A trio of sportives...

So following the middlemarkers I embarked on a period of more training and absolutely no racing for a few weeks. To keep things interesting, I entered a few sportives to pass the time as I found that I got on better with other riders on the road, the security of knowing where the heck I was going and most importantly, throwing in some good climbing.

26th March, Cheshire Cat - 62 miles

I headed over to Cheshire on a very nice Sunday to tackle the medium route 62 miler. In terms of climbing, it was not the most severe of tests, but it did throw in Mow Cop which is one of Britain's top 100 climbs and can only be described as a mile long climb with a wall of concrete at the end of it. Nice experience apart from hitting a pothole on a descent and totalling my phone which was sitting in nicely in my bento box up until that point. This was after I had managed to achieve a secret ambition of mine of making it up Mow Cop. Andy 1 Climbing 0

1st April - Tour Of Flanders Sportive - 87 miles

Staying over at the in laws, I was given licence to bob off for the day and tackle the famous cobbled climbs of the tour of flanders. Three very famous sections and plenty of tarmac and cobble climbs to tackle. Took the cyclo cross bike with the same set up as last years Roubaix adventure and did just fine. The weather threatened rain all day but thankfully stayed dry throughout. I had little problem with two of the climbs , making it up Oude Kwaremont & the Pateburg, however, the Koppenburg defeated me purely losing the front wheel on the steep section when forced to take a muddy line - otherwise I'd have sorted that one as well. One of the most pleasurable experiences on a bike I've ever had.

7th April - Tour Of The Wolds Sportive - 52 miles

Back in blighty, and another lovely day, and a trip out to the wolds which are local to me, to do a quick 52 miler at training pace. No pressure, just concentrated on keeping a level pace and let myself go on some of the climbs - nothing famous mind, just honest Lincolnshire hills. One of the first back and came 4th - it's not a race though, you just get a time, a category and a finishing position - yeah right !