Imagine if you will, receiving an e-mail from Aon, shirt sponsors of Manchester United, inviting you to Old Trafford to meet the team, have a media led Q & A session with key team members, followed by a kick about on the hallowed turf before lunch. Your imagination is probably the only place where such an event is ever likely to take place.
However I have just been the very fortunate recipient of a comparable invitation within our own sport and this is a note of what was a fantastic day.
Earlier this year I bought a Garmin Edge 500 bike computer to map, track and monitor my cycling progress. Whilst I am a total technophobe and do well to even understand the television remote control, I had long used a Garmin Forerunner 405 for similar purposes analyzing my training and racing performances on two feet, and I was familiar with the functionality and ease of use of Garmin products. I presume that when I bought the device I had elected to remain on a marketing database and some while ago received an e-mail asking if I would like to be considered to join in a ride with members of the Garmin Cervelo Pro Team in the New Forest. I replied “ Yes “ gave some limited detail of my riding ability and forgot all about it.
To my great surprise I received an e-mail from out of the blue telling me that my place had been reserved for the ride which was to take place on Monday 19th September. The e-mail had a lot of detail in respect of the ( now mandatory I suspect ) Health & Safety issues, both for the bike and the rider, but it also gave joining details and a time-table for what looked in prospect, and turned in reality into, an amazing day out.
08.00 on an overcast but mild morning found me parking in a field by Sandy Balls ( stop sniggering ) Holiday Park in Godshill. I walked across to the main site to find it taken over by the “ Garmin Village “
There were banners, tents, bike racks and a variety of partner stands including Mavic mechanics, and The AA who provided lead vehicles and out riders. In addition there was Garmin kit in profusion together with the team’s Cervelo S3 bikes, the team bus etc all on display. All of this was freely accessible to the guests as was importantly at that time of the day, some strong black coffee and pastries for those who had left home too early for their breakfast. The registration process was simplicity itself, and rather like at a commercial sportive once your name was checked off the start list, they allocated a number ( for identification on the road where there were to be several photographers ), a colour coded sticker for allocation to a group of comparable ability riders, and a bike rack for that group.
Having taken possession of the bike number and cable ties it was back to the field to assemble the bike and get “prepared.” It was at this point that I was delighted to be hailed by a fellow F&CCC member, Ross who was also decked out in full club kit. Whilst I was there in the cheap seats, Ross had the great good fortune to be a guest of Garmin themselves with access to the VIP area. I didn’t mind. I know my place and I was delighted to be at the table at all even if figuratively speaking, below the salt.
Following a chat with Ross I pedalled across to the event HQ, racked the bike and went off in search of more of that coffee and to chat with other guests. A couple of people recognized the club colours and one very pleasant chap called Simon introduced himself. He is a T T rider with A3cgr from Liss and he finished third in our own Championship.
Eventually it was time for our briefing. We assembled in a marquee where the chap from Garmin Cervelo first played some amazing footage backed by some really up tempo music, of the team’s successful season – Thor Hushovd in the Rainbow Jersey of World Road Race Champion, stage wins in the T de F and the Vuelta with private footage from the team car of the Director Sportive going bananas on the radio encouraging the riders in those events. It was HUGELY inspirational, and one of those “hairs on the back of the neck “ moments.
At that point they introduced a group of riders including Roger Hammond, Daniel Martin, and others whose names, I am ashamed to say I failed to catch. Ned Boulting and Matt Rendell from ITV 4 then took the floor to conduct a Q & A session with the riders. These guys were unbelievably unassuming to the point of being self effacing and were polite, responsive funny and helpful. They were totally down to earth with no trace of the prima donna in any of them.
We then had a brief safety briefing on the hazards of riding in the New Forest – narrow roads, gravel, fords and animals and were sent on our way to assembly.
The ride went off in four waves each accompanied by two professionals. I had the great good luck to be riding with Dan Martin, winner of Stage 9 of the Vuelta. I had watched that stage live and it was such a thrill to meet, and ride with the man himself. His ride that day in the mountains was awesome and without any big headedness he said that he knew he would win when he changed up to the big ring for the final mountain top sprint whilst his rivals had stayed in the inner ring. Truly awesome.
Anyway, back to more mundane matters. In the briefing we were told that the ride was not a race. However, I defy anyone to take a number pin it on, and not have an element of competition in their mind set. The bunch I was with certainly did. I was chatting to a couple of people near the rear of the group and we were held up by a car which gave the front end of our group about 250m head start.
It took me almost eleven miles of furious pedalling to reel that in. I am not particularly quick but the Garmin was showing speeds of 22 / 24 mph on the flat. I guess that the group must have been showing 21.99 / 23.99 mph at those times. Anyway I did get back in the wheel eventually, and I found clearly what I have always been told. The speed was no less, but in the pack it was effortless.
Note to self. Next time stay switched on and do not miss that initial break. I had to bury myself to get back on having missed it initially, and like we were told it wasn’t even a race.
Within the group the ride was great fun, and although it was still hard work, it was possible to chat and compare notes. We had all of the hazards we were briefed for, thankfully without incident. We also had top level support - An AA van as lead car, NEG and AA outriders on motor cycles, Mavic service bikes and the Garmin team cars. Fortunately I had no mechanicals but at the end there were a few who had taken a wheel from the Mavic crew on the road and were swapping them back for their own.
At one point I thought that we might have our own Juan Antonio Flecha / Johhny Hoogerland T de F Stage 9 moment ourselves. In addition to the stills photographers out on the course Garmin were filming the ride, both on the road and apparently from a helicopter !!
The road camera was bolted, just above the level of the road on what looked like angle irons to the front of an Audi A3 with a sort of protective cage like structure protruding from it. This thing came past me and a couple of other guys just as we made it back into the group. It paused there between us and those in front and I saw the nearside door open a fraction. It happened twice more and I backed right off. There was no barbed wire about, but I didn't fancy being kebabed on any of that angle iron superstructure. However that camera and car was yet one more detail reinforcing the impression that we were in a top level sporting event. Brilliant.
The course itself was 27.74 miles long according to my Garmin. It rose (and fell ) 1230 ft and I completed it in 1 :32 :22 at an exact average of 18 mph. It was just so enjoyable.
Afterwards we had a hot buffet lunch and the opportunity to chat with the professional riders, our fellow guests, and to visit the team bus etc. Whatever we wanted really, nothing was “off limits.”
I realize that days such as these fulfil a marketing imperative for commercial concerns, and that they are not just from the goodness of anyone’s heart. However it was clear that the pros and staff were enjoying it too. We were never perceived as nuisances and our interest, no matter how numptyish was welcomed and responded to in a wholly positive vein. We were treated to a quite wonderful experience and met some true superstars at the very top of their sport.
It was a wonderful day out and I feel privileged to have been there.
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Haze (54 oF • 12 oC)
