Gold !

The White Rose Classic today and I was relaxed enough about it this morning to turn the alarm off and fall back to sleep! As a result I was in a rush getting ready, only managing a single slice of toast for breakfast, and was much later than intended setting off from home to cycle the 6 miles to the start at Otley. The planned leisurely sign-in and some pre-event banter with my Earlybird mates seemed to have gone out the window, but then El Cid passed me in his van just before Burley so it was good to know the gang were running late too.

Superb organisation at the start saw us hit the road as a group just after the appointed 7.45. It was a perfect day. From the texture of the sky you just knew it was going to stay fine, and it felt good to be able to discard the windproof and travel really light. El Cid and Cacophony shepherded the group from the start, ensuring a steady pace. If felt just about right to me. It was all quite social early on and then on the way up to Greenhow I came up behind Superlight who had started a little earlier than us. Got chatting, as you do, lost concentration and suddenly found myself adrift of the group. It wasn't a lot of distance, but it took me a mile or more of hard effort to catch back up again. I was actually amazed at how much I had to graft in order to rejoin.

A brisk pace was set all the way to Grassington, where we took an express refuelling, and on up the Wharfe Valley at an even more brisk pace. I found myself working quite hard all the way to Buckden and wondering if I was perhaps going too hard. But I really didn't want to lose the group. We got a little strung out on the climb up Fleet Moss, but we all got to the feed station at Hawes at pretty much the same time. I was surprised that we were keeping together so well, so all credit to our team leaders for that.

A bit of a nagging wind (breeze really) out of Hawes which forced me to have to concentrate quite hard - and then on to the Coal Road. As with each time I've done it this year, I found the climb pass very quickly. El Cid was just 50 yards up the road all the way, but although I could have closed the gap, my internal governor insisted that I stay within my comfort zone. Looking at the watch it seemed like a Gold Standard time was definitely on, and I really didn't want to blow up and miss out. I might possibly never get a better chance.

I always seem to struggle a bit on the climb out of Dentdale and today was no different. I'm sure a lot of that is in the head. Surpised to pass CM here, but soon realised that he was just out for a tootle today. I'd been riding with MS for a while now and after getting away from me on the climb, we joined forces for the run down to Stainforth after I picked up a tow to catch him up. He did a bit more work than me because I began a fight with cramp at this point. As soon as I pushed the pace up I got twinges. I still felt reasonably strong but I had to limit the speed. From Stainforth I had to let MS go again. Apart from cramp never being far away I felt like I had run out of fuel, much like at the same point in the Etape du Dales. It was also getting distinctly warm. It was fine when you were travelling at pace, but as soon as you slowed on the climbs, it hit you. And I was beginning to run out of water. The section over the moorland across to Malham was a bit of a grind, but I think I can say that I still enjoyed it by simply backing off the pace and taking in the amazing scenery. The quality of light today was sensational. The Dales were to be seen at their very best.

After a rapid descent into Malham I was ready to linger a bit at this final feedstation, but once off the bike I got a terrible attack of cramp, both quads going into spasm and locking up. I must have looked quite a sight as I hunched over in agony, waiting a seemingly interminable time for the attack to pass. I was rather embarassed to have to ask someone to pick my bottles up for me because I didn't dare bend over! I decided that the best thing to do was to get straight back on the bike. I swigged down some electrolyte and, quite amazingly, the cramp went away. I didn't suffer another bad attack until the spin back to the rugby club in Otley after the finish. At one point, I really thought that was going to be it for the ride!

I was on my own all the way from Malham back to Otley, which suited me to be honest. I wanted to be in my own space at this point. I felt the need to go at my own pace, and enjoy the beauty of my 'back garden' country as opposed to watching the back of someone's wheel. It was also great to be riding the last 20 miles of an event on roads that you know like the back of your hand. I had a good eye on the watch, and although not knowing exactly when I started, I had increasing confidence in getting that Gold - although I knew it would be tight. I just had to get up Langbar without the cramp returning. As I got closer to home, the legs seemed to feel fresher and fresher, which must certainly have been in the mind. The tactic up Langbar was just to take it real slow and ensure that I was in good shape to push on at the top. And that's exactly what I did. No problems with cramp and managed to ride strongly all the way back to the finish to record a time of 7.21.58 ... and a Gold Standard. I feel like I can retire now!!

Descending Langbar (5 miles to go)

Photo from cyclingimages.co.uk

The organisation was quite superb throughout. Nothing could be faulted. Great food and tea on tap at the rugby club. And masses of banter. I kept trying to get away to cycle back home, but each time I went to get on the bike I spotted someone new coming in that I knew and had a chat. Helped by the warm sun, the craic afterwards was fantastic.

Of the mates from the Earlybirds group that I was with until the Coal Road, Chills got a superb 7.01 finish, and El Cid an equally good 7.03. Gizzajob was delighted with 7.10, just reward for a lot of hard training this year - and I'm going to look into his new gel-only food technique. Well done mate! MS finished just a couple of minutes ahead of me in 7.18 and Cacophony a little behind me in 7.32, which I could tell he was disappointed with, but it was his first long event of the year. With this under his belt, the big man will be pushing the others hard for sure. RM finished in an excellent 7.11, his pedigree coming through today. He also uses straight bars so it was good for once to have some company in that respect. Finally, Superlight found that his overdraft didn't occur such heavy penalties as he feared to come home in 8.57.

A completely fantastic day out for one and all. I eventually clocked up a total of 132 miles. I'm going to bed tired but on a fantastic high.