participation event report by tracy.

Cyclo York Development Team (pirate and English J)

It be an ominous start as we got up a sparrows fart t’ get t’ York. ‘t rained quite a lot on th’ way but by th’ time we arrived ‘t had stopped, great! Th’ development lasses plus honorary member Mike Round  (Debs husband) managed t’ find each other, register an’ get t’ th’ line(good start). On th’ way we noted about three other squadrons includin’ SPR members, good t’ be seein’ they be well represented.

We cruised off of the mark, found our way out of York and started our hike through very pleasant countryside.  We passed the Enjo team with a flat, and then again as they had a second.   The start was pretty flat and we worked well as a team sticking together nice and tight with some speed adjustments.   Carol took the first turn at the front and wisely pulled off before over doing it.  New girl Jennie with her broad Scottish accent jumped up front and stayed feeling very healthy, new candidate for transitional group I think.  Mikes turn for a flat but he had it under control so we kept motoring, giving Mike a chance to stretch a bit to catch up with us.  Very nice till we hit the Beverley turning point and began the climb at 30km mark 5 hills took their toll on our team work.  Jennie took the first QOM keeping strong until Ruth took the roll on the last couple of hills.  Fruit cake must have kicked in!   Our group stayed fairly steady and strong as we passed many riders left behind by their teams.  We started stringing out a bit and Mike called a regroup before the final push. 

We completed 55km with 483m of climbing with an improved average of 25.2km/hr  great progress since the Lancelin ride. 

Thanks to great work by the development team girls,  Carol, Deb, Gwyn, Ruth, Jennie and the ring in Mike.  A great day in a very pleasant location.  Look forward to the next one.