Etape du Dales.

[andyr]

Well, that was fun!

I landed yesterday after a 6 day/500 mile week in sunny Majorca, the one thing I really craved after riding up sun scorched mountain roads, fine coffee & a cooling sea breeze was a relentless headwind, driving rain, fog, 5 degrees & 112 miles with over 10000ft of climbing....

I honestly was gonna bale out after 10 miles, my legs were shot after the Majorca trip & I was properly fatigued. I took the decision to take Ben's car key so that I could turn tail & go back to the HQ. Fleet Moss reared up & a decision had to be made. Sod it! Keep on going...I'm glad I did but it was one of the toughest rides I've done. On a good day the route is a challenge but with the wind & constant rain it was doubly so.

Anyway we all got round & I would say anyone & everyone who completed today's ride deserves a pat on the back.

Andy.

[consultant1]

Good to hear Andy...thats that particular painful chapter deposited in the bank then, your legs wont be thanking you today but am sure they will remind you of the toils when u fancy taking out the next installment..hats off to you all - shae you never had Ian there, I hope he gets this neck trouble sorted!!

[bennyburrito]

Hardest day i have ever spent on a bike...ever!

Think Andy R has said it all really, windy, cold and rain from start to finish, plus the 10000 ft of climbing made this the toughest ride i have had to date. the rain and hills i can deal with (ish) but the constant head and side winds were just ridiculous.

We started as a group of 4 and as we set off from the car park i remembered i hadn't closed the quick release on my brakes. Pulled over to close them and then spent the next 6 miles absolutely dying before it dawned on me that perhaps the brakes were now binding. Pulled over to check, yep they were solid. What a school boy error. By time i had sorted that out looked up and i was on my own with 104 miles to go. Not good news.

Managed to catch the lads near the bottom of the first climb, 'Fleet Moss' at which point Andy R informed me his legs were shot and that he was heading back. After Ian D's no show due to injury this was turning into a disaster.

I gave Andy my car key as he explained he wanted to go back and get some sleep in the car. It was just one ride to far after a weeks training in Majorca. I gave him the key, said that i would see him in about 7 hours looked up and saw the start of Fleet Moss. What a hill, talk about steep. After only 5 minutes of climbing i knew that i had made a massive mistake listening to Mr Mentallist (Ian D) and Mr Deranged (Andy R) regarding my gearing and from now one they can call me Benese as much as they want, Compacts are the future. Only 1 mile into the climb i was on my 39-25 nothing else left and the legs were hurting. Only another 9000 feet of climbing to go.

At this point we were in a small group of about 10 riders, being lead up the hill by Richmond CC hill goats, i was in a good rhythm when i felt a tug on my saddle and who pooped up beside me...Andy R, "Just going to get to the top see how legs are feeling then" he said, click click went up two gears then booted it past the group and disappeared up the bloody hill. Didnt see him again for about thirty miles until the top of Tan Hill where myself, Ian Parker, Andy R and Keith regrouped. Only 44 miles done, we were freezing, wet and had another 74 miles to go. The feed zone looked a bit like a scene from M.A.S.H with bodies all over the place. People were wrapping themselves in anything they could get there hands on. I must admit to starting to panic a bit when i overheard Ian and Keith talking and Ian said he couldn't decide if it was better to know what was coming up or not. This was further compounded when i asked Andy R what time we should be aiming for to the finish and he said "Forget the time, its all about surviving Ben all about surviving!" Brilliant.

We stayed together for the next 20 miles, myself and Andy then started to pull away a bit and found ourselves trapping along into a brute of a head/side wind. After 5 miles of this i decided the best plan would be to stop overtaking everyone and perhaps try and sit in a group. I suggested this to Andy who informed me that " We don't roll with anyone" click click went his gears and that was the last i saw of him as he disappeared up the hill into the clouds.

Once again on my own and that was it all the way to the finish. Saw Keith at the second to last feed station had a quick sarnie and the next time we all saw each other was at the finish. I reckon that i covered about 85-90 miles of total course on my own as a combination of the hills, wind and rain just smashed everyone to pieces.

I genuinely have never experienced a day on the bike like it. The combination of the brutal wind, cold, incorrect clothing, rain, hills, wrong gearing, surface water and brutal brutal climbs made it a day i will never forget. Well done to Keith, Andy R and Ian P on a truly epic ride. Andy R deserves a special mention with a top 50 finish out of 1000 riders. Awesome ride Andy.

Bring on the Marmote.

[consultant1]

Bring on the Marmotte Indeed....less than 7 weeks and by the sounds of it Ben an excellent prep for you and the lads. I am gonna do the Cairngorms 100 on 4th June, it wont be the etape du dales but it'll get me some valuable grinding for a few hours...bring it on !!!
Nice report too:)

[oll]

Great report Ben.
What can I add? I have never known a wind that seemed to change direction with every turn we made. I can remember saying to Ben 'once we get to Tan Hill we should hopefully have the wind with us.' How wrong I was!! At the top of Tan Hill it was 6 degrees and the cold air seemed to suck the energy out of your body. The climbs were tough, but to have to climb the Coal Road after around 60 miles was something else. So many got off and walked. It really was mind over matter to keep the legs turning and keeping the cold hands gripping the bars.

The biggest worry was the descent of Fleet Moss, for once the wind had veered to a cross wind, the only problem was it was pushing the bike towards the centre of the road, not too bad until I saw a car coming up the road.

The final 20 miles was mainly downhill and with a tailwind and I regained some drive and powered down the road, however it was not enough to break into the Silver category. I missed it by 7 minutes, however hats off to Ian, Andy and Ben who all got inside the Silver category.
Like Ben it felt like much of the ride was on my own as a group seemed to catch on the flat but then I left them on the climbs, but could not latch onto another group. I also think it is the toughest ride I have done. After it I thought never again, however today I am thinking I was gutted not to get a Silver Category time, so next year you just never know!