The Long Ride - What Fun!

Health warning!! I am about to fall into detailed description of a long bike ride. Boring for some – sorry!

Busy busy; it’s been a busy week. After the club ride last Sunday my Monday training turned out to be an easy swim only as I had a slight reaction to my TB jab. Tuesday was easy also and I ended up missing my weekly strength session. On Wed travelled to Lincoln to race in the Linc Services League Cross Country League. The course, set by Lincs Police is a real mud route! I managed to get 4th place but didn’t feel too strong. Thursday and Friday were easy days as I was stiff from the cross country! It seemed to be taking longer than normal to recover. Maybe it’s age! Saturday is normally my rest day but I intended to train easy. However, we had to travel to Stoke so I ended up resting – although it was a tiring day with a late night.

So, I was non too happy with the week’s training. As I rolled out for the club ride today I decided I had best make up for my ‘relaxed’ week. This club ride thing is becoming the focus of my training I suppose! The thing is, I enjoy it so much! There is always someone to race against or push the pace. Some would say that the intensity is too high but to be honest, I would rather go for the enjoyment than get tangled up in the schedule/preparation thing. I guess I will never reach my potential with this attitude but I have been to the ‘I must take on the world and be the best’ place when I was younger (in my running days). The pressure that I used to lump on myself only served to bring frustration and disappointment. We rarely perform as we think we should and we sometimes set unattainable goals for ourselves. Anyway, in my Triathlon life, enjoyment is key. If my race performance suffers, it matters not! Check this pic out from 1984! Back in the days when I thought I would be a decent runner! hey, I look exactly the same as I do now. . .

The ride today saw warmer weather, and even some sunshine! The wind did blow but it was fun! There was a big turn out with maybe 30 riders. Jackie Wren was riding today and seemed to have rediscovered her enthusiasm. Maybe the rest will have recharged her batteries. We chatted and agreed on a duathlon plan for April! Watch this space. Pete Russell was also out (former RAF Triathlete, now a civilian). We formed 2 groups to begin with but the spread of abilities was too big and a ‘faster’ group was requested (not by me!). I moved into this group as I knew I wanted to ride hard. Pete refused my invitation to join me – so very weak, Pete! I was a little surprised to see only 5 riders form this group. Oh well, I needed to warm myself up so I put in a little dig over some bumps to put daylight between the 2 groups. The guys I ride with are friendly and a joy to pedal with. We did some through and off and I was happy to do some big turns on the front and push the hills. I like my coffee breaks and at 30 miles we stopped at the planned cafe – jaffa cake over load for me. . . Again!

The ride back saw some long stretches with a tail wind and the pace was high. Some of the other group swelled our numbers as we headed back to St Ives. I put in some more big digs, including a 53/12 2 mile stretch on the aero bars that really blew the group apart. I knew that if I wanted to put daylight between the other strong riders that I would have to hit the front at full pelt. Hence, to begin with I lurked at the back of the group. As the front riders picked up the pace (this stretch of road always causes guys to race!), I dropped to the aero bars and went full bore. I passed the front riders at some speed. After 30 seconds or so I glanced under my arm to see if I had someone on my wheel. The gap was there but they were chasing. I focused on keeping the power smooth. With me on my aero bars and a gap, the roadies would find it difficult to bridge across – oh yes! For 2 miles I was Fabian Cancellara riding the last mile of Milan – San Remo! Great fun. The final 5 miles home saw yet more efforts from riders and I was happy enough to recover quickly and be able to challenge again. As I said at the start; this training may not benefit my summer riding but I am happy.

Sorry to go on a bit!