Exmoor Beast cyclosportive

Event Details: 66.25 mile loop
Event Site: http://www.exmoorbeast.org/
Team: Mark, Phil, Jon, Tim, Alex
Time: 4.38 total, 4.15 ride time
Postion: 21st overall, 3rd in category

What a lovely weekend! Phil had managed to sort us out a cottage not far from the start, so we set off down south Saturday afternoon. As we got into Somerset the anticipation started to build as the scenery, especially the hill, looked epic. For our first big hill ride we knew this was going to be harder than we’d thought.

That night we enjoyed a Fireworks display, free as part of entry, at Dunster castle. Unfortunately we missed most of it as some people’s stomach’s couldn’t hold out for long. So we headed back to the cottage for a slap up pasta meal courtesy of Tim.

After a cold nights sleep on the floor of the cottage lounge I awoke at 6am to get ready. We got to the start, the grounds of Dunster castle, for 7am and were on the line for 7.30. The start was on an incline, leading to an early fall by someone in front who couldn’t get their clip in. I felt sorry for this guy especially as 200yards down the road he got a puncture!

We started as a pack and took it easy through Minehead, enjoying the atmosphere of riding in a large group. The first climb was fairly gentle but enough to split Tim and myself from the others. We debated waiting for the others for a while and decided to take it steady to see if they caught up. Any thoughts of waiting for the others went when we met the first big climb. We both drove hard up the steep slope, made cumbersome by a cattle grid half way, making it to the top thoroughly warmed up. We knew the guys would find that one tough so we made the decision to push on.

Following a downhill section into the woods we crossed a ford, which I later learnt Alex fell into – tip get off and walk as its better to not risk early injury! Following this we climbed, relentlessly, up onto the moor. The next 15 miles consisted of descents and hills mixed with some lovely hill top stretches. The views were stunning, easily enough to take your mind off the grinding up the hills.

A steep and thrilling decent down the cliffs to the sea, taking in 25% sections, left my hands aching and rims burning before another big climb. This time it was one I’d been hoping for; a long gradual assent. I’ve been wandering how my lefts would cope with long gradual climbs, as the Etape has them a plenty. I found I coped well, managing to stay in the saddle and take on board food and drink.

At a little over 33 miles we were greeted by the food station. Tim was feeling a little sick so we made the most of hot soup and flapjacks before setting off again. We span out the next few miles and Tim soon felt better.

The next 10 miles were my favorite. Some lovely downhill and flat sections combined with sporadic group riding saw the miles disappear. The only annoyance was one “all show no go” guy who kept tagging onto groups and breaking them apart by pushing the pace. Tim and I would later catch up with him, overtake and ensure he wouldn’t catch us.

For the last 10-15 miles Tim and I decided to push it; well alternate pushing it at least. We upped our average considerably, even on some pretty rotten surfaces down in the valley. The only thing that stopped us was a marshal directing us and saying “not long to second feed”. Now being on the short route we knew there was no second feed for us. We asked a few riders around us and they were all on the long route. By this time we just done another big hill and didn’t fancy turning around to ask a marshal. Luckily after another mile we saw the signs for the route split.

The run into the finish was a long and narrow downhill before entering the grounds to the castle.

In summary I loved it! I ended feeling like I could have done further and slightly faster but not disappointed. I think we worked well as a team and paced it right. My heart rate average was in the low 130′s so I feel much more confident about being able to take on the longer rides.