The first 3rd of the event went really well. Although you could tell there were not tons of riders on this sportive I got in amongst half a dozen or so & we set a good pace & after a few miles the first of the climbs appeared. One feature of this event ( & the Polka Dot ) is that at the bottom of every climb, there is a board telling you ; what number ( there were 16 of 'em ) it is, the name of the climb & the distance to the top. I appreciated this as it helped to rattle them off later on.
The early climbs were all a few miles in length & it seemed the last 5 or so were a lot shorter although there was a sting in the tail with a 5m ride up to Axe Edge & the Cat 'n Fiddle Pass which was also when the weather took a turn for the worse..
Most of the climbs were ok - steep in places ( the roads were all 'minor' so no % signs..) but no real 'leg breakers ' like a few up in the Dales or even Winnats Pass.
So at the first feed zone at 32 miles I felt pretty good. We had completed about 7 climbs already & I was confident of getting around inside 7 and a half hrs.
I think it started to go wrong near the end of the middle '3rd' ... All the riders were well strung out by this point, the wind was picking up & I seemed to be taking a real battering in it. I remember being on my own from about the 50 mile mark & although the climbs were being whittled awayI was very pleased to to see the 2nd ( and last ) feed zone.
A brief comfort break, bottle top up 'n flap jack later I was on my way again , cheered up by the words of a volunteer, " you've cracked it now - only 3 more climbs & they are all a bit of a drag, not too steep - even Dead Mans Hill "
Unfortunately this is where the weather really started to flex its muscles... The wind really picked up which meant you could not take your hands off the bars to straighten up. Then as we started to wind our way up to the moors again the mist descended... As we reached the peaks the mist turned into a full on deluge pushed along by gale force winds... I kept my sunglasses on as they were keeping the needle like rain out of my eyes.. As I approached the Cat 'n Fiddle pub it got dangerous - visibility was poor, winds were very strong & I nearly got blown into the oncoming traffic lane. I stopped to swap my bottles, eat something & put my jacket on.. Riders appeared like ghosts out of the spray & mist and all thoughts of doing a good ride vanished back into them... As I was standing there wet 'n miserable 3 lads came by - one stood out as he had a fluro gillet on. I made sure I kept with this group as I figured at least the drivers would see him and then me hopefully. All I could think of was " get me down off this flipping moor ".
At last we descended for the last 15 miles or so.. Lo and behold it brightened up again and the last 10 miles of rolling lanes were a nice finish & I even caught a few people..
Got to say that the route was probably right up there as one of the best... On a par with the Etape du Dales for scenery, ( when you were not looking through a rain cloud ! ) and with hardly any traffic it is a great course . One nice touch that I have not seen on any other sportive ( apart from Polka Dot - same organisers ), is that they have free tea, coffee 'n biscuits in the community centre afterwards...
I have been on the website today & they had this brief note ;
The “Spud” Riley Memorial ride 2006
The 2006 ride was held on 3rd September in wet and windy conditions. This made what is generally regarded as a very hard ride even more difficult especially going over the Cat & Fiddle where a few riders were almost blown off their bikes by the wind. The last 30 miles was mainly into a headwind. Congratulations to everyone who got round.
Although this ride had a limit of 500 I know that they did not get near this amount.
For the 54 mile route there were 73 finishers ....
For the 100 mile route there were 147 fimishers ..
I finished in 7 hrs 54 mins for 70th place....
As I had a pint in the late evening sunshine I smiled and thought ; maybe I will be back next year to beat my pb..
Brian N.
Somehow I thought they wouldn't fill up - so much for that. I wanted to leave it until after a training ride last night before I entered - had slight knee problem and wasn't sure if it was OK.