Well, the dust has now largely settled after the Velothon Wales on Sunday. For those who were inconvenienced but late notification of road closures; I share your frustration. As a resident of a town which the race passed through, a week’s notice of the road closures is nothing like enough for people to change plans etc.
It was also deeply concerning to be caught up in the tack throwing incident and to pass a fellow rider being lifted into an ambulance following a tyre ‘blow out’; apparently caused by drawing pins thrown on the road. Modern road bike tyres are inflated to around 100psi. If punctured by a pin, they can explode like a balloon popping and cause a lot of damage and pain t the rider, not a nice experience to see
The ride itself was extraordinary. To be with Nick (a fellow Haute Route entrant) and thousands and thousands of other cyclists in the centre of Cardiff on a beautiful morning, was an experience!
We set off out of Cardiff at exactly the time slot given and it was great to see Colin Charvis offering support from the stage as we passed the start line. The pace felt rather fast but I managed to hear Ai-Lin (a colleague from RSPB Cymru)shouting support as we headed east.
This fast pace didn’t really let up, averaging twenty miles per hour for the first fifty miles! We then literally hit the Tumble, one of the UK’s most well-known climbs for cyclists. Whilst I was some way off being the fastest up it, I was encouraged by taking two and a half minutes of my previous personal best – RESULT!
The most memorable part of the ride for me was the incredible support we received from the communities along the route – DIOLCH!
It was fantastic to be cheered on through places like Blaenavon, Ystrad Mynach and Caerphilly. I even noticed Gail (one of our wonderful volunteers) and her husband cheering us on in Caerphilly. Of great surprise was whilst waiting for a friend at the top of Caerphilly Mountain, I noticed a rider in an RSPB lapwing jersey and had a brief chat with Mark Singleton from RSPB Arne who finished well ahead of me!
The pace didn’t ease off all the way back in to Cardiff which was mercifully down-hill and I crossed the finishing line in a time of four hours fifty minutes and twenty two seconds for the eighty six miles. I would have been happy with five and a half hours so was thrilled with that result and my placing of 1567th of 8775.
So, what’s next? In many ways, more of the same. It’s great that the weather has finally warmed up and I can make the most of the longer days by riding first thing in the morning or in the evenings. I hope to travel up to Snowdonia in July to keep the training going on roads I’ve not ridden before. But the most important thing of all is for me to keep motivated by riding in the fantastic Welsh countryside, taking in the landscapes and wildlife on route and knowing it’s raising more money for the Gola project.
If you would like to sponsor me and raise money for an important project please go to my fundraising page https://www.justgiving.com/Cellan-Michael1/ and follow me on Twitter #hauteroutecellan