This Sunday I finally took the plunge and arrived outside theBikeYard in Leamington Spa at 08:10 to join the RLSCC club run. I made my introductions to Graham, the coach, and watched as people joined the waiting gaggle. There must have been about 30 riders in all.
Graham announced the route “Southam Reverse” and said there would be three groups that day, a fast and two medium/slows. I thought it would be arrogant to make any assumptions about the speed of the groups so I joined the slowest group.
We set off in light rain (knowing that there were 4 minutes between each group) and headed out of Leamington. The pace was comfortable and we were well “marshaled” by one of the riders. There were several calls of “ease up” and I was holding back when my turns at the front arrived.
After a while, the next group caught us up. The protocol was that if you felt up to it that you could join a passing group, so I jumped onto the back. The pace was higher (the first group was around 17.5mph and this group was around 20mph) and I hoped I had made the right decision. In fact the pace was about right. It was challenging but not mad. It took a while until it was my turn at the front and I put a decent pull in for several minutes. I rotated out and people said “well done” as I slowly drifted to the back of the pack. There was no “marshal” in this group as presumably you were expected to know what you were about – which was fine.
We hit a first hill, which was short and sharp. I hit it hard and overtook a few. After a while I had my second turn at the front and again worked quite hard. Just after this came a longer hill and I allowed a 10-15 bike length gap to open.
Graham, the coach, scoots round in his car giving encouragement and advising how close the following groups were. He appeared at the side of the road and bellowed at me to close the gap. I dug in really hard and managed to get back on. For the rest of the ride I had no problems staying with the group, passing a few who were opening gaps at times.
After around 25 miles we were approaching the end and the pace picked up. I stayed with the two guys at the front and finished with a smile on my face. Everyone was pleased that the fast group hadn't caught us.
We all milled around for a while as the other two groups came in and had a bit of a chat. I had a bit of time left so rode home the long way. I reflected that I wished I had done this before because I really enjoyed it and I think the competitive element will help to sharpen me up.
I’ve subsequently joined RLSCC and plan to be there next Sunday. :)