I’ll also pick this up around the 45 mile mark.

So, at around the half way mark we ground to a sudden halt with half of the peloton emptying their bladders. Unsurprisingly I was one of them.

Having emptied the bladder, I set off in hot pursuit of the leading pack which included Ben and Rich C. Fortunately, I bumped into a fellow tester (not literally), Mark Thaxter of HSW, who is extremley bloody fast!  I gave his wheel a good old suck and we were able to catch up to the leading group.

Now the fun & games were just about to begin. The leading pack was led by Duncan Moralee of Sportscover Altura, a semi-pro UK Domestic racing team with riders like Kevin Dawson & Ashley Brown amongst their roster of riders.

From a relatively sedate pace of 18mph on the way out, we were not flying along at 27 mph. Ben & Creaser were right in the mix. We now had the wind almost behind us and the pace just kept going up and up and eventually riders started to drop off. I think we lost Ben at Pontefract which left Creaser and I fighting for our lives!!

One thing I have observed about Road Racers is they don’t know how to keep at a certain high pace. There were riders yo yoing off the front, to the back, back up to the front and back off again so as you can imagine, there was lots of jostling for position. Creaser and I flung our elbows around and held our own.

Creaser and I slowly made our way right up to the front of the group and I gave some thought to doing a turn on the front but my legs were starting to fill with lactic acid so I sucked Duncan’s wheel for a bit instead. Creaser was keeping very close, drafting me because the benefits of doing so are great, given my 6ft 3 in frame. Me drafting Creaser, on the other hand is not so great because he’s bloody tiny!!

The pace was relentless and we were finally stopped in our tracks at some traffic lights just after Wakefield Europort. Time for a quick breather? Nope!! The pace from the traffic lights was just ridiculous and with the gradient going up my lungs were starting to burst! I looked behind me and Creaser was not in sight! The front group were then caught at the lights near Heath Common. Creaser caught up, along with Mark Thaxter, having got boxed in at the lights as a result of road works.

Creaser and I then made the decision to go home via Horbury and left the leading pack fighting out the bunch sprint.

My average speed at this point was 20.4 mph, which, bearing in mind there was a strong headwind for much of the ride, was not too shabby.

Creaser then punctured just after Horbury and despite my offering to help, I was told to get on my way as it had just started to rain. Hope you fixed it OK Crease!

Got home, checked the Garmin and I’d clocked 97.01 miles at 19.4 mph ave.

I then collapsed as I got through the door.

What a day.

What a ride.

Well done Craig Newton and well done to all Thorpers who rode!

Craig has put some pictures on FB -  [1] http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?fbid=1804223875138&set=a.1804223635132.2103834.1526104497&theater

I won’t be out for a few weeks now as the racing season is upon on. It’s been great riding with you, Thorpers.