Hi everyone
What a splendid spell of weather..... and it's has gone on for weeks and weeks and even included Sunday.... so being out on the grass was close to being on the tarmac.
Whatever it was that the school was doing on the normal playground was all finished and we could have used it, but everyone rolled up with chunky tyres so we hived off round the back.
Ben Elliott was missing, he was off with dad doing an Evans sportif ride, that's what the message said, a route which included Coldharbour Lane, Leith Hill and Whitedown..... something I think would challenge many of our parents never mind a young Raider.
David Burnham and I were coaching and while David planned for the older riders I was down to take the younger group, though in the event we did merge here and there.
Riders with the smallest bikes were able to tackle short loops through the archway of saplings... in fact when Sam Lewis and Megan Maloney had a trial run on their larger steeds they both got the handlebars through the gap also (well done).... so everyone ended up riding into the tunnel, testing their braking and steering and nerves as the sun disappeared, replaced by cooler shade, and leaves and branches swept across them.
Once everyone was comfortable with the challenge, we divided riders into teams of three and set the stop-watch running.... with the tally time inching down from about 1min 6secs to 1min 2secs in next to no time.
Next up was another test of bravery or nerve or call it what you will. Riders accelerated along a flat tarmac footpath to dive off the cliff-face at the end at full tilt, no more pedalling allowed..... then it was a case of seeing who went the furthest while freewheeling.
The descent was in fact a downhill grassy bank which soon levelled off a tad..... and it was good to see the comfort level of the youngest riders soar after they discovered that it wasn't as un-nerving as they first thought. Well done to all of you.
David went off trail-blazing with a stream of older riders on his wheel, while the younger group had a second burst in the saplings, with lead explorer Marissa Foord soon discovering even narrower pathways that had previously seemed impossible.... while her younger brother Toby (age four) had an on-going battle with a particular item of growth that his bike seemed to be drawn to by magic or magnetism or whatever... even when he grabbed it and shook it, it was still in the same place when he returned for his next go... perhaps a machete for Christmas then?
That's it now for the summer break.
Things kick off on Sunday 7 September.... and by coincidence it's the same two coaches that day.... so see you then.
John