First and without doubt foremost my thanks to the wonderful people of Yorkshire who cheered us - not just those gathering for the pro race but those who were out much, much earlier and gave us lots of support. It was fantastic, and the only thing that kept me upright on the last 100 yards of that climb outside Ilkley.
On Saturday I wasn't sure I could complete this ride so I very pleased to have done it and only walked on one climb, Goosefoot, to the bend and then I hopped back on the bike. I clocked 82.9m, 8845 feet, average 11.6mph and a total of 7 hours 7 minutes - I did forget to switch the Garmin back on after Pool which is why my numbers don't quite match up. Despite the weather, I was very wet but never cold when moving, I had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Now though to the organisation......oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. This was awful. I'm an experienced 60 year old cyclist, I know what to do in very bad weather on unfamiliar roads and especially huge descents so at no point did I feel uncomfortable - though my hands ached from constant braking!!. However I have severe reservations over this route for a mass participation ride. Clearly anyone can chose to cycle anywhere on the public highway but I feel it's a different matter to encourage large numbers of amateur riders (no matter how good) on to some of these very narrow and very steep descents. I've never seen so many serious accidents, I pray everyone comes out alive and well, because at least one rider I saw may not have done. Given the weather conditions, some roads were literally awash, the first descent out from Roundhay was covered in water, silt and debris and at the top of some climbs visibilty was perhaps 30 yards, serious questions should be asked if this event should have gone ahead.
It would be fair to ask why did I carry on? Well I don't know the area and therefore couldn't know what was ahead. I'm confident in my own ability to ride within my own limits and those the conditions determine but we all know there are riders who take a different approach to sportives. I saw a lot of very fast descending which to my mind was excessive. I expect sportive organisation to have a strong emphasis on rider safety which meas the roads should be appropriate.
The stewards in Roundhay at 06.00am had no idea where the car parking was!!! At the start we had no shelter at all. Food? Very well supplied with energy bars and electrolyte but then it was jelly babies or cold boiled potato. £50???? The cut off points were only announced after we'd all entered which must have created pressure for some riders, my view was "sod it, you can't stop me riding on the road" - which proved unecessary as the cut off was not applied to many and for others it was simply a case of taking the number off and carrying on.
When I arrived in Pool we were directed off the road to the car park by the village hall and told we had to wait for the race to pass. Fair enough. I enquired where the pros were and was told 15 minutes away. Seemed very reasonable. We were held back for 75 minutes while cars, vans and other cyclists carried on. It was only sportive entrants who were stopped! Ridiculous - I could have ridden to Roundhay in that time and got there before the finish!!
On arrival in Roundhay no organisation left at all because the delay at Pool made us very late. OK I understand that BUT there could have been a rider missing and no one would know if he/she had got back to Roundhay or not.
Two last words - to the cyclists who ignored the marshall's requests to dismount and walk beyond the ambulances to not do so was ignorant - the same type of behaviour we criticise car drivers for.
I realise this sounds like a good long moan. It isn't meant to be. I had a great day riding with my son and his best friend. We all achieved better times and coped better with the climbs than expected and as I've said the Yorkshire people were fantastic. Would I ride it again? At the moment no I wouldn't
PS - the mechanic from Mavic was damn good. Sorted my lad's rear brake problem in no time. Bizarely they were both French with little English and I'm not famous for my conversational French. He was very good though. Merci!
