Still Smiling

The Cheshire Cat Sportive is over (thankfully) and I can still smile like the title character.

Sunday miraculously dawned clear and sunny, quite a change from the forecast as late in the week as Friday morning. Gone were the threats of torrential rain, howling 50mph gusts of wind and/or sub-zero temperatures, replaced with a day so good that the boil-in-the-bag waterproof coat spent the day locked in the car.

All was not plain sailing, however, as the rudimentary task of checking tyre pressures resulted in a broken valve and inner tube replacement before I had even got on the bike. Next the overshoes bit the dust mid-installation with the zip unravelling into a tangle of useless metal. This was not the disaster it first seemed, as the improvement in the weather as the day went on would have meant my feet were too hot anyway.

With all this faffing about our intended very early start became just an early start. Another hidden advantage since this meant that there were more riders ahead of us to chase after when the start group fragmented into nothingness inside the first 4 miles.

I managed to stick with Brett and Mark until the first 'real' hill of the day after Weaver Bridge but, whilst they were still in sight at the top, I had blown through my max heart rate and the recovery period saw them disappear into the distance.

The Norley drag saw me pull alongside Karen (see blog link) and exchange observations on how unnecessarily difficult hills are, prior to my pulling away to chase after Brett & Mark (pointless). Sorry not to have caught you at the finish, Karen, hope it all went well.

The Yeld was equally painful, but is probably the last hill I remember prior to the 'lovely' diversion just before Alsager. The organisers, who did a very good job, had no choice but to detour us round roadworks closing the road, the problem being not the extra 1.8km, but more the additional 90 metres of climbing. Nice!

It was at about this point that Mow Cop hove into view, prompting the rapid consumption of a Torq gel (with extra caffeine). I'm convinced that the two major components of gelignite are Glucose and Caffeine after trying those. The speed deliberately dropped off for the next 5 km to at least save my legs marginally before the climb.

I entered the sportive with 2 distinct intentions:
1. Ride Mow Cop without stopping
2. Beat last year's time

I swear that Mow Cop has got steeper since the last time I tried it a few weeks ago, and the less steep bit in the middle has got steeper. Nonetheless, I managed a grimmace/smile for Cyclosport TV, and ground up at a cadence of about 35 in 30/27. Very few around me remained mounted by the bottom of the steep section, but in Churchillian fashion I was determined to 'never surrender'. If there is a record for how slowly you can ride a bike up Mow Cop, I probably am close to holding it at 3.2kmh, a feat of balancing excellence, if I say so myself. The top was reached without feet contacting ground. To quote Muttley from the Cartoon "Medal, Medal, Gimme Gimme".

Blacky Bank and Bridestones were as bad as I remembered, but did not prompt walking this year, and over the last 20km, I managed to leave most of the energy I had 'on the road'.

Brett and Mark had finished in ultra-respectable 5:54's, so they had to wait for me for a while, however:

Time last year: 8:04
Time this year: 6:35 Now that's what I call improvement!

One last comment. All the way around, people were asking "Are you Clive? I've read your blog". I'm amazed that so many people have found it and deem it worthy of attention. Thank you all for your support. My apologies if, in my haste to finish and shattered state, I didn't get to say 'thanks' in person.

And to the guy I spoke to at the finish, good luck in the Etape, and I hope to see you in Pau.