My first Spotrive of the year & not too far from home. After steady drizzle all afternoon yesterday it was a relief to find it had dried up overnight, but it was cold!
I'd arranged to meet a few other club mates & drive down in convoy, 4 cars plus a couple of others made their own way there. Once on site we got prepared we all set off together just after 9.00am. We were soon in a reasonable sized group of around 30 riders & the pace was good but not mad, in fact the first couple of hours seemed very civilised.
I'd started the event 'fasted' again & rode for 1.5hrs before hitting the energy drink & bars. After last weeks episode of cramp after riding for 2.5hrs before sugar I didn't want a repeat performance 'cos there were some bigger climbs to come, namely Dovers Hill at 70km, the climb that was used for last years National Hill Climb Championships.
However well before this the bunch had fragmented & there were lots of groups of just 2's & 3's. I found myself riding with a lady that was keen to 'sit in' whilst we were going into the breeze & up the smaller drags. We got caught by a small group going into Broom & hung on until traffic lights where ther were several other riders caught on the red light, handy! As we all set of I started to struggle & was 'out the back' before long, but managed to get back to the group, which included a few clubmates, before 'the climb'. Then of course I was 'out the back' again. The climb did does ramp up to 16% in a couple of places & one fellow clubmate did have to walk! That lady was by my side at the start of the climb but was out of sight, in front, before the summit.
We went to watch the National Hill Climb Champs at the end of last October which was won by Dan Fleeman in a time of sub 4mins, I lapped my Garmin at the approx start & finish lines & managed 9.09mins, still I had ridden 70kms to get there! Once over the top it was only short distance to the feed station where I got both bottles topped up & had a banana.
I set off from the feed on my own as I needed a quiet gateway for a comfort break. The descent from the feed stop went on for a bit longer than I anticipated but eventually the road levelled out & an appropriate gateway appeared. Of course as I was stopped lots of riders whizzed by, but I was back on the bike as quick as I could be & on my way again, trying to catch up. Pushing on & feeling good I caught & passed several riders before I got caught by a couple of riders going just a bit quicker than me. I was able to lift my pace & hang on as one dropped off I stayed with the other rider for a few miles
before I dropped away myself. I'd now caught & passed three fellow club riders that had gone by during my comfort stop, each on their own. Again I got caught by another couple of riders that I was able to lift my pace to, we rolled along still passing plenty of riders as we neared the finish. During the final few miles one dropped away again & one pulled away & I was on my own again. Finally I recognised the road & realised we were on the final run in & because I could see riders up ahead I managed to dig deep again & pushed on to the end. My recorded time 4hrs 22m with which I'm happy as this put me around 71/333 or around the top 20%. Within the club I was 3rd home.
This was another great day out, cold to start but warming throughout. The ride was challenging & tougher than my club mates thought but no surprises for me... & as usual still felt strong at the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment