While my training had gone pretty well, albeit with a bit of a disruption due to a US trip and consequent inevitable cold, things took a turn for the worse in the week leading up to the event.
First I got an email from the organisers giving a start time of 07:00. This would mean an early rise of 05:30 to get breakfast & ride to the event. Not very nice.
Then I went to the dentists. Teeth were fine but the practice has installed a giant plasma screen showing 24 hour news. (Not sure of reasoning behind this, maybe hearing latest bad news from wherever is meant to take your mind of any upcoming pain. Still guess it makes a change from the ancient mags they have.) Anyway when the weather came up I got a bit depressed. Sunny now but inevitable forecast for a UK bank holiday was rain, lots of it, on Sunday especially. Oh and wind as well...
Now this was a bit of a double whammy
- Firstly wind and rain are the bane of any cyclist. Most especially if you want to go fast. The wind means you have to get into and stick with a group. But the rain means this will entail spending 5-6 hours getting sprayed by water and road crap from the wheels ahead. Its a bit like being inside a washing machine except you come out filthy at the end.
- Secondly my Roubaix is my pride and joy, especially with Powertap. I have heard mixed reviews of how it would react to 5-6 hours of rain and did not want to find out the hard way.
Thought about this during my dental exam and asked myself what was main purpose of doing tour. Going fast yes, but I really took up cycling again for the challenge. So I decided if the weather decided to do its worst over the weekend I would have a plan B.
This entailed taking along a second bike for wet weather use. Now this could have been my winter trainer but I thought it may be a bit of a laugh and more of challenge to stare adversity full in the face and take my single speed Langster instead. I really like riding this bike. Its almost the opposite of my Roubaix, aluminium, one gear (48x16) and no gizmos (though I do attach my Hac4). Since putting some 25c Conti 4 seasons its proved to be pretty bomb proof and I know I can do 100 miles on it as already have done this year.
So, in the time it takes to check your teeth, my mind was made up, Plan B was the Langster and to hell with trying for a super time. After all the event is meant to be fun....
So with this late decision made I packed Langster along with Roubaix, lots of clothes, cereal bars for the ride and cereal/milk for breakfast into the car and headed west Friday morning.
Friday had a number of pleasant surprises (and one unpleasant)....
Pleasant surprises first
- The drive from Newbury to my hotel in Sherborne was very nice. The weather was sunny and the views of the English countryside superb. As a bonus you go past Stonehenge. And the whole trip is only 1.5 hours. So short in fact that I had to stop for a very agreeable lunch at a pub on the way there so as not to arrive too early.
- Sherborne is in Dorset, a county I had never knowingly visited (apart from a brief stopover at Weymouth en return from France). The county is very picturesque and full of interesting stuff. Sherborne itself is a really pretty town http://www.sherbornetown.co.uk/
- My hotel was the Eastbury http://www.theeastburyhotel.co.uk/ Now I chose this simply because it seemed close to the start/finish of the event (so I could cycle there/back). However when I turned up there I found I had lucked out. The hotel is comfortable, with a warm welcome and a beautiful garden and (important if you are a paranoid cyclist) good secluded secure parking at the rear. However its best feature is the food. This is simply sublime. In the course of 4 nights I had some of the tastiest food I have ever had. Everything was marvellous but the highlights were the simply sounding Assiette of Lamb (actually lamb presented in three very different and interesting ways) and that most basic of dishes: roast chicken. This latter was quite simply the tastiest chicken I have ever had. One measure of art is how it takes the most ordinary and makes you think about it. By this measure my meal was a work of art.
Now the unpleasant surprise. When I booked my hotel I simply looked at the distance from it to the event. It was around 8 miles which is the perfect sort of distance to get warmed up on the way there and warm down on the way back.
It never crossed my mind to check if this 8 miles was flat or not. Now that was a bit daft as around my neck of the woods if you travel 8 miles E-W things are pretty smooth but N-S will involve a climb or two.
Following my arrival I had planned a ride to find the route to the start, pick up my registration pack and then recce the first few km of the Saturday route. I did this and started to have a bit of a concern as I turned out of my hotel and the first road I encountered went up at 5%. My concerns continued as, after a brief blip, the road continued at 5% for 2 miles. Then there was a sharp downhill a pause and then a sharper downhill. I looked at my speedometer, saw I was doing over 40mph and got really concerned. Going this fast downhill meant a steep descent, one that would need to be tackled on the way back.
The graphic above shows the profile of the route (wish I had done this before the visit!). The return leg from the start meant a slog up a 10% hill then a freewheel to hotel. Hardly the best warm down route in the world. Unfortunately I had no map and so no way of seeing if an alternative existed.
Eventually I found the start point, picked up my pack and set off on the start of the Saturday route. I was glad I did as it started with a climb so I knew not to go mad from the gun. After doing an hour or sos riding I turned back and got lost. Eventually I found my route home though by a longer way than I had come.
Still the weather was nice, I had enjoyed the ride and was feeling fit. I had the first of many great meals and an early nights sleep.
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