Well, I was going for a bronze time.
Hulver does this relate to a bronze medal or time spent out in the sunshine getting a tan?
Well done to everyone I think we all had a good time, and well done to Craig for that time, the thought of going up Hanging Grimston makes me wince, and feel sorry for Bandini who had some unpredictable bad luck, but probably with hindsight perhaps it was better it went on an organised event than alone in the middle of nowhere with no immediate assistance at hand so perhaps it may have been for the best to find out that mechanical failure of a component. I saw you at the end and suspected something was amiss but never got chance to speak. (leg was cramping, so I was a bit reluctant to stand or walk too much)
I had an odd day, started to suffer cramp in my right leg about 10 miles out which was unusual and could not shake it off throughout the ride, so much for electrolyte powder. Not really sure what caused it, but I thought our group was all setting off together but inadvertantly set off with the time triallists (who were after the fastest times and I think they succeded) but I did not discover my error till about the 14 mile mark, when I was approached from behind and someone enquired "can you not keep up with them" to see another club member who I had presumed was in front of me , but I did shock them at the begining when I overtook them all on the first hill we got too, literally flew past them. In reality though that was accidental, I had too much downhill speed and did not want to brake and waste all that energy and also did not want to be out in the middle of the road alongside everyone on the A road so just sped up and flew too the front. I have a feeling I may have exerted myself a bit before I got warmed up and that caused the cramp.
After that it was agony all the way, the slightest change in cadence, gear change or gradient would start the cramp off, Nunburnholme took me ten and a half minutes, my worst time since last year, when I regard 8 minutes as OK these days on a long ride, looking at my graphs, my cadence, heartrate and speed hardly fluctuate on Nunburnholme, any attempt at standing to pedal would be rewarded with cramp. After the top of Nunburnholme, I can see that I was hardly peddaling downhill, on Tuesday when I did the Big G, my speeds were well in excess of 30mph but on the day I only touched 28mph momentarily and just coasted down.
I even had a mystery back problem which hit me on Friday night as I rolled around in agony screaming in bed with cramp all down my left side, my partner was also rolling around too, but it was with laughing at me in agony screaming. If anyone knows what caused that, don't tell me it's terminal. But it caused me problems all the ride because my back hurt all the way around especially on hills, and the more I exerted myself, the more it hurt, it was a case of take the pain to the unbearable point then just ease off. Never told any club members of that problem which I had as they might I have though I was just pulling excuses as to why I got dropped. Oddly enough, on the club ride the next day it had gone, perhaps too much beer Saturday afternoon and night cured it.
What surprised me though was how well I had done and chopped 6 minutes off my time from Tuesday and just clock up a minute over 4 hours. At the end I felt that I could not have done better, but looking now at all the places that I had underperformed in all my graphs and charts compared to past rides I feel that the cramp had lost me a lot of time. Even the run in from Mktt Weighton was slow, and that was with a back wind.
I think the funniest part was up near Fimber, when I saw a wheel poking out from the bushes and long grass, at first I thought someone had ploughed into the hedge, but as I got closer slowing down to help, I saw a head looking at me from deep in the bushes like a shifty illegal immigrant who had just jumped out of the back of a lorry and then saw it was someone fixing a puncture, but in reality there was no where to go as there was no edge of the road just bushes and it was the only safe place to be.
And incidently who is it from Lincoln who knows me, my partner was down town on Saturday night and she got talking to someone from Lincoln or that way on, wearing a Big G T shirt who knows me well? I see there was someone from Lincoln wheelers took part, but I do not recgonise the name
Think I might just do it again next year, and also thinking of doing the Phill Liggett challenge on 8th August 2010 now that I have found out I am not working that day.
. Is it still under warranty? You haven't had it that long have you.
as I initially rode out with a lady wearing a matching jersey to mine and her two male companions but, by South Dalton, I'd decided they were too fast for me on the hills so there wasn't much point hanging on and tiring myself out early on. So I let them go and rode on my own until I meet up with Velocidad and SaltyDog on the run in to Thixendale. They too were too fast for me on the hill but I caught and passed them on the X-wind slog at the top (sorry I didn't stop to say 'bye, guys 
, I'd just found a good rhythm). This got to be a bit of a pattern as people who surged past me on the climbs got reeled in on the flats and, especially, the downhills. Somehow, having got Thixendale out of the way, I warmed up a bit but still it was 3.20 on the clock before I left the feed station after Huggate - resisting the lure of even more Jaffa cakes - so I wasn't even thinking of a silver time. 
and it was caution to the wind all the way back. I caught the aforementioned lady and companions on the climbs after Warter (for my money, the worse climbs on the route as you're anticipating Nurburnholme by this stage and just want to get on with it). I think they must have burned out by then as they certainly weren't keeping the pace they had at the start. 
- quite beyond my comprehension getting up those hills without gears
but a big well done
