Wrynose or Bust Sportive
Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 8:44 pm
Despite the dreadful forecast Greg, Big Mike & I took part in this event on Sunday as preparation for the Fred Whitton.
Having seen the forecast I thought we'd be better not to bother & instead do a ride from home on the Saturday, but Mike was adamant - we were going come what may!
Starting just outside Lancaster, with the last rider off at 8.00am meant getting out of bed at 4.30am - something which does not come naturally for me & may have assisted in making me feel horribly car sick on the journey up.
At the start it was cold & windy & the prospect of doing 112 miles over the Cumbrian fells was particularly unappealing, however, we soon warmed up by doing 35 miles of bit & bit. On the way we picked up a companion from Penrith who joined us in pushing the wind to the bottom of the Duddon valley.
The head wind over Wrynose pass was savage & took it's toll on Mike & I.... Greg seemed unaffected.....
The trip back south was scenic & the wind assistance in places was very welcome. The rain arrived with about 25 miles to go & came down pretty hard, but we knew we'd done the hard part & all Mike & I needed to do was hang onto Greg's wheel to the finish
Greg & I finished in 6 hours 49 minutes with Mike coming in only few minutes behind having suffered from frozen hands & hunger knock in the last 5 miles.
If anyone is considering doing it next year, it's a great route in a lovely part of the country, however they will need to improve the signage which was hit & miss in parts meaning we went of course a few times & had to retrace our steps.... better than some though who ended up getting a taxi home!
Funniest moment - when Greg realised he'd drunk the cup of tea that Mike had been defrosting his fingers in
Having seen the forecast I thought we'd be better not to bother & instead do a ride from home on the Saturday, but Mike was adamant - we were going come what may!
Starting just outside Lancaster, with the last rider off at 8.00am meant getting out of bed at 4.30am - something which does not come naturally for me & may have assisted in making me feel horribly car sick on the journey up.
At the start it was cold & windy & the prospect of doing 112 miles over the Cumbrian fells was particularly unappealing, however, we soon warmed up by doing 35 miles of bit & bit. On the way we picked up a companion from Penrith who joined us in pushing the wind to the bottom of the Duddon valley.
The head wind over Wrynose pass was savage & took it's toll on Mike & I.... Greg seemed unaffected.....
The trip back south was scenic & the wind assistance in places was very welcome. The rain arrived with about 25 miles to go & came down pretty hard, but we knew we'd done the hard part & all Mike & I needed to do was hang onto Greg's wheel to the finish
Greg & I finished in 6 hours 49 minutes with Mike coming in only few minutes behind having suffered from frozen hands & hunger knock in the last 5 miles.
If anyone is considering doing it next year, it's a great route in a lovely part of the country, however they will need to improve the signage which was hit & miss in parts meaning we went of course a few times & had to retrace our steps.... better than some though who ended up getting a taxi home!
Funniest moment - when Greg realised he'd drunk the cup of tea that Mike had been defrosting his fingers in