More Spud Riley by Jimmy Froggatt.

Yet another damp day for this event.  A large group of Wills Wheels riders gathered at Woodford for the start at 8.15.  We missed the big group setting off to race the thing at 8.00 which was just as well as it took the competitive edge off but we were all given numbers, maps and cards, like a cross between an audax and a race.  Road race and time trial legend and now sportive evangelist Dave Lloyd set off with us but he wasn’t waiting around for Dave Burton at the top of the Brickworks and he disappeared into the mist.  The first few local hills around Kettleshulme and the Goyt Valley were being selective already and Chris Schofield was looking to natural talent to get him round this trip.  Chris Yates punctured on the way down to Allgreave but he had enough fruit cake in his panniers for a few weeks survival out in the wilds of Staffordshire.

It wasn’t just a Wills Wheels outing as we were accompanied by Premier Calendar star and Sigma Sport team member Jim Williamson, freed from providing for Matt Stephen’s every need to show us how to ride in the hills.  After Hartington and Hulme End the route got really narrow and knotty with some classic bumpy descents and steep climbs around Waterhouse and Calton, through the farm yard at Calton, along the narrow unfenced road to Ilam and over to Tissington.  We didn’t fancy the ford after Tissington as it was turned into a raging torrent though it would have cleaned to cow poo off our bikes.

The long drag up to Longcliffe did for young Chris and Sam Burton, the reality of 100 miles of hilly roads being brought home by a shove back into the bunch.  The next narrow gritty twisty steep lane from Elton to Youlgreave almost spelt the end for your correspondent as a car filled the road and I nearly filled my shorts.  The hedge looked an attractive option as my back wheel went sideways but I called on 36 years of church going and all of my basic bike handling ability to escape with just some grass stains on my overshoes.  Jim was laughing so much he forget to brake and nearly followed my example.  The rest of the hills, all steep, to the last checkpoint at Over Haddon, broke Greg Newton and he collapsed into a deck chair with Manchester Velo members feeding him tea and cake like some emergency team.  The last leg was wet and wild with bodies all over the roads.  The future of British Bike racing (God help us and Dave Brailsford), Chris and Sam, forgot their tired legs after cresting the last hill at Pott Shrigley and smartly stuck one on us all the way home.  By the time I came to ride home the sun had come out and it was like the last eight hours (eight hours!) was just a wet and muddy dream.

Jimmy Froggatt.