I got to town early…too early! The wrong change in my pocket meant I had limited time, and I paid over the odds for that. Why don’t car park ticket machines give change?
Anyway, I got to Angel Hill just as things were beginning to wake up. Most teams had yet to arrive and the basic infrastructure was just about in place. The West Suffolk Wheelers were there and it was good to see familiar faces again, some of whom I have not seen for years. Always a friendly welcome, if you are looking for a club, you could do a lot worse than looking these guys up.
Some of the things going on included a six seater bike:
as well as some scary looking static bikes that apparently analyse your power output, cadence, speed, what you ate for breakfast last Thursday etc etc. I avoided these like the plague; although they were available for use I knew that I’d give it all I had and would end up hot and sweaty.
As crowds began to swell, all the action took part at the One Bull end of town. Team busses arrived
, the bikes were wheeled out
and then the sign on began.
, teams were presented
and the roll call of familiar names began…Mark Renshaw, Lars van Boom, Berni Eissel, Geraint Thomas, Mark Cavendish, Thor Hoshovd and even Ned Boulting 
All too soon, the flag was dropped and the cavalcade was off on its route around Suffolk and Norfolk. The weather was fine if a bit breezy although promised rain later in the day might dampen things a bit. All in all, a great advert for cycling.
suffolkcyclist 