The thread was starting to look a little lonley so thought i'd resurrect it.
Yesterday I completed the 'Etap du Dales' sportive in the Yorkshire Dales. I have to admit it was probably one of the toughest physical challenges I have ever completed, it was advertised as being 112 miles with 3500ft of catergorised climbing so not to be taken lightly.
I set off at 7am with a cloudy sky with the odd finger of sunshine poking thru and a hope in my heart, although this was destroyed by the first climb of the day at a little over 15 miles in, a cat 3 climb, 3 miles in length and ascending 875ft. This was merely the hors d'oeuvres for the next ascent 4 miles later, a whopper of a cat 2 climb at 3.36 miles in length and going skywards for 900ft!! I was already chewing my bars and hadn't even reached 30 miles!!
I could continue with describing the rest of the first half of the ride but to sum it up for you it basically went uphill!!!
The organisation was spot on and they had very well stocked feed stops with plenty of free gels, energy bars, flapjack, bannanas, energy drink & water (which was just as well!!) I seem to remember there being 4 or 5 around the course.
At the half way point was the feed stop at the highest pub in the land (fact), the 'Tan Hill Inn'.
Here they served up tea, coffee, sandwiches (which were a welcome relief from the sweet and sticky energy goods), and piles of cake. Feeling a little better I set off for the second half.
Whilst climbing up Tan Hill the weather had taken a turn for the worse and the wind was howling across the dales and then the rain started!! The temperature had dropped off and after my sunny training rides on the south coast was a little disappointed to find myself in sub 10 degree weather!! The descent from Tan Hill was a cracker although a little sketchy because of the greasy roads so held back a little and the cross winds didnt help much either!!
I made it to the 70 mile feed stop having nursed some cramp on the inside of my thighs (1st for me) and loaded up on the good stuff. Soon after setting off I was faced with the most ridiculous climb I have ever attempted. Im not sure what it was called but it was endless!! My garmin pauses itself with a little beep if I go below 3mph and all I will say it was like a disco tune going off on my handlebars!!!! 'Map my ride' showed it as just over 2 miles, 643ft and at an average of 6%, to be honest it felt a lot worse!! As the weather had worsened and the cloud/mist got lower this climb actually went through the clouds (another 1st for me) and up the top was a photographer waiting to capture the pained faces on display. Heres the link to mine -
http://www.sportsunday.co.uk/photo10027392.html That took just about all the energy I had at that point.
On the descent from this whopper I started working with a couple of guys from Ashwell CC whom I had been bumping into on and off for the previous 50 miles. They looked about in as worse as state as me and we shared the pain for the final 30 odd miles. I wish I could say it was a flat run in from here but the Etap had one more sting in its tail for us. We heaved ourselves over the final climb and on the descent things got a bit hairy. I was following one of the guys from Ashwell CC on the descent and a left hander caught us both out. It was a bit sharper than we'd expected and luckily for us as the road turned to the left, the right hand side, rather than dropping away over the edge, provided us with a steep grassy bank to ride up!! We hit this at about 35-40mph and I somehow managed to stay upright as Mr.Ashwell CC took a dive into the grass. Thankfully no injuries were sustained other than dented pride and we sheepishly crept back to the road and continued on our way.
The final 10/15 miles were a flattish run back to the start with what im sure was the first tailwind of the day. I crossed the line in 8hr 30mins feeling a little the worse foe wear but otherwise elated I had finished the challenge!!
Other than being a little expensive to enter (its a charity ride), I can thouroughly recommend the Etap Du Dales (if your a sadist,or a bit mental!!), its well organised, well marshalled and a good atmos. It would have been nice if the sun had come out to play but hey, it is Yorkshire after all!!
Final stats - 110 miles covered
11,500ft ascended
7500 calories burnt
163bpm av.HR
200bpm max.HR
Heres the links to my Garmin stats and the 'Map my ride' climb stats,
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85852650http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/34420506#climbs