Glad you are Ok Sly, well done.

I set off with my chums ( obviously with the exception of Cacophony), but I was shocked after only 2 minutes by the severity of the first climb. My mates are all hardy grimpeurs and it was quickly obvious that I was not going to be able to keep pace with them on this type of climb!

So I stuck to my task of mainly riding solo and trying to limit my losses. I passed some riders and some passed me, and occasionally I rode along with other random riders for a while.

It was tough work, breezy with some heavy showers and fine misty rain on the tops. But nice and warm when the sun came out.

For me it was nice to ride in a different area than usual. Some truly wonderfull scenery. Good camaraderie amongst the sportivists.

At the last checkpoint with 22m to go, I realised that a gold standard time was a remote possibility. So, assissted by a super tailwind I gave it everything over The Stingers and flew down the final descent into Ruthin. But it was to no avail, I was 5mins outside the target.

But a great day out. 140 miles. Super scenery. Hard climbs(urgh). Good feedpoints. Nice hot showers at the HQ to ease aching limbs. So I would recommend the event to anybody who is considering it for next year - you might not see me there though, the old body is giving me a bit of gip today.