Having been very organised, not to mention living just down the road, I signed my Dad and I up for today’s Cheddar Cyclosportive last night.  This meant that we could attach our numbers and timing chips before getting there, which made life a lot easier.  It was also really nice to be able to cycle to and from the sportive – local has a lot going for it.

That wasn’t the only advantage.  We turned up this morning around 8:40am and the queue for signing up was already backing up…  In fact it backed up so far that the start was delayed by 20 minutes or so.  We stood in the sun, with various friends and acquaintances, getting a little chilly, but right by the front so when the time came, we were amongst the first away.  I like that – sooner started sooner finished!

The route was mostly on familiar roads, which was a bit bizarre.  Paying to use roads I use all the time?  The first chunk was on fairly main roads which were luckily not too busy as it was quite early.  Out from Cheddar to Wedmore, up and down Mudgeley Hill, and out on the main road to Glastonbury.  Various groups who had started after us hurtled past us from time to time, and sometimes we were part of a peleton for a while, which was nice.  From there it was out to Street and beyond..and it wasn’t until the left turn near Ashcott that we left the main roads and traffic behind.  We did the first hour at over 19mph which just goes to show that what little wind there was was in our favour, the roads were flat, and the sun was shining! 🙂

Of course that mean we were nearly at High Ham hill…but I guess flat all the time would be boring, right?  I knew exactly what to expect, told Dad about which gear to be , and then got my own in  a complete tiz by ended up in top of bottom not bottom of bottom and had to stand up and push the pedals for a bit until I could sit down, take the strain off the pedals, and change into a sensible gear!  Still, both of us got up the hill to the first food stop where smiley happy people gave us flapjacks and welsh cakes – very yummy.

From there it was down and out to Langport – the least familiar section of the route for me – where we got stuck with a slower group.  Not that slower is necessarily a problem, but they kept slowing down and then speeding up which was harder to cope with than doing our own pace, so eventually we put our heads down and went past ’em!  2nd hour brought us down to an average of 17.something.  There was a nasty hill near Woolavington which I hadn’t even registered beforehand – so it came as a bit of a nasty shock!

We joined up with familiar roads near Basonbridge, and then there was the 2nd feedstop.  On from there to go over Brent Knoll, which was harder than when we recced it, something to do with there being less left in the legs I think,  After that it was almost like a normal training ride.  Back to Loxton, up the not flat road past Christon, up at Banwell Hill – still not much fun – and then I had much fun going very fast down the hill into Winscombe.  I overtook some bloke on a Cervelo who was less than impressed and had to catch my back wheel!  He may not have liked being overtaken by a girl, but he certainly didn’t mind being taken for a ride by on! *grin*.

Luckily the roadworks in Winscombe were passable so that we didn’t have to go up Winscombe Hill as feared, and from there it was a quick stretch to Shute Shelve and more hurtling down the bypass to get to the start, where we duly de-chipped, grabbed some food, and chilled on the grass in the sun for a bit.

Cycling time: 3:50:16 (officially with stops 3:58:49 – 98/134)
Distance: 65.02 miles
Avs: 16.9 mph
ODO: 2057 miles

The best bit for me was doing the corners and downhills much better than I have been, so I’m really happy with that.  It was a blast all ’round really.  We’re both really happy to have gotten in under 4 hours.  The average speed was fab – way more than Dad was expecting, or me to be honest.  You couldn’t have had better riding conditions.  Sunny, not too hot, not too much wind – great cycling weather all ’round.

Last event of this year’s season – and a good way to round it off 🙂

PS: I went out with S and P for a bit yesterday if you’re wondering about the apparent discrepancy in ODO increase.  Which you weren’t.  *grin*