The summer months have so far been put to good use by various club members by cycling to events; this has been recently heralded as a “new phenomenon” by Mike Murray in his report for the Withernsea 5 mile. I’m sure one or two of our members may be inclined to ask what’s so new about that ? John Baker in particular has been cycling to events for years and indeed cycled to the Withernsea race although not with our group. But I think Mike may be referring to the dubious amount of after race “refreshment” or beerdration as I like to call it, that being car free (and care free) allows us to consume.

The first and best attended event, was the Hornsea 1/3 marathon way back in April, this saw over 20 Harriers taking the old railway line up to Great Hatfield in bright sunshine, before taking part in the race, only to be battered by strong wind and heavy rain on the way back, but the regular pub breaks and hospitality back at Sara’s house made it all worthwhile.

Next was the Humber Bridge half marathon on 28^th June, this time there was just six of us, myself, Linda and Kadi Huart, Debbie Jackets, Iain McGowan and Danny Wilson, with Sara Rookyard and Darren and Katy White joining us for the journey home. Well I say home, there was another pause in the pubs of Hulls old town  before we got home,  where we were joined by Rob, Emma and Tyler Wells and Mike Petersen who’d also either competed in or spectated at the race, along with Mandy Davison and Janice Wilcock who did neither, but found the lure of the pub too great to miss.

We’d intended to take the track that runs alongside the River, only to find that the gate onto St. Andrew’s Dock was locked shut, so resolved to go by road instead. The journey was of course filled with the usual banter and was a great laugh, except for the puncture I received just as we were making our way towards the race start down Ferriby Road. This taught us two things: Lesson 1. Having a puncture repair outfit is no good without tyre levers or a pump and Lesson 2. Don’t believe Kadi when she says she’ll fix your puncture whilst you’re running the race. In the end we managed to get back on the road, thanks to a better prepared cyclist, who loaned us his gear and in fairness to Kadi, she couldn’t have fixed it without these essentials anyway. Which is a much better excuse than blaming Iain for route marching them over the bridge to find a good place to watch the race.

Summer League race no.6 at Coniston was the next outing, after the pre-warning from Janice that parking may be difficult due to the demolition work at the Blacksmith Arms. The obvious solution was to ride there. This time Linda, Kadi, Iain and myself were joined by Sue Wesson and the third member of the Huart dynasty Carla. Whilst Neil Mickleburgh and club Captains Matty and Alison also went on bike (apologies if I’ve missed anyone else who pedalled there). This was an extremely hot race, on an evening that was perfect for sun bathing rather than running. However I’m sure the exercise did us all a lot of good, that is of course until our prolonged stay in the pub, that meant we only just about got home legally without lights. Lesson 3 came here : Just because it’s sunny when you set off, it might not be when you’re going home and when you’re riding home in your post-race  running, vest it can be a bit chilly,  especially when the sweat has gone cold – yeuch.

The most recent ride and run event was the Withernsea 5, as mentioned in Mike’s report, this time it was a case of the magnificent 7, as the 3 Huart ladies, Iain and me were joined by Andy Eastland and Dave Anderson. Dave came in very handy on the way home, when karma decided to have a bite at Kadi, as this time she was the one to get a puncture, Dave doing most of the repair work while the rest of us got the beer in at Hedon. We were better prepared this time (lesson 1 heeded) with spoons for tyre levers (not that they were needed) and a foot pump that could have coped with the tyres on an articulated truck. The puncture also proved to be lesson 4, in that you should listen to the wisdom of Shaun Fores, when he tells you that you’re liable to get a puncture, due to the condition of the track. This was heeded for the ride going to Withernsea, but we decided that as we could be a bit wobbly coming home due to our choice of after  race repair drink, the track was a better option than the road. Punctures or no punctures we’ve have had a great time so far on our “new phenomenon” and we’re sure that anyone coming with us would also be hooked, so with that in mind please feel welcome to join us on one of our future outings.  We run hard (no really) but we have a great laugh too and it’s fantastic for club spirit.

Future events at the time of writing are:

• Burton Constable 10k 19^th July
• Janice’s 40^th Birthday (unofficial event) August Bank Holiday

Report by Keith Conkerton