Saturday 16th September - Col de Coldharbour and More............

One of the best things about the club is our team of coaches and volunteers.  I was away in Glasgow with Polly this weekend, taking in the atmosphere at The Chris Hoy Velodrome safe in the knowledge that the KVK were having a great time riding their bikes back in Hildenborough.  A couple of groups headed out, Jez sent me this report and Christophe sent me some photos of the older riders. We may never know exactly where they rode ;-), I'm guessing Damian and Claire played it safe with the younger riders and stuck to the Col de Coldharbour.  Looks like I missed a fun ride anyway.

A lovely sunny morning greeted us as we all met up to tackle Col du Coldharbour.  The middle group consisting of Joshua, Rosemary, Zara, Ivo and Leon, set off on the road section at a good pace and were soon summiting the Coldharbour Lane climb.  We regrouped by the white chain-link fence for a quick drink and to give Gary the chance to rectify his mechanical.   Once we got our breath back we headed down to the farm track  As good progress was being made, we decided to take a detour up Chestnut Hill.  This steady climb gave the riders a good test with the extra challenge of dodging all the fallen tree branches following the recent high winds.  Zara nearly managed to take Patrick down with a branch flicked up from under her wheel – better luck next time Zara ;-)   We took it steady on the descent to avoid any branch/wheel incidents and then headed for the main climb up to the farm itself.

Everybody made it to the top and there were even a few smiles!  After surveying a couple of wasp nests and a quick Haribo recharge we made our way out to the woodland section.  I went on ahead to open the gate to give the riders an uninterrupted descent down the hill and out onto the washboard surface of the sheep field – a good workout for arms as well as the legs.  We regrouped on the far side of the field to discover Patrick had picked up our only puncture of the ride (front wheel so the gods were smiling) – regular riders will know this is a favourite spot for KVK punctures ;-)  We set off up the gravel lane to join back up with the road section, which just left us the final descent of Coldharbour Lane back to the start point.  We even arrived back with 5 mins to spare allowing some Pump Track time.  Great riding everyone!  

Clear run at the bumpy field for Luke

Malcolm's Group - somewhere near Ightham Mote!