Highclere Sportive

Distance: 204.54km
Time: 7:59:34
Avg Speed: 25.6km/h
Max Speed: 65.4km/h
Calories: 8009kcal
Avg HR: 157bpm
Max HR:187bpm
Ascent: 2590m

One of my training goals in preparation for The Etape was to spend a long day in the saddle. The stupendous distance offered by Highclere fit the bill nicely. It also takes in some of my training run, so I would be on home ground.

There were 500 registred entrants for the 200km loop and we were started in batches of maybe twenty-or-so. After a couple of freak-show steep back-to-back climbs we soon settled into a decent group and hammered along for the first 50km. Speed was high, effort was low and life was good. Then came the crash.

We were two-a-breadth and nose-to-tail in a group of about a dozen when we all sped straight past a turn. Bikes skidded and slid about. The guy in front had a blow-out and came off. Somebody hit me hard from behind and went down. A chain snapped, some bars dropped. We got off the road and waited for the group to fix themselves back up when the following group went skidding past too. It was a poorly signed turn, but somehow I was unscathed. I was never in a decent sized group again.

By the time I got to Winchester Hill at 100km I was feeling sickly. From 100-120km I was heaving and thinking over-and-over that I should just bail at Petersfield and call Long Suffering Wife to come get me. Even on the flat sections I couldn't maintain any speed and was getting passed over-and-over. I was convinced that my cold bug had trashed my day and I'd never be able to do the Etape. At 125km I actually overtook someone and thought I'd just get to the 130km feed and see how I felt. Once there, I could see in the eyes of others that I was not alone. I decided to swap the energy drink for water, forget about energy bars and ate loads of salty peanuts and a cheese sarnie.

Feeling less pukey I set off again. The more I rode and the more water I drank, the more my stomach settled. By 150km my main concern was a wheel sucker who'd been on my tail for half-an-hour without so much as a hello. When he finally came alongside he apologised and said he'd never ridden more than 70miles before and was suffering bad in the heat. From then on we had a nice chat and shared the load for about 30km until we split up.

The last hour went very well. I'd completely recovered and was passing quite a few people. With hindsight I was putting the dodgy stomach down way too much sugary stuff. Crossing the line in 8:29 was slower than I'd hoped, but given the miserable middle section felt like a complete triumph. I'm now feeling very positive.

highclere sportive at EveryTrailMap created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging