Cheers mate.. and thanks again for the donation.
Finished it.. and can honestly say it was one of the toughest things I've ever done in my entire life!!
So surprised at the small turnout... there were only 42 people doing it.. I finished 41st of 42... lol. The guy who finished last was a DNF (I was with him when he gave up).. so whilst I was the last to go past the finish line, I did actually finish it and very proud of myself! Apparently there was a group of 3-5 people who finished in the 5 minutes prior to me and then about 2 or 3 more in the 5 minutes before them.. so I wasn't too far behind a lot of people.. and I had done an extra 15 miles cycling than everyone else. My total cycling time was 6hr, 35mins to do 75miles.. think it works out a little over 11mph.. so I'm happy with that to be honest.
My god, the hills.. they absolutely killed me.. I did the first 10% gradient hill... went down the other side to be greeted by another one.. which I also did. Then there were about 5 or 6 more like that, some of which I had to walk up them because I was totally fucked at that point...even walking up them was a bloody mission! The last hill was the ride up Portsdown where you got some amazing views of Portsmouth and you could even see the Isle of Widget from there too.. so it was a very picturesque ride.. but you couldn't pay me to do it again.. no fucking way lol.
No punctures, no injuries.. but it did rain non-stop from the start to about an hour away from the finish, only a light drizzle, but enough to make you feel cold and damp though. In work today, just one more week and then I'm off on holiday.. I need one.. my legs, thighs and hips are absolutely caining today!