My last University exam was on the 6th of June and my 20th birthday was on the 9th June. Most young people would celebrate this by a few nights out, some trips to the pub and a festival perhaps? I had a slightly unorthodox Birthday and end of exams 'celebration' as you will see if you read on.
Rather than yet another bike race blog, this one will be slightly different. I will be reflecting on one of those days which remind you why you love riding your bike.
My Birthday fell on a Sunday and myself and 2 other friends (Ollie and 'Gill') had entered a hilly race in Hull but we wanted to get a few more miles in afterwards and have a bit of an adventure now our exams had finished. So, we constructed a comprehensive and full-proof plan:
-Drive to Hull
-Race and try to come 1st, 2nd and 3rd (The 'Mapei')
-Drive back to Nottingham
-Ride into the heart of the Peak district
-Camp somewhere?
-Cycle back to Nottingham the next day for a black tie dinner
With the plan in place we set about the execution. First on the agenda was to get a 1,2,3 in the race and try to do the 'Mapei'.
Rather than yet another bike race blog, this one will be slightly different. I will be reflecting on one of those days which remind you why you love riding your bike.
My Birthday fell on a Sunday and myself and 2 other friends (Ollie and 'Gill') had entered a hilly race in Hull but we wanted to get a few more miles in afterwards and have a bit of an adventure now our exams had finished. So, we constructed a comprehensive and full-proof plan:
-Drive to Hull
-Race and try to come 1st, 2nd and 3rd (The 'Mapei')
-Drive back to Nottingham
-Ride into the heart of the Peak district
-Camp somewhere?
-Cycle back to Nottingham the next day for a black tie dinner
With the plan in place we set about the execution. First on the agenda was to get a 1,2,3 in the race and try to do the 'Mapei'.
After just 10 mins of racing I found myself in a break of 5 which Gill and Ollie were also in - it was looking promising. We came to the finishing climb after 2 hours of racing, and with 500m to go it seemed we may pull off the 'Mapei'. A rider then came over the top of us in the final 200m and ruined my Birthday leaving us to settle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th and a slightly less impressive finish photo.
Still a great race and made even more enjoyable doing it with friends! It was topped off by a superb rendition of 'Happy Birthday' in the village hall during the prize giving! Next on the agenda was the small matter of changing our bikes from race mode to touring mode. Unlike modern cars there is no switch you can press so after using many rolls of electrical tape and numerous cable ties we were ready to go.
We set off towards Castleton in the Peaks with tired legs from the mornings race and carrying many extra kilos in camping gear. We had to ride a little briskly in order to get there in time to grab something for dinner before ascending Winnats pass and finding somewhere to hunker down for the night. Fortunately we made it in plenty of time to find the nearest pub and order the most calorific dense foods we could see. After quickly wolfing this down we had to ride up Winnats pass to find our 'campsite' for the night in the dying sun. However, this presented a problem: with only 1 set of clothes and an expected temperature of 5 degrees overnight, we knew if we sweated we were going to be in for a very cold sleep in damp clothing. So the slowest ascent of Winnats pass began, hitting an outrageous minimum speed of 3mph it is fair to say the KOM was not in jeopardy. With a bit of indigestion following the climb we found the best campsite the peaks had to offer and setup. This was quick affair as the only camping gear we had brought was a sleeping bag and a foil survival blanket as a tent was deemed excess to requirements. Something we may rethink in the future. We did eventually manage to drift off to sleep but were woken a couple hours later by the sunrise at 4am. Feeling fresh and rejuvenated off 2 hours sleep, we set off back to Nottingham. Again, we couldn't hang around as we had a University sporting excellence awards dinner to attend in the evening. The contrast was quite amusing, being freezing cold at 4am atop a hill surrounded by sheep poo to then suiting up for a black tie dinner amongst some great sportsmen and women just 12 hours later. A memorable and fun weekend nonetheless.