Ride like a pro with Jaguar

At the weekend I took part in the Ride Like a Pro event hosted by Harwoods Jaguar in West Sussex. It was one of a series of organised cycle rides hosted by Jaguar dealers across the country as part of a campaign by Jaguar Cars.

The event began at Cowdray Park Golf Club near Midhurst in West Sussex. The event was limited entry on a first come, first served basis. Breakfast was provided from 9am with the ride starting at 10am. Although the forecast for the day had been poor all week, the weather was surprisingly sunny, if a little chilly. The roads were wet but not soaking. I waited until just before the ride to work out what to wear for my ride. I decided to use my new Dare 2b gillet with arm warmers and took my windshell just in case.

The riders were set off in groups of 10 and I was reluctant to leave with the first group as we were told it would be paced by a fast rider. I left with the second group but after a mile or so I knew they were too fast for me. The course was a little lumpy to start with and every time we went uphill, I dropped back from the group and had to expend a lot of energy to catch up with them. After about mile 4, I decided to drop back to my own speed and go it alone.

After about 10 miles, a rider caught up with me and as we'd chatted pre-ride, he stayed at my pace and we chatted some more. He was a faster rider than me and he took more time on the front and I was able to go faster. From time to time we got stuck at junctions, level crossings etc and other riders were able to catch us up. This helped us form a larger group and our speed stayed consistently high, especially as we no longer had any hills.

At the 35 mile mark, we arrived in Chichester at the Jaguar dealership where refuelling began. After about 10 minutes, we were back on the road. The route out of the city was fairly flat but as soon as it started to climb, I began to struggle. It wasn't long before I was dropped and was on my own again. The legs were feeling rather tired for the final 7 miles, probably due to pushing too hard at the start. 48.6 miles later, the ride was finished.

I got changed and had a free lunch provided by Harwoods at the golf club. I also collected my finishers medal.

It was a great ride in a part of the county I've never ridden before. Thanks Jaguar.

One of the Team Sky cars

Free Jaguar bidons

Me with the Team Sky car

Some of the riders at the start. I'm in there too.

Me drafting another rider. I did take my turn on the front, honest.

Me at the finish

Some images copyright Matt Sills