More reports from club members who took part in sportives during May and June, including one who stopped for lunch and a pint on the way round, and another with an interesting item being auctioned for charity.
Evans Ride It Series: King of the Downs – Dominic & Alison Bowles
This event, held on Sunday June 1st (there’s another clubrun we didn’t get to!) started in Crawley near Gatwick airport. There were two distances available, 54 or 115 miles. Alison and I had agreed to do the ride with five friends, and to have a crack at the long route. Registration opened at 5am, with riders entered for the longer distance able to start at 6 – and last start to be by 8! With those ridiculous times (what HAS happened to those Sunday lie-ins?), we decided to stay nearby, and got a room in a nearby Premier Inn for only 35 quid – no breakfast, but at that time… And the bed was comfortable and clean, and we could take our bikes to our room – so all good.
A few weeks earlier we’d done a 92 mile ride with the same group of friends, and Steve and I had made the mistake of having a couple of Peronis and a bottle of red (each!) the night before. Maybe not the best preparation for a ride, so this time we stuck to the Peronis and kept well away from the wine. Possibly because of this, we did actually manage to be on the road by 7, having registered and had a good breakfast, including hot toast done to order, as part of the entry fee. The weather was perfect, clear blue skies, not too hot, barely any wind.
I had underestimated this ride. If I’d known before we started that it’s often used as a warm-up for the Etape, I would have been more mentally prepared! The fact that two of our five friends came up with some very spurious excuses to explain their non-appearance should have warned me. It’s got over 9,000 feet of climbing. It’s in the Surrey hills and the North Downs, so there’s very little flat – it’s all ascending or descending. Spread through the ride are 10 (and a half) key climbs. The first of them appears after less than 10 miles; Leith Hill is apparently 13% and it felt like it.
We made reasonable progress through the morning, despite some truly atrocious road surfaces. We got the obligatory sportive fuel of bananas, flapjack, cake and energy drink down us and into bottles at the first stop. Shortly after this was the best surfaced climb of the day – Box Hill was super smooth, and because of it, didn’t feel too steep and was a joy to climb. Thank you, London 2012! After just over 50 miles, we had climbed five of the ten hills and were into the only significant flat section, and the second stop, at about 11am. We grabbed some more bananas and kept going, looking for one of the pubs that we’d researched the day before – for proper food, not beer, you understand! We called in to the Greyhound in Crawley at a few minutes before 12, only to find they didn’t serve food until 12.30. Damn.
We’d done two more climbs and another 20-odd miles before we found the Hatch Inn in Coleman’s Hatch. We got some great baguettes and a pint each – of grapefruit and soda. Looking at the route while we ate, we discovered that when we left, we would be straight into the next climb, ominously named The Wall. When the barmaid learnt we were cycling up it, she said with some incredulity “On a bike? I don’t even like going up it in my car!” Oh dear.
It was fairly tough – it just kept going up and up. But worse was to come. After 90 miles, with tired legs, we came to the ninth climb, Yorks Hill, which tops out at 25%. We did ride it, but it was a struggle, and we were glad to find the final feed station at the top of it. There was nothing they could give us (well, not legally) that would make climb ten, Titsey Hill, any easier, which came after just over 100 miles, and seemed like it would never end and peaked at over 20%.
The final sting in the tail is the climb which we weren’t expecting, with a sign at the start reading Climb 10.5. Short, and not too steep, but after that much riding…
We got back to HQ to find that they’d virtually finished packing up, and only a few people arrived after us. But how many people stopped for a pub lunch, I wonder? There were just under 1,000 people entered for the full distance, and of those, 220 didn’t even start and 120 started but didn’t finish, so we don’t feel too bad! And we somehow managed to do 118 miles – with no idea how.
And at the other end of the scale from us? The fastest time was registered by a Vik Kapadia, who did the whole thing in 6 hours and 12 minutes. That’s an average of about 18.5mph. Chapeau!
Flat Out in the Fens – Terry Roberts
Bob Cooper and I rode the Flat Out In The Fens sportive (sponsored by Wiggle/Kilo To Go) on Sunday. It was a well organised event starting and finishing at Peterborough Regional college and taking in some nice flat roads around the fens, some of which were very picturesque. The food stops were good and included a savoury option (cheese/Ham sandwiches and sausage rolls) as well as the usual gels, flapjack and fruit. There was also a good hot food stall at the end, massages on offer and an Assos stall selling merchandise. Free Wiggle goodie bag included a medal, free buff, can of WD40, free bottle and some gels/energy drinks plus the usual mini bag of haribo. The only downside with the organisation was that the caretaker seemed to have a lie in and the main building where the toilets were housed was closed until 7:00 am, at which point we were lining up at the start (they were due to open at 6!).
The ride was great, helped by some fantastic weather (sunny without a breath of wind) and we worked with a great group of 7 or 8 lads including a couple from Thanet RC in Kent. We finished the 152 mile course in 8hrs 11 minutes (7hrs 25 mins excluding stops) and came within the gold standard by about 45 minutes. I was pleased with that given it was my first time doing more than 100 miles.
Would recommend the ride to others (provided they open up the toilets in time next year!).
Flat Out in the Fens – Chris Lawrence
Living in Wistow, I’d been aware of the Flat Out in the Fens Sportive for a few years before I got into cycling. As a non-cyclist the idea of riding 77 miles around the fens seemed like madness, let alone 152!
Things change, though, and in the three years I’ve been a roadie I found myself frustrated that that it’s always clashed with family events. Signing up for Rapha’s Manchester to London Challenge in September gave me a cast iron reason to enter; I needed to get some big rides into my legs. Starting a new job three weeks ago and not having been anywhere near my bike for a month as a result should have given me every excuse not to ride it and on Friday night I’d pretty much talked myself out of it but I knew that I would be damaging my chances in September.
The sight of still wind turbines as I drove up to Peterborough for the start came as a massive relief. Without wind how hard could it be?
A puncture before Ramsey St Mary’s wasn’t a good start but quickly dealt with. I soon settled into a rhythm but found myself going a bit fast and began to suffer from about mile 50 to 70 before hooking up with a group from Norwich ABC. I rode with them to the end, a nice little group that gradually picked up more riders along the way, everybody taking their turns and riding at a sensible pace with some good chat.
The sportive was very well organised with four feed stations serving up a good range of grub from sandwiches to chocolaty stuff and Hi5 sports drinks. The route was well signposted throughout and I managed not to get lost at any point, a first.
I managed to average 18.4mph for the 152 miles which I was very pleased with considering the lack of riding leading up to it. It was also a good confidence booster knowing that, despite questioning whether I could complete the course at the 70 mile feed station, I’d felt pretty comfortable over the later stages. We’d averaged over 21mph over the last few miles before hitting the outskirts of Peterborough.
The Rapha Manchester to London Challenge follows a 220 mile route between the two cities’ velodromes taking in the Peak district, the midlands and the Chilterns. It’s being run in aid of Ambitious about Autism, a hugely important charity that works to give autistic kids the same opportunities that we take for granted. My aim is to raise at least £1,000 for them. As well as the ride I’m also going to be auctioning a Garmin Sharp team jersey signed by many of the 2013 roster which Jonathan Vaughters kindly donated. That’ll be going under the hammer on ebay during the Tour de France.
Check out Ambitious about Autism here: http://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/ and my just giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/RideWithChris/
Wheels in Wheels Events – 2 Wheels for Woodlands
A magnificent turn out from St Ives riders with around 20 riding this event, supporting the Woodland Hospice charity. Organised by club members Tom Caldwell (club road race captain) and Graham Temple (Wheels in Wheels Events) this event had three routes with nearly all members opting for the more challenging 100 mile route taking in most of Huntingdonshire. This is the first year this event has taken place and attracted over 500 riders, well exceeding the organiser’s expectations. Well done to all that braved the unfavourable weather conditions and completed the event. A great advertisement for St Ives Cycling Club locally and for the sponsors!
They were also joined at the start by Jess & Graham, plus Pete Lamb (who some of you may remember was a very active member many years ago, so good to see him riding again!). A number of other members also rode.
Dave Pope on the event:
I rode over to the Alconbury Weald site from St Ives and cycled round the ex-air force base for three to four miles before we eventually found the car park. Heading over the mound to the tents and the start – there they were my St Ives team mates eager to go! I rushed into the signing in tent and within minutes I was ready. We were grabbed by the Hunts Post photographer as I would say our SICC group was the largest group of riders on the day. Shame they didn’t use our picture in the paper!
As we lined up on the side of the startline – Phil, Mark and at least another A group rider joined in for the group photo session. We were also joined by a drone hovering overhead which seemed to have a CCTV camera attached. As we queued up for the start we was joined by Jess Williams and her dad; Jess was updating us on her 300 mile 24 hour epic the previous week, we waited our turn in the cue!
Graham gave us the rules on the start line and it was off…
Up and down the runway a few times then we eventually tracked to Clay Lane and out into the wilderness. The first stage of the journey took us Westbound, as we plodded along we collected a few stragglers – one being a St Neots rider. The far side of Kimbolton, Matt’s chain snapped – from behind it seemed to explode! Matt later said “he was lucky not to of been standing – as the whipping chain might of caught one of his vital organs!” Luckily Mark had a quick link and in minutes Matt made the repair. By the time we reset off, Jess and her dad had carried on, the Rusforth’s had gone by and so had Dave. We took off again intent to catch up all those that had passed us, and we did. As we approached Abbotsley we had another straggler join the group in an annoying manner. We overtook group of riders, one of them re-caught us and positioned himself in the middle of our group – the way he done it, directly in front of me, causing me to break hard (Ignorance – I was seriously annoyed!).
We continued on through some drizzle and strong fenland winds on to Ramsey Forty Foot Feed stop number two; the Village Hall was busy as riders doing the shorter route were also refuelling. I opted for the same again food and drink wise. I went outside to get on my bike and the heavens opened up. We all decided to hang around and wait. I didn’t realise they were serving hot drinks – having a tea for me was a master stroke. When the rain slowed down we decided to go again, it was cold, the roads where partially flooded – so we was getting soaked in spray. We had a good ride for the rest of the way, Woodwalton Hill came as a surprise – somehow we all got up it unscathed; Bob had decided to make a bolt for the finishing line. By now we had done 104-5 miles, then with Clay Pit Lane in sight, my legs lost all their strength again. I was prepared to let the others go on and I’d join them eventually over the line.
As I rode onto the base, the wind seemed the strongest it had been all day, the others were out of sight and I trundled along at 16mph round in circles. As I got towards the finish, my group had held up for me (words can’t explain the mental lift that gives you! I couldn’t have done this event without them on the day). We all rode together up and down the runway till the finishing line.
Some say it was 108, others say 110 miles, all I know, is my Garmin said 124, due to cycling up there.
Although my original intentions was to cycle home, I was past the point of getting another mile out of my legs, so thankfully Matt was prepared to give me a lift home. Whilst in the Car Park, Jess had a chat with Matt; her and her dad, rode the event in 19mph, our group was around 18.
Later on Strava – Cara had claimed several QOM (and now has a staggering 60+ achievements in total) and Bob Cooper said this event was harder than his 150 miler on the Fens, a truly challenging course.
