The Recovery

Section Three: "The Stinger section has now ended" this was the dayglo sign which signaled the end of the days climbing, pain & suffering. The last 10 miles or so where on rolling roads & I think I made some sort of minor recovery on this section as the cramping in my thighs subsided enough not to trouble me, I actually picked up a good pedaling cadence & speed and finished quite strongly.

I had a very close call on the run in through Stourport-on-Severn where I got cut up by a Vauxhall Astra who cut across my front wheel narrowly missing me by about 3 inches. I didn't realise that shouting abuse at the top of your voice [F****** W*****] could get so much attention on a busy high street, as every man & his dog stopped momentarily - The driver continued on totally unaware at how close he had come to knocking me down.

Finally I reached the Stourport Sports Centre in a time of 5 hours 32 minutes [by my Garmin] this has to be confirmed by the organisers timing chips & should be posted on their web page within 48 hours. This was a full 1 hour outside the target time to get Gold award - but all things considered even at my best I would have struggled to get anywhere near it on this route.