Which brings me finally to sit down and properly write up my report. ( I'ts been a busy week and I've been trying to keep caught up and respond to other threads, even though this is my favourite, It's not one to be rushed.)
So, last Sunday I achieved my first imperial century!!!!! Yay!!!!
I've been excited, nervous and worried leading up to doing 100 miles but now 6 days later and my sore thighs and neck feeling better, I wonder what took me so long. Actually it has taken a lot of time to gradually build up the miles which I'm so glad I did. I was even allowed to go out for a few rides while we were on holiday.
I needed an organised event to make me do this and what better or more worthwhile than The Manchester 100 which is organised by The Christie.
I arrived at Wythenshaw Park, asked the chaps in the next car to help me unload the bike, loaded the bike up with bottles and bags, attached the rider number to the handlebars, togged myself up with helmet, glasses, gloves etc, made my way to the start, said hello to a friend from one of my cycling groups in the registration tent, watched a couple of waves of cyclists set off and decided that I was ready to go - all in the pouring rain! It wasn't cold though. They waved us off in a group of about a dozen and we had to ride slowly until we were out of the park and out onto the main road. They don't swap your registration card for the route card until you go through the barrier into the holding pen ready to set off where it would be awkward to get my reading glasses out without getting in people's way so I was glad that I'd taken the trouble to download and study the gpx file and copy it into ridewithgps and trace it to get the voice turn cues. However I'd only gone a few yard before the cheery voice in my earpiece said "end of route" ! I must have clicked the start of the ride in the wrong part of the park. My hope that it would restart wasn't to be and I didn't want to stop and get my phone and glasses out of my bag. However once we sped up on the main road, I noticed that the little Cateye computer wasn't showing anything so I did stop quickly in a lay-by to tweak the magnet and sensor which must have been knocked whilst the wheel was in the car. This quick stop left me on my own for a few minutes but the first few miles out of Manchester had lots of stops for traffic lights and I soon caught up with and overtook two groups even though I'd been advised to take it easy to start with I couldn't help myself. I'd also been advised that it would be really busy for the first part of the ride and then it would settle down which was indeed true. The worst bit for me was through the country lanes around Mobberly where the overtaking packs didn't seem to have any consideration for the people they were passing, often cutting in very tightly, one rider only just missed my front wheel.
I stopped in the turning to Tatton Park to take off my outer rain jacket, as I had got very warm going up the hill and it had stopped raining. I also took the chance to nibble on some flapjack and reset the ridewithgps app on my phone. It was here that I was delighted that
@kapelmuur caught up with me, having spotted my bright pink rain jacket up ahead, he stopped to ask if I was Katherine? Well met. We rode together until the first stop at Anderton Marina where I'd promised myself a cup of coffee and lots of stretches which I'd failed to do at the start in the rain. I hadn't planned to stop too often as I was so worried that I wouldn't get round in the ten hours but I found that I really needed to have short stops for stretches and to nibble on something. In all the practice miles I did I never actually mastered the art of opening any kind of food and keep riding. ( I don't know if it was nerves but I also needed lots of comfort breaks even finding a couple of hedges.)
I really enjoyed the route and once passed Northwich it was unfamiliar. The marshals and route signs were excellent but it was reassuring to have the cues, knowing in advance that there was a turn coming up, enabling me to get across for right turns in good time etc. The route took us deep into Cheshire which was lovely. It was dark riding through Delamere forest and it had some some nice down and ups where I could get enough speed going on the descents to keep up a fast momentum on the rises. At 45 miles, I had my first jelly baby as it had been quite hilly and it was the perfect boost. Just before Nantwich we were stopped at a crossroads by a marshal because the road was closed ahead for an air ambulance to land for a cyclist who'd been knocked off their bike. I hope he/she will be ok. We were told to head down the main road and pick up signs for Nantwich and we would pick up the correct route from there. Some of the other people who were stopped at the same time as me were a bit worried by this and no one seemed to want to be the first to go, a bit like waiting for someone to go at mini roundabouts, so I just went and was soon followed by others and started to see plenty more riders as we had to stop for junctions. The busy A49 and the A534 were not ideal and would have been quite unnerving for cyclists unused to being passed by fast traffic. To make matters worse, we were buzzed by a few hundred scooters from the Nantwich scooters club out on their annual rally. I'd say that about half gave us room and the rest were far too close, mostly the ones with L - plates on. After a while the air started to taste of petrol which wasn't nice. However, it was a nice fast flat road and I was able to get the legs going a lot faster for a while. Thankfully the half way point at a high school in Nantwich was finally reached. It was nice to chat with other riders and compare experiences so far. I bought a banana which looked nice and young and gave me a nice boost and some crisps which I had been craving for a while probably because everything I'd consumed up till then had been on the sweet side, even my sandwiches from home were peanut butter and jam. The coffee was not very pleasant, but I was glad of the caffeine. I also spoke to a rider from a different group I've ridden with occasionally, always nice to see a face you know amidst a sea of strangers.
After a showery morning it was lovely and sunny in the afternoon. I had my last stop and a banana at Winsford where they announced that there was only 30 miles to go. They'd been busy all day as it was also a stop for the 60 mile ride. The people there were extremely friendly and encouraging. It was this and the knowledge that there was only 30 miles to go that made me decide not to stop again until the finish. Although I was feeling stiff and achy despite the stretches, I really found my legs in this last third, maybe because I was more relaxed by then and less worried about finishing. The last ten miles seemed to go on forever but suddenly I came round a corner and there was the entrance to the park and the finish line. I slowed down to savour the moment and despite the lateness of the day there were enough people clapping to make me get a bit emotional which I wasn't expecting. After locking up the bike and chatting to a few people I went to collect my certificate. They wanted to know if I'd done it in 6, 8 or 10 hours riding time so I went to check on Strava which I'd forgotten to stop and upload and was astounded to see that I had done it in under 8 hours, though with all the stops I had actually taken 91/2 hours from start to finish.
I knew that I would be overtaken by the speedsters and the packs, which I was, and that I would find myself overtaking people on the downs and flats who would then overtake me on all the ups and this turned out to be the case. I also found that I was always much quicker getting away at junctions than most, so it must have been those factors combined that helped me achieve the dizzy average speed of 14.1mi/h for 102.9mi Distance, 7:19:14 Moving Time, 2,103ft Elevation.
Sorry this report is so long!
. 14 odd mph is a very good average speed for an imperial with terrain and stops. Be careful though, they do get addictive, and start to take up all of your free time
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and my wind proof jacket was needed.
