Chaingang – Tuesday Evening – 23rd October
Peter Smith’s Report:
Fantastic autumnal weather, with the temperature nudging 15c made for great conditions for our first night time chain gang. In total six club members set off from the Rugby Club at 6:45pm to ride the 11 miles to our ‘circuit’. The riders were myself, Mike Line, Mike Jones, Ed Wright, Les Hughes and Sheldon Starkey.
Lymedale Business Park just off the A34 in Newcastle had been sourced for quiet, street lit roads where we could ride laps safely in formation. All agreed it was a great little circuit, 1 1/4 mile round with a ‘shortcut’ which would prove useful when the pace quickened!
On arrival at the circuit a short briefing took place regarding safety and associated techniques to ensure that our chain gang would go without problems, then we set off for a couple of slow laps to familiarise everyone with the route and to point out the potential dangers – a few sunken drain covers and possible truck ’emergence’ points.
We then set off for an hour of paced riding, agreeing to set a suitable pace to keep everyone together for the first 20-30 minutes. Once this was up we released the shackles and upped the pace. A couple of groups formed and the next 30 minutes were a little disjointed but we achieved our aim – a good workout where everyone had stretched themselves a little and raised their heart rates!
The ride back to Congleton was at a much more leisurely pace…!
Pete
