Santini Cotswold Spring Classic Sportive

I was feeling under prepared for a long ride through the Cotswolds after an almost two week layoff. I signed up with the intent of doing the longer 170km route.

The day was wet and windy and got progressively worse as the day wore on. About a third of the riders who signed up did not show for the start, including the two who I was supposed to ride with. The Cotswold sportive is not as hilly as some. There is a minor climb out near Bisley (Limekiln lane) followed by 40 or 50 km of gently undulating terrain around the Cotswold Lakes.

There was a food stop at Poultney after 60km. The riding got progressively harder after this point as the head wind kicked up and the rain poured down. My lack of endurance started to tell, especially on the 1km climb at Withington, near the 90km point. As the ride wound back to Cirencester it was an easy decision to cut out the extra 70km and head for the finish. I suspect a lot of the other riders felt the same way as the final results did not show too many long course finishers: (http://www.veloevents.co.uk/csc/riders.php).

As a gauge for the etape in July this was a wake up call that I have a lot more training to do. This ride was half the distance and one quarter of the climbing and I found it tough. More disconcerting is that about thirty km from the finish I developed a pain in my lower back on the right side. By the time I finished it was close to debilitating.
I need a lot more 100km+ rides in the next three months. Time to step up the training to 150-200km per week.

• 107.1km
  Distance
• 1120m
  Elevation
• 04:28:11
  Moving Time
• 2,038
  Calories