The best thing about this ride? ... the sandwiches and cheese platter at the Brown Horse! Thanks to the Imps for laying on the excellent tea.
There was a good turnout of around 30 riders, including a last-minute charge from the VS Cycles contingent to make the start line just in time. The usual fast pace then took us out against a nagging easterly wind with a small band of strong riders doing a lot of the work on the front. After coming though once very briefly, I soon realised why so many people were vying for position at the back of the bunch.
The early turn on the outskirts of Skipton was a welcome point in the ride as we could then get a small breather on the slightly downhill return to Crosshills. Of course, what goes down must then go up and the "fun" of Ingrow wasn't far away. This hill sorted out the weaker riders and I soon found myself trailing slowly off the back. Encouragement came fairly quickly though when some others began to drift back too.
It was all over by the time I got to the finish, and I had to wait until the pub to hear how Neil would've done even better in sprinting for the line if only he'd known where the finish line was!
