Judgement Day

Up at 4.45am which was hard work as I'd had a pretty late night at a party, I'd stayed sober but really could have done with getting home earlier & got some more kip, still felt much better than Emily who'd spent most of the night slept on the bathroom floor in puking distance of the toilet.

Strong coffee & porridge were the order of the day before getting all my kit together before Paul picked me up to drive to the Etape start in Grassington.  Realised on the way over that I'd forgotten my rain cape but thought tough s**t it'll be reet although the big clouds in the distance worried me rather a lot.  Oh & it was pretty windy which didn't look too promising.

Got to the HQ in good time, got signed on, put bikes together & got me cycling clobber on, bib tights, longsleeved undershirt, arm warmers & my Star Wheelers shirt, no gilet & no rain cape.  No rain yet though.  I decided to let Paul, Taran, James & Paul V have a bit of a head start on me hoping to meet up a bit later on in the ride.  Had a bit of a stretch, last visit to the bog & waited around for a big group to set off.

Got my tag swiped & I was off, managed to get behind some riders who were going pretty quick then lost the group I was in as I gave it a bit of an effort up a small hill then caught up with a guy in a red shirt on a rather nice Rourke bike.  He was trying really hard head bobbing up & down on the rolling but largely flat road, I did a few turns with him to show willing but he didn't seem right bothered in fact I think I was hindering him rather than helping.  Caught another guy (later found out it was Nathan the other rider who was getting training plans from 76 Harley Street) & we rode to the bottom of Fleet Moss together where they promptly left me behind.  Have to say my legs felt quite tight going up the hill but I thought it's a long ride they should get better as the ride goes on.  The wind was not making life easy especially up the climbs.

Into the 26 sprocket & got over the top & down the steep descent & then pretty much straight up Buttertubs, a climb I'd kinda forgotten about, then another steep descent. I was not enjoying the downhills at all, very steep, twisty, narrow, damp, gravelly & dry stone walls either side which wouldn't be too forgiving if you screwed up any corners.

1 Hour 21 Minutes 3 Seconds to the first checkpoint at Hawes, not stopping just got my tag scanned & set about catching a big group that had formed up ahead.  Gave it a bit of welly & caught up, this was probably my best moment in the whole ride, it's quite a nice run in to the bottom of Tan Hill, nice & sheltered & we seemed to be bombing along just chatting to people. 

Tan Hill starts of very steeply & it was hard work getting past slower riders especially when a few cars where getting in the way too.  I saw the stronger riders dissapearing into the distance.  It was at this point that I saw the other Star Wheelers, said hello & carried on.  The climb of Tan Hill is not particularily steep but it just goes on forever, luckily a group came up from behind & I tagged on with them.  There was a guy from Halifax Imps & a couple of Condor RC riders.  Good job they appeared when they did as the climb was no fun, strong crosswinds were making life miserable.

About10 times I thought we were at the top only to see the road carry on snaking into the distance but we did get to the Tan Hill Pub eventually.  1 hour 38 minutes & 50 seconds after leaving Hawes. I was feeling pretty knackered, had a quick toilet stop then straight back on the bike.

The weather had also started to close in with a bit of rain in the air, the next section of the ride was on the top of the moors & very bleak.  From this point on I was really struggling, my legs were very tired, I had a few moments were I got a 2nd wind & could get some speed going but mostly I was plodding along.  The group with the Condor riders caught me up as they'd stopped longer at Tan Hill, I rode on & off with one of the Condor guys pretty much all the way back to Grassington as he seemed to be in a similar state to me.

I was waiting for the wind to start giving me some help but it never seemed to, always cross wind then turn a corner into a headwind then turn into a crosswind.  There may well have been some more climbs on the way but I was just trying to get to the next checkpoint at the Moorcock then we'd have the 1in4 climb of the Coal Road to get over. 

1 hour 27 minutes 17 seconds later got to the checkpoint feeling very miserable, wet & cold, would gladly have thrown my bike in the back of a car & given up but had to keep going.  Once the Coal Road is out of the way it should get easier.  Coal Road was as steep as I remember & the weather was even worse at the top with low cloud & the rain was getting heavier.  I was having a bit of bother with my hands, the road are so rough & my bike is not very forgiving so I was getting shocks through my palms like trapped nerves or something, combine that with cold & wet hands & it was pretty uncomfortable.

Managed to raise half a smile for the photographer at the top of the Coal Road.

I got another 2nd wind probably about my 10th as we turned left at Ribblehead, I think I thought the next checkpoint was nearer than it was so did a big effort at the front when I realised we still had a way to go it was pretty demoralising, I'd long since given up on getting a time of about 6.45 which was my goal I was just aiming to get this ride over with.

1 hour 32 minutes & 6 seconds to reach Stainforth & the last checkpoint.  The last section of the ride is pretty steady, one more climb then a nice run in back to the HQ.  Got over the climb OK then down the last descent thank feck for that.  A big lad in Quickstep kit went past me like a bullet so got on his wheel, I think this was my 12th wind, he was towing me along at about 28 mph & I was even finding a bit of energy to do some turns.  It didn't last too long though & I let him go & rode the rest of the ride on my own, got some nasty cramp up the last little drag then into the HQ to get my tag scanned.

Have to say at this pont I couldn't have given a flying wotsit what time I had got the only concern on my mind was to get out of my wet cycling kit & put some dry clothes on before I got Hypothermia.  Felt much better once I'd had my pie & peas & a coffee.  There were some pretty cold riders in the HQ, one guy could barely pour the milk into his coffee his hands were shaking so much.

It took me 1 hour 9 minutes & 2 seconds to get from the last checkpoint to the finish & my total time was 7 hours 8 minutes 18 seconds.  At the time I was a little dissapointed with this but looking at the other times of everyone else I didn't do too bad, 67th best time.  The fastest was Jamie Larimee in 6 hours 19 minutes, a very good ride in those conditions.

On the way round I remember thinking I'm never doing this ride again but now after a few days to reflect I reckon I might have to just to get under 7 hours. I definitely went off a bit too quick this year I was towing for the last 50 miles, maybe could have got a better time if I'd pace the ride.

Hope the weather's better in 2012.