Thinking of entering the Rideventures story competition? Here's 238 words from my own trials and tribulations in Italy (don't worry, I'm not entering my own comp.) - have a go at describing a recent challenge you undertook to get a chance to win £100.
Gran Fondo Eddy Merckx.
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| Somewhere up there is the road I went up |
My recent ride of the Gran Fondo Eddy Merckx was going well until I reached the final, enormous hill. This climb was tough. It’s from Avio to San Valentino (a 1,316m mountain) with over 1,100m to be gained, and “hors categorie”. There were a few 5% respites but mainly it was between 8 and 12% for 16km. It was unrelenting and involved climbing through towering peaks.
20 minutes before the top it started to rain hard with thunder and lightning. Hail greeted me at the summit so there was no chance to savour the achievement of the biggest climb of my life. I desperately started to descend in the hope that the storm was just on the mountain top.
Now the hairpins were flooded and impaired vision due to hail stones meant this was not a happy time.
Eventually I reached the valley which was a little less cold and then set about riding as hard as I could to get in before the official close at 4pm. This meant a good 20km in heavy rain.
Finally arrived and crossed the timing mat with 20 minutes to spare. The post-ride risotto and free beer went down a treat despite involuntary shivering.
The weather for the majority of the day was great but the afternoon storm did have an impact on my experience. It’s one of those rides that will become a memorable story, and a benchmark for suffering.