Last week I talked of the joy of cycling. On Tuesday I was engulfed in that very joy on my awesome new cyclocross bike.
I had a quick circuit of the area we most recently used for the KCC leg of the central cyclocross league and discovered how much faster that is on a cx bike.
I've given up on getting that Red Kite picture so I went for this instead!
It really was a beautiful morning, I wish I could start every day like this. Just perfect.
On Thursday evening the Cyclones had a training session at Rockingham Motor Speedway. They didn't need me to help so I got to a do a few laps. It's a beautiful surface to ride on and really was in contrast to the ride to come. The kids trained really hard and I think they will go well in the Silverstone 9up time trial in June.
If you think everything feels a bit rushed up to this point then you won't be wrong! This is undoubtedly the main event of the week and possibly my whole road cycling life. Today's club ride in the Peak District was just stunning.
A great bunch of people met at C&D cycles his morning before travelling in convoy to Bakewell. The group was led by Nat and included the Andys' Ferguson and Pendred, The Marks, Coleman and Baird, Pete, Steve Minney, Heather and me. Well we started in convoy but then a rest stop and my dodgy sat nav meant we arrived a few minutes apart. It was obvious from the start in the car park that this would be a glorious day. It was also obvious, 5 minutes from the car park that Bakewell is in the bottom of a valley and as Yazz said, the only way is up. Very soon we were into the first ling busting climb of the day...as it happened this was quit minor compared to what was about to come.
We made our way through the stunning grounds of Chatsworth House and then turned left. "Good luck if you're riding up there!" Shouted a local resident as we got stuck into climb number 34 of the UK's 100 greatest climbs. I started okay and felt alright going past the first hairpin. At this point, Marcus stopped. I wondered if I could carry on as it just seemed to get steeper and steeper with no end in sight. Around the 2nd hairpin I felt as though my lungs would burst and my heart explode so I stopped too. I really didn't want to give in and walk so I waited, caught my breath and continued...for about 50 metres and then I stopped again. At this point i wanted to give up and go home but I steeled myself once again and this time carried on with the ride. As is ours clubs ethos I found everyone else waiting for me up the road. You'd think that was enough uphill but after a short break we were heading uphill again!
The top of the hill revealed the reward for all that effort. The view was just superb. Pete promptly fell off his bike so that was entertaining too!
That harsh introduction dialed our legs in for what was a very hard day of riding. Over 52 miles we climbed over 6000ft. To put this in context we had a what we thought was a hilly ride a couple of weeks ago in Rutland. That was 62 miles and just 4000ft.
It was relentless at times...hills...more hills...is that the top of the hill...no, more hills! At others it was lovely to sweep down lengthy descents. There were tonnes of other cyclists out too and most had a friendly greeting. Many motorists were also incredibly patient with us.
After all of those hills we were given the ultimate reward with my longest ever descent. It was utterly exhilarating. We then made our way back to Bakewell, up more hills of course.
Today was just brilliant. Hard work, stunning scenery, thrills, spills and relentless banter! I can't wait to do it again!
Happy Pedalling
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