7 pacers out today - Jason T, Mark R, Gregg, Dylan, Harpo, Steve C and me. Sunny, and the early chill soon wore off. The route was set by harpo - so it was more of a probability distribution which could only really be described by a wave-function - a familiar concept to those au fait with quantum physics, bus sadly that didn't apply to any of today's group, so there were lots of wrong turns, splits and re-groupings - but it added to the entertainment. It was good to note early on that Harpo had been applying the Nivea this week, as instructed, so his legs were pleasantly dandruff free.
Steady pace to Ponty, and then it was onto the golf course climb. It's 3 years since I last rode it. It will be at least 3 years until I ride it again. It was worse than I remembered - and I remembered it as impossibly hard and painful. Dylan declared it as the hardest climb he'd ever done. He also recovered from it remarkably well, and was still riding strongly for the rest of the ride. KOM to harpo quite comfortably. The descent to Abertridwr was a relief, although the surface would compete with the Arenberg Forest in places.
Next up, Caerphilly Mountain. Everyone looked pretty strong up here, especially Mark R who took the KOM. I remembered the only time I'd gone up Caerphilly and found it reasonable was when I rode it after the Ponty GC climb. Coffee stop at the summit to sharpen tan lines and recover. Good coffee, but a bit smelly today!
Gorgeous descent past Castle Coch, including a refreshing spray half way down from the water that is always on that road. There was then a bit of Fartlek through the lanes from Radyr to Cowbridge (chiefly instigated by Harpo and Steve - I'm assuming they'd taken a stimulant more powerful than caffeine at the coffee stop. There was a race up p hill, then hostilities were suspended until an unprecedented 2nd coffee stop at Caffe Nero. More tan line sharpening and quality coffee. Jason and I winded slowly back home - the rest were debating which hills to climb on the way back to Bridgend, with harpo complaining about a lack of miles.
Photos on Strava
https://www.strava.com/activities/934556332Strava seems to have my PB up Caerphilly Mountain )which I'm very chuffed about) as a hidden segment.
Good ride guys - thanks for the company.
