First, a bit of background.  Steve GT and I are a pair of Yorkshire-based fifty-somethings who have been doing day-rides together since the days of the old C+ forum.  We started doing sportives in 2006, when we did the Etape du Dales and the White Rose Classic.  Last year we did a four-day sportive in South Africa (The Panorama Tour). At other times and not always together, we’ve also done the Polka Dot Sportive, the Richmond Five Dales, and the CTC’s Ron Kitching Challenge and the Phil and Friends Ride.  We already know some of you on this forum, as we’ve both ridden C+ forum rides with Nickwill from time to time, and I know Richpage, having ridden up Mont Ventoux with him in 2007 (well, actually some way behind him, as he’s a much better climber than me!).

Neither Steve nor I are racing snakes, but we enjoy a challenge, and it was Steve’s idea to have a go at the Autumn Epic this year.  For Steve, that meant an overnight stay with his parents in Wales, and for me it meant a night in a Travelodge just south of Shrewsbury, followed by a thirty mile drive to the start of the Epic at Knighton in Wales. 

Arriving in Knighton at around 8.15am, I was pleased to find that there was ample free parking specially laid on about half a mile from the start.  I met Steve at the event HQ at about 8.30, and after signing on and fitting our nifty transponders to our front hubs, we joined the queue waiting to set off.  Groups of riders were set off at short intervals, to space out the field a bit, so it was about 8.50 by the time we got going.  The day was cool, but with not much wind, as the gales of the previous day had thankfully died away.  For most riders it was a day for arm-warmers and ¾ bibs, but not cold enough for full-finger gloves.

The first 12 miles or so of the Epic are pretty benign, heading gently up a valley on a B road going north west out of Knighton.  It was possible to tag onto the back of and to leap-frog various ad-hoc groups along this section, and we managed to roll along mostly at around 20mph, until I eventually felt the next group up the road were going too fast for the good of my long-term survival.  We throttled back a bit, and soon the road began to go up in earnest, though there was still nothing too steep to worry about.  Eventually, we turned left off the B road and soon levelled out on a lovely moorland area with wide views all around.  After that there were a couple of descents and climbs on quiet roads before we reached the first feed station at Rhyader, about 35 miles into the ride.  Bananas, ginger cake and flapjack were on offer, so I scoffed one of each, declining the offer of water or energy drink, as I still had plenty in the two bottles on my bike.

Just after Rhyader, the Epic takes a right turn up the mountain road that leads to the Elan Valley.  Rhyader is at about 200metres, and the climb tops out at around 490 metres, so you know you’ve been climbing when you get to the top, but there’s never any feeling that you won’t be able to get up it OK.  From the top there’s a glorious view of one of the reservoirs in the Elan valley, and in fact the next ten miles or so take you on undulating and beautifully scenic roads through the Elan valley, and almost back to Rhyader.  However, you take a right turn in a south eaterly direction just before you reach Rhyader, and the next twelve miles or so is pretty flat, including about six miles on the A470 to Newbridge on Wye.  This road wasn’t too busy, and Steve was going like a train at this point, so I just fixed myself to his back wheel and took a tow for most of the way.  We dropped several mini-groups who tried to tag along, but couldn’t hold the pace.

At this point in the ride (coming up to about 60 miles) I was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about.  The full ride was supposed to be 150km, with 3000 metres of climbing, but it hadn’t seemed all that hard so far.  Sure, we’d done some sustained climbing, but nothing that really weakened the legs.  We didn’t know it, but it was all about to change.  The climbing in the first two thirds of the ride is mainly of the long and steady variety, but in the last third there are some much steeper climbs, which had quite a few riders walking.  There’s one just before the second feed station at about 63 miles, then after a fast descent, there’s an even steeper one at about 70 miles, just after Glascym.  This is followed by a succession of sharp ups and downs which take their toll on tired legs.

The final 10 miles of the event were different from the advertised route because of a road closure caused by roadworks.  We rode along a valley to Presteigne, and then had a long and steady drag uphill on the B4355 going north towards Knighton.  This was the kind of climb that would have been easy at the start of the ride, but my tired legs needed the granny ring to overcome it.  I was glad to reach the top after more than one false summit.  From the top it was (thankfully) downhill all the way to Knighton.  Steve had waited for me at the top of the climb, and we rolled over the finishing mat together in a time of just over 6 hours and 25 minutes.  After handing back our transponders, there was free tea, coffee and hot food, all of which was gratefully swallowed.

We knew we were well inside the time for silver standard for our age group but we weren’t sure how close we were to gold.  The pre-ride info said the gold cut-off was 6hrs 18 mins, but the time standards had to be adjusted because the effect of the diversion in the last 10 miles was to add nearly 3 miles to the route.  It turned out that the revised gold standard cut-off was around 6hrs 28 mins, so for the first time ever in my cycling life, I had got a gold.  I’m sure the time standards were easier than in some other sportives (The White Rose Challenge, for example), but I was still ridiculously chuffed!

All in all a great event, well organised, with superb scenery, quiet roads, good signage, and good facilities laid on.  It’s just a pity that the organisers want to take a break from running it next year.  Perhaps someone else will step in to do it.