Dragon Ride 2009

Thornton member Danny took part in the Dragon Ride this Sunday gone in South Wales. Here are a few words from the man himself.

As part of my preparations for this years Etape I rode the Dragon Ride Gran Fondo 190km for the second time. This year the organisers decided to put in a couple of extra climbs before the first major climb, to thin the field out, thanks lads! Thereby extending the distance and adding an extra few metres. For those that have not ridden this sportive it is a challenge and provide a taste (very small) of what you find in the Alps and Pyrenees. As for my ride I was going well until around 90 miles until the inevitable cramp struck but I managed to ride through it and found myself in a group of around 40 with no one wanting to work, sound familiar? Which was frustrating albeit we were going 20mph in to a head wind! With the final major climb of the day approaching, the second assent of the Bwlch, which rises from Neath a distance of 14 km; the weather was very hot, salt was running in my eyes and it all did not seem like fun. However the decent of the Bwlch with speeds touching 50 mph and a fast 15 miles to the finish seeing speeds of 25 – 30 mph resulted in a time of 6:42 and an Average speed of 17.8 mph with a place of 166 out of around 1600 starters. The quickest time of the day being Dan Lloyd of the Cervello Test team who cruised in at 5:47 a week after completing the Giro. I know Mont Ventoux is going to be a lot tougher and hotter but it this was good preparation ride. Having experienced it twice now it would be nice to see a group of us next year as I do know the route?

Danny Frost