Rode the Dragon with six members of the Cardinal CC as I was invited by an old friend who is a member. At least, I rode as far as the first climb when they all disappeared ahead not to be seen again. My plan to get round the 117 miles was to avoid heavy breathing on every ascent, but to let it rip on all the descents, to this end I was in bottom gear rather a lot. Somewhere around 40miles I was passed by a very fast group headed by Rich Gordon and Simon Howard. As luck would have it, as they passed we approached a long gradual descent and I increased my speed from 15mph to 30 and joined Rich at the front where we maintained 30mph for several minutes before a sharp left hander signalling anothe climb. I was about to say to Rich, 'This is where I'll say cheerio', as I anticipated being dropped in the next few seconds, when he beat me to it and said, 'this is where I'll say goodbye,' as he disappeared with Simon up the slope.
Thoroughly enjoyed the day with good weather and fine company and managed to finish with plenty in reserve, allowing me to think the l'etape finishing on Mt Ventoux might well be 'do-able.' Next week I'm looking forward to a sociable ride in the Retro Ronde de Vlaanderen where I'll be riding my 1951 Bryars up the cobbles.
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