Haydon Hundred Sportive 2015
June 6th 2015 63 mile ride from Hexham An incredibly windy sportive. And I mean, winds of 40 mph with 60 mph gusts, in which it is challenging to stay on the bike and road. Throw in the highest surfaced road in England, 17 cattle grids, pineapple flapjack, 7000 ft of climbing and some torrential rain and you've got an invigorating (but rewarding) ride. In the words of my cycling buddy for the day: "The event is a locally-organised sportive. I was vaguely familiar with the general area, and was keen to do it when it was suggested: from what I knew of the area, it promised to be a ride that would be both challenging and scenic. In neither respect did it disappoint! Arriving at the later-than-planned time of 8.30 (my fault, due to not preparing my bike the night before/not waking up early enough), we were faced with decidedly blustery conditions. Indeed, with weather warnings from the event organisers, and the Met Office forecasting gusts of up to 65 mph, the conditio...