leading a B-ride (for instance), and everyone is happy at 17mph, then by all means ride at that speed, but that's depends on who turns up on your ride, the golden rule is RIDE AT THE SPEED OF THE SLOWEST RIDER. By being clear what your intended speed is, you should ensure a harmonious group, but that doesn't always happen, with people not on a good day, getting injured etc, so always ride with the intention that no one gets dropped! It's a social ride, after all.
In addition, although it is a courtesy to sign up in advance, no one will get turned away if you just turn up on the day. Signing up in advance does help the leader in ensuring that they're not going to be Jonny-or-Jessica-No-Mates, but we appreciate that in this world where not committing yourself in advance to anything seems to be de rigeur, that we'll go with the flow a little more. Note that if you do turn up and the ride is full (unlikely), then you do run the risk of riding solo...
So, just a reminder of the club run etiquette this week. You know it makes sense.
I hope that helps
Phil