VCC100 (for some!)

Verulam club have organised a 100 mile ride on Sunday.  A big day out with two coffee stops and a lunch break.  

A lovely plan for a day, but now I have a different perspective and I want to have an enjoyable day out.  Stuart and I come up with a modified plan.  Stuart rides with the inter-socials to the first coffee stop and I drive there.  We both the ride with the sociables to lunch, ride back to the the coffee stop, I drive home and Stuart returns with the inter-socials!

Turns out this is a cracking plan.

Weather is good (we're not doing a sportive) and I arrive nice and early at the first coffee stop.  The White Horse in High Cross

It's just me and Poppy for a while, and she seems to enjoy the attention.

We watch as the Rapides turn up, don't even sit down, grab their cake and run.  Well, that's one way to have a day out.

Soon the rest of the groups turn up, and I'm very happy to join up with the Sociables, who have a more laid back approach to cycling.

The first leg of the route is tough, but I hang in there.  I'm dropped on the hills, but there is a tail wind going out, so as the group are riding along at 14mph, I am able to ride at 16mph and just catch up.  In time for the next hill.

Lunch stop is a 20 mile ride to a nice pub with plenty of space, lots of sandwiches and convivial company.

On the return ride to the original coffee stop I realise that if I get dropped then Stuart will stay with me and possibly might end up with no-one to ride home with.  

I am on a mission.  Head down, determined to keep up.  Fortunately, the route is flatter coming back, the group are more tired and I manage amazingly to stay with the group.  Very happy with that, and also that we arrived back at the pub just before all the good cakes ran out.

There was then plenty of time for everyone to sit around enjoying the sunshine

And then I happily waved off the sociables and inter socials before I set off home in the car.

A change of direction

We're doing a Sportive, so the weather is rubbish, of course!  It seems that all cycling days are lovely except when we do a Sportive.

So here we are at the start at Wimpole Manor National Trust property.   8.45 am and ready to head off round some very picturesque villages in Cambridgeshire and Essex.

This is the only picture I take during the day, as this is an important ride for judging how ready I am for the London Ride 100

So to cut a long story short, I finish my 75 miles by 18.45.  This finish line isn't there as it has been packed up, and once again our car is the last one in the car park.

After a lot of calculations, spreadsheets and soul searching, Stuart and I reluctantly conclude that I will not be able to complete the Ride 100 without being booted off the course.  There is a professional race heading round the course after the initial 20,000 riders have finished, so everyone must have ridden down the mall by 5.30pm.  I was given a start time of 8.45 am (I'd been hoping for a start time closer to 6am)  so we decide to defer our places for a year.    Of course Stuart could have done the ride no problem, but he says we're in this together, so we both defer.   He is once again my hero.

On the one hand I'm bitterly disappointed not to be doing the ride, but on the other hand, I have another year of fun training rides with Stuart to look forward to, I just need to figure out the speed issues.

Update

Later in the week, I visit a physiotherapist to sort out a hip issue.  (I discovered I couldn't sit cross legged in a yoga class).  After quite a bit of investigation, it seems that my glutes are not engaging properly, so when I'm cycling my lower back muscles instead of my glutes are providing the power.  

I need to reduce my cycling for a bit and focus on getting the wiring in my muscles firing properly and when that is done building the muscles back up.

So, I'm now very relieved that the Ride100 place is deferred.

A Beautiful Summer's day out

I'm hoping to do a 70 mile ride today, Stuart says he has programmed a route into the Garmin, which as we set off I discover is 59 miles.  There is a certain amount of grumpiness for the first 10 miles (or so)!

I needn't worry, we are soon "off course" and adding an extra mile here or there.  Stuart says I "loaded" the course incorrectly, I say he programmed it badly!  Ah the joys of navigation!

At the first tea stop the Garmin is discarded and the trusty OS map reinstated.

It actually doesn't really matter which route we take, the sun is shining and it is a beautiful day.

At the lunch stop, the Garmin is consulted again, I'm not sure that this is very wise!

But the afternoon ride is just as lovely.

At the end of the day we have done 65 miles, and given the temperatures, around 27 deg, I am exhausted.  There are no energy beans left to ride an extra few miles. I will sleep well tonight.