Thanks for organizing such a great ride Pat.
Gosh that was a toughie! My fears about not having many miles in the legs beforehand turned out to be well founded. But my fellow riders from Abingdon Freewheeling waited at the top of every climb where I was always the last up, and drafted me along in the flatter places (redeyedjedi being one of them), as well as sorting the navigation, so all I needed to do was keep peddling.
It certainly made the rider far easier for me , as I think I might have got home in the early hours without them, and possibly headed back to Abingdon to cut a few miles off at the end, but it felt great to roll back into Peartree at 8.00ish. I've done longer rides than this, but none where I have had to dig so deep to finish
Weather in early Jan is rarely nice, but although murky I think we were quite blessed, barely any headwinds (maybe I was riding too slowly to notice them), and the fog made some sections look quite spooky (the long road in the woods after Chipping Camden being one of them).
My moment when I wobbled came on the last of the really tough climbs before Cirencester, I though a 30 inch lowest gear would make climbs relatively easy, but I'd have used lower gears still had I had them. I was zig zagging up just trying to concentrate on making it to the next zig/zag, behind me was citoyen walking up (I was with redeye when the WVM charged), and ahead of me was another rider in a blue jersey who was also inching up, and I did then wonder then if I would finish. But then Shaun and Andy were waiting at the top, and having taken 40 minutes to cover 2 miles, we covered the next 8 miles into Cirencester quite swiftly.
From that moment, whenever the road pointed up, my legs were like jelly and I had to use my lowest gear to ride up any climbs (even the final small bit in Cumnor which I normally power up out of the saddle).
RedEyes mechanical was very swiftly resolved, and having got through the toughest part there was no way we were not going to finish, even if we missed the last control time. A roadside repair just adds to the story of the ride.
At Purton the climb was rewarded by the amazing fish and chip shop, never have I been so grateful for battered cod and a can on coke. Eating some hot food, and then finding ourselves on known roads was the final spur to making it home.
The last 48 hours I’ve barely been able to walk up the stairs, and cannot feel the fingers in my left hand, the price I’ve paid for no training beforehand. But my goodness do I feel good about finishing this! My only regret was that I carried too much stuff and made my bike miles heaver than it should have been, should know better at my age.
I hope my fellow rides where I struggled up the climb made it back to Peartree, real respect to citoyen for doing this on a fixie!!. But really must thank my riding companions for their support, it made all the difference.