Mark Kelly's Running Life!: VELO29 TOUR OF THE PENNINES 2021

It was Saturday 8th May 2021, the 5am alarm rang out and a grumpy Mark Kelly was struggling to get up, all the prep had been done for the day, just get dressed, load the car and head off!

Easier said than done, but we set off on time at 6am and headed North to Barnard Castle for the Velo29 Tour of the Pennines, the forecast was for light rain till 10am and then moderate with about 14mph wind, gusts at about 25mph for the rest of the day.

If I was quick enough I could do the medium 41-mile route and be back before the worst of it, I had the option of the long route as that was what I paid for and had decided to see hows things went as I got to Stanhope for the feed station.

My start time was 08:21 and had a few minutes to spare so got an expresso for a caffeine hit and rolled to the start.

Getting ready for the off

I am trying to raise money for SarcoidosisUK so even though the weather not suited to cycling I soldiered on and in the picture above you can see the screen giving the time, this is important now as to be Covid Secure riders go off in groups of 6, once every minute, this way you can't miss your time slot!

After the cycling is done, various cycling events are shown, on this occasion, it was a Zwift event and I can tell you after what I went through, I would have been better off on the turbo trainer!

The route is full of hills and up I think the second hill before the feed station, these photos show how steep they can be...

My Garmin Varia RTL515 which is a radar and light, came into its own today as you need as much notice as possible a car is coming, on the bike computer I see how ar the car is relative to me if the car is going very fast my bike computer goes red, the light on the back also goes very bright and flashes more.

By this stage I was wet and a little cold but soon after the deluge started and the wind picked up, what goes up must come down, the side winds and wet roads are a nightmare and I was starting to hate being out.

I arrived at Stanhope, sodden, freezing and miserable, I struggled to eat and get my soaking "deep winter" gloves back on, the next photo shows the best pose I could muster.

I spoke to some of the other riders and all now seemed to be heading back via the medium route, it is here the long route riders head north and the medium head south, straight to Unthank Bank.
I could only get a few fingers into the gloves so made changing gears and braking a little bit harder, I trudged and made my way up the hill I would rather never go up again!

The blue line is the segment, if you look on the gradient plot, there seems to be a step, this is a very steep switchback, which is super hard to get speed up for, turn the wheels and power back straight on. "Do Not try this at home" should be painted onto the floor!

It was soon after this the slow fell, then horizontal sleet, at times I could not see and the snow was hitting my eyeballs, glasses are no use. there is a steep descent and the brakes were useless, at one point I was only able to continue following the tail light f the ride in front.

I was frozen, couldn't see, the gloves were doing more harm than good, I dug deep and prepared for the next climb up over Bollihope Common. The snow and sleet were getting worse and at times I could not tell what speed I was doing, the last segment I managed is named "B6278 Climb" how these guys do in 5 minutes beggars belief and to be fair I cannot remember doing it, as I reached the top, I staggered to a halt, the bike fell from underneath me and my legs cramped up.

Somewhere on the common, this photo was taken, it shows the blizzard, grit and determination and a wonderful beard, which would have been handy to keep my face warm

Riders stopped to help me and it seemed almost immediate, that the Velo29 support van arrived, the bike was bundled into the back, make into the front. The van itself had around 9 people in it so very cosy.

At this point, I was going hyperthermic and they assisted in getting my wet stuff off, a foil blanket over me and getting food and drink down me, my fingers and lips were blue. One of the riders was a paramedic and took care of me, when the actual paramedic got in the van, he tried to take my oxygen levels, but the oximeter could not work as my fingers were too cold.

The van took off and we picked up more people on the way back to the event HQ, I have never been so cold in my life and it took an age for my shivering and teeth chattering to stop.

When my bike crashed to the floor, the bike computer detected it and it sent an alert to my wife, who was parked up back at Barnard Castle, she could not reach me (the bike and phone being in the bike with other bikes all over it) so unbeknownst to me, she was driving to the GPS co-ordinates looking for me.

As soon as we got back I got my phone and rang her, we got back to the car and headed home, I felt so ill, upset she had worried and headed out looking for me, it was a sombre and emotional drive back.

I got all my wet stuff off me and climbed into bed to warm up and recover from the physical and mental distress that nearly wrecked me, vowing myself, never to get back on a bike ever!

On Sunday I got the bike and all my gear washed, somewhat reticent of the day before and will get back training and ready for the next challenge on the 23rd May, Tour of the peaks, 61 miles of much the same hills, no offence if the weather is not forecast "good" then I will do something else to challenge me, maybe long run!