Write up by James Poff:-
Mark Hill, Mike Williams and James Poff entered the first Wiggle Shropshire Mynd sportive last sunday. On paper what looked like a challenging 101 mile route turned into a tough battle against the elements. The route contained some familiar haunts as well as some unchartered territory in Shropshire. They were joined on the line in Shrewsbury by Des Pugh and Chris Roberts who had cycled from Newtown to offer some company. The pre-sportive talk was all about what kit to wear as the forecast and current conditions were not looking good. Mike as always had his shorts on, but the general consensus was waterproof tops!
The early pace was good, overtaking many of the early riders. The early part of the event navigated through some small muddy farm lanes and at one point it felt like a cyclocross race. On the first major climb up to the Long Mynd the road ahead was chaotic with riders pulled up on the sides. With a strong head wind it made the steep gradient pretty tough. It was no match for the Hafren lads, who cruised up it like snails in the wet. At the top Des left to head home and the rest headed for the first feed station. Pockets were loaded and on setting off they could have been mistaken for camels.
The difficult part of the sportive came between Knighton and Dolfor with Mark and James admitting they had hit a low. With a strong head wind, heavy rain and steady gradient it was both a physical and mental battle. Most of them were on Torq gels, but Mike had his own ‘Talk’ gels. His good banter along this stretch kept their spirits up and with strong work from Chris and Mark they had reached Dolfor. Chris broke away here looking forward to his sunday roast.
Cramp was to strike next for James and Mark on the way to Kerry. Downing an electrolyte tablet worked for James although his stomach was never the same after. Being on local roads they were soon in Forden for the final feed stop. The bikes were also given some liquid by a Wiggle Grease Monkey. All lubricated up they started climbing up to the top of the Long Mountain. With steep gradients around 20% in places, it would be a hard climb at the best of times. Once at the top the highlight of the sportive was the descent down to Westbury (definitely one to use for a club ride). With their tails up and wind behind the last 20 miles flew by and before they knew it the trio were back in Shrewsbury.
The time achieved was outside a medal award, but you can’t put a price on experience and memories!