Remoulds January Report In line with most members affected by the ice and snow, Remoulders started the year late but packed 7 rides into a 2-week period of which I managed to do 6 of them. On Mon. 18th., a recovery ride after the Whalley monthly epic yielded a Scorton & back Cafe ride at a reduced av. speed of 14.4mph. Thurs. 21st. was much the same route except for a leg-stiffening short climb from Forton up Hazel Bank past the M6 Services and on to Lower Dolphinholme but with an increased av. speed of 15.5mph. The day after, only 2 riders decided to take in the longer climbs of Bell Lane and Harrisend Fell (foggy but safe road surfaces) being thankful to meet 4 more homeward-bound cyclists at Scorton. Into the last week then and the Monday outing upped the numbers to 5 on a longer ride through the Quernmore Valley as far as the Postern Gate before a return via the west side of the valley and the Hala Estate for a brew stop at Conder Green. 7 out on Wednesday for another wet, foggy crossing of Bell Lane/Harrisend Fell followed on Thursday by another 7-strong party out to Garstang and the climb upto Claughton School, Bleasdale and the circuit road of Beacon Fell. On 4 of these rides, Pres. Pete tagged on extra miles at the end of these outings (or beforehand/or both) to top the 100km target so that in the 15 days from Jan.14th-28th. his monthly total reached 490 miles. However, designated 'remoulder of the month' must be Kam Srivistava, riding 70-inch fixed-gear - having suffered from mid-December on every outing to breakthrough in the last fortnight to become an accomplished, strong member of the group. To show that age is no barrier, even prospective member Fred Thornton (72) made it to Scorton and back, plus Des. Burrows (77), after debilitating radiotherapy for prostate cancer has ambitions to ride the 'Circuit of the Dales' in April off 2 months training!.....now, anyone else out there need motivating? Peter Shuttleworth. |
Remoulds January Report