If the Beast had 15 in the Lite group and I had 7 in the E-Lite group, that meant 22 out in total. The roads were damp, but we didn't get any rain and even managed to find some sunshine.
As last week I found the simplest way to start proceeding was to get on and pedal - we could sort out the fine details once we knew who we had with us and what everyone wanted to do. The notional plan was to keep it pretty short. Some needed home early and some of us wanted to catch a little of the final Kinning's Cross League at Stormont. If we bumped in to the Lites at Balloo that would be a bonus and a minor miracle.
How we got there is a bit of a mystery to me, which isn't good seeing as I was calling the route. https://www.strava.com/activities/832789386. Road closures and the wind played a part, as did the absence of Retro sprinting up the hills! We basically took the Killynure Rd to Saintfield and then back roads south to Annacloy. More lanes to Scabby Road and north to Balloo.
With a twisty route and a puncture we hit Balloo a bit later than planned. A quick democratic vote, which Noel lost (sorry dude) saw us decide not to stop for coffee. Another quick democratic vote, with Hannibal won saw us keep on the main road in to Comber - great training.
There we jumped on the greenway and back to Belfast. At Stormont we arrived shortly after the ladies race finish, bumping in to our own Nitemare and Bioracer's Ken and Chris - great to meet you. The Lites arrived a bit after us and Martin took the photos below - thanks.
Less than 3hours, but a good 75k-ish with a mixture of speed and bergs - perfect January training. Speaking of Bergs, Santa made a late call to the Berg household with a delivery of Italian goodness - can't wait to get back to the dark side.
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