Despite the ride being punctuated by a couple of punctures, the forecasted rain failed to make an appearance meaning the eleven tandems and a solo were able to enjoy yet another superb ride on this very popular traffic free route.
Encouraging to see Tim and John stepping up to the plate and answering our plea for enough pilots to ensure we just managed to cater for every stoker.
Kudos to John and Chris who did the whole 22 miles and to Judith who decided to solo cycle back to base.
And thanks to our stalwart pilots and stokers who made the day so enjoyable.
Captain Drew, and newly inducted Anis, about to depart. Next stop = Dunford Bridge.Kathryn and Collette about to remount after the pinch points.Charles and Louise. With Louise as stoker, pedalling by the pilot is not required.Puncture 01 being repaired. John T in action. Drew supplying the tools. Jules and Anis giving moral support.Puncture 02 being repaired. Keith, on-hand to assist. Jules and Elisa explaining what needs to be done. Yes – it was the same bike, same tyre. And yes, a thorough check was made before reseating the rubber. Just plain coincidence. James and Jade. A rare photo as James is actually looking at the camera.Cafe shot 01. Jules, Jade, Charles, Chris and John T.Cafe shot 02. Ahmed, Muz, Richard and Tim. All listening to Liverpool vs Burnley. Not the best of results as Liverpool won 2-0. Sorry Peter!
Thankfully, the forecasted rain didn’t arrive until two hours later than scheduled. Which resulted in today’s ensemble of six pilots and eight stokers making the most of a rewarding track session.
Great to be joined by new stokers Anis, Kathryn and Richard; and nice to welcome back Matthew.
Following an hour of general warm up and inductions it was time for Trekker’s competitive spirit to emerge from a pandemic enforced period of hibernation. Following Olympic nomenclature, Gold in the slow race went to June and Joanne with a superb time of 33.11 seconds. Silver went to Sean and Anis with 32.68 seconds. Remember, the longer the time, the better the handling capability. But the truly amazing thing was the number of tandem pairs who were in the 28-33 second band. So, breaking with tradition, Bronze is duly awarded to everyone else who took part.
Next up, it was time for tightest turn skills to be tested. And this time, following his Silver in the slow race, Sean again excelled – more than ably assisted by Michelle – who ran off with Gold and Silver. And would have got away with a Bronze too if the track judge had allowed three attempts instead of capping the event at two turns per pair.
Finally, special thanks to Joanne who’s photographic and administrative skills haven’t gone unnoticed.
Drew explaining to Anis how he hates having his picture taken Steve welcoming Richard to his first track session June and Collette Sean and Michelle about to start the tight turn eventJames piloting MatthewSteve and Sean powering around the track Post session group shot minus Drew, James and June who were ferrying bikes back up to storage
