Cheshire Cat 2011

The clocks change and with it comes the annual test of winter training – the Cheshire Cat sportive. It’s been another winter season spent mainly on the turbo so I was keen to see how the legs performed.

Through some gracious hospitality of Ollie, Mark’s friend, the usual late night and early morning pre race drive was replace with a slap up meal and a comfortable bed only a few miles from the start.

With JOGLE coming up and the onset of a cold I said to Mark that this was going to be ridden at a slower pace. He didn’t believe me but I meant it. I didn’t want to get swept up in the packs and was determined to do the 100 miler even if it hurt and took all day.

I felt tired on the ride in and a long queue to the start line didn’t help the legs. RF tags had replaced chips for timing, a great idea but the lack of registration meant there was no thinning out of riders wanting to start. Perhaps they’ll have to start bringing in start waves like the larger running events. The wait did give us time to catch up with Robbo, doing her first Cat. Although I don’t think the short option counts as it doesn’t take in Mow Cop

Ollie, Mark and myself set off steadily with plenty of packs to jump between. The profile of the ride remained the same as last year, so Mow Cop and the other big climbs all came early on. It’s not long before Mow Cop comes into site and the memories of the wall come back.

Arriving at the level crossing that marks the start of the climb I wasn’t feeling on it. I started climbing and, I think because this was my fourth year, the road didn’t seem as steep or long. Don’t get me wrong it’s steep and it still burnt the legs but it felt manageable. I usually take a site road and recover for the 25% part but this year I pointed the wheel straight up and climbed steadily all the way up.

This theme continued for the rest of the ride, each of the hills didn’t seem quite as bad as I remembered. At the first and second food stops I felt good and in between I enjoyed chatting to Mark and Ollie. A big thanks goes out to two kind riders from Manchester Wheelers who offered to be domestiques for a few miles. They had switched to the medium route so had the energy to help us on the long option.

Past the second food station the profile becomes flatter and rolling. On the lead in I felt good and led a small group of riders. At the route split we left Ollie to finish the medium and cracked on. I felt good and put my head down and let the legs go. Bar Mark having a puncture on the last leg there were no incidents.

We finished in a time of approximately 6.26 with a ride time of approximately 5.50. My legs felt like I’d riden 50 but shortly after my cold kicked in and I felt rotten. The ride did it’s job – proved winter training had not been futile and gave me confidence for JOGLE.