On 8 February the most regular ladies from Tango Cycling kicked off this year's ladies rides.
As we all had a long winter we decided to start gentle and drive down to Peaslake instead of taking train. In our defence South West Trains have also had major engineering works over weekends.
Vera was so stoked to ride but overslept to her own annoyance. She didn't let that put her off and still made her way over to Peaslake!
We faffed a little bit pumped tyres at the always friendly Pedal & Spoke and chatted to Howard for a while before we started.
It was an abnormal warmer day for February and we had to stop a few times to strip off some layers. I can't ride when I'm overheating. I was slow as it was, but being hot made me even slower.
We climbed singletrack towards the top of Yoghurt Potts and I skill fully navigated us the flattest possible route. :-)
We had a chat with some other mountain bikers at the top of Holmbury Hill and fantasised about the idea of having a little coffee & cake van right there.
I spotted the first Pyga, South African brand bike designed by Patrick Morewood and was interested to ask why this guy decided on that bike. He previously had a Morewood and apparently tries a whole lot of other bikes, but still decided to go with the Pyga as the others just didn't feel right. Loved the colour of the bike, it was a bright happy yellow! ;-)
Yoghurt Potts were the muddiest I've seen it in a long time. I stopped in the dip where we forked off to the right before they made changes to the route to take some photos. I sneakily then rode down the old way. I used to love that part even though it was rooty and very muddy at times, it was a great challenge. I knew once I've come past that point the fun really started. I felt quite nostalgic thinking about the first time Simon & Christiaan took me down Yoghurt Potts in the mud. I was screeching all the way and shaking at the end of it, but just wanted to do it again and again!
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| Marie pumping nicely through Yoghurt Potts |
Telegraph was on our list next. It can be hard work at times, but it is still nice to pick up speed and just flow towards the end. We bumped into Albert at the bottom of Telegraph he had really bad bike trouble. First something on his cassette broke so he had to turn his bike into a single speed then his frame cracked! How tragic?!
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| Cecilia cruising down Telegraph |
At the top of Barry's we met up with Vera who finally made it over to Peaslake. There was a group of about 12 guys taking a running start from the reservoir across the road. More than I've ever seen. I didn't like the idea that much as they came across as if they knew what they were doing and could easily be intimidating, but sorry guys when I saw you push your bikes back up the hill at the bottom of Barry's you lost all your credibility. :)
We headed to Peaslake to the warmth of the Village Store and a bit of love from Trudy before we headed back home.
It was with shock and embarrassment that I realised we only cycled 10km. What was worse is that I ran 10km faster the day before! Things can only get better from here... This ride was rude wake-up call and I'm determined to gain back my fitness slowly but surely!
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| Happy to ride in the winter sun! |
