A first Sportive for me today, as I took part in the Bill Car 60 Sportive (in aid of Prostate Cancer UK) along with
@Rickshaw Phil , his brother Doug and my work colleague Mark.
Doug and Phil arrived at mine at around 09:00 and after a brief chat we headed down through the estate to the start at Shrewsbury Sports Village, where we met up with Mark and the approximately 60 others who were taking part. It was mainly a crowd of professional looking roadies on expensive kit, with a sprinkling of slower riders like me, on Hybrids. We registered, attached our numbers to bikes and after a mass photo, we joined the 1st group that were set off.
Preparing for the start
We seemed to be with the faster group of riders and got dragged along pretty well for a couple of miles and up the fairly steep climb by Haughmond Hill. It was clear to me that I wouldn't be able to keep that pace for long, but was averaging about 15 mph and doing pretty well compared to what I normally do!
We headed down some familiar roads (the only one's for me on the whole ride) to Shawbury, where a prat in a Silver Corsa pulled out in front of me, forcing me to brake hard
. As we reached the junction for the main road, there were some of the faster riders coming from the right, which seemed a bit odd.......we would find out why later......
We pressed on well from Shawbury to Wem, despite there being a few hills and then headed towards Ellesmere. There was a stop for a bit of flapjack at Welshampton, where my colleague Mark caught us up and explained the issue of riders coming from the wrong direction. Apparently a load of riders had missed the left turn to Shawbury and had ended up going the wrong way and through High Ercall! Probably added a couple of miles to their route.
The piece between Welshampton and Ellesmere was quite hilly at times, but the legs were feeling good and there were some nice descents as well which included hitting 31 mph
. We stopped in Ellesmere at The Boathouse for a bit more food and a comfort stop and it was glorious in the warm sunshine
@Rickshaw Phil by the Mere
Heading out of Ellesmere we joined the main A road towards Wrexham and over the border into Wales. We enjoyed the flat riding along there and were still averaging about 14 mph. That was about to change though, as we reached Overton and turned left, beginning the climb up to St Martins. There were some lengthy climbs up here and we passed one chap walking his bike up one of the hills already, which at about 25 miles in was a little worrying
. There was a refreshment stop provided by the organisers at 30 miles and we were met with friendly greetings from them and fellow cyclists and provided with Flapjack and more water. It was a really good atmosphere and a lot of camaraderie made it a worthwhile stop.
We didn't stop for too long, to avoid legs seizing up and continued the climbing up to St Martins, Gobowen and Whittington, where we were passed by a prat in a Red Corsa (notice the theme?) doing about 70mph in a 40 zone.
Whittington Castle
Next landmark was Queens Head, where we passed the very nice pub, resisting temptation for a beer
and into West Felton, where we finally left the busier roads and joined some welcome lanes to Grimpo, Haughton and Tedsmore. There was a fair bit more climbing then but also a nice downhill into Ruyton Xl Towns. My godparents live there and we slowed as we passed their house and Uncle Mick was stood at the window looking out for us
. He popped out for a chat, which was nice. Mick has a rare form of Stomach Cancer and so it made the ride feel really worthwhile to see him and gave me a boost as I was really flagging by now at 47 miles.
There was a bugger of a climb out of the village and then undulating roads to Baschurch and Myddle, where there was another steep climb
and into Harmer Hill where yet another climb awaited us
. We stopped for more food and the chap who had been walking arrived at the top of the hill, walking again, but was great to see him persevering with it
There was only about 8 miles to go though but we joined the very busy A road through Albrighton to Shrewsbury, which wasn't much fun with the amount of traffic and a few close passes. Boosted by being back in Shrewsbury, we cruised nicely along Lancaster Road, but were passed ridiculously closely by a Land Rover when there was no need and headed over the Railway Crossing and back to the Sports Village. We weren't quite finished though, as there was a lap of the Tarmac Track Circuit to do, before we were clapped over the line by the finishers who were already there.
It was great fun, but I was knackered and very saddle sore at the end!
Did it
So did @Rickshaw Phil, Doug and Mark
We had a chat to Mark and the organisers before heading back up through the estate to mine, feeling a bit weary by now!
It was good fun, even if there was a lot more main road cycling than I would normally choose to do and it was in aid of a great cause.
Now for the best bit, MY FIRST METRIC CENTURY WAS ACHIEVED
!!!! 62.7 Miles at 12.7 mph avg speed.
