Jury is still out …
July 10th, 2011 | 
Author: Today I did my (hopefully) last Esher to Hove cycle challenge. The weather was good, is started out with a cloudy day, windy and some dripping but as the morning progressed and turned to noon the sun came out (although the wind did not die).
I attached myself to a couple of riders and kept pace with them, we where doing good time and keeping a nice pace (an average of 26 kph /16mph) even in the hills (going downhill we broke the 50 kph some time) .
We were passing riders and getting good time, but something felt odd , when we reached the 50k mark ( half way point ) we planned to stop at the refreshment stop, but and this is the twist of the story, there was no stop !!
After looking around for a while we came across some other riders and we learned that we took a wrong turn in one of the junctions and we are now at least 16k /10 miles off route.
Turns out that there were 2 events happening in the area on the day and both were using markers that were black arrows on yellow background, and in one of the T junctions we followed the wrong one.
Calling the event help line was no help at all as they could not even tell us where we went the wrong way or how to get back on the main route, so one of the guys opened the GPS on his mobile phone and we started the ride toward the end point .
After several hours we actually found the event route and rejoined the correct route, at that point we covered already 80k/50miles (the whole event is 100k/60m) only to learn that we are now on the route 27m marker.
So grunting and with a bit of complaining we soldiered on, knowing that near the end Devil’s Dyke awaits us.
When we reached the base of the hill my computer said we already covered 125k /77miles , while everyone else is just shy of 90k/53m .
The first leg of the hill went slow but I conquered it, then the big dip and the steep climb, and this is the part where the jury can’t make a decision, on the short steep climb (150m ) I was unable to cycle and walked it, then got back on the bike and finished the hill, if I was fresher of that extra 30k, I think there is a strong possibility I would not have paused.
After that it was all down hill and relativity smooth and easy ride, when I reached the finish line the computer said 133k/82.6m (out of 100k/60m route).
So have I beaten Devil’s Dyke or was I defeated again ?
What do you think ?
Posted in Rides
Sounds like a fail on technical reasons requiring a rematch.
You need to get them to use a logo plus arrow on their signe in the future.
That would mean I will need to do the ride once more … not that I find it that offensive an idea , but I was hoping to be done with it .
You know what , if we can find enough people to raise sponsorship of 120£ or more , I’ll have another crack at it .
I think you have no choice but to have another go :-)
I think it shouldn’t be hard to raise another 120 GBP. What is it for – registration?
The next event to use that route will be next year , the 120£ is for the one I did , I am short 120£ on the requested sponsorship they ask riders to raise (200£).