The alternative club run - ToBM

[adrian]

I was 009. The photographer seems to have confused me with an MTBer who looks like Victor Meldrew. The second one of me is a modest entry for the 'tongue oot' competition.

Phwoar, what a day it was! Report to follow.

[Toks]

[quote="kieran"]I see the results are up, are the first 2 times correct???

Richy Cook 5:09 = 22.3 mph or 36kph !!!!
John Rushton 5:25

the next rider is in at 6:08 = 18.75 mph

[Michelle]

Andrew I will quite happily dedicate my silliest tongue out photo to you, if you are so inclined.

Toks, no the times are a bit to pot, you should have seen what they looked like on Sunday when they were first posted.

[Keith]

Phew that was lucky - just went out for 20 minutes to turn the legs over and my rear derailleur cable snapped. My gears had started to go a little out of sync on Saturday. Can't say the ToBM would have been very pleasant in the smallest cog all the way around .

[Toks]

[quote="Michelle"]Andrew I will quite happily dedicate my silliest tongue out photo to you, if you are so inclined.

Toks, no the times are a bit to pot, you should have seen what they looked like on Sunday when they were first posted.

[adrian]

This was a ride of epic proportions that lived up to its billing in every way.

I hadn't done a great deal of riding in the preceding months - or sleeping, for that matter - and wasn't sure how much I'd have in the tank, so tried to stay within myself as much as possible. On the other hand, there's no point going all that way to merely 'tap the pigeon' - clearly there was a fine balance to be struck.

Found myself to be quite nervous when I woke on the morning, but was pleased to see that the glorious weather looked like holding. Had an early, early breakfast (for the first time ever, prudently turning down the cooked breakfast at a B&B) and made my way to the start, where a number of Agreeables had already gathered. Set off with Carl but as Hal, Dan and Keith came through, it was clear that they were bent on working harder than I dared so early on, so I let them go and settled in with a small group doing the sort of early pace I'd had in mind. Brian punctured early on and I expected him to catch me up at some point.

The details of the ride itself are all there in Huw's report of last year - suffice to say that with the cresting of the bluff above Hay, the pattern for the day was set out: long, draggy climbs followed by exhilarating descents.

As we left Hay-on-Wye in the direction of Brecon, I caught Graham O and we decided to work together, which we did until the finish. We got a fairly good rhythm going and attracted a fair number of others, none of whom were too keen on doing their stint at the front Still, by the time we'd come to the Crai reservoir, our group was down to three: me, Graham and a guy from Malvern called Trevor (who wasn't feeling too clever).

After the long descent before doubling back up the hill towards the reservoir, I noticed a bit of cramp creeping in. Managed to ride it out and when Kieran caught us up a bit further along, I was feeling good again. The four of us (Graham, Kieran, not-too-clever-Trevor and I) then zipped along quite happily towards what I now know as the 'climb with no name'.

This was by far the hardest of the day. We'd been climbing for quite a while and just when I was blowing hard and feeling the cramp come back, I looked up to my left and saw what we still had to do. At this point we passed Ben who spoke for us all when, having seen the slow-moving line of riders heading skyward at what appeared to be a 45-degree angle, he said 'Didn't want to see that!'. There then followed a fog of heat and pain - although seeing other riders having a worse time of it cheered me up no end.

Graham and I decided to take a break of ten minutes or so at the hilltop feed station, so we lost Kieran. But the good news was that someone had put on egg mayo and coronation chicken rolls, which at 65 miles were just the ticket. I put on my gilet for the moorland descent and we were off again. All too soon we were going up a short, sharp wall which came as a shock to the system - there seemed to be no transition from descent to ascent. I also remember an unsheltered climb in searing heat where we had not only the ubiquitous sheep but some large and fairly stroppy-looking cows to contend with.

At around 80 miles I hit a dodgy patch. My cramp (in every muscle in both legs) was coming back and I was feeling a bit sick. I told Graham I might have to stop but we just sat up for five minutes or so and luckily the cramp passed. This meant we'd now lost the group we'd been with, but weren't stuck for company as we made the next climbs up to Pentwyn and Talybont. I was so relieved to be free of cramp that I quite enjoyed these climbs, even though they were some of the steepest of the day.

Between the last feed station and the last main climb from Llangynydir was a long fast stretch in plenty of shade and following the river. The final climb wasn't steep but it was very, very long. I was feeling OK so I just took in the views as much as I could and consoled myself with the thought that the worst was soon to be over. How wrong I was!

After the long drop into Crickhowell, those of us who'd been expected a gentle roll home soon got the first of many nasty surprises between there and the finish line. I had thought that we were certain for a sub-7.30 finish but that hope soon evaporated as we moaned and groaned over climb after climb. This last stretch seemed to take forever - in fact it took nearly 45 minutes to do the last ten miles or so...

In the end Graham and I rolled over the finish line in 7.53, which felt disappointing at the time, especially when I heard the amazing times done by Hal, Keith, Carl, Dan and others. But really, I'd done what I set out to do - get round in a reasonable time without dying - and really enjoyed it. What's more, I'd had no mishaps, mechanicals or near-misses. I'd definitely go back next year - this is God's own cycling country and a really well-organised event. (Between now and then I must improve my descending - I was noticeably slower than almost everyone else going downhill, and kept having to play catch-up to rejoin my group on the next flat or uphill stretch )

Really enjoyed seeing so many Agreeables on the day and for a few out-of-town beers on the Friday and Saturday night. Well done to all.

Spud Riley and Autumn Epic are next up for me.

[Amy]

And the twelve bananas?

[adrian]

[quote="Amy"]And the twelve bananas?

[Snoop Doug]

Just caught up with this thread. Awesome reporting, and some great pics, sounds like a fantastic day's endurance riding chapeau to all. Michelle - love the tongue pics, that's serious competition, I don't envy judge Sylv

[Brian Nolan]

great write ups for a top weekend - was brilliant to be out with so many Agreeables, shame about our missing Captain on the road ( hope ur a lot better now Huw),but there you go ! well done everyone,
cheers,