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Stoke-on-Trent Tour of Britain Charity Ride Guest Blogs!

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Andrew Barley and Craig Moulton were the fortunate winners of a pair of places on the Stoke-on-Trent Tour of Britain charity ride, in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity, read on as they recount their experiences:

Why is it that there’s so much concern over what to wear on a long ride? True, it’s a long ride…. you want to be comfortable, but it is such a focus for me and my cycling buddy. I think it is partly a distraction from other fears, like falling off or not being able to get round the course.

There I am, 5am, in bed, mind turning like a Rubik’s cube of wind vest, long sleeve top, gilet, long fingered gloves….. but a gilet only has small pockets – wind vest, jacket, waterproof, long fingered gloves and so on. Better to get up and get doing, to be cycling!

It’s my chance to cycle a stage of the Tour of Britain - the 100 mile stage around Stoke-on-Trent cycled by pro teams like Team Sky on 12th September 2010. A chance of suspending reality and pretending to be a pro. Here we are, forty of us, me Team Pinarello (it has big pockets), but without the Pinarello bike. Start line, 60 seconds to go. Official smiles and says, “Guys, Team Sky did it in about four hours. We’ll see you back here at noon!” Beep and off we go. Through the hoardings, the bunting, the flags, the spectators leaning over the rails. I join a group and we are charging out of Stoke at a good pace. I love cycling in a group. The turn taking, the occult hand signals, the chat and going fast. I know it can’t last, but this is sheer magic! My bike’s a time machine, I am 19 years old, wind in my face, all is good in the world….

Please sponsor me to raise money for prostate cancer.

Andrew B.

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I started the ride knowing I only had 2 days notice and had only averaged about 50 miles recent rides, so was feeling very unprepared…..even so, 100 miles could not be so hard, could it? I started the ride very optimistically and was going well, we hit a few hills but nothing I could not handle. The drink-points were well stocked and organised and it was not until the last 20 miles that I started to feel the pain.

Coming down the slope just before Gun Hill was the highlight of my day, hitting a top speed of 52.6 mph: faster than the other traffic. The last hill before the end was an ultimate leg killer, when we finally got to the end I was so tired and emotionally drained I nearly cried! The support at the finish line, from the support vehicles and the guys from sram made it all worthwhile! Thanks Going Going Bike for a day I will never forget!…….

Craig M.

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