Team Vita Ride 10/12/11

It seems like ages since I did a full Team Ride, Last week and the week before I didn't go with the lads so today I was feeling a little nervous that maybe I may have lost a bit of speed and stamina, even though I have done a couple of Turbo Sessions through the week. Paul rode down to meet me today, and we headed off to the shop. It was quite fresh, but I had made sure I had layered up well. When we got to the shop, as usual, I was saying I may not go the full distance today, and Paul was happy to go along with the idea of peeling off early. Dave arrived and said that we were going to stick to the main roads today, to avoid the muddy, greasy lanes.
16 of us headed out towards Greasby and round the coast towards Wallasey. I was surprised that my legs were spinning well and I wasn't falling off the back!! The speed wasn't too fast, as the roads were still quite wet, and there seemed to be a lot of diesel around.
The group stayed together well today. A few of the lads needed to drop off along the route to either go to work, or get to the match.
Those of us remaining were treated to a couple of stinging hills on the way back, Denhall Lane, Parkgate and Heswall. I seem to be getting better with every ride, I'm sure by this time next year I'll be challenging Sean and Jeff for the KOM title!!!!!
The highlight of today's ride for me was Alex's inventive use of an old pair of socks and a couple of Tesco carrier bags to make a pair of Wind and Waterproof over shoes! The ingenuity of a student!!! I think he needs to let write a letter to Santa!!!

Next week we are being treated to a Christmas Challenge! A hill climb challenge with a trophy for the winner ( I will be timekeeping so that others have a chance to win!!!) and a race round a lop from the shop. Every one is welcome to come along, we will meet at the shop at 9.30.

Today was the first ride that I recorded on to Strava, you can access the details from the Latest Rides section on the top right of the page, or here http://app.strava.com/rides/2644488 if you are on a mobile.

There are 7 of us from the team now using Strava, and it has certainly added a competitive edge to the hills!!

If you needed any inspiration to sign up for The Vita Tunnel Challenge here is a picture of the Swift TT frameset up for grabs. Call into the shop or visit http://www.vitacycles.co.uk/pain_suffering_glory_a_new_year_challenge for more details.