Earlier in the year I looked at the list of events and tried to find a few that would suit my training plan. This is harder than you think, especially since I’m training for a marathon right now, so most of my weekends are busy with long runs. But the York Leeds York event was quite early in the season and on a Saturday that meant I could travel on Friday after work and still be back for a long run on Sunday!
On Friday night we drove to York (with Adam and I, who kindly agreed to accompany me). Bikes on the roof of the car, trunk full of tons of gear as the weather had been a bit unpredictable, on Thursday it had snowed in both York and Leeds, this could be a very cold event! Fortunately the snow had passed, however this was replaced by a fairly persistent rain and it rained the entire trip, the poor bikes got very soaked on the roof of the car. We finally got to York at 10.15pm on Friday, checked with the hotel that we were fine to get the bikes to our rooms, unloaded the car, and then ordered a Chinese takeout (well, we can’t do a sport without refueling). All in all, this made the night quite late.
Get up just before 6 a.m. M. The next morning to pack, have breakfast and go out.
Jenni had also driven from Southport to travel with us and arrived at the hotel quite late. Unfortunately she was pretty sick on Saturday and then couldn’t join the event so this left just me and Adam riding together.
We headed to the start at the York Auction Center and there were already so many people there. The parking lot was packed and there were so many people around. I did not expect such a massive participation in a sport so early in the season, especially since the weather was not good. It was raining when we got to the start, not too much, but it was meant to be a wet ride!
Adam and I headed to registration and collected our rider numbers before heading to the Primal Europe booth to introduce ourselves. This was the first time I met someone from the team in person and it was lovely to finally put faces to the names and meet James and Ben. I took this opportunity to take a cheeky selfie with James and then it was time to prepare the bikes and ourselves for the journey ahead.
Once ready, we joined a queue of runners ready to start, the queue snaking around the outside of the auction center as the race itself began from inside the building. Everyone who was waiting to get started seemed in a good mood and we spoke to quite a few people who had attended the event the year before (always a good sign when people come back a second time). A poor gentleman had managed to forget a wheel because he had to disassemble his bike to put it in the car and he had not remembered to put the wheel on the car. The organizers called the tannoy to see if anyone had a spare, but unfortunately no one did, so he had to go to breakfast and wait for his friends and family to finish.
Short summary of the race and we leave. Almost as soon as we started, so did the rain, ranging in intensity from a heavy, miserable drizzle to a heavy, raging rain on the side. But this didn’t seem to deter any of the riders. Some of the roads were incredibly flooded, at one point I turned a corner in front of a small group and yelled “pool”, there was no other way to describe the large puddle that stretched across the road. Luckily it was only a few inches deep and we managed to get to drier land! (I love a triathlon, but taking my bike for a swim was not on the agenda!)
After some initial flooded and muddy roads, the roads to the midpoint were a bit easier, less mud and shallow water, but it was colder! As we got closer to Leeds, the temperature dropped noticeably and there were still patches of snow piling up on the sides of the roads. We arrived at Harewood House quite cold and damp. It was an absolutely stunning place and I’m sure on a summer day I would have stayed a little longer, sat on the grass and took pictures of the house, but it was quite cold and my fingers weren’t very interested In trying to take pictures, I feel like I might need to go back one day just to appreciate how beautiful it really was.
However, I managed to take photos of some participants’ bikes in the snow.
We queued for a hot welcome drink and I had a very sweet and tasty flapjack before a massive stripping operation to try and go to the bathroom. Cyclists: I’m sure you all sympathize. I had to peel off layer after layer of clothing to get to my Onyx Thermal Bib Shorts.
Then we got going in the second half, not wanting to stay too long or cool off any more than necessary. Once again all the riders seemed to be in good spirits on the return trip, even a poor lady whose axle in her rear wheel had died, was happily waiting for the mechanics to pick her up and we stopped to chat with her for a few minutes. minutes and check that it was okay.
I also managed to hang out with some ladies from the Yorkshire Lass Cycle Club. They were really lovely and friendly and it was so nice to spend some time chatting with new people as the miles went by. One of the women’s husbands was a triathlete and had done Ironman Vichy last year!
65 miles later (we did the medium route) we got back to the auction center to receive our medals, take a photo and the most important snack after the trip: a sausage roasted in a bun! This is arguably the best post-event food idea and it was very welcome as a hot filling food after a rather cold event.
The bikes in the car, the quick change in the parking lot, thanks to Dryrobes, really makes post-event routines so much easier. Then a quick goodbye to the Primal team and it was time to begin the long journey home. We got home at about 10pm that night. A long and crazy weekend, exhausting but fabulous! I loved every minute of it, now where is that Velo29 event list? I need a new goal!