The Macmillan Cancer Support Dorset Bike Ride is a charity event consisting of a sponsored ride of either 10, 28, 48, 60 or 100 miles. Having done the 60 mile route some years ago, I decided to give the 100 mile one a go this year (mainly as endurance training for a running event I have planned in September, but also as - at the time I entered - I'd never cycled more than 60 miles in one go either and fancied a challenge!).
I've had a hybrid bike for the last 8 years or so - for those that don't know, that's a bike that's a sort-of cross between a mountain bike and a road bike, with road-size wheels (700mm), straight handle bars and a tough but not super-heavy frame. It's good for commuting, fine for gravel tracks etc, but not the fastest bike in the world. I started doing training back in around March for this event and it started with a 10 mile ride down to Poole and back which half killed me! Great, I thought - I'm reasonably fit as I do quite a lot of running, but I definitely need to get my cycling legs back!
To summarise the training, I ended up doing 1 ride a week, quickly ramping up to around 35 miles from home (Broadstone) to Swanage and back in a loop, which was moderately hilly but a lovely ride. About 4 weeks before the event, I bought myself a Giant Defy 3.5 road bike, and started to get used to that. The final big training push was a cycle to work - a distance of 76.5 miles from Broadstone to near Hook in Hampshire - hard work (it took 5 and half hours all in) but good practice. In total, I think I probably did about 350-400 miles training over the few months before the ride.
This in a shot of my new bike - the only decent shot I have at the moment!
So, the morning arrived - July 4th 2010. My alarm went off at 0630, and I got up, made coffee, had porridge and checked the bike (nothing like leaving it to the last minute!). My bag was packed the night before - I decided to do this ride with a rucksack as I wanted to take more than I could stick in the back of a bike jersey - I had a bike tool, spare inner tube, mobile phone, some sweets, a couple of energy gels, two protein bars, two bananas, some magic fizzy isotonic pills that you stick in water, a pot of pasta bake and the directions and map. It all added up to a reasonable weight, and I stuck two water bottles on the bike for good measure too.
0730 - off I go. Outside, the weather was glorious - one or two clouds in the sky, and very little wind. I was slightly concerned that it was going to be a roasting hot day, but to be honest, on a bike the wind tends to keep you cool anyway (at least compared to running). I live just over 1 mile from the start, so I gently cycled up to the Corfe Mullen Recreation Ground. Leaving the bike outside, I registered (swapping sponsor form for a card that you get stamped at the various refreshment points), and wandered around to wait near the start. Bike computer reset, GPS reset and ready... Let's get on with it!
The map below shows the overview of the course (this is downloaded from my GPS so it's the actual course I took, which is slightly extended over the planned 100 miles - I'll explain later!). Click the image for a bigger view:
This is the profile for the route - the vertical lines are mile markers so you can get a feel for the speed (the closer the lines, the fast I was going for those miles). Click on the image for a larger view:
At just after 0800, we set off. I guess there were about 30 people starting the 100 mile ride, and at the front were a couple of guys on a tandem who were an absolute blast - charging off and cheering along! Out of the recreation ground, we turned left on to the roads through Corfe Mullen, and took a left at a roundabout. No-one on the bikes was really stopping or looking, but apparently behind me there was nearly an accident when a stroppy car decided to assert his right of way across the roundabout! The police presence at that point put him off causing too much of a nuisance.
The first couple of miles were down some quite gravelly and bumpy roads, under an underpass and up an old road which was really quite a bit rougher than I (and many other people on road bikes) would have liked. Before this ride, I had replaced the stock tyres on my bike with Continental 4-Season tyres which are supposed to be pretty puncture resistant, and I used Slime filled inner tubes (which self seal small puncture) for good measure - my bike survived the rough road and I got out onto the main road at Oakley and down into Wimborne over the bridge. I gather several other people on road bikes were not so lucky and I saw a few on the side of the road changing tubes over the next 10 miles or so.
I've done a fair bit of training on my own but not been out with other cyclists, and it seemed that the group I was at the back of were "proper" cyclists, in the sense that they were going pretty fast and didn't seem to stop for anything - corners, rounabouts... didn't matter what came up, they just charged across. I stuck to the back of the group through Wimborne, out past the hospital and up the road past Eye Bridge and onwards (I didn't know the road carried on up here so this was all new to me). We were going pretty fast - 20-25mph along that road, and everything was feeling good. Near to Blandford, we went down an underpass which was very narrow, and at the exit there was a sharp left turn straight onto the road. I'm not entirely used to the new clipless shoes on my road bike (they're a lot stiffer than the ones on my hybrid), and I came to a fairly abrupt stop and nearly got rear-ended by the guys on the hybrid! I got myself back on the bike and went down into Blandford, through the main part of the town and round to the car park where the first refreshment stop was.
13 miles (41 minutes) into the ride, the refreshment stop wasn't really needed. I had a banana and got my card stamped, but hadn't really drunk any water so didn't bother filling up. I think this may have been a mistake looking back - I should really have had a good amount of water at that point and made sure I was carry full bottles as the next stop wasn't until for another 45 miles.
On leaving Blandford, the route went past Bryanstone school and up the first real hill of the ride. 350ft of climb over 2.5 miles, starting quite steep then easing off for a while towards the top. Round the top of the hill, there was a reasonable descent, but it was hampered a bit by the wind blowing up the hill. The weather was starting to show signs of changing at this point - clouds were moving in, although the sun was still bright, but there was a sense that it was going to keep deteriorating over the day. At the bottom of the hill (18 miles, 1h03m), there was another climb - this time 400ft in 3 miles, and at the top (21 miles, 1h16m) a really proper downward section with clear views down the road so I could really race down. I got to around 45mph, then on rounding a corner found a junction (brilliant!) and locked up the back wheel while stopping. I thought I was definitely going to fall off or end up in the middle of the other road (luckily nothing was coming), but I managed to just stop on the line.
From there, it was a short descent into Okeford Fitzpaine. The terrain between 20 miles and 38 miles varied between about 250ft and 350ft, but as was going to be typical for most of the rest of the ride, no part of it was really flat. At around 28 miles I overtook someone who had stopped, and by about 30 miles he had caught up with me and we started chatting. It was nice to have some company, and it helped to not be thinking about the cycling for a bit. Just outside of Holwell (34miles, 2h03m), we came to a T junction and guessed at a left turn (there was no sign), but both being a little worried about the decision we stopped about half a mile up the road and checked directions. The decision has been right, so we continue on. I had a bit of a gear problem (nothing serious, just a selection issue) on an uphill section around 38 miles and we drifted apart from that point.
I had told myself that I would stop for something to eat and drink and a break from the saddle at 40 miles, and by the time I got there (2h25) I was pretty desperate for the break. I got off the bike and stood by the side of the road eating a banana, while several cyclists went past and we shouted hello's at each other. I was starting to feel quite tired at this point, the last 3 miles had been pretty much all up hill, and the next 5 were the same. The roads were starting to feel very "samey" - beautiful countryside when you could see it, but the hedgerows were high enough to block the view most of the time. The wind was occasionally starting to be a problem, either head on or gusts from the side destabilising a little, and the sky continued to darken with more cloud cover.
At 47 miles (2h58m) I got to Piddletrenthide, and was really starting to want the refreshment stop I knew was at 58 miles. I figured that if I could just stick on the bike to then I would be significantly over half way and could have a decent (10 minute or so) break and get myself ready to go. After Piddletrenthide, I went up a hill and straight on at some crossroads at the top of Cheselbourne - this was to turn out to be a critical point on my ride in about 8 miles time... After the crossroads, there was a fairly big hill, then undulating roads south where I overtook quite a few cyclists on mountain bikes who I presume were doing the 48 or 60 mile routes. At the next crossroads, I was directed right by a marshall, and went up the hill back into the bottom of Cheselbourne and along to the refreshments at 58 miles (3h44m).
It was lovely to get off the bike. I wobbled my way down the drive into the area outside of someone's house who had kindly turned their drive area into a bike park and refreshment stop. I filled my water bottles up, popped in a few fizzy pill which turned the water into wine... hold on, no, that was something else - it turned the water into foul tasting stuff which was apparently isotonic and thus good for me. To be honest, at this point, flavour is below the bottom of the list of priorities with a drink, so I just had some anyway. I also took this opportunity to have some of my pasta bake. While it seemed like a good idea for the days before the ride, after 58 miles on the bike I really couldn't stomach it. I had about 3 mouthfuls and gave up, reloaded my backpack into what must have been the most uncomfortable arrangement possible with everything pointy aimed at my back, then walked back to the top of the drive. After sorting my backpack to something slightly more comfortable, I headed off up the hill out of Cheselbourne.
So here's where the mistake happened. I came to some crossroads. Sound familiar? Well it didn't look it, and when I asked the marshall which way to go she asked if I'd seen her before. I said no, and she directed me right (which I think was the route to be taken by the 60 mile riders - she didn't ask which route I was doing), so off I went. Up the hill again. The bit I'd already done. Now, from reading the directions before the ride, I knew there was a section of the route you do twice but I thought it was later than here. But once I'd got so far in I just committed and carried on, hoping that this was the right route. After the undulating sections a few miles into the second time round the loop, I asked the marshall whether I should have seen him twice and he said that I'd probably made a mistake but couldn't be sure. Another few miles back round to the refreshments at Cheselbourne, and again I checked with the marshall outside those refreshments and he said I should have been past twice. I'm not really sure anyone knew what was going on. I didn't stop for the refreshments, carried on straight over the crossroads (now the 3rd time I'd been past them one way or another!) and on with the proper route (although I still wasn't definite I'd made a mistake at this point). I'd actually managed to lump on 7.4 miles and about 400ft of extra ascent.
After Cheselbourne, there was more hill - up another 300ft to just under 700ft at Ansty Cross (70miles, 4h41). I had a chat with the marshall at the top of the hill and we confirmed together that I had definitely added those 7 or 8 miles on to the route - I should have been at about 62 miles and was actually at 70 miles. She said that I could go left here and it would be quicker back to Corfe Mullen - I worked it out that I would only do 92 miles then. Whilst that sounded very, very appealing at that point, I knew I would kick myself afterwards. And besides, I was raising sponsor money, so I had to do at least the full 100 miles! So, reluctantly, I started off down the hill onwards to what I knew would be about 108 miles.
The hill was a big one - dropping down from about 670ft to 300ft over 2.5 miles, but the wind made the descent fairly scary. There were a few points where I was nearly blown sideways off the bike as I went past farm entrances and the hedge disappeared to let the wind through. There was the now typical hidden bottom of the hill too (where the hedge or trees blocked the view of the bottom), and guessing there was either a sharp corner or junction at the bottom (as had been typical of most of the other hills), I was gripping the brakes hard near the bottom. The route went into Milton Abbas, and up the hill through the centre. There was an unexpected refreshments stop part way up the main road so I stopped and filled my water bottle up. This was at 73.5 miles and just over 5 hours total time into the ride.
If you've never been to Milton Abbas, then you won't know about the hill out of the village. 0.8 miles long, with an ascent of 250ft, this is a nightmare hill that I remembered from doing the 60 mile route several years ago. I fought my way to the top, using the lowest gear I had on my bike and finally came round the top without having got off the bike. I was pleased with that, especially this far into the ride, and completely oblivious to the fact that I would have to do it again in a bit! From the top of this hill, the descent took me down into Winterbourne Whitechurch, again with some strong cross winds bouncing me around all over the place. At the bottom of the hill, there were several marshalls and a van, and the directions here were fairly straightforward - this was the real point that you should come past twice, and as this was the first time here I turned left as directed, and then left again to start the ascent to the top of Bulbarrow Hill. The start point was 220ft elevation, and I was 76.2 miles into the ride. My longest ever ride before this was 76.5 miles, so I was just about to pass that and make this my new record.
Before starting the ride, I had drawn the route out on the computer and generated an elevation profile, so I knew a little about this hill. It went on for around 7 miles, and went up quite a lot. I had assumed that my quick plotting of the route had ended up with a bit of an error in the elevation profile - you can't really have a hill that goes on for 7 miles, or if it really is like that then it won't be very difficult. Wrong.
I met two guys - Ian and Tim - at the bottom, and we all got overtaken by a Porsche Carrera S who decided he needed to go past us at full throttle - a lot of noise, but disappointingly slow to accelerate away! Ian was drafting Tim up the hill, and when another cyclist went past the distraction nearly caused an accident as wheels touched - Ian did a superb dance on his bike and managed to hold on and get back on the level. That took my mind off the hill, which was starting to get steeper, and we turned left by a sign I recognised from some miles before (when we had gone straight on) at Hedge End Farm. The hill continued to 864ft - a total climb of 640ft over 6.6 miles of unreleting uphill... then after a slight drop carried on to a peak of 886ft at 83.5 miles - this was Bulbarrow Hill, and I was at the highest point on the course 5h58 minutes after starting.
From the top, a very knackered me gently drifted back down to Ansty at about 85 miles. I didn't have the energy to go fast - even on the downhill - and Tim and Ian went on ahead. I passed the marshall that I had discussed the route and confirmed my mistake with about 16 miles earlier, and took the turn to the left and what finally felt like the route home.
Down through Hilton, I stopped at around 87 miles (6h05m) to have a break - I was really starting to feel mentally tired at this point (physically I didn't feel a whole lot different from about 40 miles in, but I guess I was going slower). I phoned my wife, who would be waiting for me at the finish with the kids, and told her about my addition to the route, explaining I would be a bit later than I had hoped. I toyed with the idea of getting her to pick me up at 100 miles, but I didn't mention it as I thought that by the time I got there I might be happy to do the final 8 miles. I had a protein bar, and sat overlooking the most beautiful lawn I've ever seen in the grounds of Milton Abbey school, with a fantastic looking building too. I planned to come back out this way with my camera sometime after this ride was over...
At 87.7 miles (6h20m), I realised I was back in Milton Abbas, and then it dawned on me that I had to go back up the hill. Cheers for that, race organiser! What a stroke of genius - are you trying to break me?!! A reminder: 250ft in 0.8 miles, and now I'd done just under 88 miles and been on the bike for nearly 6 and a half hours. Back in the lowest gear (earlier this time round), the only thing that stopped me getting off the bike was the fact that I had LOOK cleats on my shoes, and it would have been more effort to hobble up the hill than to just get on with cycling it! From the top of the hill, it was back down to Winterbourne Whitechurch, across the A354 at around 90 miles (6h30m), and a few miles further on to Winterbourne Kingston (around 6h40) for the last refreshments and final stamp on the card. I met Tim and Ian again when I parked up my bike, filled up my water bottles again for the final time, and got back on the bike again - I didn't fancy stopping long as I just wanted to get this over and done with now.
Although I was fairly near to home here, I didn't recognise the roads. I came to the Red Post crossing on the A31 (which I have driven past before) at about 95 miles (6h54m), and waited to cross the busy A31. Back on the bike at the other side, I started on the part of the route that bounced around from about 70ft to 330ft - nothing too major, but no section was flat and this late on it felt like really hard work. I invented a few new swear words when I came round countless corners to find another hill! I finally passed 100 miles with a ride time of 6 hours 33 minute, and a total time (including stops) of 7 hours 14 minutes. I was chuffed - I had got there! Bit more to go to get home, though...
I didn't realise there was such a big hill into Lytchett Matravers - I live a few miles away from here, and I'd never seen this hill before (at least I didn't remember seeing it). 175ft to 330ft in 0.5 miles at a distance of 101.5 miles and 7h23m after the start. It was funny, though - I just stuck the bike in a very low gear and actually quite enjoyed it. I think I was starting to get very excited about it all nearly being over. Through Lytchett Matravers I began to recognise where I was, and the route was mainly down hill. I got to the last major road to cross - the A350 - and luck was on my side as nothing was coming and the marshall waved me across. I raced along the next bit of road into Corfe Mullen at between 20 and 25 mph. I overtook quite a few people who looked exhausted and I felt quite bad about going past fast, but I just wanted this to be over!! At the end of Knoll Road, turning right at the church, it was up a 140ft ascent (sloooowly!) into the recreation ground and to the finish! 7 hours 45 minutes and 107.4 miles in total, and I'm not sure what the ride time was (probably slightly under 7 hours).
So that was it then. All done. I had survived the distance, the hills, the wind and I vowed that I would never, ever do a stupid thing like that again... Until next time, obviously :)
Statistics:
Total Ascent: 1502 metres (just under 5000ft)
Total distance: 107.4 miles
Total time: 7 hours 45 minutes (including breaks)
Ride time to 100 miles: 6 hours 33 minutes
For information: Overall distance and ride time was from my cycle computer (triggered from a sensor on the wheel), but the map, elevation and total times and distance throughout the text above were from my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch. By the end, there was a discrepancy of about 0.5 miles (the bike computer saying the distance was slightly further), but I took the total distance from the bike computer as this is likely to be the more accurate distance measurement.
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