2nd Sierra Espuna Sportif

The team left from “Cyclogicals” shop in Quesada at 6.00am and travelled in convoy along the AP7 heading for Murcia where they picked up the Almeria road following it for 30kms turning off into Totana heading through the sleepy little town and uphill for 7kms until we came to Santuario de la Santa Eulalia.

We were the first to arrive as usual , however we got a great parking place and straight to registration followed by a coffee and tostada before the queues. Registration started at 8am and we were first in the queue to collect our registration, goody bag and race chip after which we returned to the cars to prepare our bikes, kit etc and to attach our race numbers. The car park had begun to fill up so it made sense to be there early

The race was well organised and started 15 mins late at 9.15am with a mass start of over 400 riders. We followed the pace car at a very fast speed downhill for over 7kms into and through Totana (it was 7 degrees and we were doing about 50km we were freezing ) we then followed a relatively flat road to Alhama de Murcia where we first started climbing up to Gebas then onto El-Berro. The Route was well sign posted with plenty of helpers, dispatch riders and police motorcycles assisting to marshal the route, every village and town that we passed through had most of the village out cheering us on.

After El-Berro we started to climb the Sierra Espuna mountain which is a Cat 1 climb. It was switch back after switch back and the road went up and up and on and on, the temperature was now about 18 degrees by now which was just great for us. Most of us have done this climb many times but it never seems to get any easier. Our oldest rider Terry O’Mahoney (TT) was 70 last month and only started cycling with us 8 months ago, he has come on leaps and bounds and is now a very strong rider. Imagine picking this Sportif as his first, well he did and he performed really well.

At the half way point there was a compulsory water stop which we were at for 45 mins till everyone caught up. We were then released again to continue to the finish. The last 10 km was a really gruelling climb with an average of 8% that just went on and on. Eventually we saw the restaurant where we started and thought great that’s it but no we had to continue up for another 3km at 12% everyone found this last part tough and many riders did not finish ( approx. 150 ) We all finished with good times, Alan , Dom TJ and Harry all finished in the top 50 riders.

After handing our chip back in we made our way back to the restaurant area for Tapas and beer and of course the prize giving ceremony. There were only prizes for the first three riders in this event and also some very strange ones , the lightest bike and the heaviest bike ? Nothing for the fastest team, largest team or oldest participant which was a shame as we would have got all three, never mind here’s to the next one.
The course covered a total distance of 107kms with 2000 metres of climbing. This was a very gruelling route with some pretty tough climbs stuck in.

The Team who took part were Martyn Stone, Steve (turbo ) Buckley, Richard Binns, Gary Routledge, Alan Quearns ,Phil Nobbs, Dom TJ, Harry Morrow and Terry O’mahoney. All of the Team had an excellent but tough day’s cycling and are looking forward to their next event in 3 weeks time.

Team “Cyclogical” meet every Tuesday and Thursday nights at 5.30pm and Sunday mornings at 8am and cover between 90 and 120kms at a moderate to fast pace so if you fancy a challenge come along and join us. Looking to improve your fitness, riding ability and speed and also have a new group of friends to train with then why not come along and give it a try or call Gary on 637487377.