Nürburgring Race

I recently had the privilege of riding the crazy ‘Rad Am Ring’ event for Rapha. Kieran had asked if i would be up for it during my visit the the cycle club Mallorca earlier in the year, and to be honest I thought he might of forgot. How wrong I was when the email came through with the details in July… no backing out now! The racing format was simply an 8 man relay around the Nürburgring race circuit… for 24 hours! We managed to come 4th out of 49 teams, not a bad feat when riding the bulk of it with only 6 bodies.

The vibe was amazing, haning out at the mobile cycle club and slowly poisoning my insides with an unhealthy amount of their nudie espresso’s and generally enjoying some epic banter. Come 2 am those coffees were sorely needed. You can read a blog on the team and how we fared over at Rapha. I rode the acciaio as I couldnt bear to leave it at home and it miss such a special event, and im so glad I did. The thing truly excelled at cornering and descending. 
A huge shout out to Ben, Jack, Strefan, Florian and Michael for what was one of the most fun days/nights I have ever had. And so many thanks to Kieran for organizing such an amazing experience….(and the extra photos) alles klar! 😉
 Kieran leads us out on a reccy
 Pit Lane
 Jack brews up
 Ben 
 Ben awaits the transponder
 The relaxed handover
 Keeping warm
 Nightfall
 attempts at sleep
 Chillin
 Banana boy
 Stefan of 8bar bikes
 Kierans recovery program
 The mist over Nurburg
 Jack does his best cheeky barista pose
 Ben makes a new friend
 Flag
 The boss fires up the bbq
 Stefan waits for his lap
 Lost in Germany thanks to minimal trainline understanding
 Yum
 Michael warms up
 Chillin
 Some race number adjustments
 Clocking up on the descent
 The rain starts
The ring. Beautiful

RCC Rides Yorkshire (The Greatest County EVER)

I recently went to take part in the RCC ‘Deano’s Yorkshire Dales’ ride. A tough 80 miles or so (I rode in the broomwagon for about ten, so was shy of the 140k distance – Im ashamed admit that day was certainly not my finest hour form-wise!).
The route was a challenging razz around some very fine northern villages – we were treated to undulating and incredibly windy descents. Such was the headwind that it took club strong-man Steve to shepherd a few of us back together – thanks for such a strong draft!

A particularly scenic part of the world
Riders were briefed on the route, and awarded a patch kit commemorating participation on the ride. It was a great chance for members to mingle, and we met many of our northern contingent.
Maximum credit to Andy (C) for providing such a brutal but beautiful route
A quick stop by the broom wagon allows for a regrouping
We were joined by one of my hero’s Mr Dean Downing. Imagine my delight when I discovered he went to my high school and we shared a few jokes about some insane teachers we had! Was a great experience to see how easy a ride like this is to a pro, he shared some tips and some banter with the group and helped make it quite a special day. Its not every ride you get to draft one of your fave pro behinds 😉
Dean flashes a smile. Probably after smashing a hill! © 2011 Janet Pearch

Condors Conrad turned up and promptly smashed the ride – hes riding like an absolute trooper this season, and was tres cool to see him taking off the front as soon as the tarmac went skywards…
Conrad looks back as the fuzz try to bust the ride. Single file people! (quiet day?)
A very nice formation of club riders 
Martin chooses a novel drying solution at the cafe stop

A chance to rest my tired feet and scoff a caramel slice

A cracking bit of sun – good soulfood

smile!

Up-front and loving the route  © 2011 Janet Pearch
Fleet Moss, horrific is an understatement © 2011 Janet Pearch
Thank you to Charlie and Janet for facilitating a brilliant ride – fully supported is something I could happily get used to! Also massive kudos to Andy although really you deserve a slap for devising such a hard route 🙂