Ride Reports

cjcp

As I mentioned at the Morpeth tonight, I'm hoping to get a long ride in on the morning of 5 July. It'll be an early start because I'm hoping to meet the family at a pub for Sunday lunch (so, if others want to come along and bring their tribe too...) and I need to get about 70-ish miles in.

I'm hoping for a long ride on the afternoon of 19 July too. Again, similar distance. Suspect I'll be leaving about 3pm, so I may just stick to lapping RP.

Roastie

@ Rich: There is a good pic of you from the Palace race on Londoncyclesport.com, check it out.

ps Good meeting you at the Morpeth!

tailwindhome

I've been a very lazy cyclist this week and did no commuter miles. Thought I'd punish myself for this sin by undertaking my hardest ride to date.

The 41 miler is less than my previous longest but this ride took in 2000 odd feet of climbing including two 800 ft climbs.

Not dramatic by some posters standards but I didnt think I could do it.

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=10779

Will try the same circuit next week but extend it to a 50


Significantly the first climb is the one I drive to, and over before parking the car and cycle commuting the final 12 miles. This mean that I can do the climb and could manage the distance. I will be targeting a there and back commute of 60 miles, one day a week before the summer's out.

Kieran_Burns

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

Significantly the first climb is the one I drive to, and over before parking the car and cycle commuting the final 12 miles. This mean that I can do the climb and could manage the distance. I will be targeting a there and back commute of 60 miles, one day a week before the summer's out.

:shock:



We need a "I am not worthy" smilie

itboffin

I may very well have just been for a ride which might or might not have taken in the ML (short version) and it may or may not have been very nice.

I did smash the 4000 mile marker wide open on Friday and with any luck tomorrow I will top 800 mile for June.

I might also add that I spent pretty much all of Saturday asleep or walking around like a zombie, this month has been hard work :?

July is going to be a taper "month"

Edit: oh yes nearly forgot the ride report :oops:

So there I am bike all nice and clean after a week or two on the commute pootling through Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire (all in 5 miles) deciding which of my regular routes to take when I dawns on my that I haven't completed the full ML (Marlborough Loop) since the day before the SCR ML ....

[nips off for some dinner]

Yup back on the old classic route nice and easy pace for the first 15 miles then I opened up the pace a little thinking to myself this would be much more fun in a group still it was the perfect weather for it, hot no wind and enough cloud cover to be comfortable.

other than the usual stunning views rapid descents and short sharp climbs I having nothing more to report really, it was a perfect day and a perfect ride finished off with a couple of pints in my local, then some stupid old git let his dog knock my bike to floor :evil:

As a side note I did try a gel thingy which sort of exploded all over my bike covering every tiny space with sticky goo :x

cjcp

itboffin wrote:

I might also add that I spent pretty much all of Saturday asleep or walking around like a zombie, this month has involved doing some work :?

Fixed that for you. You're good to go now. :P


I might squeeze in a lap or two of the Park. Been awake since 4.30 to take relatives to Gatwick and did about about 5 miles today pulling the kids around the Park, so feeling a bit whacked too, but it may be the best way to shake that muggy-induced-sluggishness.

itboffin

Yes thanks for that cjcp It hadn't gone unnoticed.

@the artist formally know as Jash
I just calculated the actual time lost on our little Dragon Ride detour, 1.7 miles avg 19 mph = 5.30 mins by my calculations that makes your official time

05:16:57 in 111 place with me close behind in 112 on 05:17:35

Not that i'm counting or in anyway bothered f**k :evil:

That doesn't take into count stopping at lights and my victory lap of the last roundabout :oops:

Bassjunkieuk

I'm feeling rather pleased with myself at the moment as I completed my longest ever single ride today :-) It came in the form of this years Capital to Coast charity ride and I actually managed to complete my little self imposed challenge of doing the whole ride eschewing the refreshment stops :-)

It all started this morning at 7:42 as me, along with a few dozen other riders, are herded out of the gates at Esher College. I was surrounded by a rather broad selection of bikes, various nice road bikes, an assortment of hybrids, some BSO's and even a couple of mentalists on SS! I set off nice and gentle, catching up with the previous few groups as we headed away from town towards the nice quiet country roads. It was all pretty familiar from last year and things seemed to be going well. Had a few berks RLJing despite the marshalls asking people not to and I have a bit of a little chuckle inside as I overhear one women comment "3 miles until hell" at the 6 mile mark........I try to think back to the route profile but can't remember any problematic hills for at least the next 45 miles :-D

The occasional downhill section gives me a chance to stretch my legs a bit and have some fun with the other riders, despite the signs at the start reminding us "It isn't a race" I can't help but try and chase down riders in front of me. Shortly after one of the nice little runs we pass what appears to be a race course and for some reason I remember Roger Merriman is doing this event to and that I should keep an eye out for him. Imagine my surprise as I then actually do find Roger about 2 miles ahead.........I was rather spooked as it seems I might have my spidey senses I bit to well tuned

Had a nice ride along with Roger and a chat and he commented that it appears we are going to be heading down Box Hill this year. I have no idea exactly where we are and am just happy that I can have a crack at it. The ride up was rather nice as we came up a gentle undulating climb until the summit where there where large collections of cyclist. I was temporarily taken aback by the view from the top as it was stunning and I'd just like to say sorry to Roger for seemingly riding off without warning, it would have been nice to stop for photo's but then I would have failed my self imposed challenge :-)

The descent down Box Hill was probably one of the highlights of the ride for me, it almost felt like an alpine descent as I could see the road below with riders on as I came down :-D Not to mention the speed that could be obtained down there! Even once I'd come off the bottom and looked back up to see where I'd come from I still had a huge grin on my face :-D

Spent the next 10-15 miles picking off various groups of riders and getting rather nervous as I was riding solo with no other riders in sight for a good few miles as well! Every so often I'd spot a rider up in the distance and gradually reel them in, just after half way I started on my Clif Bar and managed to finish that off whilst riding, including taking mouthfuls of it as I casually rode past a couple of guys on hybrids/MTB's as they struggled up one of the little inclines :-) I swear I could feel it all kick in as shortly after I felt pretty fresh again.

Around the 38 mile mark and in a section with signs up warning of "Steep hills and narrow lanes" I found a chap in a pink cycle jersey who was the only chap who legitimately got past me for the whole ride ;-) He said he was doing the Hove-Hove loop ride but I think he has just hitched on at Hove and followed the signs, still he became my ride buddy for the next 17 miles of so as we worked our way towards the final big climb at Devils Dyke. It was really helpful riding with him, not because I used him for drafting, but as I had someone who was obviously a more confident descender then me to show me the lines through some of the lanes - made for a very enjoyable ride even if the motorbike escort did hold us up on one of them.

We had a bit of a chat as we got closer to Devils Dyke and I mentioned that I'd had to hop off for a breather last year and hoped to go straight up this year, he said I'm sure you'll do fine and the conversation then tapered off as we started climbing again, now on closed roads. I see the dreaded right hand turn towards the hill proper and in anticipation I do something that I haven't had to do during the ride yet, change the chain down onto the granny ring at the front..........then hear a nasty clunking noise and suddenly I can't turn the pedals :shock: FFS! I look up as my ride buddy disappears round the corner and make it to the side of the ride and hop off. No sooner have I stood up then the whole of the front of my left thigh cramps up as I yell to the marshals that I'm actually OK :-) I tried to pull the chain free but it had actually managed to get crossed between the chainrings and frame! A firm tug on the cranks in the opposite direction freed the chain and I was again riding. To my surprise Devils Dyke seemed a lot easier this year and the rock bottom gear was just a little to spinny! Having said this it might have also been caused by the extra boast of energy I'd got from the Zipvit gel I'd sucked down about 2 miles back! Either way I was feeling rather energetic and knew it was downhill all the way once we summit this baby! I passed another rider on the little downhill after the summit who seemed to immediately jump on my wheel. He got ahead as we approached one of the busy roundabouts but I caught up with him as we got into town. I could have had some good fun with him I think but he was RLJing once we got in to town. Found another roadie cyclist who also seemed to have a problem with stopping for red lights who I swear was taunting me...........I'd already blown past the drafting guy from earlier on his TT-barred Trek and this guy was giving it some beans to. I was still feeling the effects of the gel, now supplemented by the adrenaline of knowing the finish line is within reach - it was a damn shame those last lights went red :evil:

The final run into town this year brought us right out by the finish lawns so no ride along the cycle path next to the sea but I did manage to catch up with the chap in the pink jersey as we got to the finish line. I filter to the relevant tent to get myself ticked off and collect my medal and check the time - 11:20!! The cycle computer says 3:33 moving time so I guess my mechanical and the traffic lights cost me about 5 minutes! I then had a lovely meal and a couple of pints at a nice local pub (The Brunswick on Holland Road for those who are interested) with an old high school friend that I haven't seen in 10 years :-)

A few things I have learnt from todays ride:

I can actually ride 60 miles practically non-stop :-)
Clif make awesome products, asides from the Clif bar that I munched on I consumed most of a pack of shot blocks during the ride today!
Energy gels do actually have an effect - I think last time I tried using it I wasn't actually going to see a benefit as I hadn't expended much energy in the ride previously. During todays ride I already had 50 miles under my belt but after it I felt almost new again (asides from the occasional cramp!)
I don't need to guzzle water, even on a warm day like this I didn't quite finish my 2 750ml bottles.

One last thing for DDD, whilst I was waiting at the finish line the DeVer crew turned up in dribs and drabs on some very nice looking bike including a very tasty looking Cervelo on Mavic Cosmic Carbones, a Ridley and a lovely Time machine.....they all looked awesome but I don't remember seeing them whilst I was at Esher and they arrived only about 15-20 minutes after me so must have had a very quick ride!

Route is up here: http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/work ... id=1193044
ST has had a couple of blips but otherwise accurate!

Roastie

This should probably be posted under rants...

My 2nd time out riding at RP.

Headed down Broomfield Hill tucked up and doing a bit over 60km/h (ok, perhaps twice the speed limit is naughty), I see a cyclist headed up the hill followed by a black Merc. I'm right of centre of my side of the road which seems like a reasonable place to be given the speed.

Suddenly Merc driver decides he/she really needs to overtake. Massive heart in throat moment, I swing hard left and nip past the Merc on the <1m gap between his/her car and the edge of the tarmac.

This makes me very angry indeed. The stupidity of some people astonishes me.

Deadeye Duck

Did the 20 miler this morning (turned into 25 miles due to wrong turns and detours).

Was dead chuffed with myself when I got home, even though I got a p*ncture about 5 mins from my house. I know 25 miles isn't a lot to most of you but this time last month, I'd never have dreamed that I'd be able to ride that far without collapsing. I stopped half way to eat my 'nana and have a few gulps of my juice. Having a large glass of juice before I left definitely stopped me guzzling it all within the first 10 minutes.

I've decided I'm going to change the start of the route because it goes through a few country lanes that had more potholes than tarmac. I've come to the conclusion that my bike can take a hell of a beating and that I'm more likely to break, than it, going over rough roads. I've also learned that lifting your arse of the seat as it goes over an unmissable bunch of crap road, does wonders for your health.

Bassjunkieuk

Roastie wrote:

This should probably be posted under rants...

My 2nd time out riding at RP.

Headed down Broomfield Hill tucked up and doing a bit over 60km/h (ok, perhaps twice the speed limit is naughty), I see a cyclist headed up the hill followed by a black Merc. I'm right of centre of my side of the road which seems like a reasonable place to be given the speed.

Suddenly Merc driver decides he/she really needs to overtake. Massive heart in throat moment, I swing hard left and nip past the Merc on the <1m gap between his/her car and the edge of the tarmac.

This makes me very angry indeed. The stupidity of some people astonishes me.

What an a$$hole! It astounds me sometimes what car drivers will do just because they feel the "need" to overtake cyclists, thankfully due to careful planning by the organisers most of the C2C was on quiet roads and when we did find a car behind us they waited for us to form a line before overtaking us carefully.

Roastie

@ Bass (& Roger):

Well done, nice report. Sounds like you had a blast!

cjcp

BJUK - excellent! Congrats on setting a PB mileage. Feels good, doesn't it? Any more long rides planned before the summer's out?

Roastie - :shock: Close escape fella!

I made it out to RP tonight too, but experienced nothing as scary as that.

It was a lovely evening and set out to do a steady three laps and deliberately didn't take the HRM with me - just planned to put in a big effort up Dark Hill and Sawyer's Hill and the rise from Richmond Gate to Pemboke Lodge and cruise the rest. Ended up recording a 57.07 effort, which I'm pretty chuffed with given that the ride went as planned. Rode part of the last lap with a chap who passed me at the end of the first lap and then kept within 20-50 yards. He was on an old LeMond with downtube shifters and, I think, 25mm tyres.

I had to work hard to not let him pull away up Dark and Sawyer's Hill. I thought "Hmmm, you did eat a few too many pastries on holiday, laddie", but felt better when he said later that he did the Marmotte last year and is doing the Maratona next week. He's also done the FWC and ED Dales this year, so, whilst I was definitelythe one breathing hard when we spoke, I felt better after that.

biondino

Here's part 1 of my Ride 24 report (also on my blog). Bloody hell.

It’s Sunday evening, and me and my thighs are sitting on the sofa watching Top Gear. The track challenge is of particular interest to me tonight, as for most of the last 36 hours I have been pounding round it on a German superbike.

That’s slightly disingenuous - only 6 of the 24 hours was I actually on the track. Thankfully I had three teammates to take up the slack (and there was one guy doing it ON HIS OWN - there are no words to tell what an absolute nutjob this chap was) because I can honestly say I’ve never done something so hard in my life.

The concept of a 24-hour relay race sounds like it should be some kind of endurance challenge. It isn’t, not really. The longest stint any of us did was about 64 minutes; the shortest a final, jubilatory 8’10” lap at the end. When planning tactics, it felt sensible to pace myself, especially in the middle hours when my body would be protesting and my mind - well, god knows where my mind would be. In practice, of course, every stint was done balls out, maybe not at 100% but at fairly close. Will, who did our first leg, couldn’t actually get off the bike unaided after his first session.

So, as it turned out, the race was essentially a series of time trials - 8 in total, from one lap (the last one, a pre-emptive victory* lap of sorts). Each one was conducted just on the right side of the ragged edge - made easier, thankfully, by the track being mostly flat. Its undulations were (almost) welcome as a bit of a change - the only “hill” gave a welcome opportunity to stand up in the pedals and release the pressure on both the inner thigh muscles and the, er, perineum. When the wind was negligible you could pretty much stay in one gear all the way round.

I’ve never done a time trial before. I might not do too many in the future - the relentlessness of it, knowing you can’t lift off for a second (of course I could have lifted off, but hey, it’s a race, and I had my opponents - and teammates - to humiliate). Doing 8 in a row - 116 miles of them - is foolhardy, I have decided. My first ten miles (which I understand is a standard TT distance), fwiw, was done in 28 minutes

I spent about 2/3 of my time in the drops, which is unheard of - and found them pretty comfortable, all things considered. My back did fine, just getting a bit sore towards the end of the 24 hours, though my left knee began to hurt roughly halfway through and wasn’t much fun thereafter. Just wear and tear, I think, though that in itself is quite an alarming thought!

The muscles, though, got pretty good treatment. The concept of having free masseurs on site for the best part of 12 hours was a godsend. I’ve never had a sports massage before, but I certainly will again - the things they did do my hamstrings, qauds and some hitherto-unknown groinal muscles which made their presence falt in the most pressing terms after my first hour in the saddle (apparently because a flat course means you’re using them the whole time, without respite - the masseur told us to try and stand up for a few yards a couple of times a lap and it made all the difference) were eye-opening, mostly in a good way.

Check in again for part 2 - my mind is still scrambled from the exertion but there’s a lot more to add!

*victory is, of course, relative. We came an impressively mediocre 12th of 23, which I thought was very respectable until I saw some of the bellies and wrinkles in higher-ranked teams. But we didn’t come last.

cjcp

Congrats! Don't under-state the effort. It's certainly an endurance event. How did you manage the sleeping routine?

Bassjunkieuk

cjcp wrote:

BJUK - excellent! Congrats on setting a PB mileage. Feels good, doesn't it? Any more long rides planned before the summer's out?

Cheers :-) I think the best bit about this years tho was that I didn't stop, last year I had visited the rest stop at Ruspers Sports club at the halfway point and had the little blip at the bottom of Devils Dyke.

Haven't got any other big rides planned yet, mainly due to family commitments meaning I have very little free time for the long rides! I imagine the next time I'll be getting some serious miles under my belt will be on the SCR Holiday outting down in the Breacons

linsen

Stop press

I rode my bike today.

No mean feat as it took me until 6.30pm to haul my sorry behind out of bed (yes, folks, I am currently at semi-cripple stage), but I was so depressed at having wasted a glorious day that I took the MTB (yes, yes I know) round the Common (around 3 miles) at the breakneck speed of around, erm, 10mph.

I WILL get better. Now own too many bikes for them to be mere ornaments.....

biondino

cjcp wrote:

Congrats! Don't under-state the effort. It's certainly an endurance event. How did you manage the sleeping routine?

I got an hour before and an hour after my 3.30-4.30am stint (not as bad as it sounds - I started riding as the first light crept into the east, and stopped as the sun made its first peek above the horizon. Beautiful). And after I got home this afternoon I got about 3 hours. Will still sleep like a log tonight (assuming the vast amounts of caffeine-containing supplements have left my system!).

lost_in_thought

Blimey, Blondie, well done!

Explain more about this TT thing?

Oh and Linds, small victories. Don't let it get you down too much - longest journeys single step etc.

And well done on the C2C, BJUK!

Everyone's been achieving this weekend.

biondino

Not sure what else there is to explain, Liv. In total I did two 7-lap stints, five 5-lappers, and one final 1-lap. Each lap was a smidge under 3 miles. Obviously I wanted to go as quickly as possible, and after my first couple of laps I pretty much figured out what I could do. So basically, because they were shortish, discrete, time-sensitive stints, they were much more like a time trial than any other riding I've done (the next nearest would probably be a late-night commute with little traffic where I just go balls out for speed).

My quickest lap was 7.45; my slowest stint, in the wee hours, averaged 9 minutes a mile. I think my overall average was roughly 8.25, which amounted to an average speed of about 20.5mph. Lowest speed just under 15mph, on the "hill" into a headwind; top speed 29mph, on the beautifully surfaced runway with a tailwind.

I'll try and put all this stuff into my next blog entry!

roger_merriman

As Bass said he caught up with me just past headly on the common, at that point was on very familer ground as it's club run routes. box hill is fun though more up i always feel as the traffic is easier to deal with, and is good exuce to use the cafe.

I was with a mixed group so i needed to keep to them really by time we rolled in was quite late, but then we stopped at every stop etc, had one off in the group with a car too close. luckly no lasting damage, as we where in the middle we saw a few fairly poor riding and driving, a few over keen on the downhills like boxhill, with out really being in control.

but yes great day out i do suffer in the heat and the fact we got in 2pm mean i was suffering at that point, i probably would of done better to go faster on my own but this was with my wifes work friends.

i'll do it again next year though i may next time try to out run the sun! though i'm a bit of plodder so maybe not.

stuaff

biondino wrote:

Not sure what else there is to explain, Liv. In total I did two 7-lap stints, five 5-lappers, and one final 1-lap. Each lap was a smidge under 3 miles. Obviously I wanted to go as quickly as possible, and after my first couple of laps I pretty much figured out what I could do. So basically, because they were shortish, discrete, time-sensitive stints, they were much more like a time trial than any other riding I've done (the next nearest would probably be a late-night commute with little traffic where I just go balls out for speed).

My quickest lap was 7.45; my slowest stint, in the wee hours, averaged 9 minutes a mile. I think my overall average was roughly 8.25, which amounted to an average speed of about 20.5mph. Lowest speed just under 15mph, on the "hill" into a headwind; top speed 29mph, on the beautifully surfaced runway with a tailwind.

I'll try and put all this stuff into my next blog entry!

Well done! I have absolutely no idea how fast I'd have been, even on an equivalent bike (both of mine are flat-bar and somewhat heavier than the Focus), but certainly a lot slower than you...15mph is about my usual sustained speed, on the flat, when it's not too windy. Great effort from you and your team mates, hope you smash the fundraising target!

Christophe3967

itboffin wrote:

MTFU it's just mud



Double hard b'ard

It's high summer, close to midnight, I'm outside, glass of wine, shorts, tee shirt, and you remind me of that :shock: Now I suddently feel as if the temperature;s dropped 20 degrees...

Christophe3967

Epic reports guys - esp BJUK and Blondie - chapeaux all round. Just a pootle up to Box Hill for me on Saturday and another pathetic effort at getting a sub 8 minute time on the BH challenge - close but no cigar :oops: 28 C though and 30s forecast next week. Yay - summer's here 8)

Christophe3967

linsen wrote:

Stop press

I rode my bike today.

No mean feat as it took me until 6.30pm to haul my sorry behind out of bed (yes, folks, I am currently at semi-cripple stage), but I was so depressed at having wasted a glorious day that I took the MTB (yes, yes I know) round the Common (around 3 miles) at the breakneck speed of around, erm, 10mph.

I WILL get better. Now own too many bikes for them to be mere ornaments.....

Good girl, be careful on that MTB

Christophe3967

cjcp wrote:

As I mentioned at the Morpeth tonight, I'm hoping to get a long ride in on the morning of 5 July. It'll be an early start because I'm hoping to meet the family at a pub for Sunday lunch (so, if others want to come along and bring their tribe too...) and I need to get about 70-ish miles in.

I'm hoping for a long ride on the afternoon of 19 July too. Again, similar distance. Suspect I'll be leaving about 3pm, so I may just stick to lapping RP.

Mother in law's staying next weekend but have put a marker down for the Morpeth on Friday night, and the Lions on Staurday, so anything else is likely to receive short shrift. But I've always been an optimist

Bassjunkieuk

Well done BD - sounds like it was good "fun", maybe we should try something like that with an SCR team...a shorter 12 hour version might be a bit easier but I can just imagine the carnage of letting a few dozen overly competitive cyclists out against each other ;-)

Glad to hear your back on the bike Linsen, small steps (or rotations in this case) so hopefully you'll be back on more soon.

Sorry to hear about the accident in your group RM, hopefully it wasn't anything to serious. I can imagine that Box Hill became quite perilous a bit later in the day once the non-regular riders hit it, in some ways I was happy to have made it there whilst it was fairly clear!

gert_lush

Ah the Dartmoor classic, 104 miles of hills hills and more hills.

With about 3400m of climbing its alwaysa challenging affair and sunday was no different, overcast but humid day was better then the blazing sun of 08, and having got away in wave 4 it wasn't long before the undulations started as we got onto the moor.

After taking it nice and easy last year i managed to do the opposite this year and set off waaaay to fast and managing to claim plenty of scalps spinning away up the hills, I had a feeling i may pay for this later! I managed to get into a group of 4 guys and sit with them for 30mins before we spaced out but that had set the faster pace for me for the day! Some good climbs upto princetown and even the Devil cheering us all on! Food stop 1 was Princetown 32 miles in, and a bit damp as the rain started, as always a great selection of fruit energy drink and flapjacks followed by a great 50mph decent. Which meant only one thing, a load more uphills!

pretty uppy and downy for the next 35 miles and then an almighty uphill back upto princetown again by which time it has started raining again, the cattle grids were very slippery and my legs were starting to hurt! (hope the guy who stacked it on one of the grids is ok)
The last 3rd saw a couple more steep uphills towards morehampstead which I really started to struggle with and was spinning frantically, fortunately I got my second wind at about 80 miles and from here on in, the hills reduce and it almost starts being downhill to the finish, the last 10-15 miles really are quick, so from doccombe back to kingsteinton it was case of find a fast bunch and work as a team and nail it back to the finish at about 23mph (fast for me!) having completed last years course in 7hr 34 and claim a bronze it was good to get back in 6hr34 this year and claim a gold......by 1 minute!! hey i'll take it! I blame the roadworks and tarffic lights about 4 miles out that stopped us for a good 3 minutes, i would have comfortably been in if it wasn't for them :):)

Anyhow a great day and my whole body ahces today which is good as at least I know i have it my all, and yet again a well organised and very well marshelled event..apart from they ran out of medals!!!! but at least i got my piece of dartmoor granite nothing like finishing a race and sitting down to Tea and Pasties!

roger_merriman

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Well done BD - sounds like it was good "fun", maybe we should try something like that with an SCR team...a shorter 12 hour version might be a bit easier but I can just imagine the carnage of letting a few dozen overly competitive cyclists out against each other ;-)

Glad to hear your back on the bike Linsen, small steps (or rotations in this case) so hopefully you'll be back on more soon.

Sorry to hear about the accident in your group RM, hopefully it wasn't anything to serious. I can imagine that Box Hill became quite perilous a bit later in the day once the non-regular riders hit it, in some ways I was happy to have made it there whilst it was fairly clear!

i he landed softly so just blooded knee could of been a lot worse, as i passed down i saw a few poor riding out too far right so when a car/bike came up, which they would as it's a busy road they had little to go, and seem to be taking risks, for little speed, i cleanly freewheeled past them, but then i know that road well. i passed quite a lot there.

was a great day, was too hot for me, possibly the helmet didn't help and a cheap one at that, but not sure was that much to be honest.

loads of MTB's and not just normal ones but supermaket specials so loads walking up mild grades as the miles piled on, but good on them for doing it, i mean my bike is not lightweight nor am I but but i do this sort of distance reasonbly often.

but great fun, i think it might be fun to have slightly faster run out next time as i really don't like the heat.

lessons learned or reminded are:

6 and half hours are a long time on the bike.

Bike is comftable saddle,bars etc no aches etc.

I really don't do well in heat, i'd do better in freezing rain....

at that distance pace i can manage with out breakfast and just the odd banana.

but I think i need to sort out some sort of energy drink as i did get a mild cramp just before the last feed stop. i don't think i need to worry too much about the calories per say but salt maybe.

lovely route will do it again though might try a faster pace next time.

cjcp

Christophe3967 wrote:

Mother in law's staying next weekend but have put a marker down for the Morpeth on Friday night, and the Lions on Staurday, so anything else is likely to receive short shrift. But I've always been an optimist

Hmm, not sure I'm going to make drinks this Friday - looks like I'm going to need to be home to open my presents (Gatorskins ) with the kids before they go to bed. I might be able to do Thursday, 2nd.