Dragon Ride: 14.06.09

The Dragon Ride has to be one of the best run sportives in the UK. Steph entered us for the event back in early spring. I hadn't really trained specifically for it but on the back of mainly crits and a few road races I still expected to do quite well. On the day the weather was glorious and all participants were in buoyant mood.

Steph opted for the Medium Fondo (80 mile version) and I jumped in for the Grand Fondo (118miles, I believe). Unlike some I didn't manage to hook up with any fast groups so its was essentially one long time trial. I pretty much rode the whole thing at tempo and never really had to dig too deep. At the 20 mile point I decided to really give it some but disaster struck - I broke my chain. After a 20 minute wait a very nice chap who I'm met the evening before stopped and repaired the chain. His handy work was then checked out by neutral service vehicle and after another 10 minutes I was on my way. I finished rather disappointedly in just over 7 hours and was pleased to find that Steph had arrived finishing in roughly the same time... A truly great day out and a sportive that may not be the toughest but deserves its great reputation :-)