Paralympic Road races, Saturday club ride

[Alan M]

On Saturday I would be happy to lead a 9.15am ride to Brands Hatch to watch the last of the road races. All being well we would be able to watch the 80km 10 lap women's race and then the 104km 13 lap men's individual blind road races. In the women's race we should catch the final laps and in the afternoon men's event we could see the whole event. In the women's race there is one GB contestant but unfortunately none for the men's race. There are 2 Australians and 1 from Canada in case you want to cheer on the colonies!

From Coulsdon South the ride is about 23 miles, the last 9 of which are through hilly but pretty country lanes. Probably a pace of 15/16 mph given a bit of traffic and hills. It culminates in 1.5 mile ride up a ramp on the A20 which will be closed and empty of traffic and we could see who makes it to the top first. We would base ourselves on the A20 junction with Scratchers lane where there are toilets and food concessions near a fast right hand corner where there have been a few crashes. These rides are on tandem bikes with sighted pilots. Over lunch you may wish to drop back down into the pretty village of Eynsford or even explore Lullingstone castle. I am a volunteer in Brands Hatch and will be inside the venue in the afternoon so you won't want to wait for me and could retrace your route home. The link below is to a Strava route in case you wish to see/follow it. Please indicate if you want to do this ride otherwise I probably won't come down to Coulsdon South in the morning. This may well be your last chance to be part of the Olympic experience in London and the riders really appreciate the crowd cheering them on. Hope to see you, Alan

[url]http://app.strava.com/rides/21094352[/url]