Raising the bar

First the bad news
This weeks weigh in 99.9kg
Weight gain 1.1kg
Mostly due to the fluid intake since yesterday helping to support my swollen muscles.

Miles last week 144
Longest ride 110 miles

Why are the muscles giving me some stick? Yesterday was the Etape du Dales, that's why.

Right from the start, the Etape du Dales has been the yardstick event on which I intended to measure my progress towards the Etape itself.

It has:
Slightly more miles
The same amount of climb
Enough riders to have some group riding (though it turns out, not too much)

But:
Has more descending (Etape finishes on a mountain)
The Etape proper lacks oxygen on the big climbs

The predictions for the Etape du Dales were about 8:30 actual riding (if I was going well) plus stops, so I was aiming for a time of 9:15. By my calculations, with 7 weeks to go, this would equate to an Etape ride of about 9:30 including all stops/interruptions, well inside the Broom Wagon schedule.

On arrival at Grassington, my fellow riders informed me that Silver Standard was 8 hours. I had assumed it would be much less. Without any real hope of achieving this, I set off in the company of Mike and Brett towards the first climb at Fleet Moss.

Half way there my HRM started throwing a real wobbly. Shortly after maxing out on a short, sharp climb, it began to register a rate of about 230 per minute.

Either a) I have Karen's problem or
b) It's stupid

I did the only sensible thing and retired.........NOT!!

After a 2 minute stop to remove the errant electronics from my person, I set off again through the most beautiful morning and countryside to the base of Fleets Moss, and the start of the day's purgatory. The climb was hard, the following descent mind-blowing. I admit I bottled and braked at 45.8mph...sorry. Others went past as if I were standing still.

The feed station followed. Shortly afterwards I found out that you cannot tackle a major climb with the handlebars in one hand, and a butty in the other.

By the time of the second feed at Tan Hill it was already apparent I would not make the Silver Standard, so I set myself a target of 8:30 and decided to give it a real go. For the next 40 miles I went just about as hard as I could (including a guest spot on cyclosport TV) coming perilously close to bonking on one occasion, but taking a gel 'blind' in the nick of time without any knowledge of the coming climb up to Newby Head.

Shortly after Halton Gill, and the foot of the descent from the days last climb, a large yellow sign proclaimed "10 miles to go".

"Bridge to engineering. Warp factor nine". "The engine cannae take it Cap'n". "Give it everything anyway".

On the drops and pounding for the whole distance back, I reeled in about 20 riders in that 10 miles, and in the words of Mr Cotty on the Etape Reconnaisance video "left it on the road".

By the time I arrived at the finish, there was absolutely nothing left. Nothing at all. I was gutted to the point of tears to learn my time was 8:30:13, just 13 seconds outside the 8 and a half hours. All lost behind an ambulance on the way out of the start within 2 minutes of actually starting.

The journey home was one of many navigational disasters, mostly due to the state of my brain, which was completely gone. There really was no way I could have given anything else. Looking back, I'm no longer gutted, but delighted at beating my expectations by 45 minutes, and setting an Etape expectation below 9 hours.

The obligatory numbers:
178km/110.8 miles
Ride time 8:17:20
Elapsed time 8:30:13
Average ride speed 21.5kmh/13.37 mph
Max 73.7kmh/ 45.8mph

Finishing position 432 of 666 starters.

Unsurprisingly, my slowest section was the one with most climbs, the best the one with most flat/descent.

The bar has now definitely been raised, but I'm determined to take it higher still. Next year I'm going back 10kg lighter. And I'm having that Silver Standard.

Chapeau! to both Brett and Mike, who both got Silver.