Wiggle Mendips – Alec Rankin
The Wiggle Mendips sportive starts and finishes at Cadburys Chocolate site (the home of Frys chocolate) Keynsham which is between Bath and Bristol. I choose to ride the epic route which was 91 miles of very undulating hills which took us through the Cheddar Gorge (as used in the Tour of Britain) and many other challenging hills.
I cycled the 3 miles to Frys from my mums house ready for the off at 07.30 and was the first to start the route. It was already looking very grey to say the least and we hadn’t even started. Luckily I chose to wear my rain jacket because within 30 minutes of starting the heavens opened and they didn’t stop drenching us for the next three hours. Being wet is bad enough but then came the wind with it. Gusting up to 40 mph at times, as if climbing hills wasn’t bad enough. It was hard going and as i was one of the first to leave there was very little chance of latching on to someone else’s wheel in front.
So the first three hours were pretty miserable and to be honest i could have stopped and gone home, but then I would have to cycle back anyway so i carried on. On approaching the split in the course for the Standard and Epic routes there was a glimmer of hope as the sun started to appear over the distance hills. I was very tempted to turn left at this point and to go for the standard route but decided i wouldn’t be able to live with myself and so right it was.
We carried on battling the winds but at least the rain had stopped which made things seem that little bit easier. By now i was starting to get my second wind what with the sun warming my wet clothing but there were still some pretty steep hills to come before the run in to the finish.
The hill out of Easton near Wookey Hole was pretty steep and narrow which made climbing it in my 39/53 quite difficult as there wasn’t much room for zig zaggy across the road. Other cyclists were getting off their bikes and pushing them at this point which made it even more pleasing that I didn’t. There were a few more short in length but still steep climbs to come but the end was in sight now and the last 10 miles was quite enjoyable.
I arrived at the end in 5 hours 51 minutes which meant I made it in the Gold award time so that was something. As for doing it again, well I don’t know. It all depends on the weather. If you knew it wasn’t going to pour with rain and blow you all over the place I would probably think about it.
Ride London – Richard Neil
I originally entered the ballot for this event back in August 2013, and did not get a place. So when the opportunity to enter as part of a St. Ives team came up, I jumped at the chance. Along with me our team entry of 4 comprised of Roland Ward, Tim Parish & David Baxter. Unfortunately Tim had to pull out through injury, and David dropped out at the last moment, so it was down to Roland & me to represent St. Ives.
When I entered the event, I was not aware of what a logistical challenge it was going to turn into. I’m used to events where you roll up at the start, get the bike out of the back of the car (or ride there), report to somebody sitting at a rickety table & off you go. Nothing so straight forward with the Ride London Surrey! Firstly you are bombarded with e-mails (mostly advertising) leading up to the event. You get a whole magazine containing loads & loads of instructions, does & don’ts & more advertising. You have to say how you will be getting to the event in advance. Rather than post the rider number, timing chip etc., you had to register at the Excel Centre in the 3 days preceding the event & collect a whole pack of information, including a ‘kit bag’ to get your things transported from the start at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, to the finish on the Mall.
The registration process took seconds. A cynical view might be that getting people to attend to register in advance was a way of getting you to visit a cycle show, which happened to also be on at the Excel at the same time! In fairness this was not a bad event, there were quite a few free samples on offer and a fairly wide range of exhibiters.
The weather forecast for the day of the ride was not promising. The arrival of the tail end of hurricane Berta had been widely trailed in the media beforehand, however the sight of riders buying rain jackets at the Wiggle stand like they were going out of fashion was amusing – you would think they would have come equipped!
Ride day arrived early, very early! Even staying locally at a hotel in Tower Hill meant getting up at 04:15 to meet up with Roland at the luxurious venue of MacDonald’s, Bow Flyover at 05:15, in time to fuel up & ride the short distance to the Olympic Park for our start time of 07:17 (not that bad, but we had to arrive an hour before the start time to get loaded into our allocated ‘wave’. Still, the ride through the gloom of London Streets was quite an experience, along with other riders by now streaming their way into the park.
Quick trip to the loo, drop off kit bag, another quick trip to the loo(!), then wait, and wait, gradually inching forward to the start with thousands of others…..
The rain was just beginning to fall lightly (Bertha knocking on the door!) when the word started to circulate that he route had been shortened to 86 miles, cutting out Leith & Box hills, which was very disappointing news as I had been looking forward to tackling these.
Heading off, I was ummming & arghring about whether to keep my rain jacket on. It was very warm at start, particularly on the A12 through the tunnels – which was a surreal experience with the whole of this major road closed to traffic other than bikes. Once we got off the main road it soon became obvious that we would not be able to make good progress due to the number of riders on the road, even using the full width. I decided that there was no point in trying for a fast time, rather to try to relax & enjoy the experience.
By the time we got to our first feed point at Newlands Corner the rain was falling in biblical proportions, accompanied by some lightning & thunder. After a quick stop (not bad given the numbers of riders & the weather conditions) we began the decent, which was ‘cool’, the rain hammering down making visibility virtually zero & stinging the face. I think by this point I had got over my disappointment of not being able to do the full 100 miles!
Being shortened to 86 miles, before we knew it we were heading back into London. The experience of bands of supporters out by the roadside clapping & cheering in the pouring rain will stay with me for a long time. By the time we were rolling into central London, the rain clouds were parting & the sun was beginning to poke through. The return into London was fantastic, cheering, applauding crowds – a great buzz. It was great to take it slightly easy & suck up the experience……
The feeling of riding down the Mall at the end was a fantastic…Along with many, many riders sporting very flash kit (Assos/Zipp man out in force!), I recall a guy doing a very good effort on a Boris (Barclays) Bike! Overall this was a very well organised, perhaps over organised & controlled event, very different to anything I have done before. Even with all the precautions in place, we saw some people on the ground being attended to by the emergency services, I guess with 20,709 riders (final numbers) in weather like that there are going to be some incidents.
Would I do the event again – no I don’t think so. For me this was a one-off experience, it’s too costly & difficult logistically – doing the ride was the easy bit! But nevertheless what a great experience it was & one that will live in my memory for some time to come I hope.
Rat Race (430 miles in 2 days) – Bob Cooper
Me and Keith Shering took part in this year’s Rat Race London to Edinburgh sportive on the 9th and 10th August, Saturday (day 1) started early at 4:30am meet under the shadow of Wembley stadiums arch, we moved off at 5am sharp thru the empty streets of north London, watching the sun rise on the bike the miles soon flew pasted, with wall to wall sunshine the day went past with no hiccups and we rolled into our overnight stop in York having completed 238miles, luckily my brother Phil volunteered himself to do our support crew and had set up our tents at York.
Day 2 was another early start leaving at 5am, back in the saddle with everything feeling sore, the terrain quickly changed when we hit County Durham with 5 or 6 climbs one after another ranging from 7% up to 10% all around 1/2 mile to a mile long.
Ex hurricane Bertha started to catch up with us around 1pm and during the day the rain and wind continued to get worse, we soldiered on thru torrential rain, wind and flooded roads into Scotland but having cycled 191 miles the conditions got the better of us and me starting to suffer hyperthermia decided to stop at the last feed station 30 miles short of Edinburgh, we both felt gutted to come up so short of our target but knew it was the right decision when it was even a struggle to drive the van thru the ex-hurricane Bertha into Edinburgh!
Having cycled 430 miles in 2 days we both felt like we’d beaten up! But drown our sorrows with a few beers in Edinburgh!
Would we do it again? Yes of course, the event was very well organized with support riders on the road a lot of the time and plenty of feed station, but they couldn’t do anything about the horrendous weather on day 2!!
…Forgot to say I did it all on this ankle after falling out the back of my van 5 days beforehand!! Support crew was rubbing horse liniment into my ankle every food stop and supplying continental strength pain killers! Due to the horrendous conditions on Sunday only 18 people finished the event out of 73 who started Saturday morning!
Saddleback Sodbury Sportive – Stephen Alexander
I rode the 3rd annual 100km Saddleback Sodbury Sportive across the rolling Cotswold Hills on Sunday 17th August. The weather was perfect. A little chilly with what the locals termed “strong winds”. For a Fenlander like myself, it was “a little breezy”; nothing problematic. The two major climbs on the route both fell within the first 20km and they were short but steep averaging at about 8% each but reaching 19-20% in places. I saw similarly middle aged guys fall off their bikes attempting to get up these hills. I saw several others decide to walk them as I streaked on by. I do a lot of my cycling every July/August in the French Alps as my wife originates from there. This year was no exception. I’d trained for the Sportive on Semnoz and Ventoux.
The route was superbly well signposted with some roads, one at the start and finish in Chipping Sodbury and another in the old Nuclear power station village of Berkeley closed off by the police for our passing. The riders were released in 8 pelotons, separated by about 5 minutes each – enough time for a local member of the Rotary Club to give us all a safety speech. One guy that I passed early on fell at the foot of a big descent on gravel and broke his wrist. He and some others were swept up by the broom wagon just as I had been at my last sportive, a French affair in and around Calais in early July. This time though I rode angry… I was embarrassed by the French failure and so desperately wanted to medal at this event that I went off like a spaniel released from its lead in the park! I left my peloton behind, caught the next two in front of me, surpassed a good many of their riders and eventually met up with a club rider from Somerset in his mid 40s and a young lady representing Cheltenham CC. We relayed each other through the last 30km, not stopping at either of the two feed stations. I started with back pockets full of bananas! I ended without. But at 3hrs 53minutes, I recorded my first ever Gold Medal time at a sportive in the Mens 40+ category and on a course with over 850 metres worth of steep climbing.
And finally … Is this the toughest cycling challenge going?
Many of you will know Josh Ibbett (Tracey’s son), a former St Ives CC junior member. He recently completed the brutal Transcontinental Race, starting at Westminster Bridge in London and finishing in Istanbul, Turkey.
As if that isn’t hard enough, the route consists of just one single stage! The clock doesn’t stop until the racers cross the finish line, so they chose where, when and if it all to rest. Racers must ride unaided and can only use what they take with them, or what they can find en-route at commercially available services. There are only three mandatory control points, one of which is the summit of the Passo Del Stelvio, otherwise the route they take is up to them.
Josh finished 2nd overall, completing over 2000 miles in a remarkable time of 9 days 5 hours and 59 minutes, and that included losing his gears in Croatia and riding the rest through the mountains with just one. His blog can be found at www.josh-ibbett.com
