North Cheshire Clarion Club Run ...

For the Bianchi lovers out there, here's a picture of fellow North Cheshire Clarion club member - Malcolm's - bike (also to be found on Twitter here). We were laughing today as his back wheel seems to have grown a pink rose at the cafe stop on the club run earlier today.

There was plenty of banter in the peloton today. Malcolm was taking the rib out of my triple chainset (took the Specialized Secteur Sport - today, rather than the Dolan Ares) and I was taking the rib out of the special Italian water in his Bianchi water bottle (Malcolm jokingly claiming that it only accepts San Pelegrino mineral water).

That's one of the benefits of being on a club run, bit of banter, bit of chat and swapping some cycling stories. We were a big bunch out on the road today, sixteen is a reasonably sized group and we made a special effort today to try and stay bunched. It wasn't always easy as todays route was quite hilly and the less strong climbers (i.e., me) didn't race up the hills quite as quickly as the (ahem) younger and fitter - members.

I did OK on the descents, my fifteen stone frame hurling me down at a good rate (I really do enjoy those fast downhills, hit 37mph at one point). One thing I really noticed today was the huge difference in braking capability between the Specialized and the Dolan. My Ares has a full SRAM red groupset and the brakes are really powerful, so I had to take it pretty easy and allow more room for braking on the Secteur.

When I left home this morning, it was overcast, starting to spit and cloudy. You'd think it was a winter morning. On went the overshoes, long tights, full gloves and waterproof. By the time I'd got to our meeting point at Stretton, the sun was out and I was roasting. Soon stripped off, but I felt warm, particularly when going up the hills. Hard to know how to call that one, still, better safe than sorry.

Arriving home, the Garmin read 60 miles and around 3100 feet of ascent, so a decent mornings work. I rode down and back with fellow club member - Anthony - today. He's just got some nice new wheels for his Boardman, they look great. We were joking on the way back that if you'd of passed us, you would have mistaken us for proper road cyclists! Club tops, fancy bikes and a decent turn of pace. What a difference a year makes. Ride stats here.