Lakeland Loop Cycle Sportive
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Lakeland Loop Cycle Sportive - CycleRoad Race
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Bike
Comments: We were started in waves of 10 every couple of minutes. It would have been nice if I could have ridden with a small group right from the start but everybody in my wave was going too slow so I rode away on my own. I caught another rider towards the end of a climb on the run into Keswick and we worked together on the flat section before the first major climb (Whinlatter Pass). I lost him on the descent before the climb then rode on my own for pretty much the rest of the race. As I was climbing Whinlatter Pass I thought back to last years race where I was in my lowest gear and grinding my way up the climb. This year I was still in my bottom gear but spinning nice and freely (my average cadence for the whole race was 95rpm). After this was a fairly fast descent and then some rolling terrain before the final (and by a long way hardest 19 miles of the race). I sat behind a couple of riders on the final run in to Hardknott Pass so that I could recover a little before the climbs to come. Hardknott Pass has a maximum gradient of 33%, which after 50+ miles of racing is not nice! I did struggle up it without too much of a problem (last year I had to get off and walk) although I didn't feel great. I handled the tricky descent quite well and then began to ride fairly hard up Wrynose Pass. It isn't too steep at first, just a long drag but then it kicks up to 25% towards the end. My legs were really tired at this point but I knew that there was only one short climb to go before the final flat run in to the finish so I didn't back off. After the descent off the final climb I rode the last few miles as hard as I could, finishing with what I knew would be a pretty good time. My aim at the start of the season was to finish in the top 10 but to finish 2nd was amazing! I couldn't believe it when I saw the results and had to keep checking just to make sure I'd also smashed my time last year by 25 minutes. Just goes to show what a years solid training can do! Post race
Last updated: 2009-01-02 12:00 AM
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2009-04-14 1:53 PM |
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2009-04-14 7:16 PM in reply to: #2083912 |
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