The Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Ride takes on the Continental tradition of letting everyday riders tackle the roads of a subsequent pro race. Unlike Paris-Roubaix or the Tour of Flanders, covering the whole pro route isn't an option.
In this case, the number of kilometres of the pro parcours that you actually cover is limited, and many of them are in reverse to the pros.
Even so, you could ride around in circles in Yorkshire all day and still be in awe of the views.
Waiting to set off, we were told there was some trouble with closing a roads for this non-closed road sportive... but then we were on our way.
Thankful by this point for my usual habit of over- rather than under-dressing, my Castelli Gabba over jersey combination proved very welcome for the 35 minutes I stood shivering on the start line waiting to be set off in the first group.
With a warm up of approximately 400 metres in the legs we were faced with the first climb of the day, the 20% brute known as Pea Royd Lane.
Riding a Ridley Helium X test bike that arrived with a mid-compact 52-36 chainset (I'm not afraid to say I'd normally be turning a compact), staying steady within the Maserati group proved difficult as riders zigzagged across the road.
I stuck to the wheel of Tim Wiggins, blogger and social media bod, and as we topped out that initial climb we were treated to the first sweeping vistas of the day.
Anyone who hasn't ridden in Yorkshire or North Derbyshire should, and as soon as possible.
Video: Tim Wiggins's Life in the Saddle video from the Tour de Yorkshire Ride
The group came back together but it wasn't to stay that way for much of the 100km route we had in store.
On one of the next climbs, Tim and I decided to push on knowing we'd be reunited with our new companions at the finish.
Riding with an old friend, chatting about our home roads back on the Isle of Wight and turning the pedals in the awe-inspiring landscapes north of Sheffield was the recipe for a fantastic morning's ride.
At the 60km marker, Wiggins politely requested leave to smash on solo and off he went. Now alone, the hardest part of the route was still ahead of me.
The shortest route isn't always the easiest
The Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Ride offered three routes for 2017: 45km, 75km and 100km.
Looking at the route maps and profiles, the shortest probably wasn't the easiest and it shared the same daunting final 25km as the longest route, a loop the medium distance riders were diverted away from.
In those 25km were the four biggest climbs of the day, described at the start as a 'tasty finishing circuit.'
The first of the four started out steep enough but got even worse around a 90 degree bend. Just before the turn was a group of locals there to cheer us on.
'Am I near the top?' I asked with a hint of hopeful desperation.
'Well, nearly,' they offered. As I turned the corner I was met with a wall of a climb, three times longer than the lower slope I'd already ridden, and strewn with riders wishing they had just one more gear.
This set the tone for an attritional run-in to the finish in Fox Valley near Sheffield. Climbs, followed by rapid descents, sometimes interspersed with rolling roads across a windswept moor all made for a leg-sapping grind towards the promise of a shower and hot lunch.
On the way from the hotel at about 05:00 that morning, we'd driven up the final climb of the sportive. The minibus struggled enough, so I had some idea of what I was in for.
Again it was the enthusiasm of the locals, gathered in their garden just at the point where the road heads skywards, whose cheers gave me that little bit extra to get over this last obstacle.
That, and the sight of someone I'd passed earlier coming back to me.
The final, steep descent to the finish funnel - approaching from the opposite direction of the pros later that day - would have benefited from a suspension of parking as riders were forced down the middle of the road to avoid the doorzone, with the possibility of live traffic approaching back up the slope.
Walking back up this a couple of hours after finishing to find a spot to watch the pros, I saw many later sportive riders forced to stop and get out the way of motorists making their way up the hill between the parked cars.
Crowds gathered to see the pros, and had formed earlier in the day to watch the sportive. Photo: Jack Elton-Walters
Clear of that potential and avoidable hazard, the sportivistes were welcomed into the final 300 metres by already large crowds, banging the advertising hoardings, ringing cowbells and cheering every rider they saw.
Rolling over the line, pleased enough with my time of 3 hours 50 minutes, I was satisfied with my morning's ride.
The event, although not flawless, rightly holds its place towards the top end of the 'must ride' category of UK sportives, and with 2018 entries already open it's certainly one for consideration.
With the route changing every year to follow the ever-changing pro race, I'd glady return to take on new roads in a county that you could never get bored of riding in.