Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge

Ed arrived at my house on Saturday at 12 and something was different. He had a new Pinarello Price, MOst carbon integrated bars and Di2 electronic Dura Ace groupset. To say I went a dark shade of green would be putting it mildly. I don't care about the group set but the Pinarello fame is beautiful. It took me a couple of hours to stop being so jealous.

We set off to Wales at lunchtime and apart from a 2 hour traffic jam on the M40 (what fun), it was an ok journey. We found the Travelodge, checked in, dumped our bags and bikes and went to find SimonO in a local pub. We had lots of cycle chat, some ok food and compared notes on leg shaving techniques (yes, I have done mine).

We were up on Sunday morning at 4:30 and feeling rough. As it was so early and a Travelodge, we had to settle of cold food and no porridge. I had oat cakes, jam, malt loaf and weak coffee and Ed had malt loaf and cold rice pudding (see picture). It wasn't ideal. We got to the start at 5:30, registered and after Ed faffed around for a while, we met SimonO and set off at 6:30.

The first 20 miles were hell. I couldn't get in my stride and was continually fighting to stay with Ed and Simon. They always seemed to be 200 yards ahead. I told Ed to go on without me but he said no, it was fine. But I knew if I didn't get any better, it would be a very long day.

The road was up and down from the word go. Unlike the Fred, there weren't obvious hills like Newlands or Kirkstone but it was certainly going up. There was a great downhill at around 25km with a big horse-shoe decent around a valley where we must have been above 40mph for a long time. This did lift my spirits a bit. Then, a while later we ended up in a group of about 20 riders and formed a really quick train. I get such a buzz out of this and I did start to have a bit of fun.

The large group of riders came to a town and it appeared that a lot of them had done the ride last year. This made them question a turning in the town and they decided to follow last years route and ignore the sign. We blindly followed them but I had my doubts as we crossed a roundabout with no signs. A few of us decided to turn back and I thought Ed and Simon were with me. Ed was behind me but after a mile we realised Simon wasn't. We presumed he had gone on with the main group but it turned out later he had followed but couldn't bridge the gap to rejoin us. He was pissed that we didn't wait and rightly so but we just didn't think he was behind us. We did most of the 150 miles alone and is still not a happy bunny. Sorry Simon.

Miles 50 to 80 did pass quite quickly. I switched my computer display away from distance so I wouldn't obsess about it which helped. I didn't find the scenery all that great but maybe that was the drizzle. In spite of all the forecasts of a dry day, it rained on and off with some heavy spells and soaked everyone. The highlight of this section was Ed and I being joined by two other riders. We did bit-and-bit for about 10 miles at a cracking pace. He did do it backwards with the most guilty person sprinting to the front to take their turn. I really loved being on the front doing 28 mph on the flat. Superb.

Miles 80 to 100 were uneventful and we were surprised we had climbed over 8,000 feet as we got to feed station 3. We were warned of a big hill around the corner so had a couple of sandwiches and some soup to warm us up.

It was a big hill. Bwlch y Groes is the highest pass in Wales at nearly 2,000 ft and it is a monster. Its about 12km long but I think that hard but is no more than half that. Its main problem is that you can see it all in front of you. It just seems to go on and on. Its mostly over 15% with a flatter section in the middle and then it ramps up to over 20% for a long time at the end. Ed went off as usual and I thought I saw him go over the top which was depressing as I was only half way up. However, as I got a bit further, there he was, having a rest. I couldn't help feeling a bit pleased that he is human after all. I stopped as well for a couple of minutes and then went again. I tried to get all the way up without stopping but it was so brutal. I stopped once more before making it over the top. Out of the 40 riders around us, only 2 made it all the way up in one go and they were supremely fit. I know SimonO doesn't agree but I think its harder than Hardknott because its so long.

One more big hill and then another feed stop at 130 miles. There was still 20 miles to go and I knew we had the Stingers still to do. These were lots of small climbs that really broke up your pace and were demoralising when you are so tired. I eventually saw the 5 miles to go sign and it was mostly down hill to Ruthin. I was so happy to be able to stop cycling and chuffed at 150 miles on the clock.

Stats
Distance: 150 miles (241 kms)
Ride Time: 9:45:02
Total Time: 10:37:17
Max Speed: 50.1 mph
Ascent: 16,594 feet (5,057 meters)
Average Cadence: 76
Average Heart Rate: 148
Max Heart Rate: 178
My placing: 71st
Signed up for race: 359
Finishers: 188
First place: 8:52:53
Last finisher: 14:27:19
Nutrition: High5 4:1 (5 bottles), Torq (1 bottle), Nuun tablets (2), Gels (2), Ride Shots (2 packs), Clif Blocks (1 pack), Clif Bar (1), Viper Bar (1), Ham Sandwich (1) and Tuna Sandwich (1).
Calories Used: 7,500 (MapMyRide estimate)