Alice Holt

Flat endurance ride (https://www.unbiciorejon.com/2019/02/javiers-ride-classification-criteria.html)

My today’s track record as road captain.

Misjudged the weather and showed up for the ride way overdressed. I took off several pieces of kit even before we started the ride.

A rider that didn’t announce they’d join the ride showed up 5kms into the ride. Of course he wasn’t the best behaved rider of the pack.

10kms into the ride a coup d’etat formed and my navigation instructions were ignored completely. Several times in a row. 

Something like 20kms into the ride the unannounced rider decided to peel off. Who can plan a ride with such a level of anarchy.

I missed a right turn. I wouldn’t read too much into it because we miss that turn everytime we do this ride.

I wanted a K2 ride but looking at the success at my last “Proper, steady K2 ride” https://www.strava.com/activities/7790384597 I announced the ride as K1.5. It turns out it was closer to K1 than to K1.5. 

The good news is after today’s experience I came out with a great way of classifying rides. I’d put a given K value, say today’s K1.5, and then would warn everyone to discount 0.1 for each person that joins that have the letters E and D in their name. As Ed “The Pope”, Ed van der Poel and “GC” Denis signed up for the ride the adjusted K value was K1.2. Which sounds about the pace I had to survive today.

I only realized we were climbing Hog “hill” (https://www.strava.com/activities/7894281917/segments/3011276855885634848) when it was way too late to save my legs for it. Blew up 50 meters before the top.

A second coup d’etat, instigated by the same rider, changed the route to the end of the ride only to make sure I didn’t know what the final sprint was. I was preparing for the sprint at Hurst Rd in Hapmton Court and suddenly I started to see signs suggesting we were heading to Esher. A sprint I wasn’t prepared for. Luckily for me there were too many cars around so we didn’t have a final sprint.

In my favor I have that we actually stopped at Alice Holt which is a clear improvement on the last ride I was ride captain. In that one we were supposed to stop at Henley and after another coup d’etat, by a different rider, ended up stopping in Twyford (https://www.strava.com/activities/7790384597).

Let’s think long term and with optimism. I reckon in 40 or 50 rides I’ll master the role. 

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7894281917

Btw. I checked my last three rides to Alice Holt and they were:

26th of January 2019 https://www.strava.com/activities/2104636782

25th of January 2020 https://www.strava.com/activities/3042232307

29th of January 2022 https://www.strava.com/activities/6599543557 

I guess we now know the route for the 21st or 28th of January 2023

Take care

Javier Arias González