The Cheshire Cat 2009

This past weekend saw Mark and I ride our first cyclosportive, The Cheshire Cat. The Cheshire Cat cyclosportive is based out of Knutsford and offers a 38, 66 or 102 mile option. As we were both sportive virgins we decided for our own sake (and those around us) that it would be advisable to do the 38 mile ride. I was very apprehensive the night before and found little sleep. I had no idea what to expect as 1600 riders had entered and we were going to have to learn to ride in packs for the first time ever.

 

We set off from Nantwich Sunday morning, late as usual. That night we had experienced a hard frost and there was still plenty about as we pulled into Knutsford. By the time we set up our bikes we were ready for a ride, just to warm up! Our first flub was to queue in the wrong place to pick up our timing chips. There were no signs to tell us about the alphabetical system they had set up so we had to learn the hard way. Once we had fitted our timing chips to the front drop outs, we joined a pack of about 50 riders in front of the timing mats for the briefing and sending off. There is no mass start, riders start whenever they feel like it from 8:30 to 10:00.

 

After the first few miles, the nerves settled down and we set about finding a pace that suited us both. It was great to see some of the huge groups in perfect formation flying past us. At times it felt as if we were standing still. We took turns at the head of our two man peloton, switching every 5 km. At one point we hooked up with a couple of other riders who were at our pace. We rode with them, taking turns up front, until we hit the feed stop half way through. The stop had drinks and snacks. Although the doughnuts looked nice, I questioned the nutritional value they had and passed on them.

 

The rest of the ride was very flat and fairly quick taking in some of the more quiet lanes (although we did encounter some epic potholes). At one point we cycled past Jodrell Bank, which is quite a view in the early morning. Navigation was okay; Mark nearly missed a turn as he was "in the zone" but performed a beautiful rear end skid to get back on track. Not much further on we took a wrong turning due to sign confusion which cost us some time. As the ride progressed I felt more and more settled, as a result our speeds picked up on the final leg to Knutsford. Once back, we promptly went straight past the finish line! We didn't see any sign and thought there was a back way in. More time lost but at least we didn't go too far, unlike two riders that started the whole course again!

 

All in all we both really enjoyed it. In hindsight we could have done the 66 miler fairly comfortably but the choice of the 38 was probably the right one. Next week we are off to do some fast touring around Stonehenge and Salisbury Plain. Watch this space.