Review: SWRC May Sportive…
The forecast for yesterday was wet. Come Saturday afternoon when I was going through the “should I / shouldn’t I” debate I managed to convince myself that it wouldn’t be that wet. Well the forecasters didn’t disappoint. It was very wet indeed.
The SWRC sportive offered both a 50 miler and a 90 miler, and although I had always intended doing the longer distance, as I crossed the start line I was still reserving the right to split off at the first checkpoint onto the shorter route.
For this event the riders are dispatched in waves every 3 minutes or so. After just a short run out from Cobham we were into the Surrey lanes and very quickly the group started breakup. It became apparent that there was a faster group getting off the front and we decided to go with it. Oh dear. I’m 5 miles into a 90 miler my heart is beating through my chest, I’m breathing out my arse and I am struggling to stay on the back of the six or so guys powering down these lanes. I guess we should have realised when a few of them were already out of the saddle within 500 metres of the start that these were guys that weren’t going to be going at the same pace as us. Once they had hauled us up to a group from the wave in front of ours we ‘let them go’…
We reached the first checkpoint and feedstation (20 miles) after an hour or so and were feeling good. This was the point that the 50 miler and 90 miler split. The weather was holding out so the decision was made to take on the full distance. And about 10 minutes later the rain started. The next highlight was MM getting a puncture. When cold & wet & fatigued the process of… getting the wheel off, extracting the tube, checking for foreign objects, replacing the tube, getting the tyre back on, pumping it up to pressure and getting the wheel back on took 15 minutes. So we’re just 2 hours into the ride and we’ve been ‘parked up’ for 15 minutes. Less than ideal.
Back on the road, it was pleasing to get moving again, if just to try to warm up. By now there were very few groups about and it was mostly riding in a pack of two. It wasn’t too long before we reached the second checkpoint and had a chance to top up water bottles and take up the marshal’s offer of bananas & cake. Shortly after noon, exactly as the forecasters had forecast, the skies upped the anti and the light rain became a full on downpour.
It was about this point that MM got his second puncture. And an hour later a third puncture. These both took 10-15 minutes to sort.
Leaving the final checkpoint we knew we had just 20 miles to go to the finish. Whilst the rain had now stopped there was one major obstacle in the way – the North Downs – and the short and sharp haul up Combe Bottom. This proved a hard old slog on tired legs but getting over it meant just 5 miles mostly down hill to the finish at Ripley and the reward for getting there was some very welcome tea & cake…
Our arrival at Ripley just before 3:15 pm meant an elapsed time was 6:14 for the 139km – an average speed of just 22.3 kph. Not really up to my expectations and with just 9 weeks to go not really good enough. At this rate I would have been swept up by the broomwagon very early in the day...
If I was to make excuses I would point the finger at the three punctures. Whilst my elapsed time was 6:14 (22.3 kph) my bike computer recorded a ride time as 5:15 (26.4 kph). This hour of non-riding effectively made a huge difference. Other than for punctures the only times we stopped were at the feed stations for a total of approx 15 minutes (say 3x 5 mins). Had we not needed to stop for the punctures we ‘might’ have hopped to finish in 5:30 (25.3 kph). I understand that this is entirely theoretical but it at least identifies the effect the punctures had on performance (and means that I can at least take something from this ride).
If this happened on the big day I would be in real trouble. The initial run from Foix to Saint Girons (68.8km) has a cut of 3:10 (21.7 kph). Having 30 minutes of stoppages would mean just 2:40 to cover the distance at an unrealistic 25.8 kph.
Two things to take away from the day; (i) I need to cycle faster, and (ii) need to be able to change a puncture quicker.
Despite being thoroughly soaked and a little disappointed by my performance this was an enjoyable day in the saddle. Next week I just hope to be a little quicker.
The stats:
Dist: 139.1 km
Elapsed Time: 6:13:58 = 22.3 kph
Ride Time: 5:15:34 = 26.4 kph
Max Speed: 52.1 kph
Av HR: 143. Max HR: 176
Av Cad: 84. Max Cad: 116
Ascent: 1783m
Energy: 4,140 KCals
The route map:
The SWRC sportive offered both a 50 miler and a 90 miler, and although I had always intended doing the longer distance, as I crossed the start line I was still reserving the right to split off at the first checkpoint onto the shorter route.
For this event the riders are dispatched in waves every 3 minutes or so. After just a short run out from Cobham we were into the Surrey lanes and very quickly the group started breakup. It became apparent that there was a faster group getting off the front and we decided to go with it. Oh dear. I’m 5 miles into a 90 miler my heart is beating through my chest, I’m breathing out my arse and I am struggling to stay on the back of the six or so guys powering down these lanes. I guess we should have realised when a few of them were already out of the saddle within 500 metres of the start that these were guys that weren’t going to be going at the same pace as us. Once they had hauled us up to a group from the wave in front of ours we ‘let them go’…
We reached the first checkpoint and feedstation (20 miles) after an hour or so and were feeling good. This was the point that the 50 miler and 90 miler split. The weather was holding out so the decision was made to take on the full distance. And about 10 minutes later the rain started. The next highlight was MM getting a puncture. When cold & wet & fatigued the process of… getting the wheel off, extracting the tube, checking for foreign objects, replacing the tube, getting the tyre back on, pumping it up to pressure and getting the wheel back on took 15 minutes. So we’re just 2 hours into the ride and we’ve been ‘parked up’ for 15 minutes. Less than ideal.
Back on the road, it was pleasing to get moving again, if just to try to warm up. By now there were very few groups about and it was mostly riding in a pack of two. It wasn’t too long before we reached the second checkpoint and had a chance to top up water bottles and take up the marshal’s offer of bananas & cake. Shortly after noon, exactly as the forecasters had forecast, the skies upped the anti and the light rain became a full on downpour.
It was about this point that MM got his second puncture. And an hour later a third puncture. These both took 10-15 minutes to sort.
Leaving the final checkpoint we knew we had just 20 miles to go to the finish. Whilst the rain had now stopped there was one major obstacle in the way – the North Downs – and the short and sharp haul up Combe Bottom. This proved a hard old slog on tired legs but getting over it meant just 5 miles mostly down hill to the finish at Ripley and the reward for getting there was some very welcome tea & cake…
Our arrival at Ripley just before 3:15 pm meant an elapsed time was 6:14 for the 139km – an average speed of just 22.3 kph. Not really up to my expectations and with just 9 weeks to go not really good enough. At this rate I would have been swept up by the broomwagon very early in the day...
If I was to make excuses I would point the finger at the three punctures. Whilst my elapsed time was 6:14 (22.3 kph) my bike computer recorded a ride time as 5:15 (26.4 kph). This hour of non-riding effectively made a huge difference. Other than for punctures the only times we stopped were at the feed stations for a total of approx 15 minutes (say 3x 5 mins). Had we not needed to stop for the punctures we ‘might’ have hopped to finish in 5:30 (25.3 kph). I understand that this is entirely theoretical but it at least identifies the effect the punctures had on performance (and means that I can at least take something from this ride).
If this happened on the big day I would be in real trouble. The initial run from Foix to Saint Girons (68.8km) has a cut of 3:10 (21.7 kph). Having 30 minutes of stoppages would mean just 2:40 to cover the distance at an unrealistic 25.8 kph.
Two things to take away from the day; (i) I need to cycle faster, and (ii) need to be able to change a puncture quicker.
Despite being thoroughly soaked and a little disappointed by my performance this was an enjoyable day in the saddle. Next week I just hope to be a little quicker.
The stats:
Dist: 139.1 km
Elapsed Time: 6:13:58 = 22.3 kph
Ride Time: 5:15:34 = 26.4 kph
Max Speed: 52.1 kph
Av HR: 143. Max HR: 176
Av Cad: 84. Max Cad: 116
Ascent: 1783m
Energy: 4,140 KCals
The route map:
Posted by Richard Allen
3 Comments:
MM is willing to hold his hand up for slowing the team down with three punctures. But he's not able to guarantee that it won't happen on the Etape. He is willing to do his best to avoid all the pointy/sharp stuff on the road though.
No worries. It might be me this weekend...
Rich, Like yourself I did this event as part of my training for the Etape. I think the weather certainly made a difference to your time. So don't be too hard on yourself. It's all good prep for the big day - especially if it's rains in the Pyrenees in July!
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