Spring Lambs 2017
The 2017 Season kicked off for many of the JBR crew at the Spring Lambs Sportive.
Sunday morning saw as many as 19 JBR members take on the Annual Spring Lambs sportive. The morning started off a little chilly but soon developed into a lovely outing. Myself and Nick Morley departed at 8am to complete the 150km route with a couple of other riding buddies. The 100km crew then got on their way at 9am.
The course took us through the lovely Essex countryside, weaving through lots of quite roads. The roads were mostly in good conditions and the course was well sign posted.
There was 3 aid stations along the way, each one stocked with plentiful amounts of fuel. The bread pudding was particularly nice and the size of a brick, which was great!!
I had a mechanical issue around 50km into the ride when my back wheel popped out. The locking of the wheel shredded my tyre down to the canvas, which meant I was at huge risk of a puncture.
The aid stations unfortunately did not stock spare tyres, so I was literally riding my luck for the rest of the ride.
Shortly after Nick's spoke broke and was beyond repair. Unfortunately this happened at the point furtherest away from the start/finish.
This resulted in a £65 taxi journey back to base - Ouch!
The rest of the afternoon passed without incident and the sun came out for the final push into the leisure centre, where hot food and cake awaited.
Dave Pennington whizzed in first after a super strong solo effort following his trip to Cyprus with the club. He backed this up with a great run off the bike.
Helen also rode a solo effort and backed it up with a run off.
The JBR peloton rolled in shortly after, all putting in a good shift.
The JBR crew were all well into their grub when the 150km riders started to filter in, most were on to the 2nd piece of (well deserved) cake!
Thankfully there was some food left despite Tim's best efforts!
Overall it was a great day out. The event was fantastically well organised and stocked with great supplies along the way.
The weather was awesome, which always helps.
Some great miles in the bank early in the season for the team!
Well done to everyone that took part.