Richmond 4 Dale Sportive

I took part in the Richmond 4 Dale Sportive on Saturday. I had done this distance last year (80 miles) as my first ever Sportive and loved it. I had challenged myself this year to go one better and do the 5 Dale 100 as my last long training ride before the c2c. Unfortunatley because of how tough this ride is and coupled with the horrendous wind on the day I opted out of the 100 and stuck with the 80 again.
Having ridden this same ride last year I knew more about what to expect, where the big climbs where and when I needed to saved my energy and when I could push hard. Due to all my training I have been doing of late I knew I should be able to beat last years time.
So I headed out of Hartlepool with the bike in the car and off to Richmond for an 8am start. I arrived at Richmond School checked in got my bike together all my kit sorted and ready to roll! I spotted another few lads from Hartlepool and rode the first 2 miles out of Richmond with them. I then never seen them again! Things started well I was feeling good and strong. At this point I still had every intention of completing the 100. This was soon to change. Once out in the open the strength of the wind was having it's toll on all the riders. I was struggling to maintain an average of 15mph on the flat as was alot of other people. I decided to take it fairly steady as I knew that the first big climb of the day was only round the corner, the Stang. In the run up to the Stang I managed to hang onto a small group that got working well together and got a bit of a shading from the wind, only problem was as soon as the gradient started to kick up I found myself riding solo at the front!

I made it up the Stang within good time and without getting off as I had to last year! I stayed seated for most of the climb before getting out the saddle to attack the final hairpin! Once over the Stang and onto the Moor the wind was horrendous. this is usually a great road all the way to Tan Hill that you can fly along! Not today, the wind was blowing directly against us at over 25 mph! This had everyone struggling along at almost single figures mph! This drag went on forever before eventually raching Tan Hill and dropping down to the first feed station at Keld! When arriving at Keld it was obvious how much the wind was effecting everyone! It had battered me for over 2 hours on the moors!

This helped me make my decision that it would only be the 80 for me today! I didn't hang around at Keld and was soon off again heading for Birkdale Common, another tough couple of climbs ahead made even tougher by the battering we where still reciveing by the wind.

During this stretch I hook up with a rider from York and we road together to Hawes the next feed stop. Again I didn't spend long at Hawes and the guy for York decided to head off with me as well.

Thankfully we ahere now changing direction out of Hawes and heading back for Richmond this now ment the wind was with us. With that in mind I got my head down and power back towards Richmond hitting 30 mph on some flat roads!

Just before Richmond came a little shock as there was a slight change to last years route! Another climb had been added 7 miles from Richmond! This stung and had me loose touch with the small group I had road with from Hawes. The last 7 miles where spent on my own but I soon arrived back in Richmond completely shattered!

Route: Richmond Sportive
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Ride Time: 5:39:17
Stopped Time: 16:49
Distance: 79.13 miles
Average: 13.99 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 41.83 miles/h
Ascent: 4481 feet

I had managed to better last years time by over an hour which I was over the moon about after such a tough day! I came 45th out of 121 riders doing the 4 dale 80.

The Richmond Sportive once again should what a fantasic event it is and an extremely tough challenge for any calibre of rider! I will certainly be returning again next year for the 100. (if theres no wind)