Saturday, 24 April 2010
24 APRIL - SIXTY MILES
Set off at 0815 to cycle up the Elham Valley to the Canterbury Hospice. It was an uneventful run which took exactly one hour. I spent 15 minutes refuelling with a breakfast bar and water before leaving on the route for the Thanet Hospice. On reaching the turn near Downland Cycles I was passed swiftly by the keen Saturday morning bunch including Ian Ashton and John Morgan from my Rotary Club. I really must get a more moderm bike when I hand back the Marin to Richard Davis. I wound my way through Stodmarsh and Stourmouth. There were lots of Deal Tri riders out heading in the opposite direction. I made the Thanet Hospice in 1 hour 30 minutes where I stopped for a welcome cup of tea, another beakfast bar and a chat with the volunteers. Heading off it was getting warm, and I probably had to much gear on but I pushed on to Sandwich where I stopped to talk to Kaye and Martin who are volunteers who manage our charity shop in the town. It was buzzing with customers and looked fantastic, with quality goods beautifully displayed. It is well worth a visit as are all our other shops. Continued on to Nonington where I stopped for some water and then pushed on over the A2 and up the hill at the end of Gravel Castle Road. Made it up safely but began to feel that my legs were running out of steam; the last 5 miles to home were tough, pushing a lower gear than normal into a slight head wind. I am not sure why the last few miles were so hard; maybe doing the ride last evening meant that my body hadn't recovered enough. I also had too many clothes on;it is time to ditch the jacket and the track suit bottoms. I will certainly do nothing after next weekend. The whole ride took 5 hours and 45 minutes, including the stops so I guess I averaged around 12 miles per hour. That might also explain why I was tired near the end!
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It was interesting to read the account of your latest ride, which included a section of my 50 mile outing last weekend.
ReplyDeleteI have had my bike serviced now in preparation for the full ride, and my gears are now in full working order.
Out on Saturday afternoon, riding a route from my home in Kennington to the Ashford Hospice Hospice and then following the route to the other side of Petham. Starting to see a few more cyclists on the roads now as the event draws near. Retraced the the route from Petham back home, a total of just over 25 miles, which I completed in a satisfying time of 1 hour 45 minutes.
With just two weeks to go I feel that a few shorter rides, which include some hills should be enough. Just have to hope for good weather now...
Out today for another training ride, ended up with an out-and-back ride from Kennington, picking up the route in Willesborough, through Hastingleigh for some hill work, on through Waltham, Petham and Lower Hardres before ending up at the Chaucer Hospital, purely as a stopping point and not for medical attention. A quick stop for water and a fruit bar, then retraced my route back to Kennington. An enjoyable ride, with no problems, registering 31.5 miles on my computer and completed in 2 hrs 15 minutes, so still managing to keep my average pace about 12-14 mph. Probably just do a couple of short rides now before the main event on the 9th...
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