Booked back in November 2015, the Velothon had been a long time coming. As with all things you wait long and hard for, time does not appear constant. The months drag as you plan your training, the weeks before slip through your fingers as sand falls through an hour glass and the hours on the day pass like the blink of an eye.
The Velothon was launched in 2015 as a combined closed road sportive alongside a UCI sanctioned professional race. It can be considered to be Wales and Cardiff's version of England's Ride London. I had looked at attending last year's event, but other commitments won the day. That said, entering it this year has given me the perfect closed road cycling schedule to look back on:
- 2014 - Ride London, England
- 2015 - Etape Loch Ness, Scotland
- 2016 - Velothon, Wales
Can you spot the theme here?
For this year's event there were 4 AVP cyclists who signed up back in November, Ed, Jason, Kelly and myself. Hotel rooms were booked and a team entry submitted to ensure we'd be starting at the same time. This was a much better format than the Ride London, where start times could be spread throughout the morning and you may never get to ride together. As the months passed, Kelly withdrew due work commitments. As the final weeks slipped through our fingers, Jason withdrew the week before feeling under trained. This left Ed and myself the last two pedalling to fly the AVP flag.
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| Velothon Ride HQ, Cardiff |
On Saturday 21st May, Ed rolled up at TdF HQ in his trusty carpentry van. Unlike Jones the Butcher's van in Dad's Army, Ed's has no artwork nor holes cut in the side but is equally useful, as bikes can be carried without dismantling and there's room to stand inside for the purpose of which I may share later.
We headed north through some very dismal driving conditions but the forecast was still looking good for the following day's ride. After checking in at the HI Express Newport, we drove the 9 miles into Cardiff to park up, register, collect our race packs and checkout the some of the sights.
Finding an NCP carpark, we passed through the ticket barrier but made it no further. In a scene reminiscent of the 2013 Tour de France when the Orica-GreenEdge driver
wedged his coach under the finishing line banner, we nearly ended with same fate under the 2.0m entry board to the carpark! Luckily, Ed managed to persuade the attendant to raise the ticket barrier for him to reverse back out. We then went in search of some more suitable on-street parking.
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| Ed signs on at Ride HQ |
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| Team AVP on the start line |
After signing on and getting thoroughly dampened by the rain and the waterlogged park in which the Ride HQ tents were erected, we surveyed some of sites and then headed back to the hotel for food and pre ride planning.
The following morning, Sunday 22nd May 2016, at 05:00 am the alarm on our phones sounded the call for us and what could be another 17,998 Velothon cyclists to rise for breakfast. We exited the hotel at 06:30 and battled with the closed roads and diversions to make our way through Cardiff to the assigned ride day parking, having obviously checked the evening before that there would be no overhead barriers this time to bar our entry!
We found our way to our starting pen J and at 07:45 we were released with a bit of a whimper rather than the usual 3-2-1 count down. I only realised that we had started when we cycled over the timing chip censor and under the starting banner after a meandering lead up through what must have been pens A-K.
For the first 50 miles it was a relatively flat ride and with the weather to this point remaining dry, we were having such a pleasant ride, averaging around 20mph, that we decided to skip the first feed station at Usk. All was going far too well when at the foot of the first major climb, the 1570ft Tumble, the heavens opened!
My waterproof shoes filled with rain as it formed in streams down my legs. Glasses fogged and had to be removed as we climbed, the view into the valley below, however, was still spectacular.
After a stop for photos we climbed back on for a stunning 5 mile descent to the Abersychan Feed Station where we topped up with sufficient water and bananas to take us the remaining 25 miles back to Cardiff.
As we rode further away from The Tumble, the rain started to clear and shadows appeared as the clouds thinned. After a lumpy 10 mile section we entered Caerphilly and were greeted, as we had through out all the earlier villages and towns, by bell ringing and cheering crowds. I can not express how much this lifted me to pedal harder.
The exit to Caerphilly was up Caerphilly Mountain which looked on paper nothing compared to The Tumble, however, on a bike it was a different matter.
The ascent was probably half The Tumble's distance but double its gradient! People pulled over to walk along its length but Ed and I eased our way to the top; myself obviously letting Ed get there first so he could capture me on film as I arrive a few minutes later!
Once over the top we had a swift 15 mile descent back into Cardiff. Rain capes removed the sun was now beaming down and we risked sunburn in place of hyperthermia as we crossed the line 5hrs 30mins after setting off.
