Redhill spirits were high and everyone was looking forward to a great ride - despite the slightly unrealistic demands of the time standards on a day with block headwinds forecast.
Nick Curran's 'team bus' had left Earlswood at 7.15am loaded with six bikes and seven riders. We were followed by the Deefholt's car reporting on just how close the roof rack came from detaching from the In-to-Lunch van!
Signing in was fine but the actual starting procedure where the Redhill gang was near the back took half an hour... enough to reduce many to shivers on a nippy morning. The RCC team got underway at 9.30am and immediately split into three parts.
1) A fast peloton with by Brian, Barry, Pete, Gary and Lisa determined to work towards a fast time.
2) A chasing pack including a threesome of yours-truly plus Chris Hall and Mark Vincent who got together after 6 miles and stayed together until in sight of the end.
3) Nick and Sharon who were joined by Ian to enjoy the countryside at a strong, steady pace on a challenging day.
We were also joined by Simon Deefholts looking to bridge the gap at the outset, Kaaren looking strong and John Houghton who went alone preferring to do battle with Kent hand-to-hand and one-to-one.
In theory, this should have been a wonderful day. In theory! In fact, the direction signs (which were black arrows on a yellow background with an orange border) found themselves mixed along the course with another event's black arrows on yellow backgrounds without orange borders! Easy when studying from 3ft. Not so easy when whizzing by at 18+mph.
All three RCC groups got lost at some point as did virtually all participants apart from seasoned SFA riders... and there were rumoured reports of people ending up in Haywards Heath.
The comical scene of the day was when pelotons 1 & 2 converged at a junction having been separated for 40 miles and each having been off on separate detours round Kent. Other riders must have wondered what was going on as suddenly an 11 strong group of RCC shirts came together and started powering off down the road.
The point at which the groups met also turned out to be at the start of one of the defining moments of the Sportive: the hail and headwind section. This was a long flat section along Military Road outside Rye. The beautiful road with a canal alongside it was uttely ruined by a block headwind that made tired riders feel like they were pedalling through treacle. Many spirits were nearly broken... and then rescued by a perfectly placed feed station with mountains of flapjack, bananas, genoa cake, swiss roll and - most importantly - tokens.
Yes, we all thought that Signage-gate would mean no time for the sportive as we must have missed the control point and token while detouring round Kent... but no, here was someone bearing the all important second token. Everyone cheered up... briefly... Because then the hail began and we all had to climb Knock Hill (steep enough for me to wheelie unintended at one point... ) with the added advantage of cleats bound up with clay from the teastop field!
The two pelotons then resumed their respective positions and ploughed through wind and wet back to Marden.
By the time of the last descent, I think most of us
Other stories of the day...
Apparently, an ex-top level racer from London Phoenix was so impressed with the RCC fast peloton's team spirit and organisation that he made a point of congratulating everyone involved.
The Chris, Mark and Adrian peloton topped Knock Hill to find an elderly rider with cramp... lying prone and cross ways in the middle of the road. Worried that he'd been in a serious accident it turns out he simply could not move... we got him upright, made him drink lots of water and Mark administered anti-cramp homeopathy. Take note, not the best place to plonk yourself no matter how much you're suffering!
Graham Haysom, with the best part of 20 years on the next most mature rider, put in perhaps the best RCC time of the day at 4:33. Amazing! A real credit to what 30 years of miles in your legs can do for you even on the toughest days.
Was it fun? Yes, definitely. Was it hard? Much harder than you'd expect for a relatively flat course. Was it challenging? You bet... better marshalling and signage could have made this fabulous....
At the time of writing the official times aren't published but a little bird tells me that from 250 entries there may have been one or two golds and a very short supply of silvers.
Thanks everyone from RCC who turned up and made it an occasion where other clubs will be jealous of our spirit, our organisation and our sheer presence as visitors at a fellow club's Sportive.
Adrian
ps. any photos that people have, send them through so I can put them up. And huge thanks to Mark and Chris who dragged me battling with strange blood sugar levels following my first big ride new insulin pump for the last 30miles! You were Titans....