Unfortunately, my speed last year was very slow. To complete the ride in time to avoid being swept off the course you have to be able to average 11.8 mph. I was probably averaging about 10 mph.
It was with much reluctance that I deferred my place. Stuart decided to defer his place too. I really didn't want him to, but he insisted, he said that we were going to ride down the Mall together.
This year despite all the training I was still anxious about getting swept off the course. There are several points that you have to reach by a certain time and if you don't you are not allowed to finish.
The organisation was incredible there were six loading bays which all filtered into two start points, with a departure of several hundred cyclists every couple of minutes from 6am to 9am. Our start time was 7.10am and we left exactly on time.
The first 30 miles I was flying, (15-16mph average speed) all the training was paying off and I sailed past the first cut off point with plenty of time in hand.
At the 38 mile mark we went to the drinks station for our first break and to refuel. When I checked the App to find out where friends were I was surprised to see so many close by, despite all the different departure times.
It turns out that there had been an accident which required an air ambulance and people were getting held up for over an hour.
Once the roads had cleared the pressure to reach each cut off point was back and I really had to focus on keeping my speed up. There was no more waving to the crowds, it was head down and concentrate time.
Next challange were the hills - Leith Hill and Box Hill. I had ridden them both a year ago and knew that Leith was tough. I was worried that I was going to be so slow I would lose too much time to be able to finish. But I needn't have worried I was much fitter than a year ago and the hill was so congested everyone had to slowly and steadily climb the hill, so I was no different to anyone else.
At the top of the hill we were amazed to see hundreds of riders joining us from another route. These were the people who were caught so far back behind the accident that they had been rerouted to miss out Leith Hill. So we now knew we were only just ahead of the cut off points.
Next was Box Hill which is a lovely climb and great views at the top. We now only had Wimbledon Hill as the last challange and cut-off point to focus on.
At 75 miles we had our second stop at Leatherhead Hub. Even though I had been eating and drinking sensibly all the way along the ride I took advantage of all the food snacks at the hub and probably ate too much. The next few miles were tough probably because I had eaten too much, but I also desperately wanted to have completed 80 miles, so that I could tell myself I only had two 10 mile rides left to do. I must have checked my garmin every 0.1 mile watching for the elusive 80 miles to clock up.
Fortunately, after Box Hill the route is pretty flat until you reach Wimbledon Hill. This isn't a big climb, but by the time you get there you have ridden 91 miles. It is also the last point at which there is a cut-off and they can stop you finishing the course.
When we got to the top of the Wimbledon Hill and paused to rest I was surprised to find that I burst into tears. Partly exhaustion, partly relief at knowing I was going to be able to complete the ride, but mainly because I knew that I would be cycling down the Mall with Stuart.
A year ago when Stuart said he was going to defer his place too, the reason I wasn't happy is because his cancer diagnosis in 2011 means that we have no certainties any more. Even though Stuart wanted us to ride down the Mall together I wanted him to do the ride last year, just in case the cancer came back and he was denied the opportunity. But Stuart always maintains a positive outlook and always has. He said he wanted us to ride the Mall together and with a fresh batch of clear scans just 5 days before the ride, we finally get to do just that!
This event was so much more than riding 100 miles.
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