Looking back at the year it has been a bit odd with all kinds of stuff going on and affecting the cycling. The old year went out with a bang when I came off on ice in Bampton jarring my shoulder, that caused some problems with training at the start of this year (just a few weeks ago I received a letter from the NHS offering me physiotherapy, better late than never I suppose although I didn’t actually go to the doctor until well after the accident).
My first event of the year was the White Horse Challenge held in late April and organised by Fergal & Sarah McGrath and friends with profits going to WaterAid (a charity helping to provide water and sanitation for the world’s poorest people, see www.wateraid.org/uk
I have ridden every edition of this sportive since it started in 2007 and was hoping to better my time from the previous year and to get around in under five hours. The White Horse is not particularly long and doesn’t have a massive altitude gain but it is hilly and comes early in the season so it is a challenge at 145 km and 1,466 m of elevation gain giving it a ratio of 10 metres per km climbing.
