Adam Buck, Andy Curran, Dan Ellis, Andy Tolson, Lyndsay Fitzgerald and Seb Potiriadis ventured out to Wales last weekend to tackle the mighty Velothon. The 6 Viceroys cycled in two mini teams – Dan recounts the experience of himself, Adam and Andy C:

‘It was a truly great experience and would thoroughly recommend it to all Viceroys.

The course is a great closed road event and the locals really embrace the day, cheering you on and seeing you over the line.

My advice would be, as with any challenging sportive – plan your ride i.e. Know your limits, when the fuel stations will be, climbs etc.

We had kept an eye on the weather forecast all week and the truth is, be prepared for quick changing conditions whatever the forecast – for this reason I went with my four season tyres and alloy rims wheels which paid dividends on the recents.

The first 50 miles is pretty flat and early starters sets off at a rapid pace. Then comes the real fun with the infamous Tumble climb (approx 2.8miles at 8.3%). After this climb you can enjoy great views and undulating roads until the final climb at 80 miles. This climb is short in comparison, but I think I had seen a sign with 16% ouch… From there on its pretty swift and plane sailing to the finish line. 

The three of us worked hard as a team throughout, which received some nice plaudits along the way and we crossed the lined together with a sub 5 hour finish (18.8 avg)

And finally, if your team is playing in the FA cup final the night before, be warned the beer is cheap and hard to resist.’

Lyndsay too echoes this great experience: ‘Just wanted to say what a fantastic day in (sort of) sunny Wales for the velothon today. Massive thanks to Seb and Andy for dragging me round the first 100k, can’t say I enjoyed the last 40 anywhere near as much!! Great closed roads event, can thoroughly recommend it for next year.

The Velothon was the longest ride I’ve done to date, my second sportive and first closed roads event. So a race plan of trying to keep up with Seb and Andy for as long as possible was probably a bit daft! Through the Newport flats and out towards the dreaded Tumble we had quite a train behind us, with Seb acting a little like the Pied Piper on the front! The rain started at the bottom of the climb but tree shelter helped on the way up. The descent was wet, cold and quite wiggly at times but we had the rest stop ahead to look forward to. This was where some guy laughed at the state of my face, which I took as a complement to my drafting skills learnt on our Viceroys group rides! By this point we were about 100k in and my legs started to hate me, I struggled to maintain pace and there was a consistently subtle but deadly incline and I could easily have had a hissy fit! But then the guys waited and we were soon in Caerphilly ready for the mountain ahead. Except my legs weren’t. I skidded to a bit of a halt with the worst hamstring cramp I’ve ever had, and the then my quad joined in. A lovely local offers to hold my bike whilst I was hopping around on the pavement (after assuring me he wouldn’t pinch it!), I must have looked a right sight! As soon as it came it went and thankfully not a peep on the climb, which was viscous. From the top it was a lovely ride back into town with fantastic local support… Quickly followed by cramp at the end! Did I go off too fast to keep up with the guys? Probably. Would I do the same again? Definitely! I didn’t have a clue what to expect time wise as it was only my second ride over 100k so was pleased with 5:04 and 71st female, sub 5 next year!’