In the absence of official events, the South Wales branch of VCC has continued to keep busy by arranging informal unofficial training rides over familiar local courses/segments.
In a break from the usual TT-style efforts, on Saturday 13/6 the regulars made their way to the top of the Rhondda Valley to take on the Rhigos mountain road — a four mile climb followed by a three mile descent to the edge of Hirwaun, before circling a mini roundabout and making the reverse trip. More than 80% of the riding time is spent climbing in low gears.
First off was your writer, Simon, a reknowned non-climber who had made a couple of practice runs in the days leading up to the session. I was quite pleased and surprised to be passed by only one co-rider on the day. Mind, we did start at five-minute intervals so that’s no saying a lot! Finish time 1:03:04, a PB by a sizeable chunk so a satisfying result.
Next was Jeff, who passed me on the return leg. He did have the benefit of new-bike-first-ride syndrome and was strangely free of any ailment so it was no real surprise to him disappear into the distance on his way to a 57:26 finish, which turned to be the quickest on the day.
Third on the road was Dan, benefiting from the unfair advantages of youth and lightness. Not surprisingly he was quickest up the slopes but he lost time to Jeff on the descents and finished 89 seconds in arrears with 58:55. With a grand total of just three months’ cycling experience, this guy shows enormous potential.
Finally there was Rory also beat the hour-mark with his finishing time of 59:43 which, again, represented a huge improvement over his previous best over the course. He commented afterwards that it made a big difference to be riding in company (sort of) and having some friendly competition to spur him on.
For a Saturday ride it wasn’t the longest, but it was an intense hour of training and it got us all back home before 9:30 in the morning with the satisfaction of a decent training session in the books.