Just a three day commute on the cycle this week, but I have now started to add in more distance to my ride home, with a lap of Richmond Park tagged on the end. My timing was not great, as on each night I got battered by strong winds and drenched by persistent rain. All good character-building stuff I suppose. Nah, just unpleasant.
For the Easter weekend I’d planned to do my first back-to-back of serious distance, riding to my parents on Easter Sunday (85 miles) and then to some friends near Silverstone on Easter Monday (75 miles). Riding long distances on consecutive days is something I’m going to need to get used to for the TdF, so I was really looking forward to seeing how I would get on. As it turned out, our trip to Silverstone was cancelled, so I never did the second ride as planned.
I set off for my parents on Easter Sunday at 6.30am in slight drizzle, but feeling confident about the ride – my aim was to cycle at a gentle pace to save energy for the following day’s action. But it became clear pretty early on that the trip was likely to cost me a bit more energy than I’d originally bargained for. The reason? Wind. I was cycling 85 miles into a strong headwind. Initially this has little noticeable effect other than a slightly slower speed, but after a couple of hours it really started to sap the energy in my legs, and then the mind games began. Long before the end, I was desperate to stop and seek some respite from the unrelenting buffeting. I had a tremendous sense of relief when I saw a sign to Highworth 4 miles, meaning I was only 6 miles from the end of this self-imposed torture – and comfortably in time for lunch. At least on the TdF I should be able to shelter behind some other riders if it’s windy, so things shouldn’t be as bad as this (famous last words). Encouragingly, I recovered relatively quickly and actually felt pretty good for the rest of the day – no doubt helped by a delicious Easter Sunday lunch of roast lamb and all the trimmings. Positives were brief stops by the side of the River Thames in Windsor and Henley early in the morning, just as the sun was breaking through – and some strange, but very happy bloke trying to feed bananas to the ducks.
For the Easter weekend I’d planned to do my first back-to-back of serious distance, riding to my parents on Easter Sunday (85 miles) and then to some friends near Silverstone on Easter Monday (75 miles). Riding long distances on consecutive days is something I’m going to need to get used to for the TdF, so I was really looking forward to seeing how I would get on. As it turned out, our trip to Silverstone was cancelled, so I never did the second ride as planned.
I set off for my parents on Easter Sunday at 6.30am in slight drizzle, but feeling confident about the ride – my aim was to cycle at a gentle pace to save energy for the following day’s action. But it became clear pretty early on that the trip was likely to cost me a bit more energy than I’d originally bargained for. The reason? Wind. I was cycling 85 miles into a strong headwind. Initially this has little noticeable effect other than a slightly slower speed, but after a couple of hours it really started to sap the energy in my legs, and then the mind games began. Long before the end, I was desperate to stop and seek some respite from the unrelenting buffeting. I had a tremendous sense of relief when I saw a sign to Highworth 4 miles, meaning I was only 6 miles from the end of this self-imposed torture – and comfortably in time for lunch. At least on the TdF I should be able to shelter behind some other riders if it’s windy, so things shouldn’t be as bad as this (famous last words). Encouragingly, I recovered relatively quickly and actually felt pretty good for the rest of the day – no doubt helped by a delicious Easter Sunday lunch of roast lamb and all the trimmings. Positives were brief stops by the side of the River Thames in Windsor and Henley early in the morning, just as the sun was breaking through – and some strange, but very happy bloke trying to feed bananas to the ducks.
I was buoyed by the thought of a tailwind on the planned ride to Silverstone – how good was that going to feel in contrast with Sunday’s torment! But on Sunday evening we cancelled the trip to see our friends, so instead I decided to ride round Richmond Park – partly because I couldn’t be bothered to plan another route. But after 3 laps, heavy legs, boredom and more wind meant I just couldn’t face going on any further, and I bailed after 25 miles. More work to be done, clearly!
Weekly totals
Commute – 80 miles
Other rides – 87 miles
Funds raised to date £1778
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