The Time is Now - 12 months, 12 events. by ginagordon

Southend Wheelers Burnham & Baddow Cyclosportive - 10^th February 2008

"The 100km route took riders from East Hanningfield on a tour around Southeast Essex through Cold Norton, Althorne, Burnham-on-Crouch, Burnham Marshes, Southminster and back to Althorne, Tillingham, Steeple, Latchingdon, Purleigh, Cock Clarks, Woodham Walter, and Hatfield Peveral, up the notorious North Hill at Little Baddow to Danbury then Bicknacre and to the Finish back at East Hanningfield."

Setting the alarm clock for a Sunday morning always seems to be a bit of a stupid idea. Luckily it was a gorgeous sunny morning so it didn't seem quite so bad to be getting up at 6:30 and into the bike gear.

We made it to the start at East Hanningfield in plenty of time, registration was a new experience, having to decide which age group to set off in rather than ability. In the end we settled for the older group seeing as I'm so slow on the bike, it seemed very odd to be putting my name down against the 60+ age group!

The sunshine was glorious but clear skies in early February meant it was extremely cold! All kitted out in thermal layers, overshoes, gloves, earwarmers under crash hats we were ready to go. The start was slightly chaotic, groups were being called before the start time stated at registration so in the end we joined a group at random and set off. Within a few miles we'd been dropped by the group so just settled into our own (well, my) pace and enjoyed the views across the Essex countryside.

After 20k or so we were joined by another cyclist who'd found his group a bit faster than expected. A mountain biker who had just switched to road biking he seemed to find my pace suited him and he stayed with us for the rest of the ride. As we hardly saw any other entrants it was good to have some company otherwise it would have felt like one of our normal training rides.

The route took us right out on the Dengie peninsula, a very flat area with winding lanes and some very pretty villages. The road out from Burnham on Crouch through the marshes was particularly pleasant with lovely views across the river and very little traffic to worry about. On these flat roads the km soon passed and before we knew it we'd completed 70km. A short stop for some well deserved flapjacks and a drink and we were on our way again.

After 3hrs in the saddle things began to hurt. My legs were feeling tired, every uphill incline became harder and harder, my lower back and neck began to ache and obviously things in the saddle area also began to feel the effects! This is when you need to dig deep, to keep the pedals going round and not give up when your body is telling you otherwise takes a certain amount of determination.

Cycling through parts of Essex I didn't even know existed and admiring the scenery took my mind off the pain and discomfort somewhat and after another hour we were nearly at the end. But before I could relax and enjoy the achievement there was an obstacle, quite a large one, North Hill. A long hill, steep in places is not the easiest thing to cycle at the best of times let alone after cycling nearly 100km. I dropped into my lowest gears (on the granny ring) and tried my best to get to the top but about two-thirds of the way up my legs just gave out. I walked up for a bit - not easy in bike shoes, they slip very easily - and then managed to get started again, I finished the hill on the bike. I was disappointed not to make it all the way up, especially as I've entered the Polka Dot Challenge which is all about hills but at least I gave it a good go.

Another couple of miles that were mainly downhill and we were there, the finish line. Seeing as most of the cars that had crowded the car park were gone we hadn't exactly done the ride in a fantastic time but I was happy with 4hrs 21 mins. We stumbled into the race HQ for a well deserved cup of coffee and slice of cake. We didn't talk much while we had our refreshments, just sat and enjoyed the relief of being off the bike.

There were certainly some tough points for me on this ride but the excellent weather, enjoyable route and feeling of achievement meant it was a good day out and I'd certainly do it again next year.