Today was the Jurassic Beast Sportive in Dorset and my toughest ride to date with 100 miles and 7500ft of climbing.
I’d driven down the day before and stayed overnight near the New Forest. I was up at 5:30am on the day and drove the hour or so to the start of the event.
Jacko from the Nova Raiders was also doing the ride and we’d arranged to meet at the start. Once I’d parked I called Jacko and we met up by the registration tent and hatched a plan to ride the route together.
After a short safety briefing, including them revealing the ride was 7200ft of climbing and not the 5300ft the event website suggested, we set off.
The first part of the ride headed northwards and included a substantial Epic route only section with 4 big climbs. The scenery was beautiful with the route passing through picturesque villages with thatched cottages. The hills were gentle enough apart from the third one which ramped up substantially and was a fun challenge.
After the first feed stop the route headed southwards towards the coast – the Jurassic coast (which the ride is named after). The second feed stop was at Durdle Door as we reached the coast.
After that the route meandered over some serious hills along the coastline and past Corfre Castle. None of the feed stops had any tea or coffee so we hatched a plan to stop for a coffee on the prom at Swanage.
From there it was an easier ride back to the event HQ via some more gentle hills and the final feed stop. The last 15 miles to the HQ was really fast as the roads flattened out substantially and I still had some gas left in the tank.
Back at the event HQ were collected our medals and t-shirts and had a free ice cream. I then availed of a massage to ease my legs for the long journey home.
A fab day out in the saddle and really pleasing to have completed my toughest ride to date!
Route: click here
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