SADDLEDRUNK RIDING TEAM Membership 2016

Join US for your new challenges in 2016

Join the SaddleDrunk Riding Team to achieve your goals, to get healthy, to feel the community, to drink coffee and to see the PLANET EARTH with a different view.

We ride everyday, from South Ealing, @ PAPERBACK COFFEE, 153 South Ealing Road,W5 4QP.

Every standard of riding are welcome. We all share the passion of the 2 wheels.

Benefits to Join us for only £ 60 per year:

1. Great People
2. FREE British Cycling Membership (UP TO BRONZE LEVEL)
3. FREE SaddleDrunk CyCLing Jersey
4. 10% Discount in our online store across all the products
5. A social night supported by the CLUB
6. FREE MONTHLY BANANA during your rides
7. Many More benefits to discover along the roads

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFO:

RIDE@SADDLEDRUNK.COM

"DO NOT LIMIT YOUR CHALLENGES,CHALLENGE YOUR LIMITS!" as Jerry Dunn would say.

BE SAFE ON THE ROAD.LOVE EACH OTHER.

SD TEAM.

LONDON 2 PARIS 2016

As promised we are back for our famous ride.THE L2P "SADDLEDRUNK" RIDE.

Enjoying an Ice Cream in Isle St.Louis

Please find the following links to our 24 Hour London to Paris Challenge.  I would suggest the following dates:

1.       June 10rd- 12th 

24 hour ride from London to Paris taking place over a weekend totalling approximately 180 miles (288 Km) and 7,500 feet (2,300M) of ascent with an overnight stay in Paris before returning via Eurostar to London.  Participants will ride the classic London to Brighton route then on to Newhaven where they will catch a ferry to Dieppe before continuing on to Paris.  Participant bikes will be brought back to London by Viva Velo. 

Ability level: Commuter cyclists and upwards.

Loving is Caring.

Leave London Friday lunchtime and arrive back London Sunday.

VIVA VELO will  provide:

• 2 x Ride Captains (at least one to be First Aid qualified)                                                                    
• 1 x Driver/Mechanic to accompany the group
• Support Vehicle to provide mechanical and emergency assistance as required
• Baggage transfer from UK to France
• Bike return from Paris to London
• Hotel 3 star (twin/double occupancy) on B&B basis
• Ferry outbound including private cabin(twin occupancy)
• Eurostar
• Special Edition SaddleDrunk Jersey 

For any further details please contact staff at VIVAVELO or email at store@saddledrunk.com.

All of us here at SD Team wish you Merry Xmas.

SD Team

Stretching at the Station.

Scottish Borders visit to Peebles Cycling Club.

Few weeks ago the SD Team was hosted in the Scottish Border region by a lovely couples. Kevin & Trish.

My visit was aimed to explore the lovely area and to meet the amazing Peebles Cycling Club during their annual Hill Climb Race.

On Saturday morning a couple of us from the SaddleDrunk Team flew to Edinburgh. We directed ourselves South, about 1 hour drive in the astonishingsceneries to reach a little place called Broughton.

The cottage was hidden deeply into the nature, the only sound waves were from the dogs welcoming us and the essence of the flowers was blown toward us  by the a gentle breeze.

After a nice quick homemade soup and a bacon batty,we hit the road.Within few minutes I was stunned by the lovely roads and all the surrounding factors.

KC & PJ decided to take us to do the Talla an amazing place not far from their location. For them it was just an everyday ride. Talla had an interesting sign at the start, 20% advisory road sign. WOW,it was a nice tasty climb with a 39-23 was nice to challenge for 2.5km. 

After reaching the top,we stop to wait for the boys at the back and a couple of panoramic shots.

We, then carried on and to be honest with you, there are not enough words to describe the scenery and the peace that this location was sending to us "Concrete Jungle Residents".

Kevin pointing the North Star.

If you have never been to Peebles you should consider it. Not far from Edinburgh & the airport you can enjoy great time with the family but also do some road biking and MTB at the nearby Glentrees Forest home of various MTB champions.

A Social Gathering after the Hill Climb,before the social ride.

The following it was the time for the Annual Social Hill Climb for PCC. This Time Trial Climb Race was before a Sunday Social Ride.

It was beautiful to sit in the pack with the club members to listen their stories and experiences on the 2 wheels.

The SD team is pleased to announced that we are now one of the 2 kit suppliers for Peebles Cycling Club.

The Short Sleeves Jersey

PCC organise various sportive around the area,therefore you should look into this for 2016 season to take part.

Love the roads,BE SAFE,BE SEEN.

Ciao from the SD Team.

Mountain Cronoscalata,Granfondo China

Ciao Everyone,

After a day of rest travelling,  we arrived on Tuesday afternoon in the old town of Chuxiong, welcomed by traditional dances and music.

The hotel is located in the town square,walking distance from all the local attractions,food stalls & restaurants. 

The temperature was pleasant and everyone was happy to go out for a meal.So we all gathered and walk down the road until we found a local restaurant.

We then discovered the beauty of Chuxiong , a traditional minority people’s village which enabled us to step into the past of China.

We walked along the canals , hosted into people houses to try their local plum wine and snap few shots with them.

Dinner time arrived like a flash,  with all little BBQ food street stalls we adventured into one which we picked our raw skewers and vegetables ready for the following day Cronoscalata.

We remounted our bikes the following morning for a 23.5km mass start time trial to a summit of 2450 m.s.l with a total ascent of nearly 800 metres.It was sharp gently painful in the legs and lungs. I loved it so much after reaching nearly 2200 m.s.l. the cloud level was with us making the road nice and slippery with temperature dropped down to 6 Degrees Celsius.

A bit chilly a the the top but still amazing. Everyone was dismounting their bikes to be loaded in the truck to go to the Dali Stage.

Tomorrow will be stage from the Dali lake race,115km on the lake.

Ride Safe.Share the road with everyone.

SD Team

Granfondo China 1st Stage

The SD Team after spending couple of days in Shanghai flew to Kunming, in the Yunnan Region , south west part of China bordering with Burma & Laos.

From the sky the scenery was amazing, plenty of mountains and if you are a real cyclist you must love them.

After a 75km ride on a transfer to Yiliang we arrived at1500 m.s.l.(metres from sea level) to the race office. It was nice to see familiar faces around from the past.

We then mounted the bikes in the hotel car park attracting spectator and also the police wanted to check our passport.

We then went out for a walk to discover the beauty of this little town finishing it off with a lovely dinner ,helped by Jingyan & Tim.

The following morning we started quite early,we had a leader vehicle taking all of us from the hotel to the race start line.Before the gun shots to declare the start of this week Granfondo China we had an amazing starting ceremony with various dances from the local communities.

Local playing music along the route.

We knew that the stage was going to be 120km with a total ascent of nearly 2000 metres. Everyone’s testosterone level was well above the daily recommended allowance, this meant that the speed was riveting around the 40km/h average for the first 20km before hitting the climbs. I said “hitting climbs”, yes because personally I was not prepared to shoot up over 1800 m.s.l. in just few km and nearly gasping for oxygen.At the point I decided that I was going to take the stage as a Training Ride at altitude due to the fact we were going to reach above 2000 m.s.l.

I was really pleased for my decision,because I had a chance to enjoy the colourful surrounding,blending in with nature and the friendly peoples.

At dinner with our heroes Jingyan & Tim

I was very impressed by the amazing organization that Kris Van De Velde, Race Director for the entire event put to make this stage stunning.

The reason behind my comment comes from the fact that 120km of road were completely closed for us,  with police officers standing on the side of the road to assist us if needed. Also the food stations were very efficient, one every 25km or less, I think some event organizers of some European Granfondos or Sportives should learn from this. The various road condition made some part a technical stage.

Nonno Pippo climbing up

The winner of the stage was Tugulur with a time of 2 hours and 58 minutes.He is a member of the Mongolian National team that last month too part at the World Championship in Richmond,USA representing his country.

For now it is time to say good bye until the next stage report and when we will find again some internet connection.

From Yunnan DSAI JIEN.

SD.

Repacking for next stage