highclere castle sportive

[carl f]

Nursing a few bruises and cuts after yet another crash on the brand new frame didn't stop me from getting gold today and a time of 6.04(trip time 5.56)
Thankfully the frame seems to be ok.At about 100 miles i was reaching for a gel to get me through the last 15 miles and went over a huge lump of chalk in the road straight on to the tarmac!
Anyway picked myself up and rode on with the two guys that i shared the work with for the last 50 or so miles
beutiful hampshire country lanes, fantastic weather,friendly marshals etc made a great day for Matt.R and myself to take on this 115(true miles 118) mile rolling sportive
Out with Graham O a couple of weeks ago on my first 100 miler he told me that on a sportive you should be feeling good at 70 or so miles,in fact i felt fantastic,a bit different than how i felt with Graham that day!,so the long milage training defo did the trick
Anyway at the finish had a west country lovely lass massaging the saw legs(ok had to pay a tenner)
Got home sank a couple of red stripes, great recovery drink
Distance:118 miles
Time:6.04.
Av mph:19.8
Very pleased

[Andrew G]

Great average speed Carl, shame about the off or you'd have topped 20. Hope the new Ribble and old legs are okay.

[carl f]

Thanks andrew,It was the new replaced felt frame,the legs and right hip are going to feel it in the morning

[Stu Merckx Man]

well done carl, hard luck on the crash, glad its not too bad... thats a nice average speed!

[Andy S]

Hey Carl didn't realise any one else was doing Highclere, I was also there battling with the heat - although not at the same standard as you. Took me 7:18, trip time 6:59 - just outside my Gold, but I think that was because my pal punctured, we spent too long in the feed stations and I rode the last 40 odd on my own - just couldn't find a group or even an individual to work with and was really suffering over the last 30 miles. Gels, energy bars, drink - nothing seemed to work at that stage.
Was a great ride tho, great countryside, great weather - would recomend it for next year.

Well done Carl

[carl f]

Thanks Andy and well done to you.It was quite a tough course with plenty of cheeky hills to battle with in that heat.
Did see a couple of other entants from acc on the start list,looked out for the colours at the start
Unlucky for just missing out on gold but silver in those conditions still impressive
As you said i would recommend this one for next year
Carl

[adrian]

Well done to both of you. I did this last year and it's by no means an easy course - I remember that long drag before the last hill going on forever. Bad luck on the crash, Carl - hope there's no lasting damage to you or the bike.

Good performances both. By the time I finished last year, the masseuses had cleared off home

[Andy S]

Highclere update .....
Just checked the results on line and guess what .. I got a gold
They must have revised the time standards due to the additional mileage, I was in by 1 min 50 secs.

Roll on the Dragon !!!

[carl f]

Andy-well done on the gold
Adrian-that drag was a drag!,bike seems fine thanks