The day got
off to a wobbly start when, early Sunday morning, three key members of Team WP
were unable to squeeze onto the first train to Pickett’s Lock. In the interests
of team morale, we sent a sympathetic text to the unhappy group stranded in
south Cambridgeshire before abandoning them to their fate.
Cathryn, Richard,
Mandy, Nell and I zoomed through the start shortly after 9am, straight into
busy London traffic. The first few miles were hectic, with the
cars, junctions, roundabouts and other cyclists making it difficult to settle
into a steady pace. Within the hour, however, we had left industrial
Enfield behind and were making good progress towards The White Hart at Roydon.Having made it to the first stop, and with no word from Steve, Rachel and Jonny, we paused for a quick drink (of water!) outside the pub before continuing on our way. The next leg was fairly uneventful for Team WP, although the muddy playing fields at Widford, stop number two, caused a few sticky moments for some of our fellow cyclists. We were pleased to find ourselves averaging a respectable 13mph, having completed the first 20 miles in well under 2 hours.
We knew by
this time that the others were on their way, and seemed to have expectations of
catching us up! This spurred us on through the rather hilly third section of
the ride. However, a mile or so before Furneaux Pelham, it became clear that
all was not well with my bicycle. As my team-mates whizzed ahead (thanks guys!)
I prodded at my worryingly soft back tyre. After I’d limped up the final
hill to stop number three, we pooled our resources (mostly Mandy’s) and expertise (mostly
Richard’s) to change the punctured inner tube. After losing an essential nut
and finding it again, and a little mild profanity, we were ready to go – or so
we thought.
A few
minutes and some distressing rattling noises later, Richard and I were heading
back to Furneaux Pelham in search of a mechanic, while the others continued on
their way. Luckily, with the right tools the problem was easy to fix, and we
were also pleased to see some familiar faces arriving while we waited.
Starting out again up the steep hill from Furneaux Pelham was grueling,
especially after losing so much time. It was well worth the effort though
since this was the prettiest section of the course, and the lovely views and
brilliant sunshine were welcome distractions.
Distance:
57.86 miles
Cycling
time: 4h:49m:32sAverage speed: 12.0 mph
Max speed: 30.4 mph (!)
Calories burned: 3433
Fastest mile: 2m:45s
Congratulations to everybody that took part! There are a few more photos of the ride on our Facebook page
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