The FOD is this Sunday, with sign on from 7am in Chippenham Fields in Monmouth. We have a big group of riders meeting up at the start - aiming to get going around 8.30am. Please come and join up with us - whether you are a club member or not. We will be pretty obvious in the Epic Cycles kit…
29
Apr
08
Dreading Sunday’s ride - very little training - but will be there anyway. Loking forward to it :-/
Mike, It will be a great ride with hopefully loads of us from newly formed Epic Cycles Road Club there on the start line. You’re not kidding anyone you’re going well !!
If nothing else don’t forget your comb ! Great opportunity for a team photo
Scared? Nah! Now where was that 28t cassette . . . . . ?
Yes I’ve got my 27 installed and ready to roll, just a matter of now having the legs to pound those nasty climbs !.
Tip for the day is to start off steady and stick in your own comfort zone and pace yourself (a fast start and being shot half way round is no fun !).
See you all on Sunday, take care and have a safe ride.
Bye for now,
Robin
I’m half looking forward to this. I just hope that none of the locals run off with some of the signage as they did last year, causing many including yours truly to ride about 5 miles and climb about 800 feet more than I needed to. Let’s hope the weather is OK.
Hopefully they will have learned and send someone off in front of the riders to replace any missing signs. Just look on the extra 5 miles as extra fun for your money
Weather forecast looks OK at the mo. Warm with showers and light winds. Don’t care anyway. Really looking forward to a proper ride.
Wow, what a ride…I really enjoyed it, even though it was 15-20 miles longer than my fitness and training was up to
A hard route, tough climbs, a few hairy descents, and some tricky weather moments, but great company and a real blast to be out riding fast. Just need to get some more miles in my legs :-/
And the mystery of what happened to Chris is solved…he didn’t start until 9am
Thanks for the tow at the end Mr Peake - I needed it. Never had cramp in as many places.
Phil.
That was a tough day!!!
I was a mystery, eh?
Mike and I had not left enough ‘faffing’ time, plus we stood under cover for 20 minutes debating how much the heavy rain was hurting our scalps, followed by the discovery I had forgotten some of the roof rack keys (DOH!), before setting off to Monmouth. By the time we had got down there most were on their way, so we left at 9am ish.
By that time, it was pairs and singles littered down the road (mostly ‘faffers’ who had spent too long getting matching kit out that morning!!!) so we tapped along and chatted with the debris as we met a few riders already blown to bits from 25 miles in. The climbs were relentless but we plodded along at a steady rate with a view to finish rather than set records. The climbs were worthwhile, as the descents were fantastic and we took alot of riders who were being pansies going downhill. Needless to say we would have cut 30 minutes off our ride time if Mike had not paused and spoken to every female rider we met, to give . . . . some encouragement.
We did manage to team up with a couple of riders mid-way for a faster 10 miles but the hills put a stop to the fun! As I got slower, Mike got quicker and I was soon hanging on to his rear wheel for a speedy last 20 miles (climbs excluded!) with what has to be one of the best finishing descents I have ridden. That on its own was worth the all the pain. A good day out and a long ride to complete on so little training.
I am booking myself in for sportives already - Gran Fondo Cymru and the Wyre Forest Stinger anyone?
Wow, what a day! I’m stilling buzzing this morning, but that could be from the amount of caffeine consumed! Glad to hear you made it Chris, we were wondering what had happened to you guys!
I’m certainly up for doing more of this kind of riding, great company and fantastic course, some parts felt like you were in a different country… until it rained
Great to see all the Epic jerseys around as well.
Four laps of the Ludlow Hilly TT tomorrow anyone? Ouch!
Fantastic and well organised day out with great company and at a very fast pace until a puncture at 35 miles left me with a lonely 50 or so left to do, while I was gutted that I was unable to stick with the gang I still had a great ride and it’s made me even more keen to enter the next one asap.
The weather on the drive down to Monmouth didn’t look too promising, passing though thunder storms and torrential rain in Hereford, I was amazed to have started and finished the event dry and warm after getting very wet and cold in between.
I was flagging a bit at the bottom of Symmons Yat then I spotted George the snappers car in the layby and the thought of seeing his photos soon ensured that I kept on trying to make it look easy,(time will tell if I was successful) I’m sure all the guys walking I passed would not have been doing so if they knew he was lurking in the bushes.
Is it just me, or can’t anyone face anything sweet to eat today!!
Looking forward to the next one…
Well what can i say. What a fantastic day. My first ever 85 mile ride and i loved almost every minute of it. Chris (Machman) was great company and at times we almost had a laugh through all the tough climbs and the great decents. I thought the whole event was really well organised. definately got the bug now and plan to do several more this year. I would like to know though which member of staff from the store came to my house in the early hours of the morning, sneaked in and secretly inserted lead weights into my legs making them feel very heavy for the next morning. I know the staff are scared of my pace but really i think that was a bit unfair. Anyway i can’t wait for the next one now best get out and do so more miles and faffing with Machman. Thanks mate.
Well done Mike, great effort - I hadn’t realised it was your longest ride ever…and I thought I was doing well with my longest for a couple of years…on for a century next?!??
Two days on and I am totally re-enthused after what seems a long winter of not much riding. But I have to admit my motivation to TT has now hit a low…the FOD reminded me of why I ride a bike. Like Chris I am madly looking at dates for the next outing and trying to think how I can get some much needed miles in my legs as I truly hit empty at 65-70 miles - blow four laps of the A49…if the sun shines tonight I’m off to the hills
I am up for the Gran Fondo Cymru too…anyone else? Hard to resist if you can make it.
Phil not being in the cycle industry myself i was wondering now that you have this blog, would it be possible for the staff at the store to post on here any of the events you are doing. For someone like me and i’m sure there’s a few more who are new to road bikes it is much better to enter these tough events knowing you can at least turn up with familar faces even though we get dropped once you get going. What do you think.
Hi Guy’s,
What a ride that was !, it certainly was’nt easy was it !! here’d me digging in and by my facial expression I’m under a fair bit of pressure http://www.onlysportsphotos.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1713
Nice to see a good gang from Epic taking part (there was a tale going round that Chris Lines had gone home after the first spot of rain !, however com-on guy’s this cant be true as I’ve seen a photo of him nearing the end, well done mate).
We had a similar sized bunch from Climb-On (about eleven off us I think).
Everyone who finished that one did well, very mentally testing as well as physical I thought.
Bye for now,
Robin.
Mike - I have added a new post/story on the blog home page to do just that - I agree that doing any of these big undertakings is soooooo much better with a nice bunch of (or even one) familiar faces. We could make that a permanent page, once we get a few more comments, so that it becomes a kind of club/shop calendar - what do you think?
Permanent page sounds a great idea. Thanks that way we don’t have to trawl the web looking for the local’ish events. We can simple look on here see what you guys are doing and join in. great thanks.
Robin - that ‘early doors’ story was just a viscous rumour, surely started by the startled/embarassed riders we were passing who could not believe how fast Mike and I were travelling!!!
Nice pics of us all, eh? At least I spotted the camera early on Symmons Yat so we put a brave face on it. Good job he wasn’t sat at the top of the climb. Phew!
The permanent page of planned rides is a great idea - very easy! I would like to do both of the suggested rides. Diary checking taking place as I write . . .