Weekly Round-up: 29 Dec 2024
All the latest news, events, and results from NFCC Members from this week’s two-wheeled adventures…
Saturday Club RideWith only ten riders making the start on a cold but dry December day and without the barrel regulars, Smithy, Graham and Phil H it might have been a problem with candidates for the barrel this week. But it’s the NFCC club ride so of course not. We set off on the dot of 0900 heading south towards Sway in a single peloton for a 110Km club ride. Within ten minutes of the start the first shout of “mechanical” went up and this time it was Paul H with a broken spoke. Coincidence after the seasonal excess? I think not, so the “Too Much Turkey” award goes to Paul. Being close to home Paul took the sensible decision to get the bike home. |
 We headed east towards Lepe and the second shout of “mechanical” was heard from the back of the group. This time it was Matt M with his Di2 gears running out of battery. This is the third Matt in the group who has had the same failure following Matt’s K and S (least surprising stat ever!). |
 Onwards to Blackfield, and we pulled in to address Barry’s deflating rear tyre. A quick blast of CO2 didn’t work so it was a replacement inner tube. This brings us to the barrel “winner” this week. The committee that nominates the barrel is always looking for new and innovative fails for inclusion. This week we had Barry’s tyre, the bike shop had used one type of tubeless sealant and Barry had topped it up with another. This produced some kind of chemical reaction where the two mixed and rather than being a liquid that seals punctures, it all coagulated into a solid at the bottom of his tyre. Tube replaced with some welcome help from Phill B and we were on our way to coffee at The Absent Pony. |
 Here we were due to meet Alan W at around 1110 but as by now we were forty five minutes later than scheduled so Alan departed a lonely man. Adrian and Matt M called it a day at the coffee stop and the remaining riders headed out for lap two. |
 Matt Knight made the wise call to divert home at Braggers Lane for a nice hot bath – not that he’s showing his age or anything! James Noah didn’t have enough cake at the coffee stop and may have started to regret his choice of the additional loop without Barry in the pack to control the pace but a swift refuel at Redshoot was enough to make it home in one piece. We started to shed riders as usual towards the end. Axum was the only rider to add more to the club ride clocking up another impressive century. |
| Happy New Year to all and thanks to all those that have made the club rides enjoyable throughout 2024. – Barry |
Sunday Club RideThe cold and damp conditions proved no deterrent as 12 made the start this Sunday. Smithy brought his Saturday form into a Sunday by making it to the start with seconds to spare. We split into two groups and set out. Group one quickly settled into the kind of pace which whilst no being an all out effort, was a bit of a conversation deterrent. The pace continued until we missed a turn. Although we had only missed the turn by a few metres, some bright spark suggested continuing off-route and taking the next turn which would surely take us back on route. It didn’t. With everyone’s Garmin telling them different thing, chaos ensued and we started getting what some might describe as lost. I’m not really sure where we were when we realised that we were never getting back on route but the time came when we just had to turn around and head for somewhere that we recognised. |
 The pace picked up again with Steve B and Dan S taking some Stella turns at the front and we made our way back to Brock and Setley ridge for the cafe stop. Meanwhile group 2 had made good progress, helped by having gone the right way and had already made the watering hole. A relatively quiet cafe and the bracing conditions outside convinced us all that a nice table indoors might make a nice change. Steve B tucked into a well deserved breakfast, jealously coveted by Dan who would have to wait until he got home for his full English. |
| Quick note just to thank everyone who has attended the Sunday club rides this year. The ride would be very lonely and largely pointless without you. A Happy new year to all. – Phil H |
Boxing Day 10 Time TrialSticking to tradition, the annual NFCC Boxing Day 10-mile time trial on P311 was another great success. A handful of club riders used the event to shake out their Christmas excess and even managed to bag a few prizes both in the podium positions and the novel raffle based on race numbers. A huge thanks to Phill G for his organisational skills again this year – we need a new elf to run the event next year… interested? contact racing@newforestcc.co.uk |
Get Involved:If you find yourself out and about representing NFCC, don’t forget to jot down a few words, snap a few photos and send them over to press@newforestcc.co.uk. |
