However, lets start at the beginning! I rolled up early, went to register with a huge throng of people around, and the best bit of it was there was no queue for the ladies' toilet, but a huge queue for the mens', how rare is that!! I knew there were a few others from the club taking part, but i didn't see anyone beforehand, nor out on the ride itself, and only briefly as i was leaving when i saw Tosh standing watching the cyclists coming to the finish - seemed he had had a puncture in his tubular tyre only a few miles in and didn't have a spare - gutting!
Whilst prepping my race bike (first outing of the year, having only fitted a new saddle to it yesterday), i got chatting to the woman who had parked next to me. A little older than I, and also a newbie at sportives, but i shared with her my understanding of what you needed to take out on the ride - water, food, phone for emergencies/strava, tools/inner tube, some money, and a map in case you got lost! She asked that i take a photo of her and i didn't see her again after we went our separate ways before the ride.
The ride times were very open, basically there were three distances, epic, standard, and short. The epic riders going off first in a certain time frame, which then overlapped for a while with the standard, before the standard then moved into overlapping with the short as start times. I knew i was early for the standard start time but i rolled over anyway and was surprised that i was being ushered into a starting group of about 15 riders. They called for standard plus epic riders so i was good to go, and then we had our ride briefing before we pushed off over the timing chip mat and off onto the course.
I was surrounded by men, mostly in groups, and i think all of them were epic riders. Only a couple of hundred yards down the line i had to stop as i could hear a noise, and i think i might have a slight buckle in my wheel as the noise went if i opened the brakes a little wider. Only a quick stop and away i went, not to stop again until the end! (no feed station stops for me, i had all i needed on the bike with me, and other than running out of water with 10 miles to go i was properly fed and watered all the way around!) You might be asking what i ate…well, soreen malt loaf is what i like best on the bike, easy to eat and digest, and i cut it up into little slices that i cram into my top tube bag. I'd have 2 slices per hour and i went through 2 bottles of water and that was my lot - no gels, no sports drinks, just good food and burning my own fat, of which i have plenty ;)
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| At least all the climbing meant lots of fast descending too :) |
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| Some of the hills went on forever, was just a case of keeping a steady rhythm! Can't beat that backdrop though ;) |
What i loved about this ride was the tranquility of it all, As i had set out so early on the standard route, once the epic riders turned off, for a good amount of time, before the quicker men doing the standard caught me, i was riding solo, just me, the farm land around me, and the sound of nothing but farm machinery, birds, and me! The roads were good in places and in other places were pretty brutal on the bones and would have been quite treacherous in the wet - i was concerned at one point that bits would start flying off my bike the pot holes were so bad!
The temptation was strong to TT the last 10 miles after i passed the last feed station (again without wasting time by popping in), but i kept to the plan, even up the last hill i refused to sprint up, lol, instead cresting into the finish with a bit of an anti-climax really, as there were no supporters, no guy on the mic cheering us over the line, just a roll back over the timing chip, then stop, unclip, and get my medal & tshirt & i was on my way back to the car!
After a disassembled my bike and got a quick change into clean clothes, and the lovely new ride tshirt, i headed back over to the race course centre to see if anything was going on but it was all very dead. A quick look in the wiggle shop but again, nothing there worth forking out for, so a quick toilet stop and i was on my way! A huge anticlimax in that respect, but also very glad that my parents weren't bored to death for just over 4.25 hours with nothing to look at! Something i did check though when i got back to the car was my time…had i made that "gold standard time" and YES I HAD!! i clocked 4hrs17 for the 66 miles, giving me an average speed of about 15.4mph which given there was over 6000ft of climbing wasn't too shabby given i was keeping my heart rate in check on patches when i could have easily stretched my legs!
So, whilst the atmosphere is nothing like a triathlon, and given there were no overall standings to see how i fared against other women, i was still pleased with my efforts and happy that my body felt good on the ride, the new castelli donna tri shorts (which i had bought ready for half-ironman races) fitted like a glove and were super comfy, and my race bike (wheel buckle aside) went like a dream on her first outing of the year :)
I'd highly recommend the Wye Valley Warrior for anyone fancying a challenging but scenic sportive :) Happy cycling folks!
