Dartmoor Classic

A couple of weeks ago, I did the Dartmoor Classic down in Devon. 106 hilly miles on and off Dartmoor.

It was at this race last year that I had my first crash, gouging a hole in my knee and elbow and costing me £500 of bike repairs. This time I managed to get around in one piece.

I am a city person.  I love London and never want to leave but I do love Devon and especially Dartmoor.  I love the stark beauty and expansive views.  I also love hills for running and cycling and there are a lot to choose from on Dartmoor.

It was a very hot day and I was worried about water.  There is one feed stop in Princetown that you go past twice but the organisers had put on more water on the course at several pubs.  Very sensible.

I knew the course from last year and from many trips to Devon to see my Dad who lives in Moretonhampstead and my mum who is in Yealmpton.  It is up and down all through the 106 miles but the biggest climbs come when you go on and off the moor.  You do this for the first time pretty soon after the start on the way to Hemsworthy.  It is long and steepish and gets the heart racing but when you get to the top, the views are amazing.

I was on my own this year and never really hooked up with a group but that was fine by me.  I just enjoyed the weather and the scenery and had a great time.  I hit 51 mph the decent into Tavistock which was fun.  I've lost a bit of my descending bottle since last years crash and it is good to let myself go from time to time.

I was not trying to break any records but I was trying to get silver (sub 7:05) so I made sure the two feed stops at Princetown were short and I pressed on where ever possible.  I did stop for a while at one water stop.  I didn't want to take the risk of dehydrating so I stopped at a scout hut and queued for 10 minutes for water.  This proved to be my undoing......I missed silver by 7 minutes.

At round 90 miles, you come off the moor for the last time and its about 3 miles down hill into Moretonhampstead where my Dad was sat outside his house.  That 3 miles and then seeing my Dad is such a great feeling.  Then its another uphill before a 10 mile stretch, mostly downhill, to the finish.

I finished in 7:12 so didn't get silver but not to worry.  I was in the top 280 our of 750 so not many got gold and silver.  I still got my bronze coin, a musette bag and a granite trophy.  I love the Fred Whitton and I had a great time at the Etape last year but I think this is my favourite ride.

On the train home to London, I got chatting to a guy with his bike who had done some crazy 100 mile night ride over Exmoor with just regular bike lights.  There is always someone who does something harder or longer or hillier or stupider than you :-)

The Fred Whitton Challenge

Well, its been a week. I intended to write my Fred Whitton report on Monday but its been a very very busy few days. I've said it before but this teaching lark is hard work.

I've also had a stinking cold, the same one I had in my 1st placement and 2nd placement no doubt. Feeling rotten, waking before 6am and working until midnight each day is not very conducive to blog writing or exercise.

Anyway, the hard work might be paying off as I have an interview for a job on Tuesday. Its a reception class teacher in a great school and I really want it. I'm up against 5 others so its going to be tough. I'm trying to stay relaxed but I really want it so I'm very nervy.

Anyway, back to cycling. This was my second attempt at the Fred. I did it last year in 8:50 which I was pleased with at the time given 30 minutes of stops for machanicals. This year I did not know what to expect. I had done a lot of cycling last year and loads of hills. This year, I had completed more exercise hours but not cycling up hills.

I set off with some mates and we planned to stay together for a while. From the off, it felt hard. My breathing was shallow (the countryside makes me wheezy) and the hills felt hard. I got up the first hill and then Kirkstone pass to find everyone waiting for me.  This was mainly because I had forgotten to tighten my front quick-release and after a 30 mph downhill, I chalked off one of my nine lives.

We continued and by around 40 miles, I was starting to get into it. Still not great but a few fast miles in a train certainly put a smile on my face.

It was then onto Honister, the second hardest hill on the route. It kicks up really hard from the bottom and is really tough. I got up in one go and enjoyed the decent to the first feed station. A few minutes later, everyone else arrived and we set off after a short malt loaf break.

It was straight up Newlands which felt ok and then Whinlater which was much harder than I remember. Even with the Tour de France style crowds, it was a pain.

I remember it being fairly flat between Whinlatter and the second feed station but there is Fangs Brow, Kelton Fell, Cold Fell and Irton Pike that I had forgotten about. I got to the feed station feeling ok but weary of what was to come.

It was further than I remember from the feed to Hardknott but it hove into view and looked more ridiculous than I remember. I got up without walking last time but I stopped twice. My aim this time, no stops. It gets so steep, so quickly and it was hard getting from the phone box to the cattle grid. People were walking already but I soldiered on. Its in two stages, the bottom goes up to about 25% before in levels off to a mere 10% so I just focused on getting there for a 'rest'. Its a balancing act between going for it and not blowing up. Go too slow and you fall off. Go too fast and you'll never make it.

I made it to the 'flat bit' and went as slow as possible until my heart rate went down a little. There was a girl giving out cups of water in a passing point and I cycled round in a circle a few times to take a cup (I had emptied my water bottles out at the bottom). How kind.

I got ready and went for it again. It was the famous 33% switchback. I went hard and did it ok. Only problem was, I forgot how long and steep the last bit was. I only just made it with the pain getting greater and greater.

It was then the terrifying decent before the valley and Wrynose which was hard but ok. My lack of miles on the bike were really taking there tole and I limped home. I finished in 8:30 which was pretty good if not brilliant.

Stats
Total Time: 8:30:41
Ride Time: 7:53:02
Average HR: Zone 3.2


Nutrition
1 x SiS gel
2 x Packets of shots
1 x Powerbar
2 x Ham sandwich
2 x Cherry flapjack
2 x Torq drink bottles
2 x High5 4:1 drink bottles
2 x Water drink bottles

The Burgess Hill Springtime Classic

Another Sunday, another event.  As it was running last weekend, it was cycling this weekend to fit into my alternating plan.  I had booked this event months ago but I thought I couldn't make it but family plans changed and I was free.

I had cycled this sportive last year and really enjoyed it.  Its 72 miles around country lanes starting in Burgess Hill which is just north of Brighton.  When I did it last year, I somehow managed to come in ahead of all my mates, mainly because they stopped for a while at one of the checkpoints were as I thought I was behind them so didn't stop for more than 15 seconds.

I had no particular aims.  I had done OK 2 weeks previously in the Surrey Rumble but that was the only long cycled I'd done this year.  I set off with Ed and Simon but I think I was with Ed for about 20 seconds before he pulled away.  He was racing and we waved goodbye.

I cycled with Simon for a while.  He is quicker than me so I spent a long time pushing to stay on his wheel or within site of him on hills.  I occasionally took the lead but he'd come past me on any up or down hill.  We had some great fun on down hills.  Its great to blast past each other at over 35mph.

He eventually fell away because he has been ill for 10 days and shouldn't really have ridden.  The fact that he lasted that long was a great effort.
I had hoped to get in under 4:30 but I ended up with a time of 4:36 which seemed pretty respectable. I finished in 64th position out of 249 finishers which I'm really pleased with.  That's just outside the top quarter which is probably one of my best finishes in a sportive.

Surrey Rumble

My first sportive of the year went really well.  A huge improvement in the weather and a good course helped make the day go well.

Positives
Sunny Day - It was a lovely day.  Deceptivly nice (see chill below).  It was nice to ride in the sun for a change.
Feeling Good - I was worried that I was going to be tired from last Sunday but my legs were quite fresh to start with.  It was only on the hills that I felt a little sluggish but that might be that I haven't trained on hills for a long while.
Completed the long course - It was great to get my first long ride out of the way.  Its been ages since I rode that far (76 miles) and it will give me a lot of confidence that I will be ok (ish) on the Fred Whitton.
Heart Rate - I managed to keep my heart rate at an average of 2.6

Negatives
Chill - It looked really sunny out but it was cold.  Really cold.  It wasn't until about 11am that I started to properly warm up even though I had my overshoes and warm gloves on.
Icy - There was a surprisingly large amount of ice on the road and some of it was very difficult to see.  There were large patches that caused all riders to dismount but there were other bits that looked like water but were not.  I saw two riders fall and I imagine there were more.
Accident - I saw the result of a terrible accident.  A poor girl had gone into the back of a car.  It made me go very cold.  I really hope she was ok.
Punctures - I got my bike out of the shed on Saturday and the front was flat.  I changed it.  I got my bike out of the car today and the front was flat.  I had three inners with me, one was the wrong size, one had a bent valve and the only one that worked had been previously fixed.  So I was about to start with no spares.  I managed to buy 2 at the start which was lucky as I had more punctures at mile 40 and 74 (yes, 2 miles from the finish).  Four flats in 2 days.
Nutrition - I gave no thought to what I was going to eat.  I shoved two nut bars in my pocket before the ride and filled one bottle with water and the other with Torq.  I drank the Torq quite quickly and ate one bar.  I intended to get something else from the feed stops but forgot.  So all I had was what I had taken with me.  It was just enough but I guess I wasn't far from bonking.

So a good day all-in-all.  I don't have any other sportives booked until the Fred but I'll be doing other long rides including my training camp at my Dad's in Devon during the Easter break.

Fred Whitton Places

I just found out that I have a highly saught after place in the Fred Whitton. It is key to my training and a ride that I really enjoyed last year. I'm chuffed.

My mates Ed, SimonO and Bob have got places as well as blog friends Rob Shipman and John Sutton. The race for a sub 8 hour time is on.