John Wayne and hailstones

Another Sunday, another training ride. After a chilly morning watching my son play football, as usual, I had a quick turnaround in order to meet Matt and Jon to head out for another training ride. The weather was somewhat nicer than in the previous couple of weekends – the wind was down considerably and, whilst chilly, it was fairly pleasant. Not shorts pleasant though I would add and I was glad I put full fingered gloves on – a last minute change of plan.

I decided that it was preferable to head out into the wind and then reap the benefits on the return trip so we headed west, out through Old Woking and Fox Corner towards Ash Vale. The wind, whilst significantly lower than in recent weeks, was still enough to dent forward momentum but we managed to keep up a decent pace through the back roads.

I’d planned to have a coffee stop in Ash Vale – there’s a very handy cafe near the station that I’ve stopped at before. Sadly, when we got there we discovered they were shutting for the day but it did give us a chance to give Matt’s set up a check as he was struggling with some aches and pains. Now, I’d preface this by saying that I’m no bike fitter and only have a rudimentary grasp on the geometric complexities of creating a comfortable and efficient riding position. However, one thing I have learnt over the past few years is that most new road cyclists (unless they’ve been properly fitted) tend to have their saddle lower than the optimum position. Matt was new to a road bike having only recently acquired it from a mutual friend and that, combined with the fact that his knees were somewhat splayed out as he cycled, suggested that a little more height in the saddle may help. As Jon succinctly commented, “You’re meant to look like John Wayne when you get off the bike, not while you’re on it”.

We did the quick heel-to-pedal measurement and bumped the saddle up an inch or so – it could have gone more but I didn’t want to end up with Matt struggling to put his feet down at stops so it was a compromise of efficiency and confidence. We also turned his handlebars up slightly as they were set in a very racy position. Just a few minutes’ work with an hex key and we were off again. Despite being denied a well earned coffee, the changes seemed to spur Matt on and he seemed to be in less pain and riding at a quicker pace after the stop. I decided that this gave me the excuse to suggest heading back over the top of the ranges at Mytchett – always one of my favourite roads – and get the benefit of the long gradual descent down the other side via Grange Road into Pirbright.

Matt had a scary moment as we turned right, at speed, into Grange Road as a BMW driver decided to overtake him despite the fact he’d indicated and moved into the centre of the road (in good time) for the turn. This prompted a lot of”typical BMW driver” comments from the others (I drive a BMW, sorry), followed up by “you don’t get that from Audi drivers” (guess what they both drive?). The phrase ‘famous last words’ sprang to mind a few minutes later when we were buzzed by an Audi hatchback on Cemetery Pales who was apparently trying to set a new landspeed record! I’d be more critical if I hadn’t been guilty, in my misspent youth, of doing much the same thing on a few occasions.

Aided by the wind behind us, we made good time to the local pub to meet our families who had gone for a walk and this was just as well because, a few sips into our first pint of Guinness (Happy St Patrick’s Day!) we were treated to a very sharp shower of hailstones that appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately we were under cover unlike our families who got blasted by it just before they reached the comfort of the pub.

Hopefully the weather will improve over the coming weeks as I’m keen to get some longer rides under my belt. Given it’s heading towards the end of March, I don’t feel up to speed just yet and need to up the stamina levels before the (hopefully) sunny months ahead. Still, another 25 miles was covered and it all counts!