British Cyclosportive
July 1, 2007 in Cycle, Event, Uncategorized
Digg! this story.
by Adrian Fitch
A long, fast (for me) day in the saddle.
Started shortly after 6am at Greenwich park and after just under seven hours of riding I rolled through the finish at Canterbury.
5,000 of us took part and I got to experience riding with groups of more experienced club riders who knew when to help each other with signals.
The 70 riders from London Dynamo particularly stood out in their distinctive blue strip.
My pace was good but I’m a particularly weak climber.
I usually fell behind the groups on the hills and then had to work to catch up or to wait and try and jump on the next train as it came storming through.
The route’s elevation profile makes the ride look more severe than it actually is.
The final major climb (Farthing Common at 163km) was no more nasty than the biggest four hills we had already tackled:
- Bostall Hill (at 10km)
- Rochester and Gravesend Roads (at 35km)
- East Malling (at 59km)
- Quarry Hill and London Road (at 80km)
What turned my legs to jelly was the middle 54km (34 miles) between the Hadlow College and Tenterden feed stations where a succession of small hills amounted to 750 metres (2,460 feet) of total climbing.
Workout:
- Type: Cycle
- Date: 07/01/2007
- Time: 06:15:00
- Total Time: 6:51:25.00
- Distance: 185.94 km
- Average Speed: 27.12 kmph
- Max Speed: 62.2 kmph
- Ascent: 1,300 m
4 comments
July 2, 2007 at 1:45 am
riddenwords
Sounds like a fun ride. When I saw 27.12 for average speed I almost feel out of my chair (thinking it was mph). It’s still a great pace and a good deal of climbing. Good job. Did you have your own ride back to town or take a ride organized bus?
Really nothing for jellied legs but more hills. I’m lucky in that I love climbing and have always lived with hills readily available.
July 2, 2007 at 7:53 am
adrianfitch
Thanks riddenwords, I was please and yes, averaging 27 mph over 120 miles would be impressive.
We’ve lived in London for nearly eight years and don’t have (or need) a car so I caught one of the organised buses back to the start. A little cramped for someone 6′5″ and I was a little stiff after the two hour journey but had a good time comparing stories.
It looks like I need to change one of my weekday training sessions into purely hill work. The next two events on my calendar are the 170km (106 mile) overnight Dunwich Dynamo with 1,450m (4,760ft) of climbing on July 28-29 and the 174km (108 mile) Archer Grand Prix Classic Sportive with an expected 2,500m (8,200ft) of climbing on Aug 5.
July 2, 2007 at 12:39 pm
karlmccracken
Congratulations on a great ride. In Warwick, the weather was sunshine & monsoons - how was it in Kent?
July 2, 2007 at 1:36 pm
adrianfitch
Thanks Karl, I really enjoyed myself.
The weather was pretty similar for us. We had a gloomy morning with a few showers blowing through but not causing any problems and then the southerly providing a nice tailwind and some sunshine for the final stretch into Canterbury.
I didn’t take my camera but the few photos I took with my mobile are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrianfitch/sets/72157600570653656/