Tour of Wessex report

[Sylv]

That was the hardest thing I ever did
Not sure yet but i may have "won" it
i'm off to bed!

[George]

On a grim day when everyone else went home, Sylv stayed and rode the final stage to complete the 340 mile sportive!
Chapaux
Pure class

[Peachey]

Tour of Wessex - never again.......

Well done Sylv and Ben who also finished.

[Sylv]

“It’s a sportive so its not racing - just a relentless training ride where we try and drop everybody”.

The pre-race banter was in full swing all week long for team ACC: Beckie, Matt, Darren, Stu, Paul, George, Richard and myself who were joined by Jon, Ben and a couple of his mates.

[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2209/5780581172_323ce7c143_z.jpg[/img]
campsite

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/5780579784_a4e9f851d9_z.jpg[/img]
stage profiles (and Stu’s Weight Watchers biscuits)

Stage 1 – 173.5km

Weather: grim, chilly, windy but dry. Team ACC, complete with caravan, giant flags, bike stand, flying marquee (let’s not mention the Darren car incident) rolled on the start line in one of the first few waves shortly after 8.30am. Straight into a through and off we went with 30sec turns, with half of Paul’s food immediately flying out of his pockets. We picked up a few people from the earlier groups on the way, especially after we’d gotten stuck behind a caterpillar on a small lane after about 1h. Pace up till then was over 38km/h – I wasn’t sure we’d sustain that for much longer!

We reached the first major hill at the top of which were sitting the photographers, including Neil, George’s mate on his motorbike. I pushed the pace hard up it and was joined by a couple guys. On the next rolling downhills it regrouped and stayed together till we reached Cheddar George after 45km. There I upped the pace again and the two same guys followed, one of them taking a strong turn at the front which gave us a big gap by the summit. I had been hoping that some ACCers would join us, but there was no time to wait so we started through and offing.

Not long later we passed the first food stop and the weaker guy turned off. So it was just me and one big tall guy, who was pretty strong but started fading some time later going uphill. We carried on for about 20min till for some reason he took a turn at a junction, leaving me on my own. That was only about 70km in so I wasn’t too hopeful to stay away, but soldiered on!

Another 15km on and I reached the village of Bruton, where stationery traffic due to a wedding obscured a direction arrow that was on a wall, I just followed the traffic before realising about a minute on that it couldn’t have been the right way. I backtracked up the one-way street back to the junction where I met the rest of the group, who told me they would be stopping to wait for Matt to mend a puncture, relieve ourselves and knock at a random house to ask for water. It was a good thing I went wrong, otherwise I would have been tiring myself for another 10 miles or so before being caught.

After another 10-15 min we reached a steep hill, where I followed one guy which detached us from the group. Paul was trying to come with us, and by the top I thought of waiting for him, but it was not really an option as he was too far back, and besides it was the perfect occasion to try and put some time between us, especially as he would now have to wait for the rest of the group : ).

The guy and I started sharing turns, the wind was crazy and at times it felt like we were just crawling. It was good as to start with we were pretty evenly matched, no talking going on just a nice smooth paceline with our heads down. We still had 80km to go though! It began drizzling but that was actually quite nice. Later on we picked up another guy but who would only take turns when really pressed. I used the next mega-steep climb (Alfred’s Tower I think) to shoot ahead and stop to look at my rear wheel which was rubbing on something and driving me nuts – was just a bit of tape. We then went through a beautiful forest which reminded me of the Jura in France. Those two weren’t any help now so a bit later I decided to drop them on a climb. According to the info pack the stage was 160km and I thought I was less than 10km from the finish so pressed on hard as was feeling good.

The next section was on a main road straight into the wind. I was now less than two miles from the finish according to my GPS, and had been counting down the km from about 40 to go, when I saw a sign for Somerton, the HQ, at 9.5 miles – that was a bit of a blow. I started looking back expecting to be caught at any point. I had ran out of food and drink and starting to fade. There was a nasty little hill up to the village (which would come to be known as Stu Hill) and then finally the relief of seeing the campsite, after 5h21 at including 5h13 riding at 33.3km/h. Having left early in the morning I was the first back at HQ, but later learnt that Jake Martin and Chris Opie from Pendragon had been round in 5h10 – they were only doing the one stage though : ). The next group with Paul, Matt and Stu arrived 3min30 later. The job to gain a time gap was done, now all I had to do was sit in the group for the next couple days : ) I’ll let the others tell their tales, but let’s just say that Darren was sick on the course, Richard spent half an hour lying on the floor afterwards, most of us (including me) started developping knee problems, and Beckie arrive smiling after having spent nearly 7h on the saddle and actually looked the freshest of any of us!

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3196/5780590172_63c8aaef69_z.jpg[/img]
Jon, Darren, Stu, Paul, Ben and Gorge

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3486/5780031475_33412687ab_z.jpg[/img]
what’s going on there?

[img]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5266/5780578306_d35f90735e_z.jpg[/img]
Is Paul cleaning his bike?

[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2667/5780040281_f44833b85d_z.jpg[/img]
Of course not

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3406/5780584418_45e1f47894_z.jpg[/img]
Matt, Richard and Becks (and the only sun we saw all weekend)

[Sylv]

Stage 2 – 191.3km

Weather – much of the same. Same drill at the start except group was much larger. I knew I wouldn’t just sit in the group all day, but didn’t have to do much work for the first hour or so - except on the first hill where I moved from the back to the front to stretch the legs, which a couple people already struggling didn't seem to find amusing . George found it amusing himself to take a monster turn of 5-10 min at the front, before being shouted at by Richard - maybe he should have been saving some energy for later .

After 1.5h we reached a KOM hill and I pushed on from the front. Did my best to pull all kinds of grins for the photographers at the top, and realised I had a big gap. Kept going expecting to be joined by a few, which didn’t happen. Next was a long fast downhill in open fields with a massive tailwind, which was great fun on my own. The bottom part was quite technical so I made the most of it until the route veered onto a main road. I looked back a little later, to see a single white jersey in the distance.

Not even a minute later I looked back again and there he was, none other than Marcus B in his NP/Transalp jersey, who had put a massive dig to bridge back solo, after having attempted to initiate a chase group. So there I was again for the second day in a row, in 2-up though and off mode, with 110km to go! We decided to go for it and see what happened ..

So we spent the next 45min doing that on lovely windswept little lanes. On a 1km straight I looked back and saw a group in the distance. We opted to ease off just a tad in order to get caught, but not too easily. The reason for us getting caught had a name: Werner Van Der Merwe, riding for Beyond Mountain Bikes. He had basically towed the group back to us single-handedly, and was happy to carry on at the front. The group was fairly big still and Marcus wanted to get rid of the wheel-suckers so on the next hill put in a massive attack, which I followed (just) as well as about half the group, including Matt, and Paul who would have to spend the next half-hour hiding at the back not taking turns - and obviously Werner.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/5780509557_5d4da77c7b_z.jpg[/img]
this is what I mean (photo Neil P)

The rest of the stage is a bit of a blur. I had a bad patch at about 100km, and was relieved that we stopped for food and drink. That was my first food stop of the weekend! Sandwich, pasties, pork pie, fig roll, jelly babies I took it all in. Felt a little better after that. Then it was pretty much through and off for the rest of the day, with Werner taking monster turns. After a turn he would not even peel off to the back like us, but often just carry on riding in a double-line. Think he told Paul he was worried his heart rate was not high enough. That must be why he later open his jersey to let the wind in and make it a little bit harder for himself! At the next food stop Marcus turned off and shouted “stopping” but Werner carried on, so Paul followed him and after coming to a halt too I just about had the time to join them after a massive effort, and Matt did the same.

Now there were three less people, and Marcus and co must have put a good ride to catch us later, as I wasn’t expecting it to happen, considering the pace Werner was inflicting on us. At one point I was behind him and the speed was such that I thought we had a big tailwind, then it was my turn and realised we had a block headwind! The last of the ride was thankfully mostly downhill, and we all stayed together to cross the line as the first group, time 5h47 and average speed 33.4km/h.

Needless to say we were all knackered, and could still not believe the strength of this guy – Marcus chatted to him and seemed to understand he was Polish, thought he could actually be South African . I found it pretty hard but didn’t know the worst was yet to come ...

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/5780033831_416741014e_z.jpg[/img]
ready for bed at 6pm

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/5780038271_de44ab3d1a_z.jpg[/img]
Gorge and Paul compare knee injuries

[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2675/5780575182_27d6d110d4_z.jpg[/img]
Gorge Neil and Richard

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captions please

[img]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5063/5780592584_4a926d76ae_z.jpg[/img]
Becks still smiling (?)

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/5780032655_a5ce0ac498_z.jpg[/img]
ready to tackle stage 3 (??)

[Sylv]

Stage 3 – 170km (maybe)

Weather: rain. Some of us had already decided the previous night not to ride on Monday. Matt was worried he would not recover for his upcoming tri nat champs, Darren had left in the evening, George had a bad knee and was hobbling. Paul had said he wouldn’t be riding in the rain because of his back. Becks understandably would have rather gone to see some friends in the area and visit an arts fair. Stu didn’t really have a valid excuse but backed out too. I was undecided, mainly because I might not get a lift home now! After changing his mind a few times Ben decided to ride so I frantically tried to get ready in time for 8.30, the time for the Polish Express departure (I had spotted him in the food tent and been informed he’d be on the start line early). Got a text from Marcus saying he’d be there too at that time so informed him that us two would see him at the start.

At precisely 8.30 I set off with Ben and a few others who seemed keen to ride with Werner. But no Marcus, learned later that he’d turned up a little late. From the moment we set off my legs were hurting, and I knew it was going to be a long day in the saddle. Werner took a turn at the front. 5, 10, 20 minutes, I looked at my computer in disbelief. Half an hour in and the pace wasn’t dropping, from about 35+km/h until we reached some slower lanes. After exactly an hour, he slowly peeled off to the side, taking in some food, job done for the moment. We joked that we would each take a 1min turn, and he would do 1hour!!!

The course was the shortest but by far the hilliest. Just before the first food stop there was a painful climb, and at the top Ben decided to veer off and do the shorter, 56 miles route, as he wasn't enjoying it - can't say I was either to be honest! The rest of us packed up with food and drink and made sure we didn’t miss Werner setting off. The rain hardly stopped the whole day but to be honest that was the least of my concerns.

That stage was basically 6hour of torture for me, all about survival. I must have spent about 3min at the front the whole time. I had checked the times from day 1 and had been 14 min ahead of Werner, so if I finished with him had a good chance of setting the fastest time for the overall. I lost count of the number of times I thought I was going to get dropped. The steep hills were twice as long as any other stage, and there were three times as many. On some of them my rear wheel was slipping on the running water. On a 15 percenter we went over a cattle grid, I made sure I had enough speed and was sitting down over it, but some didn’t and came to a halt. The pace was relentless, on the hills, the flats and the downhills. As soon as we hit a gradient I was shifting in my small ring to relieve the pain in my legs, and as we crested it had to immediately shift back in the big ring so as to not risk letting go of the wheel in front of me. This was made harder by the fact that my chain was mis-shifting in the four easiest cogs, probably due to a slightly bent mech whilst fitting the bike in the van overnight.

There were a couple crashes due to the wet roads, one guy at the bottom of a high speed downhill overcooked a corner and went right into a nettle bush. I had to readjust my brakes a couple times as the pads were getting worn out. Another guy slipped on a white line in a small village. We stopped a couple minutes to wait for him but it wasn’t even a relief, as I was so tired no amount of rest would have made a difference. We hit the Quantock Hills and Exmoor with a neverending b#stard hill pretty much at walking pace, me in third place desperately trying not to let Werner and his mate get away too much. I was having to imagine I had someone cheering for me at the top and not letting them down as I was tempted to just put a foot down and drop off the group. Next was a food stop, just a minute or so of rest, and off we were again. After 130km my GPS battery died so i had to rely on my watch, and asking someone else, to guesstimate how much longer we had to ride.

By then the group had whittled down to half its size, with the strongest riders left (and me). A couple were taking strong turns to assist Werner. I was using Marcus’ trick of moving back a few places down the line at junctions ( ; ) ), to maximize the drafting effect, and tried to sit behind the bigger guys – any help i could get basically. Some though were triathletes and leaving big gaps behind wheels, which was a bit annoying. We lost another couple guys, I was hanging for dear life within the Elite group! With about 30km to go i started thinking that I could just drop off, and shouldn’t be losing as much as 14min on my own, but just wanted to see if I could hang on till the end. I also felt bad for starting to wish that Werner would get a puncture, or at least get tired and stay off the front, as it became easier as soon as someone else was taking turns. The guy was just a machine, and I can't imagine that the sustained power he maintained day after day would be that far off that of a Pro rider.

There were a few more hills just before the finish and we lost another guy there, I saw the sign for Somerton which was the sweetest sight ever, in the end there were just three of us left, I was absolutely spent and wanted to collapse on the floor for an hour even though my clothes were soaking wet. But I had to rush for Ben who had kindly waited for me a couple hours, so we just all shook hands knowingly, and I got ready for the trip home, looking forward to a Tuesday off work.

The “results” are not up yet.
A few more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patronchou ... 848966438/

[kieran]

sounds like a race report thread rather than a sportive?

[Sylv]

Thanks for your valuable contribution - shall i just delete it all?

[Antloony]

Top notch report as we've come to expect from you Sylv. Thanks for taking the time to write and post that up, surprised you have the energy to type!

Look forward to some others reports.

Palace tonight is it Sylv?

[kieran]

well now that I've read it....

Anyway my comment was not concerning your report(which is, as usual, very good with some nice pics), just at the pretence in the UK of sportives not to be races, unlike elsewhere. Not sure why they can't be a bit like the marathon etc, i.e. a race if you wish, but also you can just plod along if you wish.

Seems Werner was doing 4th cat races early this year!

The second of the mini series, Ride Beyond Spring Crits held at Hillingdon Cycle Centre, west London on March 27.
Cat 4s - Gallery
In the final laps and after a number of good attacks by riders, Werner Van Der Merwe jumped away and gained a good lead.
Van Der Merwe crossed the line showing little emotion and was followed by the pack a few seconds later. At the head was Joseph Laborero who celebrated his 'win' with more gusto than the victor.

Guess he is mainly a MTBer?

from his out-of-date blog:

La Ruta de los Conquistadores 2007

"14 November saw me and 500 other mountain bikers line up for the start of the 15th La Ruta de los Conquistadores – a 4 day stage race from the Pacific coast to Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.....In the end I finished an unexpected 22nd in the open category."

[Ian A4size]

Fantastic reporting and riding Sylv et al.

Thanks for chucking a few smileys in to keep me and the shadow occupied

I think every year the weather is awful for this event, it seems rain and howling gales have figured in a few of these reports.

Stu is now officially a man!

[McTaffy]

Great report, suprised you can remember all that. Need to take you out on some of my rides and do the reports, as mine would just say. "We were somewhere in England surrounded by Trees, Fields and Bushes" lol Great to see all the pics as well, just glad I didn't have that many hills to go up over the weekend.

[Marcus]

[size=200]CHAPEAUX, CHAPEAUX [/size]
Respect to everyone.
Sounds like a race to me, but then as Kieran said aren't sportives races, otherwise why time??

[Sylv]

I forgot there was a Sportives sections (I never look at it) and Rides didn't seem quite appropriate

Thanks

[Nick W]

Monster report, monster "ride".