Re:
Did the "Struggle" Sportive event today, 108 miles around the roads and lanes of the Yorkshire Dales, starting and finishing in Harrogate and taking in 5 of the biggest climbs in the area.
My preparation was.... crap. Had a cold midweek and was still full of snotters, hadn't ridden a bike in the last week either. Great prep for a long ride! :facepalm:
At about the 15mile point I was seriously considering quitting. I felt like crap, clearing my nose every two minutes, and everyone was merrily wafting past me as I "struggled" on.... oh the irony!
I decided I'd ride to the first feed station at 30 miles and decide then. But my morale was boosted when I actually passed another rider, who looked like he was having a worse day than me
Feed station one arrived and I felt "ok", so decided to continue, besides, turning back would mean a 30 mile ride, added to the 30 I'd already done, I might as well just ride the full distance!
There followed many miles of country lanes and 20% climbs, it was a case of sit and spin the cranks and look at the views to take my mind off the pain. The descents were great though, properly quick, think I cooked my front disc rotor... oops!!
Miles 70 to 90 were tough, I had to deliberately take it slow on the climbs and freewheel every bit of downhill on order to save energy.
the last big climb was at 90 miles and as we made our way up it people were dropping like flies, must have been more people walking than riding. Bloody roadies!
I rode up it and got a burst of energy once at the top, the last few miles flew by and I actually felt pretty good all the way to the finish
I think I'm done with Sportives for this year though. I've a charity bike ride of 67 miles to do in July (67 miles? Piece of cake
), but nothing else planned after that.
The GT Grade I used was flawless as usual, I just used an Alpkit Fuel Pod on the top tube for tools and energy gels, everything else went in Jersey pockets.
Pics.... (I would have taken more but I was suffering too much to bother).
