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Writer's pictureDannielle Watkinson

LDN Bonding Weekend

Nervous, me? Always mate…. Social situations make me want to curl up in a ball and hibernate for eternity. Did I consider making every excuse under the sun? Yes. Was I bullied into going by a friend? Yes, but I am so grateful.


Although, I did get sick two days before with a lovely UTI and of course, me being me, I can’t just have a burning piss, I have to get a fever, body aches and massive fatigue as well. Never do anything by halves, what’s the point?!


Anyways, I still went on my way with my box of antibiotics, to the beautiful, grey and drizzly Welwyn (team bonding before we fly abroad to train together... VERY GRATEFUL FOR THIS).


We went along on the Saturday morning – pre ride, met at the hotel to drop off bags etc and grab a cheeky croissant (or 3) and coffee… coffee is always required, no matter how many you’ve had (just don’t tell your doctor).

We started off a bit late in the hope the fog would lift, it was unbelievably foggy, making visibility poor. Disappointed by the poor weather forecast (still waiting on a refund for that one…) we set off for a lovely, 3-degree, drizzly ride, looking like the Michelin man in my countless layers – yay.


I carried my bike down the stairs and swiftly noticed my rear wheel wasn’t done up and was falling out, I think I might have ridden it like that the day before as well and it had just gradually worked its way looser… A* for attention to detail, as Watto said ‘these are basics’ – note to self, learn basics.


The route was a lovely display of true English countryside – stunning green fields mixed in with nature’s finest wild (definitely tame) horses, gigantic craters hogging the roads and perfectly impatient British drivers. In all seriousness though, take away the drivers and add some Spanish road surfaces and the route was lush, cut slightly short by our delayed start, or chatting, I’m not sure, but I was grateful for the slightly shorter route and getting back to the café.


Once we got within 10km of the café I was buzzing, I knew exactly where we were, my nose would direct us the rest of the way to my second home ‘Spoke café’ – oh yes, you heard it right, they’re sponsoring us this year.

Get aero bro

I think we spent a fair bit of time there defrosting. A couple cups of coffee down the pipe hole and of course a toastie and slice of cake, and off we went to our skills session on the track (I’d forgotten about this and my body had started to shut down into hibernation mode). Froze some more, learnt some new things, played until the non-existent sun started to set and then headed off to the hotel for a SCORCHING shower.


Showered, warm, hungry and washing my base layer by hand - because I stupidly forgot to pack a second one, before we went to a boujee pub for dins – very yummy dins. A lovely vegan burger and chips (it’s just carbs mate), good chats with the team and a family environment brewing, boy was it special. Of course, after dinner we had to go and buy some choccies from Sainsbury’s.


Once back at the hotel we played a card game – very tactical, you need to be a mind reader, while bonding over some more chats and giggles. I felt so at home.


Sleep… no I did not get enough sleep, but the idea of sleeping took place - we had some wonderful water pipes above our ceiling, and it would seem pipes never sleep.


The next morning, we all sat down for breakfast, fuelling for a big day. Once we’d finished Watto gave us a team talk – be nice to one another, no racing – yes please and thanks, from us unfitty titties.


We headed off to Spoke in the cars to start the ride, we had to check out of the hotel mid-morning so it made sense to leave our cars where we would finish. We stayed there a while… 2 lovely mochas, a little sweet thang and warm toes before we set off.


Again, another spiffing route, imagine the most stunning countryside – better than the day before, with some brutal hills and now imagine it with some sun (we had to imagine it too) and only shorts and jersey. We were heading for Musette, a recommended cyclist’s café.

A few close passes, some sketchy surfaces and lots of laughs and we finally arrived… hungry. It was quite busy and took a bit of time to get a table and order, luckily the food was abso-bloody-lutely delicious and the coffee was exquisite – owner/manager on the other hand? So so…. A little stressed and rude, later rectified by being polite and providing a freebie bar, which turned out to taste like dog poo.


Thankfully, with it being winter the light drops quickly, so Watto had to ‘unfortunately’ cut the ride short again… shame that. Back to Spoke we went; I was really feeling my infection by this time… I felt rough, tired, and drained. I’d told Watto I would only be doing half of the ride and then be getting in the car, but I decided to challenge myself – lol, paid for that decision.


I made it.


A quick change of clothes, a big wee, more coffee – although this time I refrained from more cake or toasties, but I did sit almost on top of the log burner to defrost my bum while we had a team de-brief.


Overall, a bloody lovely weekend, with a team I now feel I have a family in. Would recommend, I’ll leave a good Trustpilot review.


Ride bikes, Eat cake, Be happy :)

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