Solstice Sprint – Day 3 – Cycling Coffee and Cake

Not sure if it was the Red Bull I drank in the afternoon or feeling nervous about sleeping in a church porch but I was awake at 3.00am. I had heard it raining, quite hard, earlier in the night so felt quite pleased with my dry bivvy spot. I checked: dawn was just after 4am. I packed up and set off into the early light.

Looking at the course I could see that the first 40km were undulating and then there was a long flat stretch from Machynlleth along the coast.

Then through Barmouth (with a rattly wooden paved bridge across the estuary) until the climb up to the Stwlan Dam. This diversion proved to be a real challenge from the start. There was a locked gate across the road. I had to lift the bike over it. Allegedly there was a smaller gate to one side but I didn’t spot it! It was a pretty steep climb but, I guess, the views were worth it….

The steep descent had me worrying about my brake pads and rotors over-heating until I reached the flat again and could stop for a cold can of Coca Cola (aka ‘the little red ambulance’).

Despite the lack of sleep and distance I had covered I was feeling good and decided I could definitely make Ruthin that evening so I deftly opened booking.com on my phone with one hand while cycling and reserved a room at the Castle Hotel and Spa. the thought of a shower, possibly dinner and a bed spurred me on towards Llandudno.

Llandudno Junction is about 7 or 8km from Llandudno and the Great Orme. Liam, the organiser, had yet another of his little loops set up around the Great Orme and I must admit the thought of leaving it out did cross my mind more than once as I rode towards it.

I was really glad I didn’t. You enter the one way system around the Great Orme through a toll gate. As you climb away from Llandudno the sea and coast line emerge to your right with the cliffs of the Great Orme on your left where climbers were testing their skills.

I came off the back of the Great Orme feeling exhilarated. Everything was going better than I had anticipated.

On a short climb out of the town I stood up and shifted gears. The chain dropped between the cassette and the wheel and jammed. I had to balance precariously whilst trying to unclip without falling into the road and before I could complete that manoeuvre I heard the dreaded hiss of a rapidly deflating rear tyre.

Undaunted I took off the Tailfin and removed the rear wheel. Quicker than anticipated I managed to put a tube in. When I put the wheel back on the bike however it jammed as I tried to rotate it. That was when I discovered the two broken spokes and buckled wheel.

A day cyclist was coming up the hill.

“You OK?”

“No, I’m fucked”

He stopped. I explained. He tried to see if the bike shop in Llandudno was still open. It wasn’t. It was 5.30pm.

“Where do you need to get to?”, he asked.

“Ruthin. I have a hotel booked.”

“If you can wait an hour I will cycle back to where my car is and it has a bike rack on the roof. I can come back and pick you up and take you there.”

So I waited. While I waited I discovered Ruthin did not have a rail station. So I planned to travel back to Warwick from Llandudno. The route would take me through Chester. So I checked out how long it would take to get to Sheffield. From where I was it would take much less time to get to Sheffield as it would to Warwick. The wait for an hour proved invaluable as it gave me time to calm down and consider my options. By the time Chris came back I had booked tickets to Sheffield from Llandudno Junction which is where he dropped me off. What a kind man!

Linda picked me up from Sheffield Station and I was in my own bed by midnight.

I had ridden 198km with 2,772m of climbing in 11hrs 46m.

I had only had another 300km to do. I have decided that in the next month I will go back and complete the course as this scratch has left me with an itch!

PostScript.

I drove down to Warwick on the Sunday and had a fabulous day at the finish waiting for Alex, Nadine and Niel to roll in. I got to meet and talk to the amazing Annie Dixey who had come in third female on her first ultra race! Nicky Shaw was first female back and Ian To was the first rider home. Despite my misfortune I was buzzing after three days of hard riding and wonderful scenery. I can’t wait to go back to Llandudno and finish what I started.