possibly the hardest 10 miles Ive done on my bike

torico
torico Posts: 67
edited December 2009 in Training, fitness and health
pedalling the last 10 miles of a 40 mile route this sunday in horrible horrible wind - felt worse than the joux plane and other assorted cols in the alps!

possibly becasue I was utterly miserable and, cold, wet and the wind was so powerful i was in the 39t going nowhere on the flat, one minute standing "climbing " into the wind then realisingt hsi was futile and trying aero postions risking loosing control of that bars

anyone esle want to share their worst 10 miles?
if anyone mentions that its charachter building .....

Comments

  • Wooliferkins
    Wooliferkins Posts: 2,060
    The last ten miles of my first (and so far only) 400K Audax. Under prepared, under fed and sleep deprived. Over ten years on thank you to the two guys who nursed me home with 20 minutes to spare, and let me sign in in front of them.
    Neil
    Help I'm Being Oppressed
  • torico
    torico Posts: 67
    you win!
  • Wooliferkins
    Wooliferkins Posts: 2,060
    They're both in our mental bank now. When the going gets sh1tty we can say, Is it any worse than X? No? Good I can make it
    Neil
    Help I'm Being Oppressed
  • bahzob
    bahzob Posts: 2,195
    Belgium. Day 5 of my attempt to ride round the 2006 TDF route. Day 1 had been idyllic ride in French sunshine. Day 2 turned east and into storm coming west. Day 2-5 weather entries: Wet/Wind+Hail+Sun/WindWindWet/WetGale. Heading across Belgium's rolling countryside dreading every time crested a ridge as knew would get blasted in face by horizontal rain and have to pedal harder downhill than up never a good sign.

    Worst 10 miles: last day of this woke up to sound of torrential rain. Set off and first couple of hours at least sheltered as rode alongside a river. But then had to climb up and out of valley straight west into full on gale coming east. Can still remember struggling along, barely able to keep moving. Only thing darker than the sky were thoughts in head. At the end of an hour of this with no sign of respite was going up yet another hill (Belgium is not flat!) with thoughts of quitting. Thankfully as going up noticed a sign pointing down to a village which had a bar. 2 hours, 4 leffes, 2 croques monsieurs and 1 set of wet>warm clothes later I set off again and quite by coincidence as I started the rain stopped and I only got wet once in the next 5 weeks.

    Funny thing about things like this is that though a nightmare at the time in retrospect they serve to set other things into perspective. I've done some tough things on a bike since then but no matter how bad I've always been able to tell myself "its bad but at least its not as bad as Belgium". Last morning of LEL came close, same endless grinding hills, same damnn headwind but at least it had stopped raining...

    * Just in case any Belgians reading this hasten to say I love their country when not on a bike riding in a gale + its the home great people like best cyclist the world's ever produced and the guy who saved my life later same tour above.
    Martin S. Newbury RC
  • Splottboy
    Splottboy Posts: 3,695
    1. Was staying in Harrogate area for the w/end, so had to find accomm.
    Rode to small village bout 15 miles away, and it started snowing. Woman in accomm ordered a taxi to get me back, I was frozen! Roads were lethal with ice/snow.

    2. Bought used road bike, and pedaled to see g/friend in a millionaires showjumpers house -seriously - she was looking after his horses while he was in Europe.
    Didn't get much sleep!
    Rode back to Newark in snowstorm. Was late for badminton class. Had to sit in front of electric fire to thaw out! Huge puddle on floor surrounded me....
  • dave milne
    dave milne Posts: 703
    alpe d'huez in the marmotte this year

    about 35 degrees, relentlessly steep, had completely blown and trying to ride up it using 34/25 which I didn't have the strength anymore to push up those gradients at this point so was grinding up with a cadence of barely 50rpm. It took me about an hour and a half which is about the same it took me to the glandon earlirt in the day which is twice as long a climb
  • ju5t1n
    ju5t1n Posts: 2,028
    dave milne wrote:
    alpe d'huez in the marmotte this year

    about 35 degrees, relentlessly steep, had completely blown and trying to ride up it using 34/25 which I didn't have the strength anymore to push up those gradients at this point so was grinding up with a cadence of barely 50rpm. It took me about an hour and a half which is about the same it took me to the glandon earlirt in the day which is twice as long a climb
    Sounds like you cycled it all though, so well done. I saw loads of guys pushing their bikes which I just cannot understand. Unless you’ve got serious cramp it has to be easier to ride, at any speed?
  • dave milne
    dave milne Posts: 703
    ju5t1n wrote:
    dave milne wrote:
    alpe d'huez in the marmotte this year

    about 35 degrees, relentlessly steep, had completely blown and trying to ride up it using 34/25 which I didn't have the strength anymore to push up those gradients at this point so was grinding up with a cadence of barely 50rpm. It took me about an hour and a half which is about the same it took me to the glandon earlirt in the day which is twice as long a climb
    Sounds like you cycled it all though, so well done. I saw loads of guys pushing their bikes which I just cannot understand. Unless you’ve got serious cramp it has to be easier to ride, at any speed?

    i didn't push but I did stop about 5-6 times. collapsed with cramp at the end and burst into tears. Same again next year then :)

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