Arriving in Lancelin at just before 8.00am the 7 of us gathered near the start for a chat, banana, dolloping on sun-screen, pinning on team numbers and then heading off for coffee – looking like a very relaxed team considering it was a ‘first’ for most of them.

Tracy decided to get her puncture over with and out of the way before the start – nothing like changing the tube on the comfort of thick grass, with a foot pump, no time pressure and a tap just by to wash off the hand grime; whilst Leon squeezed his shoulders into a borrowed SPR (L) jersey and looked as coordinated as the other regular Development group team members of Carol, Ruth, Debbie and Gwyn.

Lined & paired up at the start and ready for the off when Gwyn’s flat bar roadie received a special mention from the commentator about her rear carrier being available to take our lunch . . . . . cheeky sod . . . the count down and suddenly we’re off.

Tracy and Leon set a good pace from the start – out on the front they pulled the train into the slight head wind and up the hill out of Lancelin, and that set the format for the remainder of the ride. Team leader Tracy sat on the front for the whole 50 klms, and was joined by Ruth, Gwyn and Debbie at various times and Leon when he wasn’t assisting one of the others up the hills.

Carol had a full on cold and clearly was suffering big time with heart rate up in the 170’s plus and lungs full of gunk and suffering from a lack of oxygen. So I paired up with her and whilst there were a few times we did have 100 metre gap off the back of the group, the others always waited at the tops of the hills for us to catch up & sail online slots past. There was no stopping Carol on the down hills though and she could comfortably suck a wheel at 50 whenever we had the opportunity to stretch it out & catch the others. Heading back to Lancelin for the last few klms Carol used every ounce of her reserves to hang in whilst Tracy and Leon controlled the pace perfectly to get the group paired up and across the finish line looking as solid & tight bunch as anyo of them. Average speed may have been “relaxed” but hey we looked the part – and that”s all that matters on the photos!

The team worked really well together despite the wide range in abilities, and this being the first time for many. Tracy and Leon tuned down their riding tempo to give maximum support to the others and Carol gets the bravery award for never thinking of giving up despite her clearly restricted lung capacity.

We met up with a few friends (Michelle) and my old team from last season who let us in to jump the mile long food queue, and sat in the hot sun with the ‘splodge’ dished up for lunch – at least there was enough food to go around this year.

York is on in 4 weeks time – so I was happy to hear mutterings about people wanting to do it all over again. Maybe encourage a few more Transitionals to commit and get a couple of teams happening – Tracy’s keen to do the longer distance next time . . . . and York is certainly a good ride through the country side.
cheers Mark _S