Hi @dsirrom
Yes, I was wondering whether you passed me at some point but I also forgot what jersey you said you would be wearing 
Well done - that’s a very strong performance! I was somewhat slower!
I did 10.08 total time ( my time slot was 10-11 hrs so that was fine). Moving time was 08:57.
I just didn’t feel great from mile 60. My legs were dead and had knee pain which needed painkillers. The 3 days before the Dragon were far from ideal from a preparation standpoint. I mentioned I had tickets for a gig in Cardiff on Thursday night (favourite band which was booked before I even entered the Dragon). I can never sleep properly after a gig! Then I had a slightly stressful situation to sort out Thurs& Fri for my daughter’s boyfriend and the icing on the cake was attending my son’s American Football match on Saturday ( 4 hour round trip drive and 5 hours at pitch side). I’m not sure how much this affected the day. It could just have been one of those days anyway. Around the 4th categorised climb I just had no power at all. I told my 2 riding buddies to ride on as they were waiting for me at the top of the climbs. They refused so felt bad that I held them up but they towed me to the line. Glad to have gutted it out but wish it had been more enjoyable.
Thought the organisation was flawless ( apart from lack of toilets at the feed station). The salty potatoes were excellent and the male voice choir gave me the inspiration to get up the Bwlch.
Think I learnt that there were quite a few things I would do differently both from a training perspective and on the day!
Tired today though!
What’s next for you?
Hi @Sundance
Really good to hear you enjoyed the ride and also great that despite a few challenges you smashed on through and finished 
I am also very tired 
What’s next 
unsure atm, the discounted Devil distance offer from the organisers for next year is tempting.
But that’s a massive step up from the GF and would require a whole year of dedicated training for me to feel like I’d stand a decent chance of finishing in a half-respectable time.
All the discussion threads on this Forum about various European adventures (Marmotte / l’etape du Tour / Haute route) have got me pondering what 2025 could bring.
Alternatively I could switch up my training to more short power focused sessions and go after that Cat-2 racing upgrade that I’ve wanted, but thats very probably pie-in-the-sky dreaming, given I’m 51 now and the majority of riders in Cat-3 at my local Crit venues are in their late teens / early 20s
How about you?
I’ve got a trip to the Alps booked in September. Based in Bourg D’Oisans for 4 days cycling so hoping to tackle Alpe D’Huez, Galibier, Glandon etc.
There’s a group of 8 of us going so that should be good. Unfortunately means I will have to still do hill training for the rest of the summer!
Fred Whitton is on the list but won’t be next year as we will be away in April for a couple of weeks which would kill training for the Fred. I did LEJOG last year so my wife is quite keen that maybe I just cycle for fun next year without any event pressure. There’ll still be some kind of European tour with my group but it’s low key and social and whilst there are still sometimes hard days it’s not like The Dragon!
1 Like
Haha! This made me chuckle. Such a shared experience
Apparently not every holiday is a cycling holiday - or so I’ve been told a few times this year already.
Turns out every holiday may not be ‘badged’ as a cycling holiday, but every holiday definitely has an opportunity for cycling 
Particularly if the hotel that’s booked (by me) just ‘happens’ to be near a bike rental shop and some good cycling routes 
All the best for September- you’re Dragon effort is certainly something to build on, so you can smash the Alp 
@Sundance - here is a somewhat overdue video of my effort on the day. You may sot yourself somewhere in there? 
