Jodrell Bank Sportive Completed

Here's how the Jodrell Bank sportive panned out - up at 5.00 am packed the car - met Lee & Darren at 6.00 am - arrived at Woodford Community Centre met Mike & Alan & registered at 7.55 am - queued for the loo for 25 minutes [not good] - eventually on the road at approx 8.40 am.

Made good speed early doors along very pleasant country lanes - got tagged for time at approx 37 miles [end of 30 mile loop] the guy sat by the road side said "its not far to the feed station" - 10 miles on & we eventually arrived [tagged for time again at this stop?]. Unbelievable that the first feed stop is at 47 miles - felt this has a bit too far & it should have been a bit earlier [at the first time tag would have been about right]. Another gripe was that the 50 mile riders had also passed thru this feed station like a plague of locust & stripped it of any food worth mentioning. We continue on & my GPS indicates a projected finish of 4 hours 50 minutes with our current Av speed nearly 17 mph. Thats when the trouble started - at 60 miles I start suffering with cramp in my right quad [upper thigh] - not good - as this is where the hills start - any extra excursion brings on the cramp. This soon spreads into my left quads as well & I am forces off my bike to carry out road side stretches. With the 5 hour target now fading fast I decide the last 20 miles will be a limp to the finish. The last feed station was empty at 67 miles having feed the 30, 50 & 80 mile riders. I am forces off the bike a further 4 times to stretch my quads eventually arriving back at Woodford after 5 hours 48 minutes. Yes I am disappointed with the time but glad to have finished [didnt want a DNF on my 1st sportive]. To add insult to injury there was no food left at the finish either.

So in summary - the toilets were crap - there was NO food available during or after the ride - I suffered with cramp in my quads for the first time ever but I still enjoyed the route which was well marked out & the GPS download was spot on.