I thought I'd put in 2 posts for this one, the first will be the narrative and the second just the personal stats.
The whole thing was a 6 hour 20 minute slog of which most of it seemed to be up hill. The course left the Selkirk rugby club at 10am sharp and Duncan and I latched on near the back of the peloton (I'm assuming the same goes for mountain bikes) for what was to be a really eventfully first 5 km's. No sooner had we got to about 10 m outside the club then an unusual and quite loud clunk came from the bottom bracket area. Strange seeing as this was supposed to be fixed by the skilled mechanic at the Bike Bank, Workington.
In reality the usuless idiots had actually created a new problem rather than solving the slight squeak I had so I was to be followed around the course by an annoying clunk every pressure stroke. Here's a tip, don't bother with the bike bank. Rude, incompetent and theiving would be 3 choice words.
Anyway back to the course...
At 4.5km there was a bit of a crash, a bit of a crash would be an understatement. I suspect the usual too 'close in a pack and eventually touching' thing happened with at least 2 people ending up in a ditch. One just looked a little dazed whilst blood curdling screams were comming out of another, either a youngish lad or a woman competitor based on the pitch but either way they were in a lot of pain. I hope that they were looked after well by th elocal ambulance crews and are on their way to a recovery. Not much else you can say.
A fully bunched up pack made slow progress up the first gentle climb and the traffic jam that ensued as the path became narrow eventually brought us out onto a heather moor and a simple downhill section in between the heather, I suspect that the front runners actually cut the path. A little bit of a backlog followed through some steep descening in amongst the trees (best done on foot) and back onto the open fire roads. This routine carried on but with each bottle neck the crowd thinned and thinned again as the 50Km split from the 75km and 100km routes.
A couple of fast road sections allowed you catch your breath whilst picking up a fair speed (up to 50kph) with the knobblies followed by a breather for some banana's ad a fluid top up. The began the climb. 10km of it. 6.25 miles of it and all of it up hill. Open tracks. Steep switchback. Wooded section. Rock strewn paths and open windy tacks all made for a challenging climb where only small parts were eligable for a heathly rhythm. We stopped half way up for some sandwiches and a vegetable slice (much needed) before pressing on to the top.
What goes up must come down.
And down we came
And up
And down
You get the point
The final downhill section was taken as quickly as possible before reaching the tarmac for the last time before the right hand turn into the rugby club. Select the big rig at the front and smallest at the rear and muster up all the strength you can, cross the line inches ahead of Duncan (who lead most of the way) in a true Tour de France style to take the stage victory. Get a free t shiirt and have a lie down
Excellent ride. Where do I sign up for next years?
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