Weekend Race in England

On the past weekend, Dan took part in the Whitehorse Challenge Race, which raised money for World Vision, in the hope of providing enough funds to sponsor at least one child for the next 5 years. The start and finish for the race was at the Memorial hall in Shrivenham, Wiltshire, and traveled through some of the most beautiful parts of Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The race was 150 km in length with about 1400 m of climbing.

Apparently the reason it is called the Whitehorse Challenge is because the route takes the riders past 4 white horses, one of which is the Uffington white horse which is the oldest of all British chalk figures, dating back almost 3000 years . The horses are mostly chalk figures, made by cutting and removing the turf to reveal chalk beneath. It is then filled with loose chalk. Apparently there are at least 24 such white horses across the UK although not all are visible today.

Still Smiling!

Dan finished 322nd out of the 390 riders that finished the race. He was the only rider riding a single gear bike which he now acknowledges "was pretty stupid". He figures he did something like 75,000 crank revolutions (oh, my aching calves)!! The steepest grade was 17% which he thankfully walked up. His elapsed time for the 90 mile circuit was 6:17:10 of which 5:50 was actual riding time. (He had 2 food stops and 1 flat tire.)
Even before the race he had to bike about 10 miles from his hotel to the race start so all together it was his first 'century' ride. We are sure proud of him!!!