Charlotteville 50

[George]

Steve, Lucy, Phil myself were riding the 50 down on the Bently by bypass this morning, Carl was a DNS.

Absolutely wonderful sunny warm day just right although there was a stiff breeze on the Southern leg of the course.

Full field of 120 riders and I was right at the back, was passing loads of riders today and felt good throughout, on the second lap even had the fortune to pass through the ladies field

on the second southern leg the wind had got up and it was a struggle to keep the speed high requiring more power captain!!

I crossed the live in 1.53.47 so just a minute off my pb which was on a near perfect float day so in my book thats a good ride
Lucy had the biggest smile back in the HQ as she had only gone and knocked over 7 whopping minutes off her pb top do a 2.09
Phil went home early as he was upset Lucy beat him
Not sure of Steves time as I was pretty exhausted in the HQ at the finish and just needed to chill.

When I was catching `Lucy on my 2nd lap and her 3rd one I thought it was a bloke judging by the muscles in her legs and she was shifting along nicely too!! All those Strava rides are paying off.

[Andrew G]

Well sounds like you had a bit warmer weather than me this morning. Brilliant rides to knock so much off your pb Lucy, and that's a stunning time George.

[carl f]

Nice one George cracking time mate, and Lucy thats a blinder!
Sore throat and cold for me, disappointed as was looking forward to this especially as it was such a lovely morning, left it until this morn incase i felt ok but got out of bed at 5.30 felt rough so went back to bed

[quote]Lucy had the biggest smile back in the HQ as she had only gone and knocked over 7 whopping minutes off her pb top do a 2.09

[Phil H]

My powers of training & preparation, bike-setup and pacing all came together today to produce a classic fork-up. When I set off there was no headwind and all was well to the turn. On the return leg I could feel it getting easier and easier in a kind-of suspicious way. I'd dispatched my 2 minute man (#24) with effortless grace fairly soon after the turn, blown onto the Col du Hen & Chicken at around 25mph and feeling alright.

Came around the Farnham roundabout an suspicions confirmed. Interesting headwind building and a long uphill(ish) stretch. Memories of last year's Hounslow 100 coming back. Also what's becoming apparently is that the choice of saddle position/quantity of 4rse-butter is not working and in the TT position, the chamois feels like superheated rough-grade sandpaper.

The wheels are starting to come off a bit now and finally on the 2nd Chawton turn, #24 passes me back. After the turn it's flat with a tailwind* so I start to gain back on him. Hold off a bit and leave it until after the Col du H&C to steam past him with slightly less grace. Still on for a reasonable PB.

2nd Farnham turn and it's all gone wrong. Legs are just jelly and the combination of headwind and slight uphill are too much. With about 8 miles to go, #24 passes me again and there's nothing I can do. Looking at the result, he put over 2 minutes into me in 8 miles.

Lucy's training obviously really paying off. Good ride by George there - by the time he went off the wind must've been pretty strong.

*You know when it feels as if you're really fit and on top of it, holding a high speed with little effort? That's a tailwind.

[SteveD]

A rare nice day for a change, though as Phil indicated there was a nasty rising south westerly wind throughout the event.

Having gone insane after last year's 24 hr, I've decided to ride another one this year so this event was something of a try out for the bike I intend to ride (a new road bike with clip-on aero-bars). The plan was to ride at a steady pace a bit below race pace and see how it went - I got the steady bit right as a constant stream of riders went past me (I think they were all inside 2 hours). The first two laps were fine, even enjoyable, but the plan did unravel on the last 10 miles as I hit the wall into the wind. I had 26 mins. from the 10 mile start to the finish (slightly less than 10 miles) to get inside 2:10 but ended up with 2:11:13 though still happy with the ride.

Nice rides by Lucy and George but Phil forgot his arm-warmers.

[Andrew G]

Rumour has it the 24 may come south again in the not too distant future Steve. I may do it again then but 2 years running you must have got the bug . A mega tough event but the problem with doing one is you learn what you could do differently next time...trouble is that means you have to ride another.

[Phil H]

[quote="Andrew G"]Rumour has it the 24 may come south again in the not too distant future Steve. I may do it again then but 2 years running you must have got the bug . A mega tough event but the problem with doing one is you learn what you could do differently next time...trouble is that means you have to ride another.

[Dominic]

I was watching the stuff on Andy Wilkinson on youtube last night and the bit on the event. Makes it look tempting, apart from the part when he can't support himself after he has stopped

I was wondering again about LEL myself.

[quote="Dominic"] apart from the part when he can't support himself after he has stopped

[quote="Phil the Pie"]There's LEL next year too ...