Rubber Bullets
Senior Member
- Location
- Torbay
So yesterday, Saturday 3[sup]rd[/sup] September, was to be the day of my second ever 100 miler, but this time it carried more weight. I am going on a charitable trip to Kenya in October, as the radiographer in an orthopaedic surgical team, and need to raise £800 to help pay towards fares and accommodation etc.
I decided to do what I know and worked out a nice 100 mile route, coast to coast, from Paignton to Croyde in North Devon. The route took in Moretonhampstead, Okehampton, Holsworthy and Great Torrington, meaning that the first 75 or so miles would be a bit up and down, but the last bit would be as flat as a pancake, using the Tarka Trail. I persuaded a work colleague, and very capable cyclist to accompany me, and all seemed well set.
On the 8[sup]th[/sup] of August I did a nice 50 miler over Haytor, and 0n the 10[sup]th[/sup] I did a 68 miler with a total of about 4000ft climbing, so all was perfectly on track, the only problem was that on that second ride I did something to my knee, and developed a patella tendonitis. I had the rest of the week off, but on the following Monday I did my normal commute, 4.5 miles each way on a flatish route, and my knee hurt again. I took a full 7 days off and just did another commute again the following Monday, same result.
This time I decided not to get on the bike again until either my knee was completely better, or the day of the ride, whichever came first. Well my knee improved over the 12 days, but never felt completely right, so I was faced with the decision to do the ride with a slightly dodgy joint, or not do the ride and renege on a lot of money (over £500) pledges so far. A no brainer, despite the complete lack of preparation I had to give it a go at least.
So at 6.30 yesterday morning we met up at Torquay Pier and set off. It was a perfect morning, or at least from a cycling point of view, not cold, or too warm, and nicely overcast negating the need for suncream (my skin is the sort of bluey whiteness so beloved of 80’s washing powder adverts, and burns in an instant), so I was happy, the only fly in the ointment, I had begun to feel my knee before I even reached the meeting point, not pain exactly, but a definite reminder that it wasn’t happy.
The first part of the route is an easy, only slightly undulating, roll out to Bovey Tracey via Newton Abbot, a nice warm up, followed by a bit of a drag up to Moretonhampstead. Whilst there is nothing sharp on this climb, it is 6.5 miles up and down with a total of over 750ft of climbing. My knee didn’t feel any worse, but I started to feel the lack of miles in my legs! The climb continues a little way after Moreton, but quickly turns into a 3 mile downhill rest before a long and (mostly) gentle stretch up to Whiddon Down and the second highest point on the route. It’s pretty undulating from there almost to North Tawton and then down into Okehampton, with a few sharp climbs, but we got there by 9am, having made pretty good time, and stopped for a well earned cup of tea and a biscuit. I was still feeling pretty good at this point, so having got the nice cafe lady to refill our water bottles we headed on our way. The climb out of Okehampton wasn’t as bad as it looked on the profile, though there was one half mile climb, touching 20% and averaging 10% that did make an impact, and it was at this point that I started to lose touch with David more on the climbs. He is fitter and lighter than me at the best of times and had to ride his own pace up the climbs, and I got left behind quite often, sometimes not seeing him for what seemed like ages. In fact when I reached this point here:
http://maps.google.c...2,342.43,,0,0.7
I could see him as a little speck rather further on than the white car in the distance; his excuse? He has a bit of a stiff neck and couldn’t turn round to see where I was! He did always wait though, which meant that he got long breaks where I would only get short ones.
We pushed on to Holsworthy, still making good time, and decided to get to Torrington for lunch, and it was this stretch that nearly did for me. Although we’d already passed the highest point on the route the road was very undulating and my legs were really starting to feel bad, and at the 70 mile mark they both began to cramp up on a nasty little climb; not pleasant. There were still 10 miles to go to our lunch destination, and they were a serious struggle, if I could have stopped at that point I might just have done so, fortunately this wasn’t an option. I had thought that Torrington, being the point we would pick up the Tarka Trail would be low lying, and so the moment when I looked up and saw the town on top of another 200 foot 9% climb was one of the most dispiriting moments of the ride, but knowing that it was the last proper climb of the day, and that lunch was at the top helped a great deal.
We stopped for a while to replenish the salt and fat supplies that my body was craving, phoned my other half, Sharon, to set off with the car to pick us up, and trundled back down the hill to join the Tarka Trail. Given that it was still a Saturday in the school holidays we were prepared for it to be very busy, and had a road route planned as back up, but the weather had got a bit drizzly by this point and though there were quite a few family groups and dog walkers around it was pretty easy cycling, and my legs particularly appreciated the flatness, and so we stayed on it all the way to Braunton.
Having had great weather for virtually the whole ride the heavens opened with just 4 miles to go, our feet were sodden in moments, and the last little climb into Croyde was almost more than my legs could take, but half way up I was overtaken by Sharon with my daughter waving frantically out of the window, a very welcome sight.
The mixture of relief, elation, exhaustion and pain at the end was not like anything I had ever felt, but the overwhelming sense of achievement is amazing. Even the next day, hardly able to walk up and down stairs, I really feel great about managing to finish it, and apart from anything else really feel that I have earned the incredibly generous sponsorship that people have given.
Sadly it will probably be a while before I get back on the bike, my tendonitis is exacerbated in my left knee, and for some reason the back of my other knee is also equally painful, perhaps from trying to compensate during the ride, and this time I’m really not going to get back on until they have both recovered fully.
I’m not quite sure what I am hoping to achieve with this long, and possibly rather dull post, but if it helps to encourage any of those members here who are hoping to go for a ton, and to show what can be achieved with a bit of grim determination, then I guess it’s a good thing.
RB
I decided to do what I know and worked out a nice 100 mile route, coast to coast, from Paignton to Croyde in North Devon. The route took in Moretonhampstead, Okehampton, Holsworthy and Great Torrington, meaning that the first 75 or so miles would be a bit up and down, but the last bit would be as flat as a pancake, using the Tarka Trail. I persuaded a work colleague, and very capable cyclist to accompany me, and all seemed well set.
On the 8[sup]th[/sup] of August I did a nice 50 miler over Haytor, and 0n the 10[sup]th[/sup] I did a 68 miler with a total of about 4000ft climbing, so all was perfectly on track, the only problem was that on that second ride I did something to my knee, and developed a patella tendonitis. I had the rest of the week off, but on the following Monday I did my normal commute, 4.5 miles each way on a flatish route, and my knee hurt again. I took a full 7 days off and just did another commute again the following Monday, same result.
This time I decided not to get on the bike again until either my knee was completely better, or the day of the ride, whichever came first. Well my knee improved over the 12 days, but never felt completely right, so I was faced with the decision to do the ride with a slightly dodgy joint, or not do the ride and renege on a lot of money (over £500) pledges so far. A no brainer, despite the complete lack of preparation I had to give it a go at least.
So at 6.30 yesterday morning we met up at Torquay Pier and set off. It was a perfect morning, or at least from a cycling point of view, not cold, or too warm, and nicely overcast negating the need for suncream (my skin is the sort of bluey whiteness so beloved of 80’s washing powder adverts, and burns in an instant), so I was happy, the only fly in the ointment, I had begun to feel my knee before I even reached the meeting point, not pain exactly, but a definite reminder that it wasn’t happy.
The first part of the route is an easy, only slightly undulating, roll out to Bovey Tracey via Newton Abbot, a nice warm up, followed by a bit of a drag up to Moretonhampstead. Whilst there is nothing sharp on this climb, it is 6.5 miles up and down with a total of over 750ft of climbing. My knee didn’t feel any worse, but I started to feel the lack of miles in my legs! The climb continues a little way after Moreton, but quickly turns into a 3 mile downhill rest before a long and (mostly) gentle stretch up to Whiddon Down and the second highest point on the route. It’s pretty undulating from there almost to North Tawton and then down into Okehampton, with a few sharp climbs, but we got there by 9am, having made pretty good time, and stopped for a well earned cup of tea and a biscuit. I was still feeling pretty good at this point, so having got the nice cafe lady to refill our water bottles we headed on our way. The climb out of Okehampton wasn’t as bad as it looked on the profile, though there was one half mile climb, touching 20% and averaging 10% that did make an impact, and it was at this point that I started to lose touch with David more on the climbs. He is fitter and lighter than me at the best of times and had to ride his own pace up the climbs, and I got left behind quite often, sometimes not seeing him for what seemed like ages. In fact when I reached this point here:
http://maps.google.c...2,342.43,,0,0.7
I could see him as a little speck rather further on than the white car in the distance; his excuse? He has a bit of a stiff neck and couldn’t turn round to see where I was! He did always wait though, which meant that he got long breaks where I would only get short ones.
We pushed on to Holsworthy, still making good time, and decided to get to Torrington for lunch, and it was this stretch that nearly did for me. Although we’d already passed the highest point on the route the road was very undulating and my legs were really starting to feel bad, and at the 70 mile mark they both began to cramp up on a nasty little climb; not pleasant. There were still 10 miles to go to our lunch destination, and they were a serious struggle, if I could have stopped at that point I might just have done so, fortunately this wasn’t an option. I had thought that Torrington, being the point we would pick up the Tarka Trail would be low lying, and so the moment when I looked up and saw the town on top of another 200 foot 9% climb was one of the most dispiriting moments of the ride, but knowing that it was the last proper climb of the day, and that lunch was at the top helped a great deal.
We stopped for a while to replenish the salt and fat supplies that my body was craving, phoned my other half, Sharon, to set off with the car to pick us up, and trundled back down the hill to join the Tarka Trail. Given that it was still a Saturday in the school holidays we were prepared for it to be very busy, and had a road route planned as back up, but the weather had got a bit drizzly by this point and though there were quite a few family groups and dog walkers around it was pretty easy cycling, and my legs particularly appreciated the flatness, and so we stayed on it all the way to Braunton.
Having had great weather for virtually the whole ride the heavens opened with just 4 miles to go, our feet were sodden in moments, and the last little climb into Croyde was almost more than my legs could take, but half way up I was overtaken by Sharon with my daughter waving frantically out of the window, a very welcome sight.
The mixture of relief, elation, exhaustion and pain at the end was not like anything I had ever felt, but the overwhelming sense of achievement is amazing. Even the next day, hardly able to walk up and down stairs, I really feel great about managing to finish it, and apart from anything else really feel that I have earned the incredibly generous sponsorship that people have given.
Sadly it will probably be a while before I get back on the bike, my tendonitis is exacerbated in my left knee, and for some reason the back of my other knee is also equally painful, perhaps from trying to compensate during the ride, and this time I’m really not going to get back on until they have both recovered fully.
I’m not quite sure what I am hoping to achieve with this long, and possibly rather dull post, but if it helps to encourage any of those members here who are hoping to go for a ton, and to show what can be achieved with a bit of grim determination, then I guess it’s a good thing.
RB
