Last year’s (2016) Tour of Cambridgeshire saw our very own Trixie Mish Mosh qualify to ride for Great Britain for the Gran Fondo World Championship’s in Perth, Australia. the first Tiptree Velo ride to do so.
So, in 2017, my aim was to attempt to qualify for the World Championships, this year being held in Albi, France.
As you can imagine, there was a full field of riders from all age groups. I went with Mike and Ray, all of us in the 55-59 year age group, we met up with a few friends whom I’d ridden to Paris with, they were in the 45-49 and 60+ age groups. The Saturday evening was spent in a local pub indulging in food and beer to calm our anxiety for the following day!
Sunday’s weather was overcast, but as the race didn’t start until 12pm the forecast was for a brighter day. The race itself was manic, this was my 3rd year doing this but without a doubt, the riding left a lot to be desired, dangerous leaving little room for error. The other thing was the speed. The previous 2 years, I missed out on qualifying by a couple of minutes over an 80 mile course averaging 19mph. This year, I averaged 21 mph and didn’t qualify. Both Mike and Ray averaged 23 mph and qualified to represent GB in the Worlds, great for them, a little disheartening for yours truly!
There is a upside to this, in July, after all the numbers had been confirmed, I received an email offering me a place to ride for GB in Albi, what a decision……..of course I’ll go!!!!