So... the Suffolk Sunrise.
The alarm going off at 5:30am wasn't great; this was to enable Stevevw, FatFellaFromFelixstowe (both from CycleChat) and I to make an earlyish start so that the lads could do their 100 in relative comfort. But having got off the bike at 7:30pm last night after 80 miles, getting on it again at 6:30am this morning was less appealing than usual.
I arrived, parked and assembled my trike and then made my way to the registration area and bumped into FFFF. We got our numbers, I struggled to find anywhere on the front of my trike to fix the little number to (I couldn't, in fact, so I put it on the back of the headrest) and then Stevevw appeared.
We set off at about 7:15am from Woodbridge Football ground and it was instantly obvious to me that I wasn't going to be my normal speedy self. It felt like I was cycling through treacle, clearly my legs hadn't recovered from yesterday's expedition. Steve and FFFF were forever having to wait for me and suffered the ignominy of dozens of lycra-clad chaps zooming past 'em as they dawdled at the top of a hill for me to wind my way up it at 4mph. Particularly irritating were the group of about 6 riders in blue and yellow from Hoxne cycling club - I hope Steve and FFFF passed them later.
Anyway, we had agreed to stick together until Felixstowe Ferry (15.5 miles in) at which point Steve and FFFF would put the pedal to the metal to get their 100 done in reasonable time. So... we arrived at the ferry after about 5 hours (or so it seemed, it was actually 1 hour 18 minutes) and joined the queue of cyclists waiting for the two little ferryboats.
When we got onto the landing stage I had déja vu... it was like yesterday's narrow bridges; only this time the trike wouldn't get stuck between wooden posts but might plunge into the depths of the mighty Deben. Steve and FFFF helped me gingerly wheel it down the narrowing and slippery wooden jetty, complete with occasional steps.
When there were just 5 cyclists in front of us we queue-jumped (with their agreement) so that my trike was first on the boat. However the boatman said, "you need to wait for the next boat" as that had lower sides, or something. Steve and FFFF were funnelled onto this boat and I remained waiting, Billy No Mates, at the end of the jetty. So much for my queue jumping. Steve and FFFF pootled off in their boat with a bunch of other cyclists and a whole string of bikes...
When the next boat arrived the chaps scratched their heads a bit, then lifted my trike on as if it weighed nothing, helped me on board and another 5 or so cyclists with their shiny speedy bikes. As you can see, mine was a little wide for its area...
As you can also see, I turned my Garmin off so as not to get a false reading of an extra 200 metres or however wide the Deben is here. Auntie Helen doesn't log Turbo Trainer or Boat miles on her Cyclogs records :wink:
Here is the queue of cyclists waiting as I went across on the boat. I spoke to someone after the ride who said she'd had to wait an hour for the Ferry.
When our ferry arrived at the other side various strong chaps rescued my trike and carried it up to dry land. The ferry landing stage was really slippery, especially for cleated shoes, so it was slightly hair-raising. Steve and FFFF posed for a photo before disappearing off into the distance at something rather more than my snail's pace.
So off I went now, on my own, with leaden legs. It was really hard, and a bit disheartening when I was constantly overtaken and didn't overtake a single rider. Most of them were fit men in lycra but then as I am beginning to hope to be able to classify myself as a fit woman in lycra that's not such a relief. Still there were several nice views of lycra-clad buns to console myself with.
After 20 miles there was a tea/banana/tracker bar stop. As I arrived Stevevw and FFFF were leaving and I didn't see them again as they whizzed off and their and my route diverged in due course.
By the time 35 miles had gone I estimate I'd been overtaken by about 150 cyclists and hadn't passed a single one myself. This was rather depressing but I consoled myself with the thought that there would be a lunch stop soon. At Snape the two routes (100 mile or 50 mile) diverged and I began to feel relief that the non-racing-snake-variety-cyclists would be on the 50 mile route and therefore I wouldn't be overtaken so often. At the 41 mile mark I actually overtook someone, a chap who had come past me about 2 miles before. Hallelujah!
The lunch stop was very welcome. The catering was fantastic with sandwiches, grapes, cake, tea, tomato soup. I had loads of food (was feeling hungry), despite having cadged a banana from Stevevw at the ferry crossing and eaten a few of my own supplies. I probably stopped for nearly an hour, reclining in my portable deck-chair and answering questions from other cyclists, most of whom hadn't seen me in action, of course, as I hadn't overtaken any of them.
The two slices of lemon cake (following the tomato soup, 3 sandwiches, grapes and two cups of tree) clearly had a medicinal effect as after lunch, for the final 10 miles, I had something more like my normal pedal power available. I actually overtook nine - yep, NINE! - people in the first 2 miles. They were all wearing high-vis and without cleats which marked 'em out from the people who overtook me who were all in team jerseys and cleats. I was in a team jersey (CycleChat) and cleats but clearly I belong to the high-vis/cleatless group in terms of speed. A couple of times a mean hill arrived just after I'd overtaken some of these people so I gritted my teeth, dug deep and retained my lead. I really went for it on the downhills to stay ahead and it worked. Hurrah!
Passed this rather unusual sign somewhere - no idea where, it all blurred into Lots Of Potato Fields And Hedges.
The final part of the ride was on good fast roads through Woodbridge. Some meanie stuck a nasty long hill right before the end and I was passed by a chap right at the beginning of it. I could see two female cyclists in my mirrors behind, who I think were with this chap, but I Refused To Let Them Get Past, really going for my pedalling despite the hill. I actually almost caught the chap up again! If only the downhills had been longer...
Anyway, I arrived back having done 51.88 miles, got a little certificate, medal and t-shirt. I had a brief chat with a couple of people (whom, apparently, I had overtaken - they were asking about the trike) and then decided to go home. I didn't know how long Steve and FFFF would be but felt like I needed lots of cups of tea at home and to ignore my trike for the rest of the day.
Overall it was a good experience although not as fun as riding on a group ride as I was on my own a lot of the time. Nice scenery, although more hills in Suffolk than I was led to believe. I've raised £85 which isn't too bad and I was really impressed by the organisation and catering and other facilities that Action Medical Research provided. A great day!
