I rode most of the day with Jason and Pete. Both had completed the half-distance option of last year's event. At the time they both found even 30 miles quite challenging, and were reportedly so far gone towards the end that they were hallucinating about a malevolent monkey stalking them through the trees...
This year, Pete had trained for and ridden the British Cyclosportive with me 2 weeks ago, and was flying along with a grin on his face, enjoying how much fitter he was compared with last year. Jason however had trained by going on a week long cyclo-drinking tour in Amsterdam, topped off by 12 pints of beer the night before the event, and was paying the penalty. That said, Jason still made it to the end in good spirits.
The last major hill had a nasty-sounding name: "Devil's Dyke", and had been built up in Pete & Jason's tales to be a near vertical cliff of cruel tarmac with the dessicated husks of ex-cyclists decorating the sides of the road. To give it its due, it was definitely a steep one, but it was actually over quite quickly. I enjoyed the downhill run into Hove, and drafted off a double-decker bus much of the way like a dolphin riding the wake of a ship.
We were greeted by a cheering crowd at Hove, and I realised that although 60 miles is not a long ride for me anymore, it would have been most of the riders' hardest day in the saddle ever. Congrats to all who made it.
Photos (none of me though...):
Pete, Jason, Pete + Jason, etc.:
At the finish area:
