So what makes a perfect winter club run? Well, everyone will have their own view of course, but there are a few fundamentals needed to be labelled as such. Perhaps a shorter route in the winter, a cheery leader who posts early and gets a momentum behind it, a nice route with a suitable cafe, and even better if a table has been booked, decent weather, even a little testing in terms of floods or wind makes it even nicer to get out then get home, and great chats....and to my mind this week's club runs weren't far away from all of this.
Take the A-ride for example, a cheery, smiley leader posted early, got a good crowd along, a great cafe at Stanford bridge, hills and flooded lanes made it a challenge but not too long, and consider all the conversations we had at the cafe...At our end of the table, we discussed whether the West Ham manager will survive the month (bit niche that, eh??), whether Prince Harry is a treacherous ginger tosser, or a brave soldier defending his new life, whether teal is absolutely the best colour for a bike these days, whether bacon AND black pudding on a sandwich is just too much pig per square inch, whether eggs benedict really is a thing or just a excuse to double the price of an egg sandwich, and whether the ride around to the lighthouse from Porta Pollensa in Mallorca really is the best 50kms bike ride in the world...something for everyone there, and a reminder that riding a club run REALLY is better than just getting up, putting on some clothes and doing a 40-50kms ride just for the sake of it on your own, then going home! Come out on a club run again, in the words of that eminent philosopher Tigger, they're greeeat!
...and I believe that the other weekend rides were just as fun, with Rich Chaplin's/Mick Stanford's BC led ride excelling itself with them all channelling their inner James Brown ('I feel good') on the Earlswood lake road. Thanks also to Paul Balfe, Phil Gameson, Cedric and Mariana (who unfortunately had to cancel her ride due to having one of the two-week long colds that seems to bothering a lot of people)... no doubt they all have their own tales to tell.
so what of cyclocross? Unfortunately Celia didn't get to ride at the Nationals, but the Redditch cross event was on, and a simply brilliant ride by our junior ginger randonneur, Matt Russell, saw him finish second in his race...great wok again, Matt! Also good to see Martin Davis riding strongly again, but also special mention to a couple of youngsters riding their very first race in the novices race...these guys having stepped up from Beacon Academy training to give it a go. Fabulous to see this, and a reminder that the Beacon Academy is in the middle of a burst of winter training at Moseley School fitness centre. These are at 17:30-18:30 for the next FOUR wednesdays, so if you have a youngster that wants to ride a bike, then it's your duty as a loving parent to get them along...more details here:
http://beaconrcc.org.uk/beacon-academy-2023-events/
That's enough rambling for this week, next weekend looks lovely so get your name down to lead, and post soon so that we can establish an official Beacon position on Prince Harry
Keep happy
Phil
