Update 11 June 2011

Pedal for Parkinsons Stratford On Avon, 10 June 2012

As I mentioned earlier I was riding the Pedal for Parkinsons in Stratford On Avon on Sunday. I rode it last year and "won" so there was a bit of self induced pressure to replicate the achievement this year. Also this year one of my sons had agreed to ride it as well, although he was doing the shorter (20 mile) route whilst I was doing the 60 mile route again.

As 60 miles is not really a challenge I had chosen to ride down again. Noel rang up and said what was I doing and was I up for a ride on the day. I explained that I was prior booked but there was nothing to stop him joining us on the line. However the problem would be that as we had a car full we could not give him a lift home. In the event I called in on the way down at 7.20am and we rode down together to the Gospel Oak Lane, Snitterfield  turn just before Stratford. Noel rode like a demon and my average (from home to Stratford Racecourse was a creditable 18.1mph - Thanks Noel!

People were already signing on so I waited for the family to arrive, and then my son & I signed on. I met Tim Beattie there (from work) who lives locally and had brought his son down to ride the 5 mile family route. There was a short safety briefing and some photos and then we all started en-masse. I say en-masse but the event is pretty small and low-key, there only being about 50-60 riders maximum. The riders also tend to be not the normal "sportive" MAMIL types, with a lot of first time and family leisure riders. Of the 60 people or so the majority also do the 20 mile option.

My son and I were at the back at the start so we were caught in a bit of a gaggle of less experienced riders. I was also unsure about how well my son would manage as he cycles, but not a lot. We started to pull through the riders and steadily made progress up the field over the first few miles. I was tracking my son's speed and riding slightly behind and out to shield him from what little traffic there was. However we were still flying along at around 18-20mph and by Long Marston, where the route split, were either near or at the front. I was more worried that we were going too fast, especially for me to maintain pace for the whole 60 miles.

My son turned off onto the short route and despite my concerns about long term pace over the whole ride I put some more pace down to catch people who I knew were in front. I was trying pretty hard and reeling in a few people in every few miles - I felt pretty good and seemed to be one of the fitter and stronger riders and wanted to create a gap as early as possible - if I were to win again.

We came up to a turn after about 12 miles or so and there was a small check point on the turn, so I called my number and carried on. There were 4-5 already riders there getting a drink, so I knew I had gained some places but had no idea if they were the leaders. Immediately after this checkpoint a pretty big hill loomed. I dropped to the small ring and dug in - pretty soon I was in bottom gear (34-28) and really working hard. A quick glance at my Garmin showed a fairly scary 182bpm Heart Rate and the gradient at about 12%, so I eased up a little and plodded on. The gradient started to ease a bit but I kept pushing guessing that this hill must be a Strava segment and the end was probably at the very top rather than a false summit I could see ahead. Getting home later showed this to be Camden Hill:

I got a stunning 3rd place in this segment. I was right to press on because this segment is all the way to the top whilst another segment (Campden/Nebsworth Hill) is shorter and only covers the steepest part. I got a 3rd here because I pushed all the way, but on the shorter part of the climb was only 12th quickest as the quick people slowed after a faster climb over the steeper part.

I had looked behind part way up and saw the people at the checkpoint climbing some distance behind me but felt I could probably pull away from them. I pressed on feeling fairly good but - disaster - then got held up at a level crossing at Chipping Camden. I waited for over 5 minutes and the following group caught me, putting all my efforts back to zero. When the gates finally opened I had to push hard again to try to rebuild the gap that I had worked hard for just 10 minutes ago. The only advantage of the level crossing was it gave me an enforced rest.

There was a rdie through Chipping Camden and a few miles later an exciting descent of Dovers Hill - I'm glad it wasn't an ascent. I have climbed Saintbury Hill a couple of times on other sportives and Dovers Hill looks much tougher.

I kept pushing and got to the 2nd stop. Again it was still hard to tell if where I was in the field as the 2nd stop was a joint long/short route checkpoint and there were a number of other people there. I filled my water bottle and continued having stopped for just a few minutes. I knew the roads reasonably well by this point as have ridden them many times before. This years route was similar to previous years but had been changed in several places. It was a long drag and I kept pushing although in some places was starting to feel the miles in my legs (I'd already done 19miles to get down to the start). Once I crossed the A46 in a northerly direction I knew that the route was less hilly and more of a slog up towards Spernal, so on I continued. I got to the 3rd checkpoint and I think I caught the person out a bit and a quick verbal check confirmed my lead position. From here it was a continued drive to make sure I did not get caught - although I could not see anyone behind its hard to keep looking back and obviously its easier for a chaser to see someone and catch than the leader to keep eyes in the back of your head.
 
As we approached Aston Cantlow we were surprisingly directed up to Aston Cantlow rather than continue straight on and back over the A46 to Binton. Whilst the short climb was unwelcome, crossing the A46 at Binton is challenging at the best of times so this was a good improvement to the route safety. There was then a meander back into the west of Stratford, and suddenly we were back at the racecourse. It turned out the route was 55.8 miles rather than 60.

I was again the first back (hurray!) so my efforts were worth it. What was even better was my son was first back for the short route by a good 5 minutes as well, so a family double. We had some pictures taken, a chat with some of the staff, and then a cup of coffee and packed up. The 2nd place rider came in about 10 minutes behind, so I convinced myself that I had about a 15 minute winning margin if had not got caught by the crossing.

My parents had come up to watch (as both I and my son were riding) so my mum saw us both "win" although my dad was not having one of his better days and was asleep in the car when we both got back.

We then went to a pub in Binton for a very nice lunch and then went home.

The weather was excellent - warm, sunny with just a slight breeze - I got a good top up for my cyclist tan. If the weather had been like the day before (very windy) or the day after (very wet) it would have been a very unpleasant ride.

For the ride statistics it was 55.8 miles duration. Ride time was 3:12:48, average speed was 17.4mph, maximum was 35.7mph. I was very pleased with the average as it was all solo with no drafting at any point.

The route was good, very well sign posted for both the cyclist to follow the route and plenty of warnings for other road users.

The Parkinson's Society even pulled their finger out this year and got an updated web page up the next day here.

And here's a photo of me and my son:

My mum took some photos so a selection of the most flattering are on the Pictures tab of the blog.

There was a goody bag - not a great deal of use I must say but the conversation piece was this:

 No one was exactly sure what it is. Any way as I don't like coconut in any form (and nor does anyone else in the family) it will remain a mystery.