300Km ….. what? In a day?
Apprehensive but excited at 2am as we cycled passed the beautiful freezing cold lake, personally I was thankful it wasn’t a triathlon and hence relieved at not donning the wetsuit and jumping in!!
The carnival type atmosphere accompanied with music, cycle lights and reflectors created a unique start to any race. Paul appeared particularly nervous as not all the team had made to the start yet (10mins to go!) … he was a Greyhound waiting to be released from its trap! I wasn’t nervous as initially I was just hoping to complete the ride in one piece. We all started together with smiles and best wishes all round.
Very quickly Chris, Paul and I formed a group , we were joined by an elderly gentleman and his son and then suddenly we thumped along at tremendous speeds (considering how far we had to go!). Chris said ‘ I think we could be going too fast’ ? the road was smooth flat and more importantly ‘pot hole free’ and I said ‘this is amazing’ but also thought…….here we go!
Before we knew it Chris and I were having meat balls and mash with ‘ketch up’ and errr ‘cranberry sauce’ (?) at the breakfast stop. After downing a pint of milk we decided not to wait in the toilet Queue and pop into a bush later in the ride. We’d made great progress and I saw a look through Chris’s Transitions eyewear and soon we were back in the saddle.
We spotted an SBR Transitions jersey and some red tyres on a felt bike, it was Paul again, he was going to take the next stop for more water. Chris and I pressed on to the 150km point where the running clock recorded 5hours 2mins (inc approx 20min?stop) and I knew from that point forward we were on a mission!
We didn’t stop again until Kronenburg ( Karlsborg I think -Ed) where I wasn’t keen to stop but it was wise for water replenishment! There only appeared to be cinnamon buns and coffee that you could stand a spoon in. stupidly I donated mine to Chris whom had already downed one coffee. After a quick pee we were back on the road, Chris was possessed by caffeine??!! ….Chasing down Tandems and almost Fartlek type training whilst I maintained a steady speed taking a look and reflecting on Lake Vattern’s breath-taking scenery after having stiffened slightly post rest stop.
The last 100km was on the cards and I stupidly said ‘Its just a Saturday morning ride to go now….as we were about to find out though ……..this was the unknown section (we had not even ridden 200km before let alone another 100km!) We joined Pelotons’ and created our own. We saw frightening sights: Wheel to wheel collisions’ , people sleeping next to the bikes by the roadside but I thought it was an hallucination
……..300km in a day ….err actually 10hrs 10mins…who’d have thought it!
when I saw the priest on the side of the road and I was told by my new Peloton buddy that he was praying for us !!
In turn Chris and I appeared to feel the effect of only 4-5hours sleep in two days plus the 250km already covered. My back and shoulders ached, my knee had swollen and my arms and hands were numb with pins and needles…. I took an anti-inflam and caffeine gel which kicked my mind back into focus. I thought cramp may loom soon and I copied another rider whom ate an electrolyte tab neat. The way forward now was to stay with the group or I feared the ride (err Race??) would be over. The Transition SBR riders in question (chris and I ) and to our amazement still took the front of the peloton, although Chris spoke to me a couple of times, I saw his lips move but bizarrely I didn’t know what he was saying. A few Km left to go and in knew that staying in the group was survival. At times we still travelled +/- 24mph, I wasn’t sure where Chris was, in front or behind? I passed a Pink Brompton (one of those city fold up bikes with small wheels) and wondered if I was hallucinating again!
I could hear crowds, cheering, unclipping of cleats and beeps as timing chips registered over the mat , we’d finished!! (well I had …Chris came in 10minutes later) as he fell off the pack trying to unwrap his energy bar!
………it just shows you the difference of staying with the pack and riding alone. I asked him if he wanted me to open all his energy bars before the beginning of the next race ;-)
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