Cycling Sportive Review : Tour of Wessex - Day 3

"How you feeling mate?"... "Still recovering from day one, knees are f***** and I'm knackered already...!"

Usually saying this sort of thing wouldn't be quite so bad, especially on the final day of my first three day cycle event - but the problem with this was that I was only 6.5km into the 95km route, and this was supposedly the hilliest of the three! Even though I was 'only doing the short route' it still had a rather testing climb in the middle of my day and as you can see from the elevation mapping on my Strava route it wasn't completely flat all the way to the bottom of that climb either!

From what I can remember of the day (and this can't be too bad considering I'm typing this up nearly FIVE months down the line) it was one of those "normal" British days - not too hot and not too cold, even so I was still in my hi-vis waterproof for the start of the day just to make sure that my body temperature didn't drop too much quickly when I pottered over the start line. We'd managed to get ourselves into the first group to leave that day, which may have felt like a blessing as we set off with people still cheering - that bit of added enthusiasm - but once I'd been swept up by the third group within the first 5km I was beginning to think that maybe it wasn't such a great idea!!

After I'd managed to warm up my legs and had the chat the the motorcycle outrider (see above) I did find myself being caught by a group that I was more able to keep pace with, and whilst I was in no fit condition to contribute on the front of the group (bad form I know) I'm not entirely sure whether they would have wanted me slowing them down anyway! The route was a lot more open that the previous two days and meant that we did keep on getting split up as crosswinds broke through the mini-peletons.

Talking to peletons, I got a good feeling of what it must be like to be in the middle of a pro field going through some twisty town streets after I got caught by another group who all seemed to be competing together just as I got to Bridgwater. Ladies and Gents - it's a frightening experience when you have no idea where you're going, the other group is going a lot faster than you, and all you want to do is potter along and get to the end whereas they are hell-bent on getting to the finish as fast as they can! The shouting and gesticulating went on for what seemed like an eternity until I got spat out the back of the group and into peace and quiet again.

Once we'd left the town the road started to climb as we headed more towards Exmoor and to the before-mentioned climb of the day. With the experience of the day one evening (read more here) still fresh in my mind I was very keen to make sure that I was topping up my fuel reserves on-route, but also due to my knackered knees and general tiredness I didn't seem able to eat on the move and so spent quite a bit of time at the side of the road like a monkey with a banana in hand. Thanks to all those who asked whether I was ok as they wizzed past! I was fine, just a bit incompetent at the time!!

The hill started in ernest just before I hit the 40km mark and as seems to be the way when you're in a national park or around farming land the obligatory cattle grid was sat just as the slope ramped up - luckily the group I was in at the time managed to get to here just as a kindly passer-by decided to hold open the vehicle gate to the right of the grid to allow us all to flow through on the loose gravel instead! Some people did still decide that the cattle grid was the way to go but I'm pretty sure that I heard a great deal of swearing in the preceeding seconds as they wheelspan, lost all momentum and toppled off their bikes!

For the first time on the ride by legs actually felt ok as we climbed, and I came to realise that it was probably the height of the seatpost that was doing the damage to my legs rather than just the riding since when I stood up I was ok - now sensible people would have then stopped the bike when they reached the top and then adjusted the seatpost wouldn't they?... I'll still keep with blaming in on the tiredness!

Now, the decent from top of the moor?..... OMG!

I have never been quite so frightened of a decent in all my life I don't think, I'd been warned on the climb up not to go too crazy as it was a steep decent but wasn't quite sure how bad until I saw the 20% signs...

Creative Commons Attributes: 20% Sign

Brakes on. Hold on.

Well that method is all good and fine, until the brakes heat up so much that they stop working, and instead of slowing down when you squeeze the levers harder you start speeding up again!

The part of the decent that was even more frightening than this (yes, it got worse!) was watching one bike sail past me, then a loud bang ("change of cycling shorts please!!") and watching said bike skid to a halt in front of the rockface at the 90° bend at the bottom as his tyre had blown from the heat of the brakes...

Thankfully for me and the other riders who had done the decent doing our level best to pull the brake levers through the back side of the drops, the feed station was just around the corner and I joined in the scrum to bag some savoury treats before heading back onto the road again.

The next 10km were glorious - a bumpy 2.5km gave way to a supremely steady decent of around 7km where I was able to let my legs flow and make up for the agony of the morning - from somewhere they'd managed to lose the pain of earlier, although in hindsight I have a feeling it was more to do with the fact I was enjoying the ride so much I just couldn't feel the pain at that point. A sudden left hand turn in Bishop's Lydeard put me back on the flat and lumps - and much to my annoyance the knees where hurting again...

The rest of the route passed without much incident, apart from a very minor detour after missing a turning, and then being made 'leader of the pack' once I'd been shouted at by the Garmin to get back on route, and finding a load of other riders who had also lost the route but hadn't got it loaded onto their bike computers! You talk about the blind leading the blind eh?! I was just trying to have a quiet ride back to save my knees and suddenly there is a load of people relying on me to return them to base!

Creative Commons Attributes: Long Sutton, Langport

Due to my knees playing around again I ended up dropping out of the back of the group (once they'd established I wasn't leading them on a wild goose chase!) and we'd found the route signage again. I'd assumed the next time I saw them would be a chance encounter as we all wandered around looking for cake and medals but as I rounded a bend on the high street in Langport there was a flouro group with wheels waiting for me on the pavement - they'd missed the signs again and so had to put up with another 2km of snail pace before all disappearing off again as I stopped to stretch my knees out.

Now this is where I'd like to apologise to Ade (sorry mate, again!). He is friends with one of the guys I ride with from back at my parents and happened to be part of the group that kept on relying on me for navigation. He'd also had to put up with my moaning for a good part of that distance about my knees and how I was only just going to manage to get back to Somerton (if indeed I was ever going to make it back!) He was also part of the group who kept on waiting for my navigational skills on the way back and after my final stop and stretch I'm pretty sure he was expecting to just see me once he'd crossed the finish line and collected his tea and medal!

I know I am a stubborn git sometimes (some people call it stupid..) but once up the final drag and with only a kilometre or so to go I have the rather genius plan to leave the final remnants of my legs on the road and went for a balls - out TT effort and sprint to finish. With only 500m to go I hammered it past Ade, and didn't even slow to help tow him along... He was a damn good sport about it but I am sorry!!

Creative Commons Attributes : WessexSportive-5240152

After crossing the line with a stupid grin on my face I have to admit I was so glad to get off the bike - even though I hadn't pushed as hard as some of the other participants my legs certainly let me know that I'd done enough for the time being...

Thanks to the organisers of the Tour - it was a cracking event (even if you couldn't quite get the weather on the first day!), well signposted and marshaled (thanks to the motorcycle outriders as well). I'll be back at some point, even if it's just to do the full 2nd and 3rd days to start with - there is some unfinished business now! 

A special thanks as well to Robin, he was the guy who helped to push me all the way on day one and then give me the motivation to get on the bike days two and three! Between us we managed to raise over £1,800 which is amazing! Thank you to everyone who sponsored us!

Cycling Sportive Review : Tour of Wessex - Day 2

"One. more. push... Just. one. more. push... Got... to... be... nearly... there..."

It's 45km into day two of the Tour of Wessex, my Garmin 500 has decided it's had enough, I'm on the hardest climb of the day with no idea how much further up the hill to go, and I'm nearly at the same point as the Garmin.

If you've read the review of day 1 of the tour (if not, then why not?!) then you'll know that I was in a really sorry state at the end of the day, and only just managed to roll over the line - mainly due to the weather but in part due to the severe lack of training... Come 6am on the morning of day 2, just as my alarm was going off I was very much as the picture below suggests - dead to the world and not in a mood to leave the warmth of the duvet!

Creative Commons licence : Hibernation

It is amazing what a bite of food and a glass of fruit juice can do, especially when served as an appetizer to the fresh feeling of being out in the English countryside on a late spring morning. By the time the bike was loaded on top of the car I was starting to feel a slight bit better and three bananas later I was even (very slightly) looking forward to the start of the day!

Spirits were slightly knocked when we got to HQ to find that the car parking had been moved a mile round the corner - a sensible decision due to the usual car parking being torn up by cars on day one in the rain, but due to my still slight fragile feeling an extra distance on the event wasn't something I was looking forward to!!

Day one war stories were already being shared by people when we started unloading from the car, and from the chatter that we could here most people were sensible and stuck to the shorter route in the terrible weather. My bike was definitely the muckiest that morning, due to the fact that I hadn't even thought about cleaning it the night before, and really stood out as I wheeled it very quickly past all the other gleaming machines in the hope that I would be going past so quickly that it wouldn't be noticed...

If you've read some of my other blog entries then you might have seen the one about bananas, and I'm pretty sure it was me looking like the monkey this time around! I had the best part of a punch stuffed into my pockets and up the inside of my jersey along with all the other energy bars, gels and free pieces of flapjack that were being handed out by the sponsors on the way to the line. I was determined not to fall foul of what happened the day before again and with scattered sunshine at the start line I was hopeful that the weather was going to allow it as well!!

From the start we managed to slip into a larger group of riders, something that we failed to do on the morning of day one, and for anyone who hasn't felt the difference it makes of being in a larger group - the facts you hear about saving at least 10% energy when travelling at speed are very much true. We managed to keep latched onto the back of this group for the first 20km or so, just until we swept into Yeovil before I was spat out the back and didn't want to expend the little amounts of energy I was still recovering from the day before.

Creative Commons Licence : Leading the Peleton

Once out of Yeovil we carried on heading further South East in the direction of Wareham and Corfe Castle, but before we get to the first feed station I'm starting to struggle - Black Hill is the toughest climb of the day (for the "short" 80 mile course at least) and I'm starting to go the way of my Garmin which gave up the ghost about 2.5km ago after being treated the same as the bike the previous evening and not getting charged. Although the climb is only officially 1.27km in length I was at the muttering stage long before the steepest gradients of 18% and only the crazy pace of the drums beating near the top were keeping me going at all. All too soon though, the gradient and my condition got the better of me, along with someone else also giving in to the climb, as soon as I had to give up the tiny amount of momentum I had the game was up and I was then leaning on the handlebars trudging up the final part of the ascent in cleats (no easy task in itself!)

I'm not sure that a decent had ever been quite so welcomed, but it sure was for glorious to sweep down the other side towards Cerne Abbas and feed station number one! Once reloaded with the other half of the banana tree I ate that morning, and fully stocked with fig rolls and electrolyte drinks it was back on the road again, not long after the feed station the routes split and I was joining with riders I didn't know to take the quick way home. The great thing about cycling events like Tour of Wessex are that you don't need to know anyone to have a great time, I spent the best part of the next 40-odd km chatting to random people as we kept similar pace before either one moved off or stopped for a rest as there was no need for competition!

Creative Commons Licence : Milton Abbas Village, Dorset

The next climb of the day was through the picturesque village of Milton Abbas, which (so was mentioned as we rode through) where they film some parts of the TV series Downton Abbey. This was the longest climb of the day at just over 6km in length, but when you can ride through parts of the British countryside with views as wonderful as the above then you can't really complain can you?! Once we'd reach the top it was then a ride through the woodlands that surround the area and as you can see from the picture below they look superb when covered in bluebells!

Creative Commons Licence : Bluebells in Delcombe Wood, near Milton Abbas, Dorset

After rolling down to the second (and final for the shorter route) feed station of the day, and stocking up of more food and drink the remainder of the day was just wonderful rolling along in isolation apart from the increasing number of groups of faster riders doing the full 187km route that we flying past me the nearer I got back to HQ in Somerton. The energy was starting to really sap in the final 30km and my knees were in agony (more on that in the day three review) but somehow I got back, and in another show of the support that you get in events like this one of the individual riders who flew past me just before the last climb up to Somerton gave me some encouragement and therefore moral support that was greatly needed at that point (so a MASSIVE thank you to that person!)

So I'd managed to get over halfway through the event, (even if the Garmin hadn't) and for a look at the first part of my ride just click here and have a look on Strava.

For more details on the charity that we rode the event for click on this link.

And for my review of the final, and fantastic (if a little painful) day of cycling on the Tour of Wessex, make sure you keep your eyes peeled!

Keep 'em Spinning.

Robo