WInter TIme

One of the best things you can say about winter time is 'spring is on the way'. I also have time to write a bit on the blog site while putting on weight, feeling the cold and finding more excuses than normal not to ride.

One good reason I found to cycle this week was the #onixtwitterride. Twitter rides have been made popular by Lance Armstrong and appear to me a far better use of social media that the recent riots in the UK. Lance Armstrong manages to gather thousands by tweeting a ride to join him on a short journey such is the power of a legend.

[In the middle of writing this I have just read a twitter from #millermind saying he did 3 hours behind a bike today. Hope he is somewhere hot as I now feel even worse]

Back to the blog. There is a British bike manufacturer and on-line shop called onix bikes. The owner Craig is crazy about bikes and knows a thing or two about them. It was his idea to call a twitter ride last Sunday just north of Macclesfield and then into the Peak district over the Cat and Fiddle hill (highest pub in the land).

We gathered in a pub car park but were swiftly moved on when we filled it with over 40 riders on a very cold, windy and sometimes wet Sunday Morning. Not before Craig arrived though, his face a joy to see as he looked dumb founded and perplexed at the numbers who turned up. Within a few hundred yards of the ride starting we hit a hill maxing out at over 20%. I immediately lost my co-riders (until later) but struggled over this warm up and taster of things to come. A few punctures split the group but Onix provided a service car so they were quickly back on the road. (They also provided gels, energy bars and water bottles).

To sum up the ride it was windy, I was blown off the bike just before the cat and fiddle and when I picked the bike up by the top bar it was blown horizontal with me holding onto it for dear life. The hills were steep as you can see -

In particular the long drag up to the cat and fiddle and the 20% descent the other side where a few people crashed. {Millermind has just tweeted he was joking- feel better now]. Across the moors the wind made riding very hairy with people riding at strange angles down steep descents. A good decision was made to half the distance and ride back to the pub. Here we did the usual MAMIL thing of talking about our ride like it was a stage of the grand tour, ate as much cake as we could, provided by CafeVeloBlog and warmed ourselves up.

It was an amazing day, with stunning scenery, difficult and challenging riding and great company. I think the company was the main thing that made this the experience it was. There were professional riders, professional commentators #spokesmen and the rest of us. It felt like a tight group that got on well together. I suppose the cost may interest people-absolutely nothing, free, nichts. Interested - There will be four more around the country next year and I can say it was the best group ride I have ever done.

I should also say the onix bikes look the business, they are rated by a number of professionals and all of those tyre kicking, bike lifting, no idea what to look for mortals. Have a look on their site http://www.onixbikes.co.uk/

Finally a picture to show the combined weight we had to haul up those hills, looks a fair bit and this was after the ride and before the cake so as pure sprint athletes - didn't we do well over those inclines?