CS Grupetto
We are a little bit different to most clubs in that we\'re primarily a group of friends who socialise off the bike, but we happen to share a common interest in cycling and cyclesport. We are based in Putney and have regular weekend rides out to Windsor and the Surrey Hills, as well as occasional trips elsewhere.
We have a wide variety of cycling interests amongst club members, from track riding to road racing, and sportives to bike polo. Several of our members have their race licences, and we\'re represented in every category including Elite
We regularly travel further afield to enjoy some of the classic races – this year quite a few of us have ridden the Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix sportives, and then watched the pros follow our tyre tracks. We also try and get to see the Ghent and Berlin six day track events.
At the core of the club ethos is a desire to enjoy good rides with good friends.
CLUB NEWS
TOUR OF WESSEX 2014
Nath’s report
After finding my ride to Brighton and back so draining, I was a bit nervous about three days worth of similar riding, but having some club mates to ride with made it much easier. Also the regular feed stops were great, as was the scenery and what I counted as a grand total of 4 sets of traffic lights, three of which were on the last day.
The first day was a cold and wet start, which persisted for most of the day. The highlight for me was Cheddar Gorge, which was really beautiful and a really satisfying climb. King Alfred’s Tower came later which was one of the hardest climbs of the whole three days and was good to get out of the way early. The lowlight was as Denny mentioned earlier, the chap getting CPR on one one of the hills. I haven’t heard, but I hope he is ok.
The second day I felt a bit tired but ok. The sun was out, which made it my favourite day out of the three. This ride took us to the Dorset coast and back, so there were some decent climbs at about the half way mark. The best I thought was a slow climb up through a military testing ground, with rusty tanks down below and big neon numbers on the hill side, with the road curving around the edge of the hill. The last 20k or so was fairly flat, so I managed a healthy pace to the finish.
As we were queueing to start on the final day, Kate said that we looked very unhappy. I don’t know about the others, but I felt it hard to drum up enthusiasm! I planned to do the longer route so head off with a peloton of riders soon after the start and stuck with them for most of the way until the first feed stop which came after the biggest climb of the tour so far over the Quantocks. At that point, average speed was 32kph. However, at that point my right knee also decided to stop working. I tried the full route anyway and then decided to turn back and head down the short route. I caught up with a few riders from Clapham Chasers, stuck with them, took a wrong turn, then rode with them until the last climb into Somerton. At this point, my knee was properly fucked. I was really gutted, as I felt relatively fit apart from my knee. I feel a bike fit coming on.
TL;DR: Nice scenery, 459km, 4,362m climbing, one buggered knee, lots of eating. Not tempted to do it again.
Denny’s [slightly shorter] report
That was a lot of fun. Rained for the first five hours. Matt crashed. He also stung his cock on a stinging nettle. Beautiful route. Loved riding up Cheddar Gorge, but not much as Nathan, he LOVES cheddar.
