A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event.
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclosportive
In particular I wanted to do the 65 Roses Holme Moss Classic, why? Because last year whilst I was nursing a broken collarbone and feeling sorry for myself I observed a number of cyclists riding past the end of my road, all had numbers on the front. I did some research and found out it was the aforementioned ride. I vowed to myself then that I would ride this "next year".
I signed up some months ago and immediately began to kak myself. The thought of climbing Holme Moss filled me with dread. What if I couldn't manage it? What if I was last back?
The day came, I was both excited and nervous. I met up with 4 others from my cycling club before the start. The plan was to touch base before the off, not to ride together. The mass start from Magna was an experience in itself riding in large numbers on closed roads. The field thinned out as I got to Thorpe Hesley and from that point I passed and was passed by many other riders.
Fast forward to the object of the ride...
Holme Moss. www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holme_Moss
I have to say it was challenging. It was tough. But I got up without stopping, I got up with strong legs, I got to the top and felt invincible! It's not the nicest thing to say but I actually got satisfaction from riding past those that were pushing their bikes up. I made it, I was in my own way, on top of the world.
I was riding with Steve from my club. We'd not planned to team up but we just ended up sticking with each other. He really struggled with the climb. I waited 15 minutes at the summit, he'd ended up pushing most of the climb. After that he was in a bad way. I supported him back through to Sheffield. As soon as we hit the Rotherham border I dropped him (he was happy to be able to follow the route back).
I managed to 105km in 5 and a half hours with an accent of 1666m. Next year I hope to smash that.
2 comments:
you did really well ;o)
Thank you, it was an amazing experience.
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