Trofeo Peñon De Ifach, Spain: 7th Nov ’10

I couldn’t resist going in search of some warmer weather during my annual leave and ended up spending the week in Spain (hosted by “Train in Spain“). I’d had in mind some nice, steady rides in the sunshine, enjoying the views, with plenty of coffee and cake stops…

The week before I left, I received an email asking if I’d like to ride in a local sportive, which would be happening the day after I arrived. Well, it sounded like fun and I couldn’t resist! Plus, I was told that I would have a good chance of winning…

I was feeling pretty nervous as I turned up at the start-line. I was still dehydrated from the previous day’s flight and having only put my bike together the night before, I was really hoping everything was going to work.

European sportives are quite different to the UK ones: they feel much more like races, with everyone starting together, prizes for the winners and a higher standard of riding.

The sportive started in the town of Calpe, at a hotel where it is not uncommon to find pro-riders having coffee before heading out on their training rides. The locals had come out in force (to watch), including the town’s marching band!

The pace was fast from the start and I tried to stick with the front bunch (which was hard work). There weren’t any other women in our group, or ahead of me. It felt strange to be riding hard – especially in the blazing sunshine (after the crispy UK weather we had been experiencing).

The route took us through Xavia, La Xara, Perdriguer and Alcalali before heading into the mountains. The bunch split after about 15 miles, as we went up a steep climb but I stayed with the second group until just before the food stop at 30 miles. Up until then we’d averaged well over 21 mph and there were some serious climbs!

I think most of the guys rode through the feed zone but I’d nearly finished a bottle of Bikefood, so paused for about 20 seconds to fill up on water and stuff some banana and cake into my jersey pockets before legging it up the next hill.

As I’d been riding with the bunch until then, I’d just followed everyone else (and assumed there had been a marshall at every junction). I spotted some riders ahead of me on the descent, so sprinted to catch them but it turned out they weren’t actually riding the sportive! At the next junction there were no marshalls, so I assumed I had to go straight on, which took me up another hill. By this point, I was convinced I was going the wrong way, as I couldn’t see any other riders anywhere. I started to retrace the route I had just taken and to work out where I should be, using the route card (which was just a vague list of directions in Spanish, which I couldn’t understand!)

Eventually, having ridden about 6 miles out of my way and climbed two massive hills (extra) I spotted a little red and yellow arrow, which took me back onto the route. By this point I had wasted at least 30 minutes finding my way back and most of the other riders had passed me, which meant I had to ride the remaining 50 miles alone!

The next section of the ride was the hardest, with mile after mile of climbing in the heat. There were a few random guys scattered along the route and I overtook a fair few on the climbs. After passing through Castell de Castells, there was a particularly evil steep section (around 20% gradient) followed by some undulating terrain and then a steady climb to Coll de Rates. There was a fabulous descent, with lovely hairpin bends, and then a great tailwind for the final section of the route which took us out to the coast and back to Calpe.

I was gutted to have wasted so much time getting lost and pretty exhausted after riding 50 miles on my own (it would’ve been so much easier – and faster – in a group). But it was a great ride – brilliant scenery, fantastic climbs and even better descents. I was the 3rd woman to finish overall. If I hadn’t got lost, I may well have won but it clearly wasn’t to be!

Sarah

Tags: Bikefood, Shutt, Squadra Donne