The Cheshire Cat sportive

Event Details: 100 mile loop
Event Site: http://www.kilotogo.com/cheshirecat.htm
Team: Mark, Phil, Jon, Tim, Alex
Time: 06:12:47 (results)
Position: 169 out of 510

I’ve been nervous about this one recently as I’ve not been on the bike since the and the weather looked ominous. Luckily the rest did my legs good and the weather was perfect.

We started the ride with a large group shortly after 9.30. Tim and I stuck with this group for the first 20 miles, letting other rides set the pace and take some of the wind. The rest of the team fell off the back of this group and I didn’t see them for the rest of the ride. Always knew this would happen but was a shame the split happened early.

The group split up after 20 miles and the first set of hills. I continue to ride with Tim until 30 miles where the short and long route split. I’d discussed doing a fast 60 miler with Tim but my legs felt good and I opted to give the long route a go. For the next part of the ride I was alone but got into a good rhythm, overtaking quite a few people.

At 50 miles I caught up with someone setting a similar pace. We overtook each other a few times then got chatting. The next ten miles were spun out with good conversation. We split up after a diversion sent us up the first large climb. I’d pulled away by the top and continued with a fast decent. At 60 miles I hit my first wall. I took my only energy gel and immediately felt revitalised.

I could see Mow Cop looming and wasn’t in a good place. A toilet stop at a pub sorted me out. I settled into the Mow Cop approach alone and feeling fairly good. The approach took me by surprise – its bloomin steep! The YouTube videos don’t do it justice. I had to traverse the first part before hitting the steep bit. I opted to lay it down, standing up on the pedals I flew up the 1 in 4. I got to what I thought was the top and asked a marshal for my medal; she said if I made it to the top I would get one. The top! I thought I was at the top! What followed was another half mile of steep climb before as decent to the final feed station.

Pictured: The final feed station after Mow Cop. The sausage rolls were a welcome change to sweet flap jack.

Pictured: The medal I received for climbing Mow Cop without putting a foot down.

After a feed I felt great and thought I’d finish in no time. How wrong I was. Following a long decent was a series of long and hard climbs. By 80 miles I was done in; I was feeling a lot of pain in my neck and left knee. Really needed another energy gel but was lacking.  Not helping matters was the lack of signage. A large group of riders and I took several wrong turns. Luckily my Garmin helped me get back on track.

80 to 90 hurt, a lot. I was fighting my body and mind. I found myself focusing on the mileage, willing it to increase – not a good idea. At 90 I found a bench on a junction and opted for a stop and a stretch. For the final 10 I cranked up the tunes on the ipod and tried to sing to take my mind off the pain.

I was delighted to finish but also amazed that I’d done it. It was one of the most testing events I’ve done and I rode through walls I’ve only previously run and rowed through. I hope I can build on this for the E’Tape, although I’m apprehensive about how I’ll get on.