The First of Many

The night in the tent was very chilly and I had to put on a shirt halfway through. Must have been as cold as 3 degrees. So at least I know now my sleeping bags limits, hehe.

The nearby A-road didn't really help with an undisturbed sleep (who's driving around the Cotswolds at 3am???) and morning just came too soon. Had a quick breakfast at 6:30am and packed my cold and wet tent. My fingers and feet were numb from the cold by the time I set off after using my ice scraper for the first time this year. Brrrr.

Arrived at the Cirencester College around 7:15, got my racing number with timing chip, changed and set off in the freezing cold at like 8:15 with the second group. The atmosphere with a couple of 100 cyclists was very friendly and cheery despite the cold and I really liked it. Everyone was just looking forward to a very nice ride, as at least the sun was shining.

Unfortunately, my phone was very low on battery and there was no time to charge it, so I couldn't take pictures :(. I didn't really have time to marvel at the beautiful frost covered fields all around anyway as I was simply busy with cycling and I didn't want to spend all day but rather go at a reasonable pace without so many stops.

It took almost an hour to get my body working enough to send warmth all the way into my finger tips. My feet just stayed numb though. After a short bit along an A road and through Cirencester we soon turned onto quiet country lanes rolling a bit up and down until the first really steep climb had quite a few cyclists struggling and pushing their bikes up on foot. I cycled all the way, but stopped once to catch my breath.

After 30 miles I arrived at the feed station which was well equipped but had nothing for me really, as it was all bread, flapjacks, bananas, sweets etc. Instead I pulled half a dozen meat balls I had prepared the day before out of my back pocket and munched them happily.

I sat down, massaged life back into my feet and set off for the second 30 miles. My back was quite stiff already which along with my hurting bum made the rest of the ride more uncomfortable. The scenery - as much as I could pay attention - was stunning, with lovely small villages, rolling fields and frosty sunshine.

Just between the 45-55 mile mark a few mean climbs prevented an easy roll back into Cirencester and being long and steep at the same time made me really feel my thighs for the first time all day.

Crossed the finish line back at Cirencester College after 63 miles with 3700ft elevation gain just after 5 hours of riding, yeah! Back in Germany I had ridden about the same distance a year ago but without any decent climbs so this is quite an achievement for me.

If it wasn't for my back I think I could've even done the long route of 100 miles. But I'll keep that for sometime next year.

The friendly atmosphere, perfect way marking and generally good fun of my first sportive will definitely make me do many more. It kind of feels like a race without the competitiveness. Everyone was just really friendly and helpful and it is kinda cool to cycle in a group of 5-15 people, even if it's just for a limited time.

I paid a reasonable £25 for the event which is not too much for the perfect organization and sportives are generally in that price range. So I looked a few more of them up and filled my calendar already, hoping to do one per month which will very likely boost my fitness considerably, yay!