Helen writes about the very wet York Leeds Sportive

At the beginning of the year I looked at the list of events and tried to find one that would fit 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 taken up with long runs. But the York Leeds York event was quite early in the season and, on a Saturday, meant I could travel on Friday after work and still be back for a feature race on Sunday.

On Friday night we drove to York (with Adam and I kindly agreeing to accompany me). Bikes on the roof of the car, boot packed with tons of gear as the weather had been a bit unpredictable, it had snowed in both York and Leeds on Thursday, this could be a very cold event! Thankfully the snow had passed, however this was replaced by a fairly persistent rain and it rained for the entire ride, the poor bikes getting very drenched on the roof of the car. We finally got to York at 10:15pm on Friday, checked with the hotel that we were ok to get the bikes to our rooms, unloaded the car, and then ordered Chinese takeaway (hey, we can’t do a sport without refueling). All in all, this made for a rather late night.

Get up just before 6am the next day to pack up, eat breakfast, and check out.

Jenni had also driven from Southport to travel with us and arrived at the hotel quite late. Unfortunately, she was quite ill on Saturday and was unable to join the event afterwards, so just Adam and I rode together.

We headed to the outlet at the York Auction Center and there were already a lot of people there. The parking lot was packed and there were a lot of people around. I did not expect such a massive turnout for a sporting event so early in the season, especially since the weather was not good. It was raining when we first got there, not too much, but it was bound to be a wet ride!

Adam and I headed to the register and collected our pilot numbers before heading to the Primal Europe booth to introduce ourselves. This was the first time I had met anyone from the team in person and it was wonderful to finally put faces to names and meet James and Ben. I took this opportunity for a cheeky selfie with James and then it was time to get the bikes ready and ready for the ride ahead.

Once ready, we joined a queue of runners ready to go, the queue snaking around the outside of the auction center as the race itself started from inside the building. Everyone waiting to get started seemed in good spirits and we spoke to a few people who had done the event the year before (always a good sign when people come back a second time). Some poor gentleman managed to forget a wheel because he had to take his bike apart to pack it in the car and he didn’t remember to put the wheel back 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 have breakfast and wait for his friends and family to finish.

Quick race briefing and off we go. Almost as soon as we started, so did the rain, which ranged in intensity from a miserable heavy drizzle to a furious heavy rain from the side. But this did not seem to determine any of the riders. Some of the roads were unbelievably flooded, at one point I rounded a corner in front of a small group and yelled ‘pool’, there was no other way to describe the large puddle that stretched all over the road. Luckily it was only a few inches deep and we made it to dry land! (I love a triathlon, but taking my bike for a swim was not on the agenda!)

After some initial flooded and muddy trails, the trails to the halfway point were a bit easier, less mud and surface water, but cooler! As we headed into Leeds the temperature dropped noticeably and there were still patches of snow packed up on the side 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’s day I would have stayed a bit longer, sat on the grass and taken pictures of the house, but I 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.

I did, however, manage to take photos of some participants’ bikes in the snow!

We queued for a very welcome hot drink and I had a very sweet and tasty flapjack before a massive stripping operation to try and go to the toilet. Cyclists – I’m sure you all will sympathize. I had to remove layer after layer of clothing to get to my Onyx Thermal bib shorts.

Then we hit the ground running in the second half, not wanting to stay too long or get colder than we needed to be. Once again, all the cyclists seemed to be in good spirits on the return journey, even a poor lady whose rear wheel axle had gone bad 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 ok.

I also managed to ride for a while with some ladies from the Yorkshire Lass Cycle Club. They were really lovely and friendly and it was really nice to spend some time chatting with some new people as the miles went by. One of the ladies’ husbands was a triathlete and had done Ironman Vichy last year!

65 miles later (we did the medium route) we returned to the auction center to be presented with our medals, had our photo taken, and the all-important post-ride snack: a real grilled sausage on a bun! This is quite possibly the best post-event meal idea ever and was very welcome as a warm, filling meal after a rather chilly event.

Bikes back in the car, quick changes in the parking lot, thanks to Dryrobes, they really do make post-event routines so much easier. Then a quick goodbye to the Primal team and it was time to start the long journey home. We got home at about 10pm that night. A crazy exhausting but fabulous long weekend! I loved every minute. Now, where is the Velo29 event list? I need a new target!

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