Amblers Club Run - Sunday 19 June

[Mark Pope]

I think most people fancy catching up with the Etape  de la Defonce road race this Sunday, so my proposal is that we ride up to Gilfach Goch to watch the guys busting a gut up the hill after Glynogwr. If we ride through Coity and then across the Common towards Talbot Green we can cut through Llantrisant Forest and head up to Gilfach in plenty of time to support the team. This should also give us a nice leg stretch first. Afterwards we can head back to Hannah's Diner just outside Cowbridge to see the finish. If Hannah's is chocca, we can head into Cowbridge before heading home. Total distance is flexible but around 50 miles but with a couple of stops to cheer on the boys.

See you Sunday.

Mark

[RichardB]

Sounds good.

[Tom]

Sounds good Mark. I'll be out so long as it's dry!
I'll see you on the Common-if for any reason you don't go that way I'll head to Gilfach via forestry.

[mal jones]

I'll be with Tom at the top of coity common as it goes over M4 Mark see you there

[Nick Langley]

Ah brill, it's Lea that did the dragon ride so you've met him before. I'll be starting from Brackla I think so will see you at the top of the climb out of Coity...gasping for air 😀

[mal jones]

Ok nick see you in coity

[harpo]

fairplay, amazing support for the defonce, shows what the club is all about!

[Paul Nicholas]

Thanks for coming out. I pretty much had to work my way from the back of group over Glynogwr and was trying as hard as I could to catch up over the top and on the decent. On the approach to the Gilfach climb I was pretty spent and felt like I might start to drop back a bit on the climb. I was expecting a few of you to be out, but when I get there and everyone is on the side of the road cheering in the rain it was an amazing sight. With my legs in bits at this point I still managed to get a PR on Strava for that segment, goes to show how much of a difference the support of the club can make. Great to see the gold jerseys on the bridge at the finish line too.

Ta
P

[Mark Pope]

A great turnout today to support the boys racing the Etape de la Defonce . Despite the grey skies and constant drizzle there were 20 Oggies out today(at various times) to cheer on the guys. Initially a group of 16 Pacers/Amblers and a stray 25er left Brackla as a group to head out to Coity and across the Common towards Talbot Green and the cheeky little climb over Smilog before heading up to Gilfach Goch to find a good pitch to watch the lads straining up and over the climb from Glynogwr. On route we were joined by Mal, Tom and Harpo, so we had a really good crowd on the road to greet the teams as they grovelled over the top of that well known local lung buster.

We then thrashed it back down from the Goch to Cowbridge in order to catch the boys at the finish. On the advice of the race organiser's, we watched the finish from the bridge over the carriageway by Hannah's Diner, which gave us a grandstand view of the finishing straight. I know we are a local club, but it was slightly surprising that there were very few supporters from other clubs out on the road, although we made enough noise to make up for it. I'd like to congratulate our team for having the testicles to give it a crack and for the obvious effort they put in. After the finish the group splintered a little, with some of the Guys heading straight home, whilst the more serious minded athletes amongst us headed to Costa's to rewardourselves for the strenuous exercise of watching other people race. After coffee and a few slices of cake we rolled back to Bridgend. For the non-racing Oggies today was a fairly short ride of around 39 miles. Out at various times today were:

Andy Harries ( rode to and from Penarth)
Andy Storrie
Jason T ( back from his high altitude training camp in Nepal - well he's riding like he is)!
Tom
Mal
Paul Longhorn
Steve Curry
Harpo - special guest appearance - Mal went home when Harpo turned up!
Jonathan Spinks
Terry
Tony
Steve Chapman
Lee (newbie - hung on well)
Matt (strong newbie)
Reece
Mark Rosser
Rich Bowmer
Mark P
Chris Reed
Nick Langley

Phew, that's it I think. Oh, once again chapeau to the team: Paul Nicholas, Neil Poulton, Harpo & Mark Rosser.

[mal jones]

Damn right I did Harpo was on his black stealth bomber and had a strange look in his eyes I passed Steve and later Tom in Hendre lane all looking for the quickest route home in the rain