Tour of The Cornfields Ride Report
Tuesday, September 04, 2007 (08:12:12)

Posted by hambones brokenbones

Frankly 10 cans of lager and 5 hours sleep is NOT the best preparation for a long distance ride of any description. Nevermind though - just think of the carb-loading! Headed up the A10, passing Ware just as the first rider was heading out on the Whitewebbs CC Open 25mTT. It wasn’t a 6am start after all, morelike 8am so there was no way I could ever have done both events. Without doubt I made the best choice.

Just to recap, this was billed as a Cyclosportive with over 50% off-road on bridleways, by-ways. The route had a last-minute change so was clocked at 54.5miles.

Arriving at Whaddon by around 8.30 I met up with Matt and Kerry, and whilst signing in Tom turned up raring to go. My usual pre-event faffing saw me change my slow puncture (after all I only had all week to get the bike ready) and both tyres were pumped up to 60psi. The weather had been dry, the ground bone-hard in all but a couple of places. I probably could have put on the semi-slicks. At the start both Tom and I expressed some reservations about the event. There were certainly many riders on cross bikes, although some full-suss machines also present (a bit of overkill never hurt anyone!). I recognised quite a few faces from other events I’ve entered, small world this biking lark.

So now it was 9.30 and the 150+ riders were lining up for the start. I had my comfy saddle, my Ibuprofen gel on my back (works an absolute treat), lashings of Sudocrem you-know-where - all set! We were let off in groups of 10-12 every minute, Matt off with the first, Kerry in the second group, me and Tom 4 minutes back. The first 6 miles were on the road - our group of 12 quickly split with 3 cross-bikers pulling away. Thinking the pace was too comfortable I chased them down, beckoning Tom with me. Soon I was tucked in behind them but Tom kept letting gaps open up. A quick word about the benefits of drafting soon has Tom hugging the backwheels and we were rolling along at a very steady 20mph merrily passing some of the slower earlier starters. Into the first off-road section and it’s my usual nemesis, deep-rutted uphill section - OK how do you pedal these bits without bouncing off the rut walls? Needless to say I lost touch with the group, Tom pulling away showing some good strength. Back onto flatter sections and then some road and the gaps were closed again. Another shortish climb off-road (overall it was a very flat ride, around 1500ft of climbing over the whole distance) and as I climbed I waited for Tom to again pass me, and waited, and... By now we were skirting fields on hard-packed earth and keeping the tempo high seemed easy. Looking back there was no sign of Tom. He later admitted the start may have been too fast and he adopted the sensible policy of pacing himself. A very good idea considering this was a very new challenge/distance for him.

First hour passed with 15 miles covered. A little further along I hear ‘Hello Ham’ from behind. It’s Kerry - he’d gone off-route, losing a good 10 minutes. Alas this was an experience to be repeated often by practically all of the riders over the course of the event. The signage was pretty poor but since this was the first time for the organisers they will learn from the experience. A good course should only require you to refer to the map/instructions as a last resort. The tape and arrows should be plentiful and sufficient to get you round. The lack of tape markers left you often wondering whether you were still on course.

At the checkpoint I was surprised to see Matt. Unfortunately he had forgotten to hand in his number with the timers, merrily riding past and losing so much time when he had to come back that he decided not to chase down the few riders who were anywhere near as fast as him! Kerry was also there, so after a quick loo break and banana we set off with a group of around 20 riders. Another long road section saw some marvellous speed. Me and Matt burning off pretty much all of the group! Yes you read that right - ME!! Of course it couldn’t last. Various moments of route-checking and deliberating saw us re-group again. Then into a long off-road section and I duly slipped to the back. Unluckily this was then disaster struck. I punctured. I struggled to get it sorted, one of the two tyre levers I had snapped. Then when I put the wheel back on the skewer threaded. I spent ages trying to get it to tighten. I even contemplated phoning the organisers to come and get me. Finally after a bit of clear-thinking I took off the skewer springs and that bit that you use close against which makes it tighten (I’m sure it has a name) and had enough thread to get it to hand-tighten against the frame. Ok so it wobbled a bit but it would have to do! 25 minutes lost! Second problem after I restarted was that the whole group had actually missed a turn so as I carried on I went totally off course, heading over fields to a road in the distance only to find the bridleway came to an abrupt end. Re-tracing my steps added almost 4 miles to the ride. Just as I was wondering who I could phone to get directions back to the start I stumbled across an arrow and got back onto the route.

I caught up with a group of cross-bikers a little further on. They weren’t overly happy about the course. Too bumpy they said and they certainly looked in pain on some of the off-road sections. We were passed by an ambulance which we soon saw again, the medics treating a poor lass for what looked like a broken collarbone. She was a competent road rider but apparently this was her first time on a cross-bike and came a cropper. And so the miles passed, the wind blew stronger, and still the legs felt strong. A couple more detours for missed directions followed, large groups forming and people roaming around saying ‘Which way now?’. Into the last 5 miles and there was a very long stretch of pan-flat by-way which crossed 3 roads. The line in the grass was hard-packed and well-formed so I stuck it in the big ring and simply blasted all the way to the finish.

My time was 5 hours 4 minutes (although actual riding time was 4:30). Matt was 4.01 and Kerry 4.04. Both me and Matt ended up doing an extra 5 miles. We waited at the finish for Tom who still looked fresh as he came in after 5:57. A very fine time Tom and a big learning experience I hope you’re keen to repeat. For me it was a great event but for the signage and the mechanicals. I had no pain anywhere, never felt overly tired because I got my eating and drinking right for once - definitely the strongest I’ve felt over long distance. Maybe some of that road riding has it’s benefits after all!