The
Durham Dynamo and A Ride Down Memory Lane (C#16)
Saturday
28 May, 100 Miles
All of my century rides so far have been in
East Anglia where I live now. I am keen to ride in other parts of the country
too, especially in places where I have lived and worked in the past. A couple
of months ago while surfing the Interweb I spotted a new sportive which was
routed around south Durham. Between I987 and 1992 I lived in Wolsingham in Weardale
on the edge of the North Pennines. This seemed like too good an opportunity to
miss, especially as the route almost went past the front door of the house I
used to live in. So I decided to make a long weekend of it, get some riding in
and visit a few friends as well.
I headed up the A1 on Friday afternoon with
my satnav telling me that the 200-mile journey to Darlington should take around
three hours – it actually took closer to 5 with a lengthy delay in South Yorkshire.
Consequently, I arrived at the Travelodge I had booked feeling rather less
relaxed than I had intended. No matter I was soon checked in and the bike was
safely stored in my room. Now a Travelodge may be fairly basic places to stay, but
one great advantage is there is no problem with storing the dearly beloved bike
in the bedroom. In fact the person who checked me in was very keen to help by
holding doors open and operating the lift to my room on the third floor.
I was up early on Saturday morning and
wolfed down my breakfast of fruit juice, muesli and tea before riding over to
the start at Darlington Rugby Cub just over a mile away. This sportive, the
Durham Dynamo, is part of the Super Series organised by UK Cycling Events and
sponsored by Wiggle, a big Interweb based cycling equipment supplier. Unlike
last Sunday’s Boudicca, the UKCE events have a rather more business-like feel
to them. But that doesn’t mean they are any less fun. I was quickly through the
signing-on process and was soon at the start line ready to set off with the
first wave of riders.
A quick safety briefing and we were away.
Initially, the route headed north west from Darlington towards the Pennines.
With a very gentle tailwind I was making excellent progress at an average speed
close to 20mph. Gradually I could see the ground rising with more and more
uphill stretches. But nothing steep mind you. We then turned north and were
soon at the first feed station. With a quick drink and a couple of pieces of
banana inside me I was ready to get going again. From the route map I was very
conscious that the next 35-mile leg was going to be the tough one. With a
couple of short but very sharp (c20%) climbs my legs were soon singing. My
approach here is to get in a low gear early on and spin my way upwards for as
long as possible before getting out of the saddle and forcing myself over the top
of the climb. One of the riders I was following had a different strategy and rode
in a very high gear until he was virtually unable to turn the pedals any more.
At this point he opted to change to his lowest gear with disastrous results. A
sickening crunch and an agonizing shout were the fanfare for a broken chain and
a cyclist lying on the roadside. I bet he doesn’t do that again!
Once over the initial climb the full
splendour of the North Pennines should have opened up. Unfortunately low cloud
rather limited the view to only a few miles. For the next ten or so miles we
went up and down before a very steep twisting descent into Wolsingham where a
couple of friends were waiting to cheer me through. Then it was along Weardale
for a few miles to Frosterley to reach the foot of the day’s big ascent. The
climb rises about 1,100 feet over a distance of around 5 miles. Apart from a
short stretch near the start the climb isn’t particularly steep, just long and
made harder by a very heavy road surface which almost felt like trying to ride
through treacle. Well that’s how the guy I was riding alongside at this point
described it, so I was glad it wasn’t just me. By this time the cloud had lifted
and despite an overcast sky the views were stunning.
The North Pennines have been described as
England’s last wilderness. They are a land of mountains and moors with secret
valleys and fragments of ancient woodland. The character of the moors is largely
defined by sheep grazing with the heather managed for grouse shooting. The immense
scale of the landscape is breath-taking. Reassuringly, very little has changed
since I was last here about 25 years ago. I noticed was a lot more birds of prey,
including hearing the cries from a couple of buzzards. That’s one of the great
benefits of riding; you notice so much more than in a car. I would have loved
to have been able to stop to see and hear more but unfortunately the clock was
ticking.
The descent into Teesdale was great. With a
wide road and little traffic I was able to pick up speed considerably – the rough
surface tempered this somewhat though. In a few short minutes all the height I
had spent nearly half an hour winning had been wiped away as I approached Middleton-in-Teesdale.
From then on it was back to flatter and more pastoral countryside as we headed
back towards Darlington.
I was watching my Garmin closely as we approached
the finish as I reckoned it would be a close run thing to top the 100-mile
threshold. 99.9 miles doesn’t count as a century ride! But I needn’t have
worried as the organisers had looped the approach to the finish around the car
park. I stopped my Garmin as I crossed the finish line with 100.2 miles on the
clock. And my riding time on the clock was 5hrs 58 mins which I was pleased
with. In the final reckoning I achieved a gold standard award.
I really enjoyed the day and I was reminded how much I miss the hills living in the relative prairies of East Anglia. The North Pennines have a character all of their own, which I struggle to describe but deeply enjoy absorbing – if you get my drift. So much so that I returned for a further ‘fix’ the next day. But that’s another story ……..