Weather aside the event needs to be taken seriously. For
those doing the whole three days it amounts to 335 miles of riding in beautiful
but lumpy countryside, striking out from Somerton.
Anyway, we got rewarded with almost perfect cycling weather,
and since my previous attempt the routes had been refined. Riding mostly in
Surrey and Kent one of the first things that struck me was how much easier it
is to find decent roads with little traffic in the West Country. Having ridden
the Castle ride the previous weekend where most of the ride seemed to be on
broken potholed tarmac, this made a nice change.
Compared to 5 years ago there were some noticeable changes. It
felt like a younger crowd (maybe just because I have become an older git), and
not only more women riders, but considerably stronger as well.
Pendragon Sports who run the event do have their
eccentricities. Now there are plenty of things that appeal 60 miles into a sportive but a tuna and sweet
corn roll, warmed by the sun is not near the top of my list, nor were the scotch
eggs. I have to tip my hat to the guys from ‘Claud the Bulter’ who dished up
wonderful coffee and recovery smoothies from their van at the finish.
The event HQ in Somerton was great given the weather but I
would not have fancied it much if it had been tipping it down. There was an
option to camp on site, but to be honest, fuck that for game of soldiers. So we
stopped at the Travel Lodge in Podimore about 5 miles from the HQ. In a Ronseal
kind of way Travel Lodge was brilliant. I am all for a nice family run guest
house but the Travel Lodge ticked the boxes. Cheap, decent breakfast box ready
to fuel for the day, no quibbles about bikes in the rooms, and come a go
whenever. Job done.
High point- the decent to Corf Castle and the view from the
top of the Lulworth Ranges
Low Point- Not doing final day – for wholly valid non cycling
reasons- honest.
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