An aborted FNRttC

Unfortunately, the night ride did not go as planned for me. We have speculated on the causes of my knee problems and can only in hindsight wish that I had worn my trainers -- rather than stiff-soled cycling shoes -- during our Friday afternoon walkabout and that I'd stretched properly before the Off from York Minster at midnight. Whatever my mistakes may have been, my knees were feeling "tight" and uncomfortable before we'd left York, and this only worsened, eventually developing into sharp pains in both knee joints.

The night was cold -- significantly colder than the 4 degrees Celsius that had been forecast.  The ride is mercifully flat but unfortunately this also means no hills to get yourself warmed up. My thigh muscles never really warmed / loosened up.  I regretted leaving my Gore Windstopper jacket at home in favour of the lighter Pearl Izumi Barrier Elite jacket (which nonetheless did an almost-good-enough job at wind/cold protection, over a long sleeve baselayer, short sleeve jersey and long sleeve jersey - all merino. I also wore SmartWool 3/4 knicks with knee-high ski-weight merino socks, with Gore big tights over the top. So 4 layers on top, 2 on the bottom. Shoes were another error in judgement: my summer (mesh top) Specialized Riatas, rather than the Shimano MW81 boots I've been wearing in similar temperatures all winter.

The ending was in the circumstances no surprise. 20 miles out from York, I was cold and hurting and took the decision to abandon the ride in Goole where there's a train station. From taking that decision, I fought a hard mental battle for the further 10 miles to Goole, in something of a headwind. The three TECs on the ride - Adam, Marcus and Jurek -- were just lovely. Jurek was suffering with the cold as we were going so slowly on my behalf, but he got in front and set a steady pace. Big Marcus served as my windblock: I settled in behind his rear wheel and followed his line. Adam rode beside me. We didn't talk much but the support was  palpable. When we came upon a group stopped at the side of the road, the TECs had to stop to lend a hand. I carried on by myself -- to keep warm if I could -- but was soon joined by local chap Mark, who til then I'd only known by his handle on the YACF forum. He kept me company and distracted me with chatter about the local area, til the mob at the back along with the TECs caught us up just short of Goole.

Adam and I sat inside the 24-hour Tesco for a little more than 3 hours until we could catch the first Hull-bound train at 6.46am. The train journey was about 45 minutes. We reached the breakfast cafe nearly an hour before the people on the ride did. They were a happy boisterous lot, the vocal consensus being that (a) that was a glorious sunrise, wasn't it? and (b) It Was Very Cold!!!

Adam wrote a rather good ride report here.

My tale of the rest of our long weekend in York will follow shortly, with photos.