Dartmoor: 100 miles, 94° and a lot of hills... + results

[Elliot M]

how on earth can you do that dist at that speed in those temps on so little fuel?

i had 2 large bottles energy drink and then same again, refilled with water on the club run. oh and an energy bar, a banana, beans on toast, a cup of tea.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Because there's nothing of him, he doesn't need food and drink.

Rumour has it that he is taking lessons from the Stig

[huw williams]

[quote="Elliot M"]how on earth can you do that dist at that speed in those temps on so little fuel?

i had 2 large bottles energy drink and then same again, refilled with water on the club run. oh and an energy bar, a banana, beans on toast, a cup of tea.

[Toks]

[quote="Brian Robinson"]Nice one Huw. Not sure I would have survived on such meagre rations though .

Bri

[Andy K]

[quote="huw williams"]I think Brian paid for his quick start - I saw him come in about 20 mins later - said the heat had gotten to him and he had to shelter in the shade for a bit

Didn't see the others, Andy and Del all day though - are you back chaps?

[Brian Nolan]

Great write up Huw - think you captured it all v well ...

Like you said - i got a bit carried away in the first quarter and suffered a bit as the sun got higher... I hid in the shade at Princeton for a bit, soaked my cap, reapplied some sun cream and then took a battering across the moors towards Haytor ! I was latching on to anyone coming past for as long as I could manage. I was pleased that I didn't get off and walk 'cos I have never seen so many people pushing bikes up hill .. V tough course , especially for a season opener. I spoke to the organiser at the finish who said he had some complaints that it was too hard but the heat certainly added to it.. As I was speaking to another entrant afterwards a front tyre exploded on a bike 10 feet away - certailnly made the guy in the pa car wake up !
I rolled in with 6:47 elapsed for a silver standard / medal . I was pretty pleased with that cos I have not done a lot lately cos of a few health problems..
I didn't know you were on the ride Jon, would have had a beer if I had seen you.. For the last 20 miles all I could think of was a pint of cider at the finish - no recovery drinks for me ! first one I sunk in 2 mins , then had 2 leisurely ones which I enjoyed greatly.. Had a good chat with Del and Andy ( who both done well to finish a v tough 100 mile course), then rolled 3 miles down hill to my cousins at Newton Abott .. There were still people rolling in then at nearly 6pm.
Top course and organisation but I feel I have been up and down every hill in Devon !
cheers ,

[Andrew G]

[quote="Brian Nolan"] I spoke to the organiser at the finish who said he had some complaints that it was too hard but the heat certainly added to it.. As I was speaking to another entrant afterwards a front tyre exploded on a bike 10 feet away

[Del]

Bollox! That was hard!!

Great report, Huw. You ought to take that up for a living!

Huw has described the route and day very well. I suppose from my point of view, the first stage to Okehampton was like the audax ride from hell - narrow lanes with grass and gravel down the middle, with some tough climbs and hairy descents. The second stage was to Princetown started off like a recovery ride, but as we headed on to the high moor, the heat and the long climb to Princetown gave a taste of what was to come on Stage 3 - hills, hills and bloody more hills (more of this later!).

Andy and I met Brian the night before at the Passage House Inn and had a few drinks and a rather carb-deficient carvery meal. A very agreeable evening before the main event, where Andy made up for the carb deficiency of the meal by substituting a significant amount of Brains Bitter.

We missed Brian and Huw, although we arrived to see another Addiscombe jersey across the starting field as we were about to go in Group 5 at about 8:05 - that must have been Jon. We were both aiming for a Bronze time between 6 hr 45 and 8 hrs. As Huw said, it was warm even then and we kept it steady to Okehampton. Quite a lot of movemnt and no real groups formed, although we rode most of the 37 miles to Okehampton close to a group from Plymouth Corinthian.

Arrived at Okehampton inside Bronze pace and felt ok. Went out along the Granite Way, a dismantled railway line, over a viaduct and rejoined the road. heading south to Tavistock, following last year's route. But this year, we turned East before Tavistock and started to head into the Moor. At around 60 to 65 miles, our average speed had increased and approaching the turn on the climb to Princetown, we were now half-an-hour inside Bronze pace. I felt relaxed and said to Andy we'd be fine.

Took it steady up to Princetown, passing a few people at a steady pace. Got passed myself by 2 people, who had gone too quick on the lower slopes, and had the pleasure of reeling them back in and passing them comfortably on the approach to Princetown. Arrived there at about 72 miles, and. er..........

Well, I'd certainly drunk more than Huw, I'd eaten ok and I hadn't gone off to fast like Brian. A few miles after the descent from Princetown, we passed the 25 mile to go barrier, which was probably the last time that I felt the smug cetainty of claiming my Bronze award.

From here, the road was up and down, until the fast descent to Dartbridge, followed immediately by the 1 in 5 ascent on the opposite side off the river. It was completely open and there was no shelter from the sun. It didn't actually look as steep as it felt, but almost everyone was off and walking. I was determined not to get off and reached the top to a round of applause from spectators. Actually, there were quite a few people out cheering us all on, and it does lift you. But, by now, I was starting to feel tired and was conscious as Huw mentioned earlier of starting to feel a little irrational - which I was about to prove, big stylee

Rode along on the flat for about half a mile and descended a long, quite hairy 1 in 5 descent into Ponsworthy, where I felt I really had to concentrate. As I approached the bottom, I saw the road going out, up another 1 in 5 hill, very narrow, a guy already off and walking and a car coming down. I chose this moment for a tantrum!!!

"Bugger this! I thought and got off and walked. At the top, we ran into a big country lane traffic jam as cars tried to pass each other, and all the people I'd dropped on the climb from Dartbridge caught me up. I felt a little silly!!

From this point on, I knew I was losing time. The heat and severity of the course had finally taken its toll and I started to feel a bit sick from the energy drinks, which had never happened to me before. On the last major climb, at about 90 miles, Andy said he might have a rest as it was clear we wouldn't make the 8 hour cut-off. I thought of stopping. On the climb, I pushed hard to pay for my earlier tantrum and went past Andy, except he didn't see me. The result of this was that he stopped for a rest and to wait for me at the top, thinking I was behind him, while I was rolling along at the top, expecting him to catch up.

So, we ended doing the last 10 or so miles by ourselves. I decided to push hard to see how close I could get and just aimed to pass people on the run-in. Finished in 8 hrs 13 mins, which I was disappointed by at the time. Lost loads of time in the last 30 miles, but as Huw described in his report, it was a brutal last stage. Andy rolled in about 15 minutes later, alomost all of which came from his decision to sunbathe on the moor for quarter of an hour after the last climb

So, a really hard day. Completely different from the soaking of last year and a much more difficult course. But I took the priority entry form for 2009, and stuffed it in my jersey with the free lump of Dartmoor rock and the free water bottle.................so it looks like I'm going to be back in 2009!

[huw williams]

Rudddy hell Del I know it was hard but that sounds like torture! - Well done for completing it.

Good point about the spectators too - there were hundreds out applauding the early groups up the Dartmeet climb and you had to pick your way through them and the cars - just like a mini T de F it was, and really encouraging. In fact all the way round I kept coming across little pockets of spectators applauding wildly - the publicity caravan must have gone through doing a good job


Anyway results are in:
My 6:16.55 was 28th out of almost a 1000 who did the long ride. YEEHA! very happy with a top 30 and suddenly all those hours staring at the powertap this winter seem like they were worth it Shouldv'e eaten more - might have got top 20

There were only half a dozen or so who got under 6 hours (which is next year's target)

James Richardson did a blistering 5.30 which is almost unthinkable. He was on his own most of the way too (and I'm not surprised at that pace)

At the other end of the field the timing mats were switched off after 10hrs 42 mins and in the words of the organiser there were "significant numbers of riders still on course" - ouch that must have hurt. Split times soon which will tell a story cos I definitely hung back for sector 1, went hard for sector 2 and sector 3 was a war of attrition over the hills, combined with the powertap info this should give us some valuable insights

[huw williams]

Rudddy hell Del I know it was hard but that sounds like torture! - Well done for completing it.

Good point about the spectators too - there were hundreds out applauding the early groups up the Dartmeet climb and you had to pick your way through them and the cars - just like a mini T de F it was, and really encouraging. In fact all the way round I kept coming across little pockets of spectators applauding wildly - the publicity caravan must have gone through doing a good job


Anyway results are in:
My 6:16.55 was 28th out of almost a 1000 who did the long ride. YEEHA! very happy with a top 30 and suddenly all those hours staring at the powertap this winter seem like they were worth it Shouldv'e eaten more - might have got top 20

There were only half a dozen or so who got under 6 hours (which is next year's target)

James Richardson did a blistering 5.30 which is almost unthinkable. He was on his own most of the way too (and I'm not surprised at that pace)

At the other end of the field the timing mats were switched off after 10hrs 42 mins and in the words of the organiser there were "significant numbers of riders still on course" - ouch that must have hurt. Split times soon which will tell a story cos I definitely hung back for sector 1, went hard for sector 2 and sector 3 was a war of attrition over the hills, combined with the powertap info this should give us some valuable insights

[Del]

[quote="huw williams"]Rudddy hell Del I know it was hard but that sounds like torture! - Well done for completing it.

[John Czernobay]

Fantastic Guys, many thanks for sharing that with us and a BIG well done. It must have been something else. Once again many thanks for the posts.
JCZ..

[huw williams]

Check me out!

Must get those bottom teeth straightened for close ups

[img]http://i32.tinypic.com/2076et0.jpg[/img]

[carl f]

Good going huw,looks like a tough ride,might try it next year
Well done to everyone else

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

No more amateur racing for you then Huw