Last Sunday when the alarm went of at 6am, I was not feeling the love for cycling. In fact I could have easily turned it off and gone back to sleep. I didn't though - instead I got up, put on the padded pink shorts and headed out for the Cheshire lanes (100 miles of them to be precise).
We congregated in Wythenshawe park under leaden grey skies for the start. Gillian and Ian were ahead of us in the start queue - so we wished each other a good ride over the phone and they set off ahead of us. We planned to catch up with them at a rest stop.
It was a slow start as this sportive is not on closed roads, so we had to wait for traffic lights to get going along Altrincham road, but it wasn't long before we were through Timperley and Hale, and out onto the country lanes.
This is an event for cycling lovers - by that I mean that, unlike the London 100, there is little to distract you from the job in hand - namely cycling a long way - other than lovely rolling hills and Cheshire farmland. There were no nasty inclines to negotiate, so it was a steady cycle. The windy weather provided an additional challenge, but we just kept going, counting down the miles.
The first 30 miles were surprisingly difficult. We were all a bit tired and I wasn't sure I was going to get to the end, but after a quick stop for a sandwich, I felt much better and Chris and I started to pick up a bit. We caught up with Gillian and Ian for a few miles around the half way mark but Gillian was going strong and I was struggling to keep up. We took a rest stop and Chris and I set off first to get a head start - I didn't think it would be long before she caught up with us.
I was surprised not to see them again until the last few miles, but she had lost her chain and had to stop to get it sorted - v annoying. Still we managed to finish together with smiles of relief as we were all shattered. Our aim of coming in under 8 hours was not quite achieved, but we were just glad to get round.
That target still stands for the next 100 miler!
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