QF Focus Magazine Cyclogical - 2015 a hectic year.
Well that was a pretty hectic year. It started in January when my daughter and her boyfriend came over and we took a week off and went skiing to the Sierra Nevada, February was really quiet as it was quite cold and windy, March started with 15 members of team Cyclogical participating in the Valley of the grapes Sportif in Monforte Del Cid with 5 of the riders (including 75 year old Mickey) doing their first ever Sportif.
Our last 3 team riders ended up cycling in torrential rain for an hour but everyone finished and we won the Team event a lovely Serrano ham. Next Lynn and I decided to take on an assistant Josh, to train up as a cycle technician and generally assist us in the shop, he is still with us and is fitting in well, we wonder how we managed without him. April we had 12 riders again entered into the Sportif at San Vincente, this was a lot tougher with more climbing but again everyone finished with good times. As the summer approached we all had our own agendas with family and friends interfering with our normal routines but Hey! Ho! It’s great to see them all, just sometimes difficult to fit them in especially when you try to fit your work in too. Tony took part in La Sufrida (the suffering) which is a really tough Sportif in the mountains in and around the Almeria area. Martyn went to Ireland to take his son in law on his first Sportif and took part in the Wicklow 200 (Garden of Eden) which is one of Ireland’s Premier Sportifs and is a tough 200kms around the beautiful Irish countryside. Owen and Torry went to the Pyrenees to take part in Quebrantahuesos (the bone crusher) which is one of the toughest 200kms Sportifs in Europe. In May Lynn and I went back to Elgin, Scotland via Norway to surprise my best mate at his 60th birthday bash (it rained for 4 days) but we enjoyed the break. Every Saturday for our Saturday afternoon hybrid ride we would get more and more people turning up to join us and we met some great people and had some super rides with them. Chico by this time was getting bigger and heavier but not too much, he now has a big basket on the rear of my bike and still comes with us every Saturday and Monday and if we can’t find him he’s in the garage trying to get into his basket and is just one of the guys now. He still comes to work with us every day and has many girlfriends who come in just to see him, and Pauline still comes in to walk him every day at 11am and he really looks forward to her visits. July was really warm with temperatures in the high 40s but we all still went cycling as there is always a breeze. My daughter’s boyfriend and his mate cycled across from Elgin, Scotland to Quesada in 21 days (2000kms) and still wanted to cycle up to Hondon de las Frailes with us on the Sunday. The Tour de France was on and again team Sky had a fantastic 3 weeks cycling with Chris Froome winning again. August we had the La Vuelta right on our doorstep with thousands of people lining the route in our area, a spectacle not to be missed and hopefully we will see more local routes this coming year. We also had a record amount of buckets of beer (15) after our Thursday night training ride. September: we started a beginner’s road bike group with 11 people turning up to try road bikes, the object was to encourage people to try a road bike or if they already had one to learn how to cycle in a group, teaching hand signals and safety, building up their confidence. This proved very successful and we now have a couple of new guys joining our main group. Lynn went to the doctors with a minor problem and ended up in Alicante hospital having tests, an MRI scan and eventually an operation so she was out of action for a few weeks but thank goodness is now back to normal. We also managed to get sponsor money for our gents hybrid group and got them all a really smart team kit so the guys now look more professional and are all chuffed to bits. We then had a night cycle with a difference it was Owens birthday and he had booked the Bicibar for 20 of us (the beer wagon that you cycle round whilst drinking beer) that was a great night but really hard work for the ones that put the effort in. October: My parents arrived for a month which was great as they looked after Chico while Lynn was out of action, we also had the builders in and they kept an eye on them. My mate Willie flew across to take part in his very first Sportif and not just an easy one but 126kms around Calpe, I just took my time and cycled round with him, he did really well and we still won the team trophy. Alan led a 6 man team at the 6 man time trials in Murcia and they finished in a creditable 4th place. Peter and his girlfriend moved back to the UK after 6 years here in Spain so we will all miss him as he has been a great buddy. November things got quieter so Lynn and I took a few days off and went to Alicante and just chilled out, it’s a lovely place and right on our doorstep but you never think of going there.
December started with our Couples Hybrid groups Christmas dinner in the Minigolf which was fantastic, then the next day we had our road bike group Christmas dinner at Ronald’s restaurant followed by drinks at Shananigans bar which again was a brilliant night, the Hybrid groups male and female both had their Christmas rides followed by Christmas dinner in the Minigolf then things quietened down. Boxing day was a nice cycle with the couples group to La Marina and a coffee on the beach then it was Hogmanay. Over and above all of that we also had to fit in all of our kids and their partners, parents, brothers, sisters and friends for their annual holidays but it was all great and we look forward to doing it all again this year. We are really looking forward to a nice gentle quiet January and February before it all starts again. Lynn and I would like to thank you all for your support and wish you all good health and happiness, all the best for 2016. Get on yer bike and keep those wheels turning. Gary and Lynn. All of our routes are now available from our website on
www.cyclogicalcostablanca.com. Remember Gary and Lynn are available
at “Cyclogical” in
Quesada, Monday to Friday from 9.30am until 5.30pm and from 10am until 2pm on a Saturday to assist and advise you on all your cycling requirements including route maps.
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