Hi all, the third leg of the charity rides this year for Cyclists Fighting Cancer has been completed…just!
Lindsey, Evie and I travelled down to Nottingham the night before to stay with The Garrods as
Matt was taking part in the event also, his first 100 miler. May had put on a massive spread of meatballs
and pasta. I have never seen such a big
bowl of awesomeness! I think even Adam
Richman himself would have had issues trying to consume it all! It was a great pre-‘race’ meal. We had been doing some last minute tyre work
on Matt’s bike and had managed to pinch a tube so that changed and confident it
was ok we went to sleep as it was an early start the next day at 05:30 for
launch at 07:00. Had a decent nights
sleep but Evie’s snoring was bad the little tike!
We woke up to a howling gale outside in the morning. After consuming some muesli and cornflakes
and refusing Matt’s kind offer of beetroot juice we crammed the bikes into the
car and set off for the start. We met
Matt’s friend Darren Warrior (such a cool name) at the start and were taken to
our holding pen along with the other ‘cattle’.
We set off in waves at around 07:00 with a really strong tail wind. For the first hour we were ticking along at
around 20mph avg it was that strong. The
inevitable happened and we had to turn into the wind after an hour and a half
as we turned along the top of one of the loops.
The wind really killed off our good start. Matt, Darren and I struggled along at a
misely 13mph cursing ever so slightly the wind.
The countryside was really quite stunning and the weather apart from the
wind was really nice. After around three
hours we entered into a downpour but it wasn’t so bad as we had turned again
and the wind was now coming in from the side.
I shouted to Matt and Darren that we should form an echelon but as none
of us knew what that meant or how to do it we ended up single file. We had decided on a two stop strategy one at
50miles at Matt’s parent and one at 75miles at the last feed station. This proved to be a sensible ploy as we all
struggled a little near the end from the adverse conditions. Matt’s mum and dad really looked after us a
hot cup of tea and some peanut butter sandwiches were just what the doctor
ordered. We also had opportunity to
towel ourselves off and that was most welcome to. We thanked Matt’s parents and cracked
on. Around about the 90 mile mark we
went past Matt’s house and Evie, May, Louca and Lindsey where cheering us on
and videoing. This gave us the extra
boost we needed for the last ten miles.
The weather was everything from rain to bright sunshine but we kept
going and after taking a short detour (same mileage) to avoid a dirt track we
arrived back at the finish to a great fanfare, well a few people waiting for
other participants and a soggy field. I
was given my medal and I am not sure if I was looking like a lady at that point
as I also received the female finisher’s goody bag. My hands are now lovely and soft from the
hand cream. I am still trying to work
out how to use the hairbobbles.
I really enjoyed the ride chatting with Matt and Darren it
was great to be apart of their first 100miler and I have to say a massive
thanks to Matt for getting everyone to contribute to the charity total.
You can still make a donation here:
Every penny goes to the charity as I am meeting my own costs
for the events and travel
:-)
Here we are at the finish.
 |
| Me (Left) Matt (Centre) Darren (Right) |
Here are the ride stats to :-)
Safe Riding!
