Congratulations to Matthew Stevens for his new WUCA record
I, Matthew Stevens, am writing this report following my successful attempt to establish a solo across country record for Wales (North to South)
The start point was at the end of Station Road at the entrance to the Talacre Beach Carpark, on the north coast of Wales. I started at 7:15am.
Conditions were pretty fair on the day. A light head-side wind throughout and intermittent chance of rain, but nothing that should cause too many issues.
On this attempt, I used my 2 main bikes. A Ribble TT bike for the first 75 miles or so, then changed over to a Ribble Endurance SL bike for the remainder, where the bulk of the hills were.
In previous record attempts and longer events, I have had some considerable issues digesting food on the bike resulting in time off the bike being sick. Although not a ‘mega long’ event, it was my first try at a high -carb but all-liquid approach, which seemed to work well for me. No noticeable drop in power and none of the stomach issues!
Thankfully, although boringly for the purpose of this report, the most ‘unusual’ thing was a bee finding it’s way into my helmet at about the 100 mile mark. It clearly wasn’t keen on it’s new residence, so stung me on the forehead in protest. Nothing that a quick pit-stop and anti-histamine tablet couldn’t resolve though!
At 20:18hrs, 13 hours and 3 minutes after setting off, I turned the corner into Station Approach Road, took a short sprint to the finish and completed my challenge at the entrance to the Barry Island Car Park.
This has been one of my favourite events sofar. Long enough to be a challenge, without the daunting distances. Time to plan the next one!
