Pia Sundstedt

We did it! What a great 160km ride we had in the heat of Qatar. The start for the Qatar Chain reaction Grahame Maher Century Ride was at 6.15 am. A neutralized start took us out on the highway, but a flat tire only after a couple of kilometers forced me and my husband to stop. We lost the group and were already playing with the thought of waiting for the 100km riders, who started one hour later. We decided to continue and see if we would catch a good group where we could stay for a while.

We first rode towards the north of the country. We had a pretty hard wind in the face and had to work really hard. I was only waiting for the half way mark to come, that would mean a tailwind. Turning back towards the south and Doha, this was what I wanted to do as quickly as possible. So head down and pedal against the wind.

On the northernmost point of the course we caught a group and was hoping for some help, which we also got. Now three persons instead of two persons were working together. It was fine, since I really started to feel the 80km we had done by then in the legs. Luckily we had a tailwind for almost the entire last 80km. Were were going 50km/h almost all the time. That was fast and fun riding.

The event was fantastic and so well organized. We had 5 water points and I really loved the dried mangos they offered us. Water point 4 was definitely the most beautiful spot of them all. It was by the beach. The beaches here are just awesome. Just like a beach you expect one to be. Turquoise blue water and fine sand. I could have stopped there for a while, but we had to hit the road again and have the last 40km done.

We arrived tired but happy to Qatar Foundation, where the start and finish area was. Every participant received a medal from Al Farhan Sheik Al Sayed for their completed effort. At the end we had a social gathering where we handed over the amount received from all registration to Qatar Diabetes Foundation.

It was not only a good ride, it was also a ride for a good thing.

Thanks to everyone making this a special day to remember.