It a good ride, the weather was excellent, the course challenging but fun, well organised and a good result.
I was a bit worried as the course included a Polesden Lacey which is the 20% gradient that I fractured my pelvis on in November last. On the start they announced that for safety reasons that hill and the particularly tiring Ranmore which followed were being dropped but another hill had been added in the middle (and don't worry it more than made up for the hills dropped).
The organisation worked well and everyone was very friendly. I managed to get around without loosing my way although I missed one sign but fortunately another rider called me back on course. Even the distance was accurate. My Polar CS600 shows 99.8 Km and my CatEye shows 62.77 miles.
I should think there were some sore legs in the morning, mine were a bit stiff. A few people must have been smelling of embrocation at their desks.
No doubt all you readers who took part took the time to lovingly clean your bikes and do any neccesary maintenance as soon as you got home after the race so it is ready for training next week
I enjoyed the ride, and was very pleased to get under the 4 hours mark (3 hours 59 mins). Over the last half hour my legs were cramping but all I could think about was pushing to break the 4 hour barrier (or was it pushing to get higher up that enormous tea queue, they did rather underestimate the demand for refreshments).
I am a bit worried as to how S from MK on his Specialized Allez (with a slashed tyre on the start which had been lined with a plastic bag to protect the tube) and Big G (riding with Team Bianchi) managed to be right on top of me time wise (4:01 and 4:11). They did very well and at this rate give them another month and I will be trailing in their wake.
The official results came through and I was 82nd out of 276 finishers. Whilst my time of 3:59 (just ver 16 mph) was respectable someone managed it in 3:16 (was that on a motorbike, can anyone cycle that fast?).
Sunday 9 March 2008
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