I find the best preparation for any type of bike race is to discover only a few days before that you have no bike! Or to put it more accurately, your beloved carbon race frame has a worryingly large crack which, no matter how much GT85 you spray on, just won't go away.
This certainly does not cause any frenetic, fevered or frantic internet searches and phone calls to secure a bike worthy to complete 101 miles beneath a 6ft 2in 14st hitter. Not in the slightest. So not only will this article cover the Wiggle Yorkshire Tour but it will also give a brief bike review on my new steed. You lucky lucky people.
So the Wiggle Yorkshire Tour. A fantastic opportunity for me to ride a very local event, much like the Etape Pennines, only 20 minutes away from home. Spot on. North Yorkshire, Richmondshire and Wensleydale are a complete joy to ride through at any time of year and with the Indian Summer hanging on with white knuckles it promised to be a great day.
The Yorkshire Tour is just one of 36 Wiggle sportives that have been put on through 2014, and with next year's dates already confirmed there seems to be no shortage of takers. On arrival at Thirsk race course it is obvious why: organisation. It is just after 7am on a foggy, chilly Saturday morning but the Wiggle crew is out in force. Everyone is smiles and enthusiasm, from the car park attendant to the signing on team. There are banners and stalls aplenty and certainly enough to keep the most diehard cycling shopaholic entertained pre race. I got a few samples of chain oil in tiny little tubes, only because they were packaged in green and pink fluoro. I am a complete sucker for good design.
The view from the start revealed a cloudless blue sky with a sun lazily rising from the east. As I have mentioned it was "brass monkeys" (Translation: Brass Monkeys; colloquialism, northern England - "How mate, it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey the neet!"; i.e. Cold). This caused some issues for several riders regarding what to wear and what to pack. No such trouble here for your benevolent writer. Being as I am of the non-racing snake fraternity I find that my 'cuddly' shape offers a certain amount of internal heat to prevent cold starts ever being an issue. I happily opted for base layer, short sleeved jersey with arm warmers and gilet. I witnessed others scrabbling with knee warmers, leg warmers, bib-tights, toe covers, gloves and fleece-lined winter jerseys! Southerners I presumed! Also the forecast had promised to get warm out. As I am sure you are well aware it don't half get hot mum, when climbing - and we certainly could expect a touch of that in the second half of the ride.
First, get your bike
So anyway bikes......bikes, bikes, bikes. What a choice there is nowadays, and whatever review you read gives you a different answer. I did have some criteria and certain limiting factors. First criteria was that it looked good (See rule 1 & rule 9 - Official Rules of Euro Cyclist) and second it had to come in under £1000, preferably a long way under. As my current winter bike was also in a sorry state of affairs with a seized headset, corroded seat post and what looked like an evolving eco-system on the chain I needed not only a bike to get me round the Yorkshire Tour but also to serve as a reliable stalwart through the long dark winter months. With these things in mind the only real options that came up were: full carbon bikes with entry level groupsets, or aluminium frames with carbon forks and mid level groupsets. Some notable favourites were Genesis, Rose and Cube, but all of these either were let down with the groupset, the frame or the price. I was beginning to become downhearted and resigned to the fact that you just cannot get a decent road bike for under £1000.
During one last-ditch search on-the-line using that knower of all things, Google, I digitally stumbled across Decathlon and their bike range, B'Twin. B'Twin is Decathlon Sports' own cycle brand and with a large range of bikes has in the past sponsored FDJ in the Tour De France: impressive pedigree. I was immediately drawn to the Velo Route Mach 700 which is currently reduced to £849 from £999. The spec was almost too good to be true: full carbon frame and forks, Shimano 105 groupset throughout, B'Twin Aero wheels, and it was finished off in a catwalk posing matte black. All this for £849.
"Surely there is a catch," I hear you mutter; "Not that I have found," I re-mutter. Yes the seat was fairly basic, the pedals were a bit 'plasticy' and the overall weight not feather-like, but most of these things can be easily changed or upgraded for a small outlay. Why not ride on carbon over the winter? Why make do with the original iron horse? I clicked on purchase.
And they're off
Back to the Wiggle Yorkshire Tour. I set off at 07:46 in a small group (I know this because I've just checked Strava). Once we got going and left Thirsk the views were stunning. The sun was trying to burn off the last of the low-lying mist and and burst through the dappled leaves on the trees. It was still chilly though, and under my breath I cursed a rider I passed who had put gloves on.
The first 45 miles were uneventful and a fairly flat affair. It felt like we were all out for a Sunday club run and had all the time in the world. The car drivers were courteous and patient, the competitors chatty and convivial, and marshalls continued to be encouraging and enthusiastic. We rode through villages eccentrically named Worlaby, Finghall and Snape and passed by Bog Hall. I wondered if perhaps J K Rowling had come up here and gained inspiration for names for a certain book. No matter, they were all very nice indeed; very much Jam & Jerusalem. All in all life was very good.
The Epic had definitely lulled this rider into thinking that this would be one of the easier hundreds he had completed, but this contentment was soon to be shattered. We entered Leyburn on a sweeping downhill and my mind was cast back to watching the first stage of this year's Tour de France on an enormous screen in the marketplace. As soon as we entered Leyburn we were leaving, but not on a nice sweeping downhill; more like a nasty, twisting, uphill bank. According to Strava data this bank is only about 5%, but my memory of it is more like double that. It was at this point that I was passed by three rows of two-abreast Harrogate Nova riders who were chatting away while I was struggling to complete gaseous exchange! Congratulations Harrogate Nova, you just made the list. I struggled on and got back into a rhythm as the road flattened out. What followed was a rolling route up through the Bellerby military ranges and then to the foot of Grinton Moor.
Grinton Moor was where I had strategically placed myself along with about 30,000 other bike nuts to scream at Jens Voigt and the other riders as they cut through the Dales earlier in the summer, so it was good to be back and good to see the writing still adorning the roads. Grinton is a fairly steady climb but still hard work, and I was passed again by some Harrogate Nova riders although this time they relented from talking. I think they could feel the utter contempt as they glided past. Once over the top came the helter skelter descent into Reeth. As you know I had only got my bike a couple of days before, and only ridden it up and down my road to check seat heights; this was going to be a true test. It delivered well. The B'Twin Mach 700 performed expertly on the downhills and I hurtled down hitting apexes and maintaining momentum. I even caught the Harrogate Nova train back up, check me out. Just call me Vincenzo Carlson-Oakes.
I briefly stopped in Reeth to refuel, spend a penny and witness a young girl fall off a mountain bike so slowly that it defied all Newton's Laws. She was ok. Reeth is a beautiful village and popular with motorbikers, walkers and cyclists. I like Reeth, there is a good pub just near called The Punch Bowl Inn where I have spent many a drunken evening. The only bit about Reeth I do not like is the 9% bank slap bang in the middle of it. Fortunately it is very short and over before the lactic acid really gets a hold. Out of Reeth and with 60 miles in our legs the worst of the climbing was still to come.
Little-known hills of the north
In this part of the world lie two iconic climbs, Fleet Moss and The Buttertubs, both of which have an entry in the 'Hardest Climbs in the UK'. Lesser known but equally as tough climbs include Park Rash, Tan Hill and The Stang. Even lesser known is Fleak Moss, or just The Fleak. So unknown to me was this climb that I presumed it was a misprint of 'Fleet' and we were in fact going up there. Apparently not. The Fleak is a secretive, narrow dog of a climb. It introduces itself at around 25% for several ramps and then flattens out to a calf-cramping 16%. It is as if the organisers had planned this route with me in mind; enter traverse mode. I wound my way up the road travelling twice as far as my competitors due to my non-negotiable route. The pavé we were travelling along is hysterically called 'Long Road'. Yeah brilliant, absolutely side-splittingly imaginative. You might as well call it 'The Utter Bastard', in fact I think I did, several times.
The top could not have come quick enough and although the downhill into Askrigg was a welcome break for the legs, it was not for the arms and mind. From there we rode along the valley to Asygarth and had a brief glimpse of the falls. Moderately interesting fact: the upper and middle falls were used in the Kevin Costner epic Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in the scene where Little John fights our mulleted hero. From there to Carperby and Redmire and just short of Leyburn came our final feed station. This was much busier with riders, as it was where the standard distance and epic distance met up.
As I was filling bottles and precariously trying to eat a rice cake that had been smeared with Marmite, a pack of around 15 riders trundled past. They looked organised and drilled in the art of peloton riding and that only meant one thing, a train ticket home! I discarded the rice place mat and leaving most of the Marmite in my beard I shot off like Peter Sagan after an intermediate sprint. By the time I got going the bunch was about 500m down the road and travelling faster than I was. It was going to take a big effort to get on the back, and it would have to be all or nothing.....he who dares Rodders, he who dares.
After what seemed like longer than it should have, and having dangled off the back for a good few minutes, I joined the group and sat in the energy-saving slipstream of the Cappuccino Club sportive crew. It was great, they swapped and took regular turns on the front while us limpets just clung on at the back. Again the ride in was fairly uneventful; rather more lumpy than the way out, but by then survival mode had started to take effect and no matter how inspiring the countryside was Thirsk beckoned. The Cappuccino Club took us home in grand style. I say us, as by the end there were all manner of hangers-on getting an armchair ride. Thanks lads.
The Wiggle Yorkshire Tour was a fantastically organised and planned route and I will definitely be tackling it again next year. As far as my road test went, I could not be happier with my B'Twin purchase and highly recommend that you check them out if you are looking for a winter training bike or a racing bike - you will not be disappointed.
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