15+ Viceroys took on the 80 mile Tour of Cambridgeshire this weekend. There were a mix of riders and the plan was to ride out together and then see how we all felt naturally grouping into faster/slower groups. To enable us all to start as a group the “challenge” riders moved into the “Sport” start pen which meant the start time was a bit later.

Meanwhile, Lara arrived ‘pretty shattered from lack of sleep in the days leading up to it. Chris and I managed to catch up with all the other Viceroys and we all sneaked into the same pen. I really wasn’t feeling it, but it was nice to see everyone and look forward to a cycle together. I was a little worried about Chris as he has ridden his bike twice in the last year and his ‘preparation’ was 3 WattBike sessions!

Our pen slowly filtered out onto the closed roads and we got separated pretty much instantly! I found Andrea, David and Nick and we cycled together. A queue up a hill due to an accident separated Andrea and I from the others. Andrea then decided to cycle hard to catch up. Panicking we wouldn’t be able to hold 47kmh with 75 miles to go I sensibly suggested we ease off!!

We caught up with them again some time later and wheel sucked to recover. 2 hours in Andrea told me it was starting to hurt, but I felt really good. Knowing what she was like on Ride London I was pretty sure a bite to eat would have her back in no time.’

The mass Viceroys group eventually got rolling around 12.30 and Geoff tucked in behind a Johannes who he knew would be able to ride at a strong early pace (a correct prediction!). Geoff reports: ‘I was hoping to break the 4 hour mark so knew I needed a 20mph average and with the wind behind for the first 30 miles wanted to be ahead of this level at that point and Johannes was the perfect wheel to follow.

Starting in the sport pen meant we had a lot of traffic in the early few miles and we had a 2-3 minute standstill filtering past an accident at about mile 3 which wasn’t the best start. Johannes and I cut through the crowds though until the first real incline where Johannes dropped me from a mixture of traffic and his sheer speed. So much for getting a nice tow from him for 20-30 miles and so from mile 5ish I was “on my own” which was fine… there was no shortage of wheels to hop onto and I could pace myself to the exact speed I wanted.

The first hour I managed 21 miles which was perfect pacing including that 2-3 minute hold up. The course had some rolling hills but it was still fast riding aided by a tailwind. I made it down to the disused airfield and had my first taste of the headwind as we rolled up and then back down the main runway. Still I made it to mile 40 in 1h 50minutes nicely on target. The next 30 miles can only be described as flat but windy with the route meandering through flat fields filled with wind farms everywhere (for very good reason it turns out). With the headwind (from the north) it was hard to get anything much more than 18mph and you were pretty much forced to ride at the speed of any surrounding group you happened to be in at the time. Moving out and picking up the pace just met with the headwind slowing you back down to the group but using a lot more effort. The side winds were not so bad and it was relatively easy to position yourself in an “echelon” to get out of the worst of it at 20-21mph. The riders were thinning at this point though so there was less protection and sometimes you found yourself riding a mile or two on your own battling.

It was around mile 50 that I started to get a cramp in my right hamstring which also made my right knee feel a bit sore. I was on a mission so was planning on just using the two 750ml energy drinks i had with me plus 4-5 gels to get me round which had been more than enough for the ride100 last year. Today was 20 degrees though and whilst I was hydrating little and often it wasn’t enough to stop the build up of cramp. The next 10 miles were tough as managed the pain building in my right leg while trying to get a tow and keep my speed over 20mph wherever possible. It was at about mile 60 that my left leg decided to join the party with both my hamstrings and quads starting to cramp. Time to increase my cadence up to 100-110 to try and keep things going and spin it out.

Ian Saunders was the first Viceroy to come past me at mile 61 giving me a “come on pinkies” shout as he went past pulling a long chain of 15 riders behind him. I hooked onto that group and followed for about 7 miles before getting dropped with my cramps getting worse. At about mile 70 I had to physically get off the bike and try and stretch things out but that’s not easy when both hamstrings and quads are cramping. Stretch one and the other goes off so I ended up just shaking my legs a bit and doing a bit of a stretch just to get rid of the worst of it. Still only 7 miles to go so my plan was to just slow down and spin it out as best I could.

The last 10 miles (as the route it turned out was 84 miles this year) started to get hilly again which made for more tricky cramp management. I got off again around mile 74 and again around mile 78 where a kind rider stopped and properly helped me stretch my hamstrings the way you see footballers do in extra time on hot matches. He told me he had 3 punctures and his front derailleur had stopped changing gear so his time was out of the window anyway. “Mine too” I said.

The last 9 miles to the finish I “only” averaged 17mph and that along with the extra 4 miles distance meant that I missed my 4 hour target although I had managed 79.4 miles on my garmin at the 4 hour mark which was pretty close given the issues I had to overcome. Resigned to just getting to the finish as best I could I kept the cadence high and dug in unable to get a tow from anyone and finally crossed the line in an official time of 4h 21 minutes – 4h 15 minutes on my Garmin so I had only actually stopped 6 minutes in total for the 3 cramp stops.

At the end Lara came over and grabbed me having finished 2 minutes ahead of me. I was a bit confused as hadn’t seen her pass me but it turned out my 3rd cramp stop laying on the floor had been where she had gone past. Both Lara and Johannes finished in the top 25% for their age groups and I think Ian Saunders just missed out himself on 4h 7 minutes.’

Lara recounts her race experience and why she finished fast and alone!: ‘I made a very silly mistake early on! I had some energy bar and all of a sudden my legs were going like the clappers and I took off from my cycling pals, and more importantly the group that was protecting me from the wind. My head was asking what the hell I was doing but my legs kept going!

Well that was a very lonely 40 minutes on my own into the wind, plenty long enough to contemplate my stupidity. I found another wheel and tried to keep on it, but I realised a lot of damage had been done on my own and I couldn’t hold on.  I hooked onto another, too slow. Why did I leave my friends?!!

More miles on my own, straight road, windy horrible miles. Finally found another group and literally hung on for dear life. A sign said 20 miles left – OMG really?! Energy bars weren’t cutting it anymore, time to crack open the gels. Started to panic it was a mistake not stopping at the feed stations, I only had half a bottle of juice left.

I’m not sure how, but I kept with the group, the two at the front dropped off and it was all I could do to hold on to the man in the red jersey. I’m pretty sure I have never felt pain like that before. I was working out the equivalent of 80 miles in kilometres in my head, partly to concentrate on something and also because I’m pretty sure I had cycled more than 80 miles by this point.

Over the finish line, my whole body hurt and I could hardly walk. I sat on some grass to meet my fellow Viceroys and contemplated my errors and the pure grit and determination that was the only thing I had in the last 20 miles.

As everyone met up and we were talking excitedly about the race, I got a text to say I had qualified to represent Team GB in the UCI Gran Fondo World Series! It directed us to the Sue Ryder stall to collect another medal. Johannes also got a text. Like excited children we went to collect our ‘special’ medals. Super happy! It took some of the pain away at least! Finished just under 4:14 and it was 83 miles in the end.

Chris also completed it in around 5 hours, ignoring his bottle refill stops. Very proud of him given his next to zero training.

The course was lovely, closed roads, great support from the villages we cycled through and great medical cover for those that had accidents – there were a few. Somehow the ambulances got there without disrupting the ride, and the marshals with their whistles alerting you to the obstruction were great. Most were riding sensibly throughout and shouting out the turns and potholes etc, unlike Ride 100. Everyone was friendly and encouraged the call outs commending people on their good cycling.

The ride overall was very well organised. Almost all of the riders i saw were in club kit and knew how to ride in groups and in general the ride discipline was much better than ride100. There were plenty of chain gangs to sit on the back of and you didn’t have to wait too long for the next one if/when you got dropped. The route is quite a bit more twisty/turny though which means there is quite a lot more slowing down and speeding up which doesn’t help your averages. I chatted to loads of riders on the way round and almost everyone was chatty and friendly and enjoying the day. There were the inevitable unlucky few riders i saw being treated on the road  side with a couple looking in a bad way but all of the Viceroys made it round safely which is always a relief.

A good lesson learned. I MUST DRINK MORE and it would certainly have been better to stop and refill my bottle for a minute or two at a feed stop than have to suffer those 30+ miles with cramp management (assuming that would have solved the problem). I should also take more electrolytes on hot days as I was covered in salt at the end from sweating and that won’t have helped.

Now can I get round in under 4 hours next year without cramping? Tricky but maybe… just maybe possible.’

As raced and reported by Lara and Geoff