Sunday 9 June 2013

Dragon Ride 2013

Somewhere new to ride today with four thousand close friends in the valleys of South Wales. Up and out early and a clear A39 and a quiet motorway meant I was at Margam Park and parked up with time to spare. I went for a stroll and used the portable facilities(clean), lots of cyclists milling around, the Gran Fondo riders were already setting off on their tough 130mile ride. Being such a large event the organisers send a you a start time and mine was about 10 am so I went back to the car and pondered if to get ready or not.

Ready to roll....
 I decided to get ready and make my way down to the start and soak up the atmosphere and listen to the same PA announcements about ten times. No registering today, the organisers send you your timing chip and numbers in advance so it's just a case of turn up and ride. Good job I did really because the announcer started calling the Medio route riders to the start, in any order, anarchy! He said they only do the start times for organisational purposes, some poor IT kid probably spent hours doing that spreadsheet. So I got away in the second wave of riders at about quarter past nine which cheered me no end because I thought if I started at ten the whole place would be packed up by the time I'd finish.

Hands up if you need the loo.....
So off I headed into the sunshine, some quiet lanes to start but the route grew increasingly urban even a short stretch of dual carriageway at one point. Even the locals come out and cheer you on, one woman even had a cow bell, this happened throughout the ride, it's really nice to see. I nearly wasn't ready for the first biggish climb of the day, luckily I was stopped at some traffic lights and someone mentioned the climb around the corner. Short ish and steep but my plan for the day was to sit and spin up the hills and not push it too much. That was the only real climb in the first thirty rolling miles or so apart from the long drag to the first feed station which was very busy. Grabbed a tart and a banana and filled up the bottle, stuffed my face and cracked on, I was feeling good, apparently the salty spuds went down well but I didn't partake.

Pick a bike any bike....
After the feed stop things started to get a bit lumpier starting with the climb of Coelbren which was a mile or so straight up at a steady gradient, what goes up means a down, down to the next climb, Rhigos. The last two climbs of the day were the big ones, Rhigos and Bwlch both over three miles long. Rhigos started with a gentle gradient which I seemed to be struggling on but as the hill went on and the gradient got a little bit steeper after the bend I started to feel stronger strangely. The views were absolutely stunning and the descent was brilliant, I was enjoying myself that much I rode past the second feed station at the top of the hill.

View from Rhigos...
After Rhigos it was the last climb of the day, Bwlch, this was a bit longer but I sat there and spun up and when you think you're at the top you're not there's another bit hidden around the back. Another stunning descent but unfortunately there was an accident just after a cattle grid which stopped everyone in their tracks. The event medics were there and the Air Ambulance was looking for somewhere to land so things didn't look good. My thoughts are with those involved and everyone was a bit subdued after we set off again. A rolling eighteen miles or so to the finish, down through the Afan valley and through Port Talbot.

Final descent....
Really enjoyed today, the legs hurt on the climbs but I think they're supposed to, the locals were really friendly, the route was a good mix and the views were stunning, I like Wales :)

Here's the Strava bit....




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