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@deleted
What a FANTASTIC weekend!
I have to say I was a little sceptical of the marketing at first with terms such as 'Heroic' being bandied about and did openly chuckle out loud when I read in the riders notes that it would take 10 - 12 hours to ride 100 miles. Surely it couldn't take that long?
It also seemed to get off to a false start with having to close the ticketing system for quite some time.
All of this suitably lowered my expectations and as we all know, the best times you have are the ones you aren't expecting to be very good.
It's really hard to sum up but it was kind of like a better versions of the Goodwood Revival & the Tweed Run all rolled into one bikecentric event
I arrived with the girlfriend and 7 year old daughter in tow on the Friday evening and camped in the camping ground.
The festival has something for everyone and plenty to keep easily bored children entertained.
Caught up with Hefty on the Saturday afternoon for a few beers and once again laughed at the fact that it wouldn't take 10-12 hours.
Rolled out of camp for the 100mile ride at 6.10am with Hefty. As above, my choice of steed was a 67 year old Hobbs of Barbican with a 4 speed internal hub which was going ok till I was putting the power down(?) going up Mam Nick and the rear wheel started to rub on the chain stays.
A short walk to the top of Mam Nick and some roadside bicycle maintenance saw me right however I was unable, for the rest of the ride, to get the bike to stay in the lowest gear and no matter how much I twiddled the gear selector cable, I just couldn't get it right..
This resulted in having to walk up pretty much anything greater than 10%!
The food stops were great, and thinking about it now, the breakfast at 10 miles was a master stroke and fuelled me for the rest of the ride.
In my opinion, the route planner falls somewhere between a genius and a lunatic with some fairly steep and dodgy off road descents where solid rubber brake blocks on alu rims with old style levers meant speed was scrubbed and stopping optional.
I think Prolly sums it up quite well with the following:
The only shitty thing, was when Hefty went down. I rounded the corner to see him with holding the rear wheel in one hand thinking he'd had a puncture. I then looked down to see his torn garms and bloody elbows and only then did it register that he'd come off. Heal up soon dude and thanks for waiting for me at the top of the hills.
One of the most enjoyable things for me was the road descents which were long enough to get up plenty of speed (unlike those in the Kent lanes) . I must say I always ride with a helmet on however chose not to for this event for 'period correctness/style points' and kind of wish I had worn one given the large amount of off-road terrain and the high speeds (60kph) that were
achieved bombing down the hills.
If you'd asked me if I'd do the 100 miles again next year straight after the event, I would have said 'no way' but that's now certainly changed to a 'hell yeah but not on a bike with a 4 speed internal hub'
Oh and the total ride time over 10 hours with 8:31 of riding time :)