Vocal 'n' Social Returns

Vocal 'n' Social Returns

When Team CLS launched our Saturday rides the name Vocal 'n' Social was used for the title. I think at the time we chose that to emphasize not only the never-ending banter that is on our rides but also the friendship and support that people who joined would benefit from. The leader would be constantly scanning the rear trying to look after as many riders as possible. The ride cemented in a lot of our members minds the ethos behind CLS, the importance to enjoy our riding and never forget why we got on the bike in the first place.

In February of 2019, the CLS Saturday ride was renamed to Drum 'n' Base when we introduced a program to train together over 3 months with the sole target of breaking 160km on Zwift. We achieved this 2 weeks ahead of schedule on Saturday 13th April lead by the infamous Saggy. Saggy was chosen as he was one of our strongest riders back then who we knew if anyone could go the distance....Saggy could. We rode the Watopia Volcano Flat Reverse Route and I remember it well to this day. 83 people signed up and some 4hours 10mins later the front rolled over the line. It was an amazing achievement especially because back then none of us had the benefit we do now of our Vermarc kit that deals with some of the pain. I know I go on about our kit and the only way you will be able to appreciate this is if you invest in it !

 

 

One thing that was apparent, when I looked back at the ride and stats was a near constant average heart rate throughout the ride….there was no ramping of pace, no big Ego’s just a solid team effort and it is for this reason that we are looking to relaunch Saturday’s ride. I also notice we had a comfort break at 88km, at the end of lap 7 out of 13, gosh we were kind. Of course, we have 2 rides on Saturday now, but the leaders will try to ensure that both are run on the same basis. The focus will be on the group of riders that follow the Beacon no matter what the pace they decide to ride at, no matter how long they choose to park up and wait for dropped riders for and hopefully, this way, we can regain some of that spirit that ultimately led to CLS being the success it is now. I look at some of the people on that ride and you will all know them today. To name a few on my Strava data - Erwin Sprengers, Hardy Halls, Jan Van Dyke (Jan de Man), Jeff Houghton, Matt Healy, Phil Stannard, Tom Benyon, Richard Bower, Colin Leiper……Please comment if you remember this one.

The leaders face new challenges now, as the numbers have grown dramatically on Zwift since our launch and unfortunately with the best intentions in the world there will be casualties along the route. One of the big issues we face is the ability to only view 100 riders as dots on the mini map which makes it impossible for them to see some riders slipping off the back. We try to counter this by continuously asking for rear reports for our amazing Orange Army who patrol the rear constantly and reporting back to the leader. I am sure many of us who read this will understand how difficult their role is and, on that note, I would like to thank you all for your hard work you have done over the years across all our events, even the tough workouts.

So, let us make this Saturday, Saturday 6th March as important as it was in 2018 when the ride was launched by not worrying about Watts per Kilo or if it fits in with your training plan or not, it is about turning up and having fun. Sure, there will be challenging moments we will be going up to the Radio Tower after all, sure the leader may introduce headwinds and dug up roads when you will need to get your heads down but let us have our hearts in the right place and let the Leader truly Lead and show the people on Zwift just how much fun it is to become part of the CLS family. I’ll See You Down the Road.

Love Always ……… The Ferret.