Although not originally the case, this was a mainly, club affair which involved Brothers Kqwerty, Ris and myself with, given what is about to follow a training mate of mine who will remain anyomous, so for arguements sake, lets call him, Jack Lewis 50 from Wokingham. Although it has to be said Brother Ris’s involvement was somewhat last minute. Like 3 o’clock the day before last minute. I think it worked out well for him involving a quick exit from an awkward domestic function.
So, first things first. We all arrived at the start line on the right day at the right time, without too many issues. A great start. In fact we were a few minutes early which gave us a chance to refine our tactics. Which basically meant Ris and Jack taking the hills, with me and Kqwerty taking the downhills, and sharing the flats. Although the overriding thought was to stay together at all costs.
We were off first. The order, Me, Jack, Kqwerty, Ris. The countdown began and we were off. I wanted to get us off to a briskish start, so started at a reasonable pace but after 2 maybe 3 mins our first issue. Brother Ris hadn’t wanted to be pushed off which resulted in him losing close on 500m before we’d realized. The next 1.02.53 was basically spent dropping Jack, me going back to get him, Ris trying his hardest to drop the rest of us and Kqwerty left in between a rock and a hard place, to try and keep up with Ris, or try and help me and Jack out.
In all I counted 5 photographers who we passed at least twice, making 10 photo opportunities. If there is one photo with all of us in, I’d be amazed.
It really was a great laugh, a respectable result, although a lot harder to organize than I’d thought, but nevertheless I can’t wait to do another. All joking aside thanks to Ris for standing in last minute (and a close on 150mile round trip) and to kqwerty who had a very solid ride.
The post race cake was spectacular and despite our trials and tribulations the main topic of conversation centered around an overheard conversation from the ladies team behind us. “ The length is alright, I could just do with it being a bit thicker”