SWRC CYCLOSPORTIVE (100km / 62miles, 1270m of climbing)

Glorious sunshine, quick sign-on and a quiet, well signed route, what more could you ask for ? Well, maybe not such a cold day and a bit less headwind on the return leg :-)

Thanks to the cold weather we got off to a bit of a slow start and it took a bit of time to get the lungs opened-up and the legs spinning freely. The situation was not helped by a "proper" hill in the first few miles, but we still persevered. Andrew was finding the going tough, putting it down to the cold and a slight chest infection. On a descent soon after, we came across a sight you dread, a fellow cyclist down on the road :-( Some other cyclists were already with him and had made him comfortable. It was not obvious to us what had caused the fall. Andrew went down to see if he could help and I pedalled back up the hill to flag traffic down and get them to turn around. Fortunately the paramedics, ambulance and police were on-site very quickly, so we decided to press on. At the end of the ride we learnt that the guy had "escaped" with a broken shoulder. Andrew took the opportunity to check his bike once he had established the injured cyclist was in good hands, and discovered his rear brakes were rubbing hard against the rim. Once fixed, he finally found his legs and we were off!

Much of the ride down out was either flat or gently undulating and we made good time. At the turnaround point we missed the checkpoint, although speaking to other riders so did most of them. It seems that the person manning it had taken refuge in a cafe which we'd all sailed past. Turning back for home the headwind really hit us. Again a fairly undulating route but the wind really punishing.

With about 15 miles to go we'd teamed up with another few riders and managed to get into a good 		rhythm. At the 10-mile to go mark we got passed by another group and managed to latch on to their wheels. For the first time in the day we were getting a tow :-) Then, in a moment of madness Simon decided to take a turn at the front and not content with this, he decided to try and bridge the gap to another group further on down the road ! Somewhere during this process Andrew lost touch with the group(s). Now bridging such a gap is one thing, but keeping up with the group once you've caught them is another and whilst Simon managed to hang on in, there was obviously going to be a price to be paid for such foolishness :-o. Payment was swiftly extracted on the final hill of the day, a nice long climb with a gentle start and a 14% sting in the tail. By 1/2 way up Simon had been dropped by the group, by 3/4 of the way cramp had set in to the quads and calf's to the extent that "pedalling" was achieved by synchronised rocking of the hips and shoulders, then the ultimate indignity of having to resort to Shanks Pony to make it to the top ! Having not pushed as hard in the run in Andrew managed the hill on 'the granny' but suffered on the flat afterwards. After topping out, it was largely down hill back to the start for Simon, where Andrew soon joined him (after a brief detour around one of Mr Barretts latest euro box estates).

Simons stats: Distance 62.88 miles, Time 4:15, Average speed 15.1mph, Average heart rate 156 bpm (85% of maxHR)

Andrews Stats: Time 4:20, Average Speed 14.7mph, Average heart rate 151bpm (75% of max)

SimonH and Andrew

The above article was posted on one of our neighbouring clubs websites by a couple of their members who took part in our early season cyclo-sportive orgainsed by Geoff Redhead and his team of helpers. The article speaks for itself. Simon and Andrew were not the only ones who enjoyed the event and many others passed on their thanks to the 'team' at the finish.

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