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No hard feelings taken. My original post was a comment on another post that observed that some of the later starters had to put up with the inclement weather for a greater proportion of their ride. My neighbour, for example, started an hour earlier than me and finished in 4 hours 20. My riding time was 5 hours 10: he's a stronger rider than me for sure, but not that much stronger.
But my point was: I could handle the first hour of drizzle, and I can certainly cope with cold temperatures. But how often does anyone face conditions like that? I entered this thing to test my strength on a bike, not my ability to ride in a hurricane.
And it's no good alluding to what Wiggins has to put up with; he's a pro-cyclist and I'm a mere hobbyist. I do it for fun, not to compete.
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The_Kindness_of_Trees
I see your point - I suspect I could physically have ridden faster than I did, but was being cautious because I didn't want to end up in a crash. I have a friend who did crash and broke her bike, so I'm okay with the compromise I made. And everyone else out there had to make their own risk judgements in the abnormal conditions. Mental attitude to unpleasant weather is just as much a part of a cyclist's form as their physical condition - look at Wiggins picking his way down wet descents when he's spooked and what that does to his times. In my opinion of course. Anyway, sorry my first reply was a bit snarky, but your post did sound a bit like the rain only happened to you. No hard feelings.