Etape du Dales 2009

[Ramsay]

Instead of riding over carpet tacks in Perthshire on Sunday, I decided to do 111miles around the best (and steepest) of the Dales.

 

The Etape du Dales course takes you over some incredible climbs (and quite frankly, terrifying decents! 50mph ++ ).

 

I went to the event with three friends. We set one of them off 50mins before us, as this was her first ever "ton" on a bike and we didn't want to drop her at the beginning. The other three of us set off and enjoyed a bit of sun and a fairly fresh tailwind for the first 50 miles or so. We had all decided that we were just out to do the ride and not aim for the Gold or Silver times, so the pace was reasonably leisurely as were the breaks at the checkpoints.

 

All four of us briefly re-grouped at the 50 mile checkpoint (and stopped for at least a 30mins tea/lunch break). We tried to ride together for a bit after this, but on the next climb, two of us had to ride away due to our much higher gearing (i.e. - no triple chainsets!).

 

Not much further up the road, we turned at the farthest point of the course into a fairly stiff headwind, and for some reason I got a "homing instinct" and just put my head down and rode off all the way to the end (45 miles or so).

 

As I got closer to the finish, I realised that I could get inside the Silver time (under 8 hours), so really pushed on the last 10 miles (it had also started to pour, so with a headwind it wasn't a pleasant as it could be) . Annoyingly, I was 8hours and 21 seconds, so we all got Bronze!

 

Hadn't entered to do a good or fast time, more to just enjoy the Dales and the experience the climbs. Some of the climbs were not a lot short of brutal, but great riding.

 

I would really recommend this ride to anyone looking for a good one day challange. If I can get an entry next year (800 places sell out in 5-6 hours) I will definetly do it again. Might aim for the Gold time (under 7 hours) next year, as I am a bit competative.

 

Ramsay