On Sunday 19th May I rode the 112 mile
Etape du Dales 2014, including riding from Ilkley to the start in Grassington and back which made it a total of 144 miles, the longest day I've done on a bike yet. There was also the small matter of 11,400ft of climbing too which is equivalent to a mountain stage in the Tour de France so a big day out which gave me sore legs and a 36 hour headache afterwards.
Here's the route map
I quite like this 3d graphic that I found which shows the elevation profile of the ride's seven climbs...
And the 2d elevation profile for reference
I got up at 5am on Sunday, applied some suncream, bolted down a bowl of porridge, a pint of water and a strong coffee, filled up my water bottles and took off for Grassington just as the sun was rising at a steady pace. It felt a bit like riding out early morning in Majorca with the sun rising, the smell of suncream and a temperature allowing for t-shirt and shorts riding for the first time this year. Forecast for the day was sunny and 22 degrees C with a 7 mph southerly wind, the best day we've had this year I think.
I had left home that early in order to be back at a reasonable time in the evening. The race started at 6:15am and I think the last time available to set off was 10 ish. I started the event at about 7 after signing in and waiting to be set off (in groups of 20 every five minutes). I think there were about 900 riders for this event so the start was pretty full, even at 6:30 in the morning.
The first climb was Fleet Moss, one I've done many times so I knew what to expect. Steep at the top but no issues. Down in Hawes was the first feed station where I refilled my water bottle and pocketed some energy bars and gels. Then up Buttertubs where the Tour de France goes. There's nothing bad about that hill either, fairly steep in the middle and a sustained climb but it's ok. The views from the top and on the descent are amazing though. At one point there's a steep drop off to the right into a ravine that you wouldn't want to ride off.
There's also a hairpin on the descent and sadly one rider had misjudged it and was being attended to by a paramedic and ambulance.
The next climb, Turf Moor, caught me by surprise, a nasty short and very steep one that rears out of nowhere. Many were pushing but I managed to ride it by just keeping my pace and breathing under control. Shortly after that I met Red Socks who I'd meet again and again throughout the ride. We crossed a ford via the bridge and I picked a stone out of my cleat that was stopping me from clipping in and continued the long long climb up to Britain's highest pub, the Tan Hill Inn. It's bleak up there, even in the blazing sun.
Alistair's pre race pep talk had included getting into a group for the section into the wind, which was basically the entire second half of the ride in this case, so I set off from the Tan Hill feed station and caught two guys up. We rode together and caught another two up to become five and made a good pace uphill towards the Moorcock Inn which would have been hard work alone into the headwind. It's quite a long way but the time passed really quickly, only really made apparent when one guy turned up at the Moorcock feed station having ridden it alone saying how tough going it had been. Because the five of us have worked as a group we had sailed along, overtaking Red Socks on the way.
At the feeding station here one chap went to wash his sticky hands (sticky from the energy gels) under the water barrel tap, only to be told mid scrub that it was sticky energy drink he was washing his hands in!
The climb over to Dent from Garsdale Head was bad, steep and relentless with no time to digest from the feed station and by this time I had 90 miles in my legs. That was followed by another steep climb out of Dent during which I temporarily hit the wall.
I reckon I ate about 14 energy gels/bars during the day and they do not taste good. They are also full of caffeine so that might have contributed to the post ride headache - 14 cups of coffee, you do the math. On that climb out of Dent where I hit the wall and was going really slow and getting overtaken, I was also trying to keep the contents of my stomach at bay, but at the same time I knew that I needed more energy to get me going again. This was when I ate a bar of sawdust covered in crap chocolate that had been melting in my back pocket for eight hours. I couldn't swallow it and if anyone had made me smile (unlikely at that point in all fairness) then they'd have just seen a load of brown teeth. I had to spit the thing out, launch the remainder into the bushes then spend several minutes gradually swilling out with juice before I dared talk to anyone!
I caught another passing train of three which quickly became ten and that got me through Ribblehead and to the last feed station. I stopped here to fill up and grab some food and just as I was about to leave when a bloke from the first train to the Moorcock turned up and said hello. He was saying that he should finish in just under eight hours which would get him the silver time (over eight hours is a bronze). I hadn't been bothered about this as I just wanted to do the 144 miles and not die but it had been in the back of my mind for a bit and I was now up for the chase. We were just about to leave the feed station when he said he needed the toilet so I offered to hold his bike for him - my spontaneous act of selfless generosity cost me silver, I finished in 8hours and 44 seconds!!!
Not realising this at the time, I left him on the last climb and was invited onto the back of Red Sock's train as it flew past ("you may as well finish with us now Ilkley") where I just managed to hold on until a mile from the finish. I got stuck behind an Audi on the finish straight so that could also have been the golden 44 seconds!
Justin and Ash were unexpectedly there at the finish and I think I spoiled their afternoon in the sun by arriving a minute after they had laid out their rug, half an hour before I'd said I'd be there! We sat in the Rugby Club watching other riders drink pints and eat pie and chips while I faced the driest egg mayo sandwich ever and fought off severe stomach cramps.
I left them and rode the last 15 miles back home feeling relatively good. I was thinking that if I had to I could have done another 60 miles given a rest and some decent food.
I'm not sure exactly where in the ride it started but it was in the first half, one of the muscles in my left leg started giving me grief and I had to keep massaging it throughout the day to keep the pain at bay. I hope it sorts itself out.
What's the chances of getting a race number that matches the colour scheme of my bike by the way?!
Pretty chuffed with my achievement anyway. 144 miles, 11,400 feet of climbing, 11.5 hours out of the house!
