Me and Justin at the finish – nice medals!
This was a new charity ride for me. I’d wanted to do the Helen Rollason ride for some time, but there had always been diary clashes. This year, though, everything lined up, so Justin and I signed up for the 65-mile route. Having completed a 70-mile ride the previous week, I felt fairly confident that I’d be able to finish comfortably. Although, to be honest, there wasn’t much choice once we’d started, as there was no broom wagon to rescue anyone who gave up halfway!
We set off along quiet country lanes and initially everything felt fairly easy. It didn’t last long, though, as we soon found ourselves riding into the headwind we’d been expecting. By the time we’d covered around 40 miles and turned for home, we were looking forward to having it behind us. Unfortunately, the change in direction didn’t produce the tailwind we’d hoped for. Instead, the wind was mostly across us, so we didn’t get much help from it at all. The temperature also dropped noticeably later in the ride, and after several hours on the bike it began to feel quite chilly.
A Surprisingly Hilly Ride
Looking at the elevation profile afterwards, the route was considerably hillier than I had remembered. Garmin recorded 2,753 feet of climbing over the 65 miles, with the route ranging from around 75 feet to 374 feet above sea level.
The climbing wasn’t concentrated into one or two particularly big hills. Instead, the elevation profile shows a route that gradually climbed during much of the first half, punctuated by numerous shorter descents and climbs. The highest section came at around 33 miles, almost exactly halfway through the ride, before the general trend began to head downwards again.
That didn’t mean the climbing was finished. The second half remained distinctly rolling, with a seemingly endless succession of smaller rises and falls. By the final stretch we were definitely beginning to feel all that accumulated climbing in our legs.
Thankfully, the final eight miles or so were predominantly downhill or flat, which made for a very welcome run back through the country lanes towards the finish.
The Ride by the Numbers
We eventually completed 65 miles in 5 hours 29 minutes, with 5:28:57 of moving time and an overall elapsed time of 6:09:09. Our average moving speed was 11.9 mph, with a maximum of 27 mph.
Garmin recorded an average temperature of 12.8°C, with a low of 10°C and a high of 19°C. That also makes the drop in temperature towards the end more understandable. After several hours in the saddle, 10°C combined with the wind certainly felt considerably colder than it might have done at the start.
Overall, it was a tougher 65 miles than the distance alone might suggest. The combination of 2,753 feet of climbing, persistent wind and more than five hours in the saddle made it a proper endurance ride. But it was also an enjoyable one, and after wanting to take part in the Helen Rollason ride for several years, I was pleased finally to get the opportunity.
And despite spending much of the first 40 miles dreaming about the tailwind that would surely carry us home, even if it never actually materialised, another 65 miles were safely in the legs.
Was a very testing ride but a good route.