This morning saw an early drive down to Milton Keynes to try something a bit different !
It was a cycle sportive event, which takes in a pre-determined route, is timed, but is not a race, so really the only person that you are truly pacing against is yourself. You could enter two distances today - the standard 100km or if you fancied it, the much longer 100 miler. I picked the 100 km because that is further than I had ever ridden and would be a good test of my ability at this stage of my training for IM.
I set myself the test of averaging 16 mph which would see me finish in around 3 hours and 53 mins - I chose this because translated into Ironman terms this would be a 7 hr bike time which is my target. So, alarm set for 4.45, set off at 5.45, and arrive at Milton Keynes at 8.00 to receive my timing chip and race number, plus a really good free cycling shirt !
The organisers started people off in waves from 9 am which meant that at 9.07 my wave started out - and at 9.07 I also discovered that my bike computer was kaput which meant that I would have to play things by ear and hope that I'd worked hard enough by the end. By 9.08 I found that this probably was a race in all but name as people seemed to already putting the hammer down and I was being passed a lot - but all I wanted to do was keep a comfortable cadence because it was going to be a long day.
The first part of the race, er event sorry, was very hilly, none more so than Brickhill which went up, and up and when you thought you were at the top, it went up again and again ! Needless to say, it was a hard climb but totally satisfying when you reached the top. We also rode through Woburn Abbey which was a stunning setting, but also presented a tough climb ! I was particularly nervous going over the cattle grids in these grounds, even more so than when I go over railway crossings.
So, the middle part of the event was a little flatter, took in some stunning countryside, there were some more hills, some more descents, some people passed me and I started passing more an more people. I can tell you that images of groups of cyclists twisting and turning well into the distance among the fields was one of the finest sights I think I'll ever see !
I felt good on my diet of water and flapjack right up until the last feed station which was only 10 km from the finish - at this point my legs seemed to go, and I had less energy - still there was one particularly nasty climb to negotiate, but once through that we all of a sudden were back in Milton Keynes and I was going for a fast finish - and at 3.51.39 over a minute quicker than target time. That time was good enough for a silver standard, but probably meant that I had finished !
A grand day out and unlike Duathlons I can definately see me doing more of these !
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