The next challenge

Not since the L2P ride I did in 2006 have I had a sort of incentive to keep riding for a purpose.  I agree its good to keep fit but I find it much more of a kick if I have to aim for something, then I have no choice but to do something about it.  These days it is so easy to say "not today" when i had plans to go out on the bike, whereas if I had set up a challenge, or indeed entered one, then "not today" cannot apply otherwise you are just going to cause problems for yourself by not being prepared.

This is what was going through my mind when I was browsing the web and came across the Kilotogo website.  They specialize in events called Sportives.  Sportives from what I understand, however you are free to look it up yourself, are not necessarily races nor are they fundraisers, but purely challenges, sometimes against the clock, to finish a ride within a certain time.

There are famous ones like the L'Etape Du Tour.  This is where you can ride an actual stage of the Tour de France.  There is a catch with it though, as the sportive is to climb one of the cols, such as Tourmalet or Alpe D'Huez and such like.  In other words monster climbs, not necessarily nasty gradients, although some are, but you climb for mile after mile after mile.   Something you cannot do very much in the UK.  For me this is waay too difficult for my fitness, but I would like to think that one day....

Anyway back to reality.  There are many UK-based ones, quite a few run by many companies not necessarily Kilotogo.  A very well known one in the north of England is called the Cheshire Cat, which incorporates a notorious climb called Mow Cop (youtube has plenty of videos of this climb!).  Even though its not quite a Col climb, it does claim many victims who succumb to the gradient and push.

I wanted to do something of significance to me, and I had seen cycling rides around Pembrokeshire (where I grew up) but nothing was forthcoming, until that is, I came across the Kilotogo website, which had the National Trust Pembrokeshire Challenge Ride.  I had, maybe foolishly, opted for the 80 Mile loop which was the biggest but it holds significance for me as part of it goes through the village I went to school and where I spent many years as a child growing up.

If you click on the link, it will show in greater detail about the route itself, however I do have local knowledge to a certain degree, which is not as good as it used to be as I have not lived in the area since 1997.  Knowing full well I can cope with 60 miles with minimal feeding and liquid (my own fault, not by design), plus the fact I have not ridden with anyone before now, I've always gone solo out on bike rides on the road mainly down to convenience and happy that I can cope with my own pace but unsure if I rode with fitter people I'd be struggling and not feel good about it.

The profile of the route is this: (provided by the kilotogo website)

As you can see, its pretty undulating until around the 45 mile mark, it starts to climb for a few miles, and this is where I know where it is on the road as it is quite near where I grew up, so I can sort of psyche myself up for the climbs, but also know on the other side is a few miles of flat to downhill so you can recover and take it a bit easier.

I have since found out that there is another event in Pembrokeshire for the avid cyclist and that is the Tour of Pembrokeshire, which is a cyclosportive (more or less the same) however the distances are greater, with the longest being 117miles, including the climb  on the B4329 north towards Cardigan which has 650ft of climbing in 1.5miles, and isn't a nice experience in a car never mind a bicycle!  This wouldn't be so bad if this was near the beginning of the sportive but it's not.  The big loop which encompasses the majority of the county is here.

Maybe in 2012... :)