Fundraising continued well while I was away and all cheques from company sponsors came in. Total now at about £2,900 excluding work's contribution. I'm now hoping to top £5k come the end so fingers crossed.
My bike is named 'Black Beauty' as she's black and she's a beauty. No horse references whatsoever. She was in for a service whilst we were away so first thing I did on returning home was to pick her up and pay Certini the £120 bill with all the unspent Euros. New chain, cassette and cleaned bottom bracket - although it still creaks!
Commuted to work Tues/Wed and then rode 42 miles up through Holne & Hexworthy on Wed night as this Sunday was the Dartmoor Classic. Legs felt a little heavy so decided to rest until the big day.
Registered on a blisteringly hot Saturday and then no sleep that night due to excitement. Met Richard at 6.30am near the start where we prepped and nervously waited till the off on what was another fine day. 7.14am and we were away.
Felt really good as we made our way to Bovey Tracey, so much so that I burst to the front, Paula Radcliffe style, just to stretch the legs. I was to learn how powerful local knowledge was on this ride, knowing when to attack and when to dig in was crucial.
The climb up to Manaton was steady, Richard taking an early lead as the rising temperature brought the sweat out. Fluids were consumed with gay abandon and on the top at Haytor the first gel of the day was consumed. A fast descent to Ashburton (44mph) and then good old Holne Hill at 25%. Made it with ease, the only scare being when the guy in front clipped his foot from his pedal - nasty. As is usaul I had taken Rich on the descent and we were back together again by the time we were at Vennford reservoir.
Tough to Princetown as we had a headwind and our 2-up strategy failed abysmally. Went over the timing mat and then met Mum, Dad & Jane at the layby near south Hessary for refreshments as it saved the queues at the feed station. A quick stop and then the fast descent down to Horrabridge before climbing to Moorshop and into Tavvy where the church service was taking place on the green. A sermon about Franz Beckenbauer and the World Cup? What are Sunday's coming too?
Climbed out of Tavvy and by now on open roads to Chillaton the blistering heat and lack of wind was taking it's toll. Dehydration was a real fear.
Richard caught and left me here as we moseyed through Coryton and Lydford Gorge. On the road to Brentor Rich and I started to struggle with cramp at about 60miles and I was feeling very sick due to all that sugar!Stopped at Brentor timing mat for fresh water as we were now out of fluid. Nigel Mansell also enjoyed a pit stop here. He is cycling around Britain with his sons this year and must have been using the ride for practice.
Through to Mary Tavy and then descend to Harford Bridge before the Col de Batteridge Hill. Out of the saddle due to cramp but a 'floppy hat wearing' Jon Eatly and friends shouted with gusto at the top which gave me real encouragement.
Climbed Pork and Merrivale Hills in seering heat again with no wind. Heat from the sun and from the road made this a severe test. Richard had been dropped due to cramp again but by the feed station in Princetown he was only a minute down. Met Mum, Dad & Jane again for a refuel on the main road in Princetown. Mother looked concerned as I declared that I thought I was going to be sick! My time estimate was also 45mins out for this leg which made her worry.Cycled back to Rundlestone and now it was my turn for cramp in the thighs so this was the last I saw of a strengthening Richard. Thankfully I knew the roads. Our aim was 8hrs 20mins so we could medal on the 106mile ride. We needed an average of 13 and we'd dropped to 12.5 but thankfully the biggest ascents were behind us and the last 15 miles down the Teign Valley was our JOKER!
Having regularly ridden these roads, Two Bridges, Postbridge and Mortonhampstead were a ticking off list with the only excitement being caused by 3 errant sheep. The final test was up the climb from M'hampstead to Doccombe. With tiring legs the tactic was to spin to the top and maintain the average which dropped by the top to 12.7.
My words to Rich were "when you see that sign, ATTACK" when we trained for this ride and attack we did. 3 miles downhill to the Teign and then 12 miles on the flat to Kingsteignton. Flat out until 2 miles from the end when my quads on my left leg decided enough was enough. Full seizure! My lowest gear and leg stretches on the flat but my day was not going to be ruined by fatigue. The heat of Dartmoor once got me on the Ten Tors. It was not going to get me again.
Made it to the line in 7hrs 55mins 26secs with Richard 3 mins ahead of me. High fives were only soured by Germany 2 England 0 being announced over the PA as we were on our way to a sound thrashing in Bloemfontaine. Mum, Dad and Jane arrived to join our celebration as we proudly supped Sprite and admired our granite trophies and bronze medals.
One heck of a day but isn't it just grand when a plan comes together. The winner finished in 5hrs 28mins, but who cares when Richard and I had won our own personal battles? We averaged 13.2 mph for the entire ride with a 'moving average' of 14mph which is very commendable as we had over 10,000' of climbing to negotiate.
With the Classic ridden, it's a week off for me and indulgence in unhealthy food until the training starts in earnest for the big one next week. I'll have 8 weeks to train hard before the trip down to Land's End.
