nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
Did the Glossop Kinder Velo High Peak Hog sportive today, 83 miles & 9,000ft climbing
My first ever sportive so "why choose such a difficult one nickyboy?" I hear you cry. Well, it started half a mile down the road and was £20 including breakfast, food stops and a hog roast at the finish. Surely I'd be able to eat £20 of food wouldn't I?
Got there 7.30am to find dozens of whippet thin guys with unfeasibly expensive bikes loitering around. I hid the Raleigh under a bush and sucked my gut in.
I had made a big effort to get well hydrated the night before (water not beer for a change on Saturday night). The upshot was I went to the toilet 4 times in an hour before 8.30 arrived....and we were off!
Nice gentle tailwind pushed us over the Snake Pass and I managed to latch onto a fastish group all the way to Eadale. Mam Nick climb is haaaaard....21% in places. Over the top and first food stop...chance to start getting that £20 entry fee back. I found my true sportive skill here. I can eat faster than most people. So whilst they took 2 minutes out of me on the climb, I took 5 minutes out of them on the flapjack
Down (not up thankfully) Winnats Pass, hard climb out of Castleton, then another one out of Hathersage...Strines was approaching. For those in the know there are 3 climbs, each one harder than the last. Final one is 1km avg 16%....'orrible. At least there was another feed stop on the horizon. I must have looked shocking cos the helpers offered to fill my bottles and get me some food. I let them fill the bottles but I still had my £20 target to consider so I dealt with the sarnies and flapjack.
Did I mention the weather? Up to that point it was fine but windy. That was about to change. Rain, rain, rain. Arrived Holmfirth and started the Holme Moss climb. 30mph headwind, lashing rain. It would have been quicker to walk up. Finally back to Glossop, dibbed in, hog roast, beer, ride home, bath
Don't think I managed to eat £20 of food but it was a great event run by a good local club that I was happy so support
My first ever sportive so "why choose such a difficult one nickyboy?" I hear you cry. Well, it started half a mile down the road and was £20 including breakfast, food stops and a hog roast at the finish. Surely I'd be able to eat £20 of food wouldn't I?
Got there 7.30am to find dozens of whippet thin guys with unfeasibly expensive bikes loitering around. I hid the Raleigh under a bush and sucked my gut in.
I had made a big effort to get well hydrated the night before (water not beer for a change on Saturday night). The upshot was I went to the toilet 4 times in an hour before 8.30 arrived....and we were off!
Nice gentle tailwind pushed us over the Snake Pass and I managed to latch onto a fastish group all the way to Eadale. Mam Nick climb is haaaaard....21% in places. Over the top and first food stop...chance to start getting that £20 entry fee back. I found my true sportive skill here. I can eat faster than most people. So whilst they took 2 minutes out of me on the climb, I took 5 minutes out of them on the flapjack
Down (not up thankfully) Winnats Pass, hard climb out of Castleton, then another one out of Hathersage...Strines was approaching. For those in the know there are 3 climbs, each one harder than the last. Final one is 1km avg 16%....'orrible. At least there was another feed stop on the horizon. I must have looked shocking cos the helpers offered to fill my bottles and get me some food. I let them fill the bottles but I still had my £20 target to consider so I dealt with the sarnies and flapjack.
Did I mention the weather? Up to that point it was fine but windy. That was about to change. Rain, rain, rain. Arrived Holmfirth and started the Holme Moss climb. 30mph headwind, lashing rain. It would have been quicker to walk up. Finally back to Glossop, dibbed in, hog roast, beer, ride home, bath
Don't think I managed to eat £20 of food but it was a great event run by a good local club that I was happy so support