100 Miler, 2nd of year.

Distance 100miles     Av Sp 19.1mph     Ascent 6600ft

A few days ago I tried Slattery's Ultimate choccy challenge that Trio had previously attempted.  It's a bit of a 'posh' place yet I didn't feel out of place with my baseball cap and jeans and t-shirt amongst the wannabes. Did I do it? NO! but I was close. It wasn't that I was full as I drunk 4 glasses of water afterwards just so sickly. I craved salt afterwards which could be a secret weapon to finish the lot off. Anyway I couldn't bare to put another bit of chocolate in  my mouth. I devoured the whole of the American fudge cake , 3 scoops of choccy ice cream, a portion of whipped cream, my fav the melted white choccy and half the melted milk choccy. THe containers were made out of choccy and left them as well as a bit of the hot choccy. I needed to work all those calories off!!!!

Struggling to get out of bed at 6am I hit the snooze button a few times before finally arising. My 6.30 out time had passed. No milk in fridge so no cereal, just a banana and black coffee. The 100miles wasn't planned at all. None of my rides are planned really just go out and see where they take me, usually the same old routes as I can get lost very easily and normally on my own as no one wants to ride at 6-7am. I grabbed two lucozade gels and a handful of sweets for the journey along with a litre of ribena light.

I headed East towards Holmfirth Rd  and HolmeMoss for a bit of sustained climbing. The flags were blowing against me ( Easterly and Southerly) and my speeds started off quite slow. The Easterly faded but still present and the wind was fairly gentle. Before the bottom of the first climb I suffered a 'mechanical failure' on 'Grotton' Hill. My rear wheel came off, How I dunno? Good job I was only going slow and I stayed upright. I thought it was the new lightweight titanium skewer I had used as Ive heard things about them but I found that my planet x brakes, the metal spring bar, had popped out causing the brakes to apply and jam the wheel awkwardly. Took a little while to sort and I was off again.

The sun was out in brief spells which lifted my mood. The intention of this ride was really to see how my new 60mm carbon clinchers would climb and how good the yellow swiss stop brake pads really are. Because the brake blocks were new they were very close to the rim and I would have to undue the cabling which I wasn't prepared to mess with at this moment.  The wind was getting stronger by the hour. Climbing Holmefirth Rd felt like the good old days of last year. Full of energy but staying under my limit and staying seated to conserve energy I was up in no time. The wheels climb brilliantly, accelerated quickly, nice and stiff, the hubs (same as PX light) are terrific and with my tyres pumped up to 130 psi  fairly comfy.

Turning to face the climb of Holme Moss was a bit of a killer as I had a big head wind that was getting bigger.  The Southerly was picking up pace. I had the legs but there didn't feel much point in fighting the wind too much so speed was very respectable for a 9-12% grad. Descending is my worst nightmare especially when Im being thrown from side to side. The Easterly was back.  The brake blocks on the carbon track felt very reassuring, not quite as good as alloy but not far off. Heading West now towards Denton and Manchester, cross wind was hard work but slightly assisted by that Easterly. Came to loads of traffic light stops Denton ish. Going very well averaging about 18mph at this moment for 50miles. I knew to save the legs I had to head North which is the direction of home.

Same mechanical problem happened again. I think its because Im using a 16cm 45 degree stem which is over stretching my rear brake cable slightly or may be just  the bumps. After that time it didn't happen again. It did eat quite a big chunk into my journey time though as its a very fiddley job. Not come across many cyclists yet until later on but as I neared home I still felt strong so decided to carry on and get another good climb in, this time Blackstone Edge.  My gels, sweets and drink had long gone by now.

Theres a set of lights at the bottom which I had to wait at. Just cutting off at a slight tangent whilst I remember. I got caught red light jumping by a copper at 4.30am on Thursday HAH. Bastard pulled me over and gave me a stern warning. Normally I'd look around but for some odd reason I didn't this time. So boys and girls its very naughty to red light jump, just dont get caught :) only joking.
I got joined my some guy on a very nice bike in sponsored racing kit and some old guy. I was in the zone so didn't notice what bike and who the club was but I let him lead for 10 pedal strokes until I realised he was going too slow for me. He kept up with me chatting/gasping about my wheels and my bike then said he was dropping back as I was going too fast for his weary legs.  I motored up the climb but still keeping some back as I had 40miles to go. At the bottom of Cragg it would be a ferocious head wind all the way home.

Hit the bottom averaging just over 19mph and I was using all my energy keeping it at that all the way home. Dehydration was setting in so stopped at the garden centre in Walsden for a lucozade and a coke, not enough money more a sausage butty :( The wind was all over the show and gusty yet I fought on. I had a couple of miles reprieve as I got joined by a guy on LOOK bike with Assos clothing. He drafted me and I politely asked him to lead as I was coming to the end of 100miles. He did a stirling job for about 2.5miles until his phone went off and stopped whilst I carried on.

Cannot believe that I made it, the whole 100 hilly miles at a very good pace. Didn't think I had it in me as most of the time Ive done 40-50miles, coming to the end Ive not had much left and done much slower. Loving the new position on Scottie as I can pull on the bars and stay very aero. I think there are some very fast rides to come from this bike in better conditions.