Last weekend saw the latest of the NiceTri training trips, this time in Coalport, Shropshire which holds fond memories for many and painful ones for some.
A few arrived early on the Friday and foolishly had a quick ride in the rain but the hard training really got going appropriately in the pub with a few beers and some carb loading!! The jokes and banter were definitely below standard but spirits were clearly high. Accommodation in the youth hostel was great for the price even if for some the beds were a little short!!
Saturday morning began in the sunshine with an air of trepidation which was quickly lifted as Kyle Chesterpants attacked the first hill of the day half a mile from the hostel, put too much power through the pedals and we had the first mechanical of the trip. Back to base for him and tour leader Michael Taylor, leaving the rest of the group to amble along at a nice social pace. Unfortunately this didn’t last as Kyle was carrying every spare part and bike tool under the sun and with the help of Sarah and new mascot Samuel, re-joined the group to lead us up the first big challenge of the day – The Burway. This features in the ‘100 Greatest Cycling Climbs’ and after crawling to the top, the group felt they had been slightly misled when Michael had said before the start of the climb “It’s like 2 Everton Hills….” The way down the other side was much quicker pausing just long enough to have a look at the side of the hill where Chris Wright had left the road the previous year.
A quick coffee and cake re-fuel and another significant hill was then followed by the legendary Asterton Bank which when googled will present you with these top 3 hits:
1) A youtube video of someone slowly rocking and rolling to the top
2) A blog which starts with the words “Not Recommended”
3) An article on Britain’s top 10 toughest cycle climbs
Lucky for all the members of the group then that Kyle and Michael had included a bail out option back to the pub for anyone who didn’t want to take on the challenge. Club Chairman Paul Ridley enquired about where this alternative route was when we were about 200m from the bottom of the climb, only to find it was several miles back down the road. Needless to say words were said that are not printable on a family friendly blog. Nevertheless, everyone slogged their way to the top and were rewarded with a freewheel down to a well-deserved meal and pint at the pub
The cycle was followed by a gruelling 5 mile run through Ironbridge which was made worse by the person responsible forgetting the kitty to buy the ice-creams!! The situation was rescued by a swift return to the hostel and yet another pint in the sunshine and a post-mortem of the day.
Saturday finished with a meal in the hostel and a few drinks at the local despite Martin Taylor’s best efforts to gate-crash a nearby garden party.
After the exertions of the day before, Sunday was going to be a more gentle, rolling, 60 mile ride out and back to the South with just a single Cat 1 climb. Before reaching it, Paul Newell raced a couple of sheep up a hill and on another Karen French became a Strava Queen!. Half the group then tackled Clee Hill including Ironmen in waiting Simon Boothby and Ian Mulcahy with really strong efforts. The rest of the group scattered themselves across the Shropshire countryside in search of a refuelling spot with Ian Moran finding Karen “In the middle of nowhere” getting in a couple of extra hill reps. Club captain Matt Wright saved the day finding a great café and guiding the weary souls to the rest stop.
The final leg took us through Bridgnorth including a brief off-road section. Some very tired legs rolled back towards base as the rain started falling. 500 metres from home there was a cry of “Puncture” from Gary Wale (2nd of the day). On this occasion, the normal sympathetic stop and help was replaced by “He can walk from there”.
It was a fantastic weekend and great thanks go to Michael and Kyle for the impeccable organisation once again. Roll on the next one!!
James Wood
