I don’t regret doing this ride instead of the Robbo for one second. Don’t get me wrong, the Robbo is fab, but the cameraderie on this one was great. The way out was steady to begin with, with a huge group and then things began to get quick. There was a crash and a puncture near Aberford and the group split for a while. We joined up after Cawood and set a blistering pace when we neared Pocklington - speeds of 30 mph with turns at the front and hanging on for dear life. There was a one hour stop for lunch and then back again.

The pace was very quick and we split into two groups. Me, Ben, Creaser and Fry up in the front group and Mike the Ref, Sky John, Sinner, and Phil R in the other group. Speeds crept up and up and about 25 miles from home the pace exploded. Fry up dropped off and Ben joined him for company. I wish I had done the same, but I stayed on for about 15 miles, riding with Craig Newton amongst others (he is still a class act).

I got dropped with about 9 miles to go and settled into my own pace, to catch one other rider on the outskirts of Dewsbury. At the end, the Pocklington in 8 became the Pocklington in under 6. Or, if you discount lunch, in a few minutes over 5.

97 miles covered at an average speed of 18.9mph. I came in only 5 mins behind the group who dropped me, and Craig said the pace had dropped after I had dropped back. B*gg*r!

This was a great day - lovely weather, fast pace, good lunch stop, and lots of tactical riding to get a fast time.