The Etape du Dales 2015 a survivors story …..
2015’s edition of the iconic Yorkshire (with a bit of Cumbria) Sportive will be etched into the memory of every rider who took part. For most that memory will be buried away and only looked at in a few months time when, maybe after a few beers or in a fit of insanity those riders think to themselves “maybe that wind wasn’t that bad after all, maybe it’ll be better next year…”
The thing with the 110 mile Etape is it doesn’t shy away from the highest and most exposed roads, the route was chosen to give the most exposure to the Dales most spectacular routes, there really is nowhere to hide. The first is Fleet Moss, Yorkshire’s highest road which you get pretty much straight out of blocks but the hills keep coming with the Buttertubs, Low Row, Tan Hill, Lamps Moss, the Coal Road (shudder), Dent Head and then Dale Head all lining up to turn even the strongest legs to jelly.
This year saw three riders from All Terrain taking on the Etape, Chris Emsley, Steven Wallis and myself, we all rode individually due to our differing speeds and abilities (ok, those 2 are way faster than me).
The wind does funny things in the Dales, it doesn’t blow in a nice straight line, it gets funnelled up the valleys and is very unpredictable, that tailwind you’d been assuring yourself was coming up? Nah, not happening…..This year the wind was the major talking point, not that talking was an option, if you could talk whilst pushing against that wind no one could hear you anyway, it was 6 hours before I could even hear myself swear. The usual death-grip plummet off Fleet Moss was a nerve-racking brake fest with riders being blown across the road, this continued on the climb up the Buttertubs only relenting on the descent after the hairpin. A joyous tailwind shoved us down Swaledale and at times gave a helpful push up the sharp climbs above Low Row.
But all that was soon forgotten when, hitting Arkengarthdale the route turned left on the 7 mile climb up to the Tan Hill, it’s not much of a climb either (the Strava KOM time is 19:48, this year I took over twice that) but it’s very exposed, the weather station at the Tan Hill recording a steady 25mph westerly that day with gusts towards 40mph, a headwind to remember. Groups of riders formed and I clung on as best I could but after getting dropped I soon found it took more effort to pedal half as fast on your own, I grabbed the next passing wheels and hung on, our group fragmenting at the top of the last climb, where the wind was the strongest.
I’d intended stopping at The Tan Hill feed stop but knew I’d struggle to get going again so I rode through, Chris, knowing that he had no chance of bettering his previous time wisely took advantage of the feed with a brew and a butty, Steven passed me shortly after on the climb up Lamps Moss with a group from Harrogate Nova who made light work of the rolling climb. The Mallerstang was surprisingly sheltered and the run up to the Moorcock pretty uneventful. This was my first stop, in hindsight not the best plan as there’s precious little time from leaving the feed before you hit the Coal Road, and you do hit the 30% bends at the bottom like a wall. The photographer at the top was wearing a hat and a duvet jacket as we grunted and sweated past him and dropped into the balmy calmness of Dentdale. This was shortlived as the run down from Newby Head to Ribblehead was once again a battle into a headwind. Eventually though Stainforth feed arrived, one last bottle fill saw a pleasant tailwind help us up to Dalehead and then a lovely run down Littondale and Wharfedale to the finish.
Steven, the true athlete was sat at the end, having knocked out the 110 miles in 6hrs 54, 14th overall and now knocking back a pint of Guinness, it was all I could do to eat my sausage butty and drink tea. Chris had finished in 7hrs 17 having a few stops on the way, in hindsight he reckons he could easily have gone sub 7 (think it was 3 pints at the Moorcock that did it Chris). I managed an 8hrs 18, not my best but that wind had taken it’s toll on everyone, 827 riders finished with over 600 of them behind me, average times somewhere around 45 minutes slower than normal.
I say 3 riders took part, we actually had 2 more with Lars and Bjoern riding 64 miles of the route, including the Coal Road, whilst smiling, and riding past 50+ riders…..not bad for an 10 year old. Lars then went on to rub every one’s nose in it by tapping out a Strava KOM on the last climb of the day.
So, one to remember, or at least to try and forget. The beauty of a ride like that is next time you’re riding into a headwind and those around you are whimpering you can safely tell yourself that it’s a mere whisper compared to that day back in May……………..