Vitus Sportive, Abergavenny

My knee coped with the CRC MTB Marathon on Saturday so I was all geared up for the Vitus Sportive on Sunday.

After a decent nights sleep in the tent we were up and eating breakfast under pretty ominous looking skies. It wasn’t raining in the campsite but there were dark low clouds surrounding us and it looked as though it was raining everywhere else. We prepared our bikes, stocked up on energy drinks and packed waterproofs.

The ride started at 8:30am but you could start anytime between 8:30 and 10:00. We chose to start at around 9ish which was probably a mistake as most people had already left. I started with Jay for a few miles and after no time at all it was raining so on went our waterproof jackets. Once the roads headed upwards Jay dropped off and I continued on alone. This is where I decided that setting off later was a mistake. I was now riding on my own and any faster riders ahead were in big groups and therefore riding quicker than I could on my own. I did overtake plenty of slower riders but was never going to catch any faster groups and there wasn’t likely to be any fast groups coming up from behind me.

There was one big climb up onto the top of the Black Mountains. I loved this and overtook loads of people on the climb which didn’t seem either too steep or too long for me. There were also loads of people stopped at the top but I passed them and continued on for a lovely ride across the top with amazing views across the hills and a nice smooth, fast road to ride along. I overtook a few more on the descent and then stopped for another wee. As I did a big group of fast riders that I must have overtaken on the climb went past. They were going well so I sprinted after them and got onto their wheels.

This was more like it. On my own I’d been going around at an fairly easy pace but only averaging around 19 mph. I was now on the back of a group of about 10 people, hardly putting in any effort and was now doing closer to 30mph. I planned to sit there for a few minutes, recover from the sprint I’d put in to catch them and then start doing my turn at the front. That wasn’t to be the case though, within about a mile we flew past the feed station and they didn’t stop. I should have just stayed with them but that would mean missing out on free food! What should I do? In the end I peeled off, rode back to the feed station and had a banana and some biscuits. Free food had won the day even if it meant riding the final 25 miles on my own again.

That is what happened, after the feed station I rode off with one other woman who sat on my wheel for a while. I dropped her everytime I sped up though and although I waited for her a couple of times just to be polite, couldn’t ride at that pace all the way home so went off on my own again.

The early rain had eased a little on this side of the mountains and the road was drying out, but it didn’t last long and it was soon lashing down again. The roads turned into rivers and the spray was flying. I got to the stage where I was so wet that it was actually quite nice and ploughed on through the downpour towards Abergavenny for the final few miles. I was soon back at the campsite and crossing the finish line in pretty much the same way as I had been for the entire 55 mile ride – soaking wet, on my own and dying for a wee.

It was an enjoyable ride though and a nice easy, steady training session. It was never meant to be a race so I got exactly what I wanted from it, a nice weekend away camping with some steady riding thrown in. It may not have been triathlon specific training but it was fun and I’m sure the longer rides will have had some benefit. I did let my healthy eating slip quite a bit over the weekend as I ate loads of rubbish and didn’t really ever stop eating, but you have to let yourself off the leash now and then. My knee didn’t get any worse from the riding so it’s back to it now.

Tags: CampingCycling