An industrial estate in Shropshire; a late November evening;
a diverse group of cyclists meeting in a layby. This can only mean one thing, a
chaingang session is about to get
underway.
I’ve been meaning to make it along to one of these for a
while now, and on Thursday night I finally popped my chaingang cherry. As I
made it towards the start I really wasn’t at all sure what to expect. Would I
keep up ? There was only one way to find out.
The main protagonists were known only to me by their Strava
or Twitter pseudonyms, but they were a friendly bunch and readily accepted me
into their ranks.
The circuit was a pan flat 2.5km loop around the industrial
estate, well lit, and a decent, albeit damp, surface.
I set off in the first group whilst a few performed their
final pre-ride faffage rituals. The pace was fast, but relatively comfortable.
The first couple of laps I spent trying to make mental notes of any drain
covers and pot holes on the circuit as the pace gently increased.
With the chaingang up to full strength we settled into a
steady, and fast(for me at least) pace. I was however, managing to hang on in
there, and even spent some time on the front of the group. I found that the
corners were key, and holding speed through them was crucial to keeping a
consistent pace. Leg sapping accelerations out of them was best avoided.
I looked down at my Garmin, and in what seemed like no time
at all it was showing over 30km had been covered! Even more surprising was the
average speed we were maintaining, over 32km/h. And I was still feeling
comfortable.
Lap after lap was spent chatting to various members of the
‘gang, and it’s fair to say we were a fairly diverse bunch. From cat 1 road
racers, to middle aged life long cyclists, with a Team GB Downhill Mtb rider
thrown in for good measure.After just under two hours I called it a day, said my goodbyes, and headed for home. Over 62 covered! Full details here - http://www.strava.com/activities/96372830
Whenever I try something new I ask myself two simple
questions, 1)Did I enjoy the experience, and 2)Am I intending to do it again.
It’s a resounding yes on both accounts.
Vive la Velo936ADL
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