When I arrived home this evening I had to pinch myself and prove to myself I was alive?
I asked my wife
‘Sweetheart, have I died and gone to heaven?’
‘Why, do you say that?’ She asked
“Because I went to a fabulous FCCC Club Night where a large group of avid cyclists seemed to enjoy each other’s company without any cycling? Sounds crazy, right?”
“Then, I drove out to Hillingdon Cycling Circuit today with a bike, a bunch of pre-prepared sandwiches and nibbles, a bottle of milk , coffee, tea and a collection of odd mugs where I was greeted by four amazing coaches who volunteered their entire time to FCCC for free to lead an incredible day of tips on group cycling. They were putting people through their paces on a variety of skills including, most importantly for me, how we could all see the benefit of drafting in a group and staying together with one another as a single riding group. “
“Then Fifteen members of the Club turned up to ride with me. They were a cross sample of abilities and to my surprise we ALL rode together – the whole day!!”
“I even rode along at an average of 24 mph for a while with a group of guys that call themselves ‘OGAM’. I hung on the wheel of the Club Kit guy, Carl White. I know it sounds crazy but it seemed so real. I’ve never truly understood what “OGAM’ stood for but they were incredible. Sleek and super-fast, all dressed in the same club colours as me but somehow I managed to stay on their wheels for the first three hours. I haven’t ridden like that in over fourteen months since the hospital told me to stop all riding.”
“Paul, are you feeling ok?” She asked.
“Yes, I thought it was a dream. I was expecting, maybe, I would wake up in a hospital bed with an elevated blood pressure wired up to monitors to find it had never happened at all but you were there too making teas and coffees and handing out the sandwiches to everyone. It was amazing.”
“Look, even my Garmin tells me it was not a dream at all.”
***
My thanks go to these marvellous people in alphabetical order who made the day a huge success.
Thank you 🙏 to:
Henry Hirsch, Luke Stratford, Gavin Watson and Greg Woodford who were the coaches. And to Nigel Fletcher for the outline plan for the day!
And to the Participants:
Don Blake, Nigel Blott, Alex Booker, Lee Highton, Robin Kamiya, Danielle Millar, Shawn Mitchley, Hans Roopun, Ian Stuart, Joel Theobald and Carl White.
What a fantastic weekend. To be finished off tonight with a few beers, half a bottle of red wine and and a BBQ with DC and Andria.
***
“So, Andria, am I dead?”
“No, sweetheart. It did happen. You are not dreaming! You had a great weekend darling!”
“Now please go to sleep!” She ended. “I’m tired!”
Thank you,
Paul Hosemann
