There’s a new cycling club that’s recently started up at my work. There’s been a fair collection of avid cyclists there for awhile, but only this summer did it finally coalesce into an organized group. We christened it the Yoxford Cycling Club, as an homage to the Yoxford Boys from whom we trace our lineage.
The leader of our little club is Mike, seen here on the left, in our new (and snazzy!) team kit. He organizes weekly training rides, consisting of sprint intervals, or hill climbs, or some other form of torture. Hard work, but I know from my experience with running intervals this year that it will pay big dividends.
Today’s ride wasn’t one of those, but instead just a simple, chill loop ride. It became something of a ride of attrition, as a couple riders decided to head back early, and then one more pulled up with a cramp in his calf, and headed for home. Soon it was just Mike and I, and we chugged along the country roads, enjoying what will likely be one of the last truly comfortable days before fall and winter do their thing.
We did get in a couple little hills. First the rollers on Jackson Road, which I charged up joyfully. Later, on Hyde Road, I tried to sprint down a hill to build my momentum going up, but ran out of steam halfway up anyway. Mike came past me like the diesel locomotive that he is. I think he was laughing. I have a long way to go, before I can climb with that dude.