My choice of route for the Lites was a case of Groundhog Day for me, having done the exact same yesterday albeit with a different coffee stop. The reasoning, was that it suited the wind and I knew the timings so we could rendezvous with the Full Fats for coffee. Surprisingly it worked out perfect.
The Full Fats were Nightmare, Retro, Hannibal, Bullet, De Niro and Flashdance, while accompanying me on the Lites were Sean, Darragh, Philip, Jeremy, Mark, Lanterne and Resurrection. The Lite route looped us across the Kings Rd and up Greengraves Rd before tracking back round the side of Scrabo and dropping into Comber. Out past Castle Espie and through Ardmillan, Ballydornan, Whiterocks, Killinchy and into Balloo. Our training goals for the day were to ride in two straight lines tight to the left, and to avoid unnecessary or overexcited warning shouts which cause nervousness in the bunch - tranquilo tranquilo, mission accomplished.
As we settled down for coffee (and jumbo sausage rolls for some), Nightmare appeared with the Full Fats looking suitably wrung out. Their route will be up on Strava later, but I know it took in Darragh Cross and a lot of drumlins.... Everyone squeezed in and caught up. We also concocted a plan to allow any Lites feeling frisky to get a taste of Full Fat life on the way home.
Leaving coffee, 5 riders turned right and left direct for Ballygowan along the Ballybunden Rd determined to work together to beat the Full Fats on a longer lumper route (they succeeded). The rest of us turned left and right along the Saintfield Rd and the succession of kickers. The whistle was a new experience for some, but the pace was enjoyable in a twisted sadomasochistic way. We turned right on to the Carrickmannon Rd and soon fell into a number of small groups forming and splintering on the hills (I love that ****). Everyone knew the plan was to re-group in Ballygowan and sure enough there were was the direct group waiting and looking smug.
From Ballygowan, we nipped into the lanes and cruised across to Moneyreagh. Eventually we popped out on the Comber Rd and split up. Today was just about perfect in offering something for everyone without having to compromise anyone's ride - result!!!!
Here's the full fat strava ignoring the first 13k or so.https://www.strava.com/activities/255233116
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