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I'd be joined by my missus on this one and we in turn would join two seasoned veterans; Lee, a tall and wirey chappy with the added bonus of a mono brow which acted as the perfect cushion to his cycling helmet (almost perfectly evolved for added comfort on the road), and Glen - out on his 5th capital-to-bohemian-coastal-town annual adventure.
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Glen was the most seriously fitness fanatical of my pals; seemingly born for the gym and over many years he'd trained himself into a fine peddler of bikes too, the leader of our group - the locally legendary: Team Robblers.
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After a day of logistical mayhem which involved moving 4 bikes from varying addresses in the South East and Midlands, positioning 2 cars at the final destination on the South coast and all assembling in our nations great capital we were all tucked up in our respective beds at The Windmill on The Common public house by 10:30pm with bellies full of carbs and excitement in our veins.
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The London to Brighton Bike Ride is a charity event organised by The British Heart Foundation: a fine charity organisation set up to provide support for those with heart conditions and research into prevention solutions - so although I growled at the 5am alarm call, I was more than happy to be doing my bit.
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| Team Robblers |
The Starting Line
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Just before our 6:30am starting slot we headed down towards the starting line which was on the already busying Clapham Common, here we found that not just standard cyclists get involved in this charity event.
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| Granny competes on a Segway |
Tactics
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As you'll know I'm a competitive little twat at times but those who know me away from this page will also agree that I'm an ol' fashioned gent at heart too...wouldn't you?
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Glen had made it clear that he wouldn't be hanging around; once through the starting posts he'd likely meet us down on the coast at the hotel, Lee was willing to give it his best shot (though he admitted he'd struggle to give our leader a run for his money), and Jess simply wanted to enjoy the route - which left me with a moral dilemma.
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I opted to stay with the missus (yet secretly hatched a plan to egg her on to greater speeds as much as possible), in the hope that we'd maintain a challenging pace and I'd have a whinge-free stay in Brighton.
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The Hill
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Just before what turned out to be the midway stage we reached the bottom of a hill, having kept up my gentlemanly conduct for the morn I told Jess I'd meet here at the top of the incline so I could give my leg muscles a mini workout and then we'd travel steadily on together thereafter.
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40 minutes I waited at the top of that pissing hill, with no sight of the lady whatsoever!
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Then I got a phone call...turns out she'd missed me in the crowds at the peak and opted to carry on looking - without calling and whilst cycling forwards...for about ten miles!!!
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That's not a hill, This is a Hill!
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Now feeling fresh and massively hacked off I'd decided, the race was on!
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With each rotation of my chain I ate up the competition like they were a row of grilled chicken and Mediterranean vegetable ciabattas from my local deli (I bloody love their lunches).
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I felt sure that I was going at least twice as fast as Lee and my missus and if I'm honest I thought that if I could catch them and 'accidentally not see them' as I whizzed past, that I would.
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Then I turned that corner and ended up at the foot of a proper hill - Ditchling Beacon rises to 248m. Bugger.
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To say I enjoyed that climb, having to walk a large section of it shoulder to sweaty shoulder with other entrants whilst being passed on the narrow road by far fitter cyclists (one of which was on his mobile, chatting without even a slight falter in his voice), would be to say that I'd enjoy tea-bagging my love tools into a vat of acid whilst being forced to listen repeatedly to Hey Macerena.
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Finishing Line
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The route from the top of Ditchlings Beacon was awe inspiring - back in the saddle I buzzed past slower competitors and as my buddies from the Sunday Cycle Gang had taught me, I peddled hard on the downhill sections too.
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| Ok so maybe the climb took my breath away more than the view |
As I came into Brighton I was amongst traffic, not all of the roads were especially closed off for us at this point and from an aerial point of view we must have looked like a swarm of trendy bees storming the city.
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I crossed the line in what will have been an impressive 2nd half split time, just a shame the first half was soooo sloooowwww....
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With Special Thanks to:
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Glen 'Seasoned Robbler' Passingham - Finally took you up on the offer mate, well worth it!! I'll race ya next time!
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Lee 'Mono Brow' Goddard - Good skills fella! Lets go again next year!
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Jess 'The Missus' Fountain - Congrats on beating me, good tactics x
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