Swift Therapy for '100' Blues (in the style of The Sun)

My season long course of Hundred mile aversion therapy was successfully completed at the weekend, the distance I find most difficult to do well , with my seventh and final session in the Team Swift '100' event in North Yorkshire. After competing in four '100's on fast roads the last couple of years I decided to ride on a greater variety of courses, this summer usually meant a hard slog around 'B' roads in variable weather conditions to good results but very slow times. The one exception to this being the N Midd'x & Hert's which I won and gave me a time of 3.54 for my BBAR, before the weekend I was placed 15th in this competition which requires a '50', '100' and 12 hr. to be completed with 0.016mph improvement on last season thus far.

Sunbathing Yorkshire style

There have not been that many fast '100' mile events this year so far and quite a few riders had alot to gain (more than me) in this the last event of the year, and a potentially fast one I did a PB and broke the Club Record in it last year. As Fiona drove up the A1 two hours North of Leicester the sky became quite blue and the sun came out, quite at odds with the flooded fields and swollen rivers, they had obviously had alot of water in the last couple of days. The organisers had made provision to use another (slower) course should this one on the A168/19 on the edge of the N. Yorkshire Moors prove un-usable on the day.
I sat in the car park sunning myself thinking back to last weeks Inter-Club when we all got drenched (once again) and my last dry race over a month ago, where had the summer gone? A short ride to the start I had Carl Ruebotham from the promoting club 5 mins infront and Paul Holdsworth 5 Min's behind, I would use these two as my target men try and not get too far behind the former (currently third in the BAR) and 'have a go' at beating the latter who had caused me so many problems in the Nat 12 Hr. I started fast under the impression that the wind was from the South and I had a steady climb up past Knayton to the turn at the A684 at Ellerbeck, on the return south I realised I had a following wind and my speed hardly dipped below 30mph (56 x 11 x 110 rpm = 42mph) back at Disforth (34m) the first lap completed I was only a minute down on Ruebotham so I knew I was going well, my computer had packed up (again) so I only had HR and my clock to guide me on my race, I was up on Holdsworth by a minute. The second circuit I felt the gentle climb up to the far turn alot more and the wind was getting up, the weather was deteriorating and large black clouds were hovering over the moors.

Fresh from another soaking


I asked Fiona for coffee as my legs felt tight from using a big gear into the wind (I was using my 50 inner!) The caffeine helps I find but we missed three times and we were in a torrential downpour by the time she got it to me. The rain was bouncing 6 inches off the road and was very soon awash and I was riding the ridge in the tarmac to keep out the worst, it continued for 15-20 minutes until I reached Disforth for a second time I was 2 minutes down on Ruebotham but well clear of all my usual rivals, I was pulling clear and knew I was doing a good ride but this is where things can go wrong as your effort and your pacing have to equal to your physical and mental preparation. The final time to the final turn at 87 miles I just put it in a big gear, not my usual style (70rpm) but I had the strength for it after a long season and I suspect that my computer reading 20mph was wrong but I pressed on regardless, I was utterly soaked but it had stopped raining. Going into the final turn I saw Ruebotham and I was level (he must have had trouble?) The roads up this end were rivers of water and I was frightened I might puncture as there was grit all over.
On the way back for the final time I was getting cramp in my thigh (not now!) I had to put my gear down and 'spin it' out a bit but on every rise I could feel it there like a snake waiting to sink its fangs into my leg. Fiona was jumping up and down at the side of the road, she does not usually get this animated but she sensed that I was onto a ride, the cramp meant the finish came along before I could get it all out and 15 minutes inside my start time meant 3.45.55 I almost couldn't believe it as my computer has gone wrong so many times recently and given me the wrong data

New PB and a Club Record by over 5 minutes

Riding back to the HQ the River Ure in Ripon had burst it's banks and we had to detour everybody in their wet racing gear, but nobody wanting to ride their best wheels through the mire (Vince Macklam had broken his leg in 3 places last year hitting a drain on flooded roads riding back to the HQ after winning the Yorkshire '50') luckily Fiona had given me a top, I was still a bit stunned by the time, I'd taken another 2 minutes out of Ruebotham in the last 13m downwind leg! I'd beaten some top riders. Special mention does have to go to Barry Charlton (Lyme RC) who did the fastest '100' of the year a spectacular 3.32.23 puts him in the top 10 of all time in what was far from perfect conditions. He even put over 5 minutes into 2nd place Ian Cammish (The King of the '100's) having his best season for years at 51 and looking like being runner up in the BBAR.