The first running of this event & my first Sportive of the year with my riding buddy, Ron.
It was a blowy day & the roads were wet at the start but soon dried off. Having passed a big group that had stopped for a comfort break we soon got swallowed up by them again. I felt uncomfortable in this group, not sure if it was because I was on my new bike or the fact that once caught they seemed to slow, which I found frustrating. Not happy with this I shot off to get out of the group & pulled out what I thought was a descent gap but it was short lived & as the road went up I was caught again so I gave in & sat at the back for an easy ride for a while. As we neared the first feed stop one of them got a puncture so the group fragmented, some stopped there & some waited at the feed. Ron & I were together from the stop with a couple of other guys, but we got separated from them & rolled into the second feed together. We had a quicker turn around here than the other two but they caught us after a bit, we hung on for a while but got dropped again. As we were getting closer to the finish we caught, passed & dropped one of the duo & I could see the other ahead up the road. I couldn't resist & put in a big effort for the last few miles, dropping my buddy, in an effort to catch the other rider. I caught him & passed him just yards from the finish......But it's not a race.....
Had a great ride & was happy with the result, 4hrs 44m for the 82miles & 13th from a field of over 120.
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