Sunday club ride (or was it?)

I picked up my new club kit yesterday at Herne Hill Velodrome. It was the first time I had been there and it was great to sit there in the sunshine watching the racing. This place is a little gem and now I've got another item on my to-do list because I wouldn't mind doing the induction session and then doing a few laps.

Kevin Knox the Dulwich member who had organised the club kit, which is a special edition for the club's 75th anniversary, mentioned that he was doing the Sunday club ride which is rare because he is usually racing.

I thought this was a great opportunity to test the legs so at 9 this morning I left home to climb the Col de Crystal Palace and meet up with the club. I thought I had sorted the headset problem but on the way up I could still feel some

movement and vibration. I mentioned this to another rider (Andrew thanks!) as we waited for the off and he immediately diagnosed what the problem was and with allen keys of various sizes collected from other riders fixed it for me on the spot. Phew!

Off we went in a group of I guess around 15 but that number started to dwindle quite quickly and I'm not sure why. The pace was quick but I managed to tuck into the group and it was OK. Faster than I would go out on my own but I wanted to test myself. Knowing that Kevin was up front was quite inspirational - I mean 2 weeks ago he is racing against Mighty Malc et al in the Smithfield Nocturne and now he's putting the miles in with us. I'm quite certain another rider Dan is cat 1 too so this all added spice to the day.

Once the ride leaders heard that 5 of us were doing the Etape then it seemed the game of the day was to ride hills. We hit some of Kent's toughest climbs, Toys, Ide Hill, through Ashdown Forest, 'The Wall', Crowborough, Sundridge...you name it we climbed it. Some of the other Etappers were very good indeed on the climbs (I wasn't one of them unfortunately). Anyway, I did my best and all credit to the group because they waited where necessary so we could stay together. By 3pm we were still out though and I was feeling very very tired. So at the nearest sniff of home I waved goodbye. Tired but satisfied.

I missed part of the route due to poor Garmin control but by the time I got home it had all added up to just over 153km and somewhere in the region of 2200m climbing (although it seemed more than this I tell you so this might be wrong). The thing that was different today was the average speed. I have never ridden as fast and it just shows what you can do when pushed hard.

I am enormously grateful to the guys today for their patience and particularly Dan and Kevin who took time to ride alongside me and offer advice. Cyclists are often such nice people aren't they? Problem is now I am Etape du Dales / Fred knackered!