Seems like last weekend's cold snap wasn't a blip after all - a few mildly tepid weeks in April, and now it's ridiculously cold again - please tell me that April wasn't our summer . I was out riding on Saturday for 7 hours and the temperature never got any better than 6 or 7 degrees centigrade. And it's supposed to be May FFS! So reluctantly, I had to dig deep into the bottom of the clothes chest and pull out the long-finger gloves, winter socks, overshoes, legwarmers and armwarmers again.
For once, I couldn't be bothered to plan a route for my weekend ride, so rather unimaginatively I cycled out to Box Hill along a well-trodden route, with a plan to do multiple 8 mile circuits taking in the famous climb. Box Hill is a village on top of the North Downs near Dorking. It's neither very long (2.5km), nor very steep (average about 4-5%), and the road surface isn't great either. But for London-based cyclists the climb's got a scarcely deserved reputation as a mecca for any serious roadie. I'm pretty sure that's because it has 3 switchback corners on it, which gives the false impression that it must be quite steep, and somehow manages to give it an air of an Alpine road climb - in leafy Surrey. Somewhat farcical. But, in the absence of anything better, it's a very useful place to go for hill training and can be a proper challenge, depending on how fast and how often you choose to ride it. And I was choosing to ride up it lots and lots...but not very fast.
I seem to be developing a pattern on my long rides. I start off pretty well and after 25 miles feel strong and confident that the rest of the trip is going to continue in the same vein. But come 30-35 miles in, I suddenly begin to flag and the next 10-15 miles are a real struggle. Usually accompanied by a strong ache in the lower back, my legs begin to feel increasingly devoid of energy. Then, after that episode, I start to get better again and almost feel like I'm getting stronger with every mile. Brief rests seem to help a lot, so that makes me confident that I'll have less of a problem on the TdF as I expect we'll be stopping or slowing down quite frequently in a big group. I'm pretty sure the problem's not nutrition-related as I eat and drink fairly continously throughout my ride.
Of course, the other reason that Box Hill is so popular with cyclists is the fantastic National Trust cafe at the top of it. Apparently, it's illegal for cyclists to continue past the cafe without stopping. Yes, apparently. More like it's a complete necessity by then. I was going through one of my weak legs, achy back episodes on Saturday, and knew that a stop at the cafe would sort me out. But, each time I ground past the cafe at what felt like glacial pace in the unrelenting drizzle, and looked across at the cafe windows I could see that it was still firmly closed - the unfair penalty for starting out too early. It was only on my 4th pass that I saw that it had eventually opened. And what a treat that was after all those 'failed' passes. As you can see from the photo, the choice is overwhelming - a complete carb-fest - but what to have? First off a coffee to warm up. After what must've seem like an eternity for the long-suffering lady behind the window, I settled on a piece of homemade treacle tart. I say piece, but this doesn't quite do it justice, as it was a huge bed of pastry and treacle, all sugary sweet, and quite delicious. Said lady asked if I had any change, rather than my £5 note, but I assured her that any change she gave me would most probably be returned to her pretty soon. Sure enough, I was back in the queue for my second square foot of treacle tart about 2 minutes later. Now that made the rest of the ride go a bit better for sure. Note to Popeye - treacle tart tastes a whole lot better than spinach. Note to self - don't ever try to carry treacle tart in back pocket, however good it is.
Highlight of the weekend - other than the treacle tart - was my final Chelsea game in my season-ticket seat - which I'm giving up after 13 years (just too many other calls on my time / money now). But what a way to go out - winning the Premiership on the final day of the season, by beating Wigan 8-0, Chelsea's biggest ever League win in 105 years of history. Most goals (103) scored by a top-flight team since 196?, golden boot for Drogba, (share of) golden gloves for Cech. And a great cuzza with Dave and Ben afterwards too! Ok, so not great for my training but WTH.
Weekly totals
Commute - 103 miles
Other rides - 100 miles
Funds raised to date £2093
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