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mccblogger-blog · 7 years

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MCC April 2017 Trip to Mallorca by Thomas Few

MCC’s intrepid band of rascals departed for the fair isle of Mallorca (or Majorca if you’re English and want to spell it incorrectly) earlier than I thought humanly possible on a Friday morning at the beginning of April. The bus began its rounds at roughly 1am, meaning not one of us had an ounce of sleep that night. The party contained myself (Thomas Few), Chris and the world famous Jack Lee, David Nicholas, Blaine Phelps, Adrian Sullivan, Gareth Jehu, Nigel Jones, Mark Andrews, Anthony Swiss Jam-Boner Big Ring Cowdry and Phil Pryor. A more quality band of men has never been seen.

We arrived at Bristol airport in good spirits considering the lack of sleep and proceeded to the newly refurbished restaurant in the departure lounge, named after the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. With a name like that he was always going to do well in life. The true men’s men of the group, myself, Adrian and Gareth opted for a pint of the finest Guinness, whereas most of the other lightweights stuck to non-alcoholic fare. An embarrassing way to start the tour I thought to myself. On my recommendation a few of the boys decided to order the Eggs Benedict. A fine choice indeed and no doubt they will thank for me the recommendation one day, as I feel even before we left the UK, I had improved their lives for the better.

We arrived at our hotel in Puerto Pollensa at around 11am and after a quick and easy check-in, we headed to Palms Bar for lunch before our first ride. In my opinion it was madness to even contemplate riding after a full 24 hours plus with no sleep, but not wanting to appear weak, I went along with it. The bikes were delivered bang on time and we were greeted by what looked like half decent Eddie Merckx bikes. Over time we came to realise they weren’t great. Rumours are flying that the bikes cost a fraction of what we paid for them and Chris embezzled the rest to pay for Jack’s Rapha addiction, but I’m saying nothing.

We headed out to Formentor lighthouse for our first ride, which was a total of 38 miles and plenty of climbing. The views were nothing short of spectacular and after just this one ride I can see why people come back here to ride year on year.

With our first ride out of the way it was time for our first meal at Pollensa Park’s all you can eat buffet. The ride incidentally was a walk in the park for what was to come! The buffet, which featured nearly everything you can think of, was ideal after a long hard day. In my opinion the food may have been too good and too plentiful, as while I may have cycled over 350 miles in Mallorca, I went home weighing 5lbs more than I did at the start of the week! While I did my fair share of eating, it was noted by all that Gareth Jehu knows his way around a plate of food. Underneath that lean physique hides the soul of a fat man. Following a monster feeding session, we headed to Palms for a few pints. Some drank more than others over the course of the week and while I may not set the world alight on my bike, I certainly feel my drinking skillset made up for this.

I shared a room with the one and only Mark Andrews. I had heard many negative stories about Mark’s exploits as a roommate, mostly focussing on his powerful snoring. While I cannot dispel these allegations, as Mark does indeed snore like a mule, it was not as bad as I was led to believe and I did manage to get to sleep. Our room was kept nice and tidy and Mark showed me how to hang my bib shorts over the balcony to dry. Key attributes of a strong tourist. Would I share with Mark again? Yes I would.

Our first ‘proper’ ride of the tour started with a big climb up somewhere called ‘Lluc’, which everyone pronounced as ‘Look’. I came to quickly learn this type of long, gradual climb, with switchback upon switchback is typical of Mallorca. After a descent of the ‘Big Pig’ we eventually made it to lunch at the port of Soller, which was yet another stunning setting with impressive views. Seemingly at the top of every climb and around every corner in Mallorca you’re greeted with incredible views and breath-taking scenery. I’ve said it before, but what a place! After lunch we headed back to Pollensa via some places I can’t remember the names of clocked off with an 88 mile ride to our names. Stirling work. The evening proceeded exactly the same as the previous evening. If you’re interested just read the above bit again.

Day 3 saw us take on the legendary climb of Sa Calobra. Obviously, in Mallorca to get to a climb, you also have to do many other climbs first, the biggest of which was up the Selva gorge. Chris had previously told me this was his favourite climb on the island and I’m inclined to agree. Not too steep a gradient and plenty of shade. Perfect for someone as terrified of the sun as me. I attacked the climb with reckless abandon, finishing ahead of accomplished warriors such as Blaine, Phil and Mark. I was thinking, ‘is this the turning point? Is this my time to shine?’….turns out it wasn’t. After Selva the group split, with Adrian, Mark, Nigel and new recruit Tony heading back down ‘Look’ with the rest of us heading to Sa Calobra.

The road down into Sa Calobra has to be seen to be believed. Just over 6 miles of snaking hairpin bends. Lovely descent, not so lovely climb. One road in, one road out. Following the descent into Calobra we enjoyed lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach, eating not too much, but not too little. These decisions are critical. Following my big performance up Selva I was excited about the prospect of taking on Sa Calobra. Alas, it did not go well. The first group of myself, Blaine, Dai and Phil set off first, with the racing snakes giving us a bit of a head start. The first two miles went well. Blaine and myself side by side, chatting away, but then it hit me and my world came crashing down around me. Blaine continued on up the road and carried on talking, oblivious to the fact I was now about 50 yards behind and going backwards. He flew up Sa Calobra like a man possessed, all his training paying off big time. The KM King has earned his crown. First Jack and Chris flew past, then Gareth and then Phil. I was in a dark place. 3 miles down, 3 miles to go and I can barely turn the pedals. I am broken. The bonk is real. Next to pass me is Dai. Luckily for me, Dai took pity on me and slowed to my crawling pace and talked me up the rest of the climb. I strongly believe if it wasn’t for Dai I’d still be somewhere on the road halfway up Calobra. What a guy. About an hour later I rolled into the café at the top of the climb a broken shell of a man. I can’t remember what was said to me or what was happening. I don’t know how I managed to get back to Pollensa, but somehow it happened. Another 80 miles in the bag and a lesson in the art of bonking. Later that night we headed in to town to meet Tony for a few beers. Tony is a mate of Blaine’s and is a cycling mad businessman from Basingstoke. He rode a Pinarello. Unfortunately for old Tony it didn’t make him any quicker up those climbs!

Day 4 and some of us decided to take this as a bit of a rest day. The group headed out as usual at 9.30 ish and 25 miles later found ourselves in the beautiful town of Petra. After coffee and cake in the square, myself, Dai, Phil, Nigel and Tony decided to turn around and head back to base. Just 50 miles today thank you. Phil and myself did our best taking turns on the front to get us back in time for a delightful spot of lunch in Tolo’s on the seafront at Pollensa, the place with Bradley Wiggins’ TdF winning bike up on the wall. After lunch Adrian and myself decided to relax by the pool with a beer. One thing led to another and by the time the rest of the group got back I found myself six pints in and apparently slurring. I don’t believe a word of it though and enjoyed a few more at Palms later that night, while presenting an EC Cycles jersey to the owner. While I took all the glory and was centre stage on the Facebook post, in actuality it was Swiss’ jersey. Sorry mate!

Day 5 and we had a big one lined up. The day started with a husband and wife from Cardiff Ajax complementing us on our fabulous new club kit. They were dazzled by the fiery coral (raging pink) and were green with envy at the concept of our ‘home and away’ kit variations. I’ll try to keep this bit far shorter than the ride itself, which was 105 miles or so. It was long. It was hilly. It was hard. We didn’t have lunch until about 4pm. We only just got back before dark. Orient, Deia and Valdemossa were impressive. Swiss swanned off to do Big Pig and Sa Calobra on his own with no food. All in the big ring. Easy. What a day. Myself, Gareth, Blaine, Adrian and Nigel decided to leave the hotel to find a restaurant for a steak. We settled on ‘Hotel Romantico’ which was an ideal location for a bottle of fine red wine. Clearly we were the sophisticated raconteurs of the group.

Day 6. Mark awoke complaining that his backside was sore after yesterday’s ride. I took this with a pinch of salt as most people would. However when Mark showed me what he was talking about I took it all back. Red raw is an understatement. It’s safe to say I’ve never seen anything like it. My attempts at treatment failed, but luckily Dai was on hand with some magic cream to save the day. How Mark got on a bike that morning I will never know, but he only lasted so long before him, Nigel and Adrian headed back early to put their feet up.

The rest of us ploughed on to the monastery atop Sant Salvador. We flew through the lanes chain-gang style at what felt like 40mph and we made it to the base of the climb in no time. I was feeling good so attacked the climb with vigour. I will never learn. After lunch we headed back toward Muro for a coffee. The pace was yet again relentless and Dai was heard to shout from his position at the back of the group ‘Slow down, it’s hard work at the back’. The logic being that the wind goes over the top of the group and then drops at the back, hitting Dai full tilt. I am inclined to agree as I was struggling as well. After a coffee at Muro we headed back to Pollensa. I mentioned earlier that I never learn…the bonk was real and yet again I was broken. This time it was Swiss’ turn to nurse me back onto the group. Eventually we got back to Palms some 95 miles later. A few select Trojans decided to head back out to do some more miles to hit 100. I was not one of them. A few pints at Palms and that was our last night over and done with.

Day 7. Some rode, some didn’t. I certainly didn’t. Our flight didn’t land in Bristol until 1am and I had a wedding to attend the following morning so I didn’t think I needed to add any more fatigue to the equation. Instead a day of shopping, coffee drinking, massages and sitting by the pool was in order. Why we didn’t do all that sooner I have no idea. We departed the hotel later that evening, leaving Gareth behind to spend a few days more in Mallorca with his wife. Incidentally, after 7 hard days on the bike without any damage, Gareth managed to sustain a back injury while relaxing by the pool for a few days with the missus...feel free to insert your own innuendo based pun at this point.

All in all, the trip to Mallorca was a resounding success. No injuries, barring Mark’s backside and no arguments. Miraculous considering Anthony slept on the balcony as Phil’s snoring was so bad! We got in a very solid block of training, had a great time with plenty of laughs and looked like pros in our new kit. What more do you want? Personally, I can’t wait until next year. My plan was to follow Gareth’s lead and stay on for a few days with Alice, but then again I don’t want to come home with a bad back, so maybe it’ll be a boys only trip for me again next year! Thanks for a great week lads and a big thanks to Chris for organising. Bring on Mallorca 2018.

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mccblogger-blog · 8 years

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MCC Sunday club - 26th March 2017 by James Smith

Me and Ben set off from the mountain and rolled down to everyone's favourite cycle retailer to pick up Lewis on a crisp morning. As we set off it became clear very early this was going to be a hard day in the saddle as Lewis set the pace on his new menacing, matt finished fighter jet that weighs the same as a crisp packet and comes complete with a support vehicle and I can only assume a motor by the way he went today. We met the weekday mile muncher Zippy at the top of Cefn and the pace continued as we chased down the invisible peloton of the pro riders up ahead with Lewis showing that even the best of us make minor mistakes as he nearly fell in a ditch due to "getting used to his new bike". To be fair i would never have recovered that and experience showed #ECCycle discount for praise. We rendezvoused at the top of the Glyn and descended, passing a bearded chap making the soul sapping climb with Ben showing downhill pace that would have a frame mounted Froome at last years Tour envious. The speed at the bottom was set by GJ and Lewis aboard his new stead Night Rider, as we stopped in Talybont for a coffee. I ordered a large meal equivalent of beans on toast and Ben had two teacakes which would have only just squeezed within his wheel diameter. These were given no time at all to settle as again the two pace setters put the hammer down straight away as the taste of beans stayed with me for long after. I made an excuse for a rest to pull in outside the Tair bull to derobe a layer to find wide eyed amusement at my choice of apparel when my riding colleagues noticed what I was wearing. Personally I don't see the problem with wearing ski socks and shorts together, although I understand it may have brought a slightly more amateur look to our peloton. Wont be long until all the kids are asking for a set for a more European look. The two lead boys set off up the pitch at segment record pace leaving me and Ben to roll in outside Story Arms for the final blast home. At this point we all realised we had managed to not only attract a northern headwind, but also a southern one as we fought our way to Cefn. Me and Ben doing our shift on the front until Lewis or GJ got bored of our pace sapping effort and made lightweight of 30mph plus. We rolled into Cefn at a respectable Mother's day brownie point earning 11.30ish and the Heolgerrig massive decided to cash in the wife pleasing early finish to ensure future weekend freedom. I believe a further 10 or so miles was added by the others to make it past the 50 mark (80kmph for anyone of that persuasion) and no doubt lighting up the records all the way back. Great ride, weather and company and hopefully the start of summer bike weekends!

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mccblogger-blog · 8 years

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PTW 2 Up on 12th March 2017 by Gareth Jehu

The day didn't get off to a great start when me and the Blaine train drove to Hirwaun Village Hall to find it all locked up. There was a good reason for that as the HQ was in Rhigos Rugby Club - Doh !!

Still we had time to spare so drove leisurely up to the club to sign on. Getting there early we had the luxury of a car parking space in the rugby car park - normally we have to park 2 miles up the road.

On arrival we find that Dean Ware has already arrived a good few hours before he is due off - Keen or what. His partner in crime Colin Wallace is at this stage still tucked up in bed or perhaps finishing off his 10,000m warm up swim in Merthyr Leisure Centre - the latter I suspect.

Signing on was our next hurdle as the signing on sheet lettering was done in a font size barely visible to the human eye. Neither of us had our glasses so we may well have signed on as somebody else - who knows and who cares, we were ready to go...

So we get changed, hop on the bikes and make our way down to the start. We did a few laps warm up around the industrial estate followed by a quick waz and then I realised that my water bottle had fallen out of my carrier. So we loop back around, find the said bottle only to find that it had been flattened by some disrespectful motorist - Grrrr

We make our way to the start line and there are 2 Cardiff Tri girls in front of us that don't appear to have ridden a bike before and are a little unsure with the concept of clipping in/out - good luck ladies.

So off we go at 10.26am with a plan to taking 30 sec to a minute each on the front and rotate. Down to the roundabout and onto the dual we go soon passing our Cardiff Tri friends. We get to the top of the bank and I give Blaine the elbow to take us down. I am out of gears pretty soon trying to stay on the train's wheel. We clear the bank and then get our heads down. Wind was against us down to Tonna but we managed to smile for the camera just past McDonalds.

Yesterday's "easy" ride is starting to seem like a bad idea - Luke Protheroe - I blame you for making me race you up the Glyn !!. We get to the turn at Tonna and work hard to get around the roundabouts (I hate that bit) then it is back on the dual to home.

A pair of racing snakes from Bath pass us as we approach resolven but we are focused and press on keeping them in sight. Past McDonalds roundabout we go and I tell Blaine to empty the tank so we bury it for the last stretch and finish strongly (minus a lung)

On the way back we see Colin and Dean fly by on the other side of the road at supersonic speeds. Colin's 10k swim warm up is paying off !! - Boys you need to write your own blog.

Back to rugby club for a well earned coffee and cake. Well done Port Talbot Wheelers as always for putting on a great event. We'll be back again next year.

Signing off - Zippy and the Train

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mccblogger-blog · 8 years

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MCC Youngsters Ride on 24th Feb by Keenan Jones

Me and luke decided we'd meet at 10 after he finished having his bloods taking, (obviously it was the other way round, he was having blood put back into him to boost his red blood cells. but he wont tell you that😉). when we met up we thought we'd give the cowbridge ride a go without the blaine train steaming ahead leading us out in front. as always, me and luke use the famous words "easy spin" of course we couldn't be more wrong. within the first 5 miles we didn't leave off the gas averaging 20mph. we got down to the cafe within a hour or so pushing some good pace, (doris gave us a nice tailwind💨) pulling into the cafe suprised we both made it without getting lost we parked the bike and went for a quick bite, an hour later and after a chocolaty brownie 🍫and a bottle coke we decided to head back the way we came. few hills on the way back me and luck starting sweating buckets 😰while trying to keep the average speed of 18mph. even though we both said wed take it easy. we passed a few cyclists on the hills me and luke grinning 😏after giving a friendly greeting as we felt like froome going up mount ventoux. and of course did i mention we hit EVERY red light on the way back. 🚦while we stopped at one we saw the Lees Chris and Jack who flew passed who was eager to their bag of chips😜🍟coming into fidlers we both decided wed go to the lakes (not to avoid the big hill of course🤔) and add a few extra miles or kms for some of you😉overall it was brilliant training ride and it beats the turbo anyday. after leaving luke in troedyriw we both rode home. first thing on our minds is to upload out ride and show off our avergae speed on Strava when our hearts sank as strava robbed us 0.4 mph putting us at 17.7mph💔

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mccblogger-blog · 8 years

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MCC Club Ride South on 11th Feb 2017 by Mark Andrews

Met the boys at Fiddlers elbow. I drove to Fiddlers as I needed to be home by 1pm as I had a lot on. David Nicholas also drove down as he was snowed in up in Merthyr, at least he turned up, more than I can say about Blaine Phelps "pussy". I Get the bike out the van I then try to put my gloves on but all the lining had come out of the fingers. "Mrs normally sorts em out after they come out the wash, but not this time" I'll deal with her later.

Boys waiting patient for me, but I'm looking over to them and I bet there's a few of em tut tuting "know What I mean" I then decide to walk over to them and share my news about my gloves. told em I got a issue with my gloves, felt like they was made for Jeremy Beadle... Young Jack Lee "Brucey" was there offering to have a go as his hands are smaller. He then gives my gloves a good fingering to sort em out so we can get on our way. By the way it was f###ing freezing.

The boys kick off, then we have another problem Gareth Jehu had issue's with his wheel. Turning the pedals and going no where "tha bike is dieing Jehu" sort it out mun. Another job for Lewis Bevan. Think his rear bearings are shot?? Anyway we get on our way Down to Llantrisant, Bridgend, then around Ogmore by sea, heading back to Llandow/Cowbridge. Boys are looking at Cafe stop but I'm looking at the time " I needed to get back the pubs going to be full today England v's Wales" I decided to have a quick cupper. The others thought it was a tea party Jordan Bow with his fancy chocolate, Michael Portlock aka Porky and Gary having their fancy coffee / cake. Dai had breakfast sarnie that looked shit as it come out of the freezer 😀😀😀 Not sure about Jehu but he's always loaded up with Malt loaf 🍞... Keeps me going as well... Cheers Mrs Jehu 😋😋 Fat Cat and young Brucey sat around the corner so not sure what they had?? But I know young Brucey loves chocolate and Fat Cat a coffee man.... I made the call, look boys I've got to shoot off as time was pushing on. HOFF I go on my own like Billy no mates. I know Wat they was 💭 thinking. They was going to chase me down!!!! So what happened boys?? They didn't catch me up anyway BOYS YOU NEED TO PULL YA FINGER OUT WHEN PLAYING HARES AND HOUNDS Strava states 17mph Ave for group my ride 16.3mph so why wasn't I caught?? Hoff 1 Team group 0 😂😂😂😂😂

Another great day but my feet was frozen at the end of the ride 👣 Until next time 💓💓💓 over and out DA HOFF.

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mccblogger-blog · 8 years

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MCC Outing to Cowbridge on 5th Feb 2017 by Thomas Few

Another great ride today. Not to be outdone by Saturday's mercenaries, 12 hardy souls took to the road in sub-zero conditions to show the Saturday Playboys how it's really done.

As ever, I was running late, so had to smash it down to Fiddlers, TT-style, to catch up with the group. A strong showing in attendance, with new boys Dan Duggan & Jamie Cattlegrid, youngsters Keenan, Luke and Ceirion, Alpha Papa Adrian Sullivan, Mark Powerhouse-Prosser, James Smith, Ben Rowe, C&R and finally the man, the myth, the legend, Dai Nicholas. Alas no Martin Jenkins, but he swears he's been struck down by a mystery illness that's gone straight to his chest. Our thoughts and prayers are with him.

The ride started well with the group sticking together, with the Powerhouse doing his best Blaine impression putting in some big shifts on the front. Plenty of to-ing and fro-ing with everyone doing their bit on the front. Ceirion always trying to stay at the business end of the pack, pushing himself to the limit. Tip for future rides; drafting is key, it's a marathon not a sprint! James and Ben showing plenty of form too. I think they need to see Lewis for a set of TT bikes.

We reached Costa Fortune in Cowbridge in good spirits, with Dai ever fearful of having to pay 'city prices'. After a brief, but welcome respite, including the customary selfies, we were back on the road ready to attack the undulating and car-filled roads of Cowbridge and it's surroundings. Too busy for my liking by far and I for one won't rush back into a ride heading south! The usually calm facade of Dan Duggan was blown to smithereens when he challenged the driver of a black car to a fight to the death. It looked like we had a match on our hands until she saw the icy death stare of Colin Richards and she sped away as fast as her Corsa would carry her!

We found ourselves in the unfortunate position of nobody knowing the route home, but fortunately with the navigational nous of Colin and Adrian we easily found our way back to the safety of Church Village. From there it was a straight shot home to Merthyr, with myself and Adrian bringing up the rear. For safety reasons, rather than fatigue of course.

With a decent average speed we made it home well in advance of the rugby. Unlike yesterday we weren't accosted by any over familiar sheep, however we did see a strange sight in a field near Llantrisant that saw a man who looked uncannily like the Hoff having intimate relations with an animal. Don't take my word for it, camera man Dai Nicholas has the photo!

Towards the end Keenan and Mark were giving it the beans off the front...maybe they were chasing a Strava segment or two? It's not just Marcus who loves the hunt.

A great ride in great conditions. Definitely better than Saturday.

I'm in no rush to write one of these again. I prefer poetry and long walks on the beach.

p.s The kit order has been submitted. We only have to wait a short year or two for it be delivered now. Exciting.

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