The Magnificat Sportive

Well that was a tough ride. The Magnificat Sportive is based at Newbury racecourse and takes you up and over the North and South Downs and through some beautiful countryside. It's billed as 127 miles and 2800m of climbing but I clocked a little more mileage and a little less climbing. Regardless of that, it's not an easy ride as the course profile from my computer shows.

I met Coastal Controller just before the start and at 0807 we rolled under the starting gantry and headed out. Lesson 1 came soon; the first time Jonny braked hard one of his water bottles flew off his bike. I cruised on while Jonny collected his bottle and caught me up, but by this time the big group we were in were some way up the road and were gone for the day. We rode swiftly, chatting about nothing in particular and after some 40 minutes or so we agreed that we would ride at our own pace. And I left Jonny behind on a long hill. At this time I was feeling OK but was conscious that my HR was giving me figures I didn't want to see; I was riding too hard and needed to slow down. I tried easing up but the hills were relentless, and even going as gently as I dared my HR was always above 160 when the road went upwards. I also spent much of this time riding alone and therefore fighting the wind without any shelter. I know, man up! At the first feed station I topped up my empty water bottles with the organiser supplied Torq drink and this didn't seem to agree with me and caused me some stomach issues for the next couple of hours. I don't think it was the Torq product itself, rather the mix of High 5 that I started with topped up with Torq caused me an issue. The middle leg is the toughest, with the majority of the climbing and I was grateful for the 25-tooth cassette fitted earlier in the week, as I never felt I was in danger of grinding to a halt. I was suffering from a lack of energy, though, and suspect that the Torq drink was not providing me with as much energy as the High 5 I was used to, or maybe I just hadn't mixed it strong enough? Eventually, I reached the 2nd feed station and to my great delight there were peanut butter and jam sandwiches available. The sugar rush was almost instant and after a couple of sandwiches and topping up my drink bottles (going without wasn't an option) I headed off into the final leg. For the first time I managed to hook up with another guy who was riding at the pace I wanted to ride at, and shortly afterwards we were joined by another pair and a little while later we gathered up another so we were now 5 and with one very strong rider at the front we headed in to the last 2 hours or so. There were some hills but nothing too tough and the descents were long and included a nice trip through the outskirts of a town (no idea which one!) taken at 50 - 60kmh, mini-roundabouts and all! There was one roundabout with a tricky exit as the kerb came back in, but I got round in one piece. Just make sure you read Jonny's blog - I won't spoil the surprise but guess what ...? Right at the end there was a cheeky 10% hill to get up and then the run back to Newbury racecourse. I must say it was a welcome sight after exactly 7 hours and 41 minutes, and good enough for Silver standard. It was somewhat slower than I had hoped but I re-learned some lessons about pacing and nutrition and sometimes it is useful to be reminded of these things, no matter how experienced you are.

Overall it was a tough but enjoyable day out. The post-ride coffee, massage and ice-cream were most welcome, and by the time I had everything packed away I was in time to see Jonny come home.

I now have a very easy low volume recovery week that includes a trip to Leeds for our daughter's introductory day at her new school and a weekend in Bournemouth to see Blondie.

Train smart and recover well. All the best.