110 miles 11,000 feet ascent
I’m officially a First Class Fred Whitton cyclist now!!!!! – even if only by less than a minute. I clocked 7h 59m for the 110 miles and 11,000 feet of Lakeland torture, and was mightily chuffed. I had felt OK for most of the race, going at my own pace mostly, catching on to a few faster cyclists for a tow occasionally, pushing the speed on the faster stuff and steadily grinding away at the many climbs. My pace till the last 2 killer climbs of Hardknott and Wrynose was pretty much like last year’s 8h 17m so I was never really sure of how close I would be to even besting last year’s time, never mind cracking the magical 8h barrier. The weather this year held out, though I still had to get off and push my bike up the steep hairpins for a few minutes, whereas last year the heavens had opened up here.
After the last climb at Wrynose Pass I still thought I was outside 8hrs pace, but I still pressed on downhill through Little Langdale, hoping for the best. When I joined the main road back to Coniston with 4 miles left and less than 15mins to spare, I gave it everything I had and hammered it back. Screeching to a halt at the finish line I couldn’t believe that I had made it by such a narrow margin. Over the course of 8 hours to have achieved my goal by a minute was just amazing. Yet again I was overcome with joy and intense satisfaction, the adrenaline pumping away like mad throughout my body, and still am sitting here hardly believing that I managed it. Never mind that fell running superhero Rob Jebb was 2 hrs quicker in winning, I won my own (not-so)wee battle and that’s what counts in my book. Of almost 1000 cyclists I think I just made it into the top half of the field, not bad for an old hillrunner. A true challenge in all senses of the word and all the sweeter for it.
www.fredwhittonchallenge.org.uk
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