Christmas seems to have come and gone in a jiffy ! It has remained cold, weather wise but that allows, if layered up, a nice dry ride  I've had a fantastic Christmas and with my re- found passion of cycling, I've obviously made it easy to decide what to buy me for Christmas !!!  Well here's a photo of my "Trophy cabinet" eat your heart out Chris Hoy !

Ok, so I probably drink a little too much Tea and Coffee

Well today dawned and the weather did exactly what it said on the tin and the temperature was and stayed around zero degrees all day. My brother and I, had accepted Paul Prince's invite to the Mad March Hare recce. We set off early enough, we arrived on time, unsure exactly how many were to participate but the 4 persons visible ,sat in their cars, as if daring the others to see who would alight first. Another car arrived and slowly but surely everyone braved the cold to change and get bikes ready for the off. Paul P rode to the start with a few, making the numbers a respectable 12 in number. As we gathered, another 8 arrive and it became an impressive 20 riders ready to go ! We are a fickle bunch, the offer of a free mince pie and we are anyones  To be fair to Paul P he gave a quick brief to all riders prior to the off, as can be seen in the photo,  riders were obviously of the belief that the "Fashion Police" had been given the Christmas period off   lol

Paul P in the light grey top leaning on his red steed gives the brief, as regular cyclosport contributer Phil Whiteman in his Beacon CC top eagarly listens in

Off we set, all eagar to warm up. Easier said than done as now we are moving, the wind chill starts to bite and tries to out do the blood circulation in the race for finger tips and toes  Fifteen or so minutes in and the blood circulation seems to be winning and it has the making of a very pleasant ride. Just before the 10 mile mark the dreaded shout "puncture" and everyones thoughts are "Is it going to be one of those days? " We' ve soon off again and Paul P, ably assisted by Ollie Graham (Arctic Team) resume their duties at the front of the group. They set a very healthy pace, which keeps the group on their toes. Although I know the lanes/roads we are to ride I have forgotten that it is not entirely flat but rolling, the type of rolling that if pushing hard can quickly sap any strong legs prior to the one major climb on the ride Saintbury.

We seem to make good progress and as we approach Saintbury a couple of fingers are raised in the direction of the hill that is about to inflict just that little bit of 'pain' A few of the riders that are on the road to recovery from illness sensibly turn and head back home, content that they have got a reasonable amount of miles in without opening their lungs too much. The first real reaching of gears as we turn left and the road rises up through Saintbury consisting of mainly 'cotswold stone' built houses. I've only ridden this road once before and I decide to let the splintering group ease away slightly, as I hope pacing myself doesn't leave me too far behind  The climb goes around a couple of right handers that steepen slightly and it has several false flats but not until you reach the Golf club then the Hotel do you know that you've gotten yourself to the top. I catch a couple of riders that have misjudged their efforts as the climb continues and the rest of the riders re-group at the T junction ! What goes up must come down  

Think I've eaten all Christmas for this moment  Several miles down the A44 from Fish Hill to the traffic island at Broadway, the top has a few long sweeping bends then a long straight which instills confidence for a swift descent ! Phil Whiteman seems intent on the land speed record as he builds a head of steam, unfortunately, like all good things, it soon ends as we head through the picturesque Broadway. The sun puts in a welcomed appearance as we eat up the miles towards Emley Castle when I suddenly go into an immediate front wheel skid  My front mudguard worked loose and instantly jammed my front wheel, bike rodeo is not what I signed up for ! The smell of burning rubber was intense and thankfully I had stayed on and had not brought anyone else off as I had stopped unannounced ! Phew ! We continued the quickened pace to the refresh stop at Emley C and low and behold it's Mark Thomas dishing out the goodies out of the back of his car, which included cakes, flapjacks and bubbly, YES BUBBLY

Paul, Paul, we acknowledge you are the organiser and you've been on the front all day But it's to share

We continued refreshed, around Bredon Hill and head back through familiar lanes back towards base.    Again there are a few long low gradient drags and a couple of short steep ones, that will nibble at tiring legs, as the pace will obviously increase on the relatively flat course but when you arrive back at the HQ then your legs would have recieved a satisfying 66 mile work out

I had an excellent day, the course is very nice, I'm hoping for better visibility come March '09. There are a number of places that Paul could have avoided the A or B roads but in fairness it is being run on the 1st March and allowing for all variations on the weather he's hit a nice balance.

A massive thank you to Paul P and Ollie Graham who towed the group round at a very reasonable pace, great prep for the forth-coming Reliability rides, my standard anyhow  At £8 it has to be seen to be believed  I think I've had my monies worth today alone. Wishing Paul a very successful event ! Thank you

To top off a great day on the bike, my brother and I returned to my house to watch both the Marmotte and Etape cyclefilm DVD's  Both now buzzing  Result

by Dave Lee

Dave's Blog: http://www.cyclosport.org/members/myBlog.aspx?mid=8913&size=5#488

Mad March Hare Details: http://www.cyclosport.org/eventdetails.aspx?id=941&eventid=2171