not fast. tough.

 

Today was my first "no pace" ride of 2025.

It's not about going fast; in fact, some of my riders come on this ride because they don't WANT to go fast. This ride is about getting out, meeting people, and chatting.

It was colder today than most of us expected. Some of the people who had registered for the ride, decided not to come. Two of those were honest enough to say it was colder than they had hoped.

 

I had ten (plus myself). We had a great time.

 

 

You can see the ride page (with the route, average speed, and whatnot) at this link. Don't let that average throw you from coming on future iterations of this ride - I ride near the back, at the speed that the slower riders are going. When people go slower (and, on this ride, they do), the average is lower.

We're not fast. But we're tough, and we enjoy each other's company. There will be more of these no-pace rides; look for 'em on the club calendar. (If you're not a member of the club, you might want to consider joining up.) A bit over twenty miles. The route's pretty flat. Some people go off the front (we let 'em); I ride with the people in the back.

A quick note about this one: Ramadan has JUST ended, and when we came up to the fields on Eiker Road, there were HUNDREDS of cars coming in from every direction to some kind of religious festival there. It was marvellously chaotic. We bobbled through and continued, wondering what it was, and figured it out later at the stop.

You never know what you're going to come across!