AVP Evening Ride with Quiff & The Near Naked Man

Thursday night is cycling night in Seaton ... well there are other things going on in and around, such as the Red Arrows flying over Lyme Regis, but for me even the draw of an air display could not keep me away from from my training.

After Tuesday's epic ride, I was looking forward to a more gentle spin ahead of a longer weekend ride. Arriving in at the Kings Head rallying point, I could see in addition to the usual suspects that Quiff had joined us. Quiff runs a quick paced Sunday ride which I had the privilege of joining on a couple of occasions last year, before I accepted after being dropped on a ride back in November, that I needed more training to do them justice. This was the ride which actually started the more regular social Sunday rides which Andy and I still try to get out on.

We have, more recently, been known on Thursday nights to split into two groups, for a brisk and gentle paced ride. Ordinarily, I would not have entertained following Quiff out on the brisk ride but with Andy away with the Arrows, and an unexplained desire to test myself, following all this training  I've been doing for the RideLondon, I thought, why not:
- double the distance,
- double the pain .. and hopefully
- double the gain!

Out with the speedy group!

The speedy group, in the end, actually only consisted of Quiff, myself and the Near Naked Man (Glenn, the proprietor of the Broom Wagon coffee shop and member of the MCAC), the remaining 8 or 9 riders chose the gentle paced route. If I ever thought someone knew something I didn't, this was one of those times.

We headed out briskly towards Colyton where some how I earned a Strava segment KOM and a flurry of PRs climbing Watchcombe Hill to Offwell .. this ride was really pushing me to my limit. In all we covered 41 miles to Uppotery, across the A303 to Churchinford and back through Membury and Axminster. I think it was out of Membury that we started a chain gang, rapidly rotating positions on the road to maximise our speed. I remember the last time I tried this I could not keep up, on this occasion I stayed on the wheel as we maintained a 20 mph plus average over the undulating couple of miles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUPVj1sIJ-M

As expected this was a quick ride, but I survived. I also achieved a 20 km PB. Feeling good for London! If you've not yet sponsored me, surely I'm earning it now :) www.justgiving.com/Jonathan-Read-Bone/ or Text JJRB64 £x to 70070

Do shaved legs make you faster?

The Tuesday Evening .. "Preparation aid for the AVP 100" .. Ride numbered at least 10 Pedallers last night, as Buster led us over a 40 mile circuit out towards Honiton, up and over the hills through Upottery, Yarcombe and back through Membury and Axminster.

Meeting up for the ride

Last week we had half this number, so it's great to see the word getting out. Having two AVP rides in a week, I am getting to meet new club members whom would normally go out on the Thursday mountain bike ride or who are just not able to make the earlier Thursday slot. This week, as well as Buster and myself, we were again joined by Kelly and Shaun from last week, Bobble, Nelly and Ed from the Thursday ride, and Jeff .. my new bike mechanic who straightened my wheels the other day and who last night showed me how to get a chain back on without getting my hands dirty! What a treat!

During our rides, I like to share the latest piece of biking trivia, much to other's amusement or disbelief. Last week it was how Froome has cycled under the Channel .. see the evidence in the video below.

This week, the subject was that body hair conundrum .. do shared legs make you faster? I shared how the guys at Specialized have taken to the wind tunnel to answer this question once and for all. They ran a test 10 time on the bike with hairy legs and 10 times with shaved legs over a 40 km distance. The aerodynamic boffins found a maximum time advantage of 82 seconds on one ride, with an average saving of 70 seconds, when riding without hairy legs. As the actual gains will depend on the amount of hair - measured by the 'Chewbacca scale' - this time advantage might not be universally applicable to all, but when 'marginal gains' are at stake, I ask "should I now reach for the razor?" .. I guess the next question would be "where am I on the Chewbacca scale?". I think we'll leave it there!

So back to the ride. As we crossed the A35 at Kilmington, on our return, the sun had already dropped below the horizon and it brought back memories of the spring and autumn rides that we do under an ever darkening sky. Although unlike on those occasions when I've gone out expecting darkness, I was riding last night without my 2000 lumin lights and so needed to keep up with Ed and Bobble on the home run in order to see my way back to Seaton.

We ended the ride at around 10:30 pm, no apres beer and chips and it was all quiet and powered down at home. It was a good ride, but I'm kind of looking forward to getting my 100 milers done and dusted. Just 24 days to go!