In the mean time, please see below for a write up of training ride I did this weekend.
James
Wiggle South Downs Epic
I woke up the morning of the
Wiggle South Downs Epic feeling awful. Hardly slept at all as it was so
damn hot, and seeming to be feeling a minor hamstring niggle and a not so minor
Achilles injury much more than I usually do. Never the less I headed off
to the train station with high hopes of a good time. Gold standard in the
Wiggle is under 3hrs 9 minutes, which over 28 miles averages out to around 9
miles per hour. Seems achievable, but with my super supportive mates
telling me “there is no chance” and “you will do well to do it in under 4
hours” I must admit my confidence was not so high.
Following a quick scoot along
the coastal line to Barnham, I departed the train for a quick 3 mile ride to
the start. Meeting up with Andy, registering and getting my gear in order
took no time, and before we knew it we were on the start line ready and raring
to go. After a mile or so on tarmac we had a short steep climb, and then
onto the off road stuff. I was chatting away to Andy, only to realise
after about 5 minutes that it wasn’t him and was somebody else. Figuring
I must have lost him on the climb (I tend to climb faster than him over the
short drags) I set about maintaining a reasonable pace with the thought of a
gold standard still in my head.
The Wiggle heads through some
unbelievable countryside, with some very steep climbs (had to get off my bike
and push on the first one) and some super fast downhill rocky sections which
punish your forearms and grip immensely. Having no idea how far we had
gone I spotted somebody with a GPS and asked, and he said just over 10 miles.
Also having no idea how long we had been riding, I pushed again but sadly felt
my back twinge majorly at this point. Having had a back operation a few
years ago, this does happen sometimes. In all honesty I was unsure
whether to keep going as it wasn’t getting better, but then remembering I had
some Co-Codamol in my bag I munched a few of those and 20 minutes later was
feeling much better.
Arriving at the feeding station
I filled my water bottle, munched a flapjack and jumped straight back on the bike.
I had covered the 17 miles to there in about 2 hours, so felt that the gold
standard was within my grasp. Sadly the route didn’t quite agree with me,
as shortly after the feeding station there was an uphill that only the most
hardcore bikers managed to ride up. I was not one of these, and pushing
my bike up took an absolute age. When arriving at the top I gunned it
down a very fast rocky downhill, making up for lost time and ignoring the pain
in my back that seemed to be flaring up again. For a second time the
course was against me, as my rear got a flat at the bottom of the
downhill.
Changing inners has never been a
speciality of mine, and after at least 30 minutes of messing about I eventually
got it changed and pumped up and headed on my way again. Luckily this
break had rejuvenated me, and I felt great as I rounded the corner to see a
lady in a high-vis jacket shouting at me that I only had a mile left, and no
more hills (thank God).
Crossing the line I knew that I
had not made sub 3hrs 9mins, but was confident I had made sub 4 hours, and I
set about cleaning my bike hoping that Andy would be soon behind me, which he
was. We met up with the WAG’s who were waiting at the finish, discussed
how I need to practice changing my inner tubes at home before the next ride (as
if I am ever gonna do that) and then my wife and I headed round to my
mother-in-laws for a well deserved bottle of Corona (or three)
