We rounded off the year in style with visit to Cyclopark on a day when all four quarter-loops of the main circuit were open to us whereas we only get to roam on three of the zones usually.
So immediately we hived off to the 'forbidden territory' ... the part I call the 'Kent end' as it contains the trickiest corner.... down the slope then a full 180-degree turn and back up again.
Five repetitions for the older riders (Calum, Beth and new face Asher who made contact a couple of weeks ago).
The youngest group meanwhile did five smaller loops on the flat.... and a couple of riders in-between managed a blend of hill/flat.
Then off to the velodrome section. By then Joseph was on-board with his fleet of hit-men so we put in 10 laps in our two groups.... after a bottle-passing exercise for those who said they could ride one-handed... so four riders in a line, shoulder to shoulder, the bottle passes from the rider on the left across to the rider on the right so if you are in the middle you either continue (riding no hands) in a straight line and pass it from hand to hand... or drop it into the bottle cage with your left hand and lift it out with the right hand.
A little racing challenge on the 'London loop' section below the velodrome loop followed... two laps for some, four laps for others.
The invitation to call it a day was turned down by a clutch of smiling faces and so we went off for a final tour of the big loop.... then headed to the cafe and all was well (apart from me loading someone else's bike into the car by mistake) (oops... sorry Joseph).