12^th April 2009
nr Ambleside, Cumbria, England
 

Time: 04h 04m 00s
Overall Rank: 2/390
 

Event Information:

Course: 75 miles, 3000m climbing including the Whinlatter, Hardknott and Wrynose Passes, with a maximum gradient of 33%.
Weather:  10°C, 8mph wind.  Sunny
Website: Click here

BIKE       04:04:00│68 miles│16.45mph

Comments:
We were started in waves of 10 every couple of minutes.  It would have been nice if I could have ridden with a small group right from the start but everybody in my wave was going too slow so I rode away on my own.  I caught another rider towards the end of a climb on the run into Keswick and we worked together on the flat section before the first major climb (Whinlatter Pass).  I lost him on the descent before the climb then rode on my own for pretty much the rest of the race.  As I was climbing Whinlatter Pass I thought back to last years race where I was in my lowest gear and grinding my way up the climb.  This year I was still in my bottom gear but spinning nice and freely (my average cadence for the whole race was 95rpm).  After this was a fairly fast descent and then some rolling terrain before the final (and by a long way hardest 19 miles of the race).  I sat behind a couple of riders on the final run in to Hardknott Pass so that I could recover a little before the climbs to come.  Hardknott Pass has a maximum gradient of 33%, which after 50+ miles of racing is not nice!  I did struggle up it without too much of a problem (last year I had to get off and walk) although I didn't feel great.  I handled the tricky descent quite well and then began to ride fairly hard up Wrynose Pass.  It isn't too steep at first, just a long drag but then it kicks up to 25% towards the end.  My legs were really tired at this point but I knew that there was only one short climb to go before the final flat run in to the finish so I didn't back off.  After the descent off the final climb I rode the last few miles as hard as I could, finishing with what I knew would be a pretty good time.

My aim at the start of the season was to finish in the top 10 but to finish 2nd was amazing!  I couldn't believe it when I saw the results and had to keep checking just to make sure I'd also smashed my time last year by 25 minutes.  Just goes to show what a years solid training can do!

What would I do differently?
Nothing.  I love this race and will probably continue to do it every year.  Long term aim is to win it and go below the 4 hour mark.  It might be difficult to do that next year as I will have only been back for a month from my travels (although most of that will have been touring on my bike so I won't be in bad shape).  But I'd like to win it in a couple of years time...hopefully!

Event Comments:
Well signposted but two toilets for 400 competitors is a little silly.