Littleport Linedance

Sunday was a loop from Downham to Ely. Unfortunately I rode into the middle of a TT in Littleport and ended up altering my route. Unfortunately the route I chose out of Littleport was also the route of the TT. I was able to keep pace with them into the wind but was not able to catch the rider in front. I followed the route for about 5 miles and then they went left and I went right and immediately breathed a sigh of relief as I was able to back off a few mph.

Riding into the stiff breeze I considered that wind is to cycling what a hangover is to drinking. If you are serious about cycling then you need to accept the wind and the more cycling you do then the more wind you will have to endure. Norfolk on paper is a little bit of a cyclist's dream in that it is flat. The reality is that it is always windy, there are no hedges and the roads are straight for miles on end.

The Swaffham Shuffle

Saturday's ride is over. It came in at 41.5miles. Weather was shitty. Roads were wet and bike was full of grime. Every time I braked you could hear the rims being ground away by the carborundum paste of the road grit. Surprisingly my arse survived and I did not suffer from the normal numb bum. I have been using my 4th choice of saddle in as many weeks and is a cheapo saddle I took off my mtb.
Got home and got on the Wiggle and ordered a Brooks leather saddle.
Sunday's forecast is for about 5 mins of sun so may need some sun block!

Saturday Morning

Weather as usual has not followed the forecast. Currently raining fairly hard and if I am serious about a ride today then I am going to get wet. The wind has also swung around to the north so my plan is an east/west loop across to Swaffham and back to Downham. I estimate around 40 miles.
Cycle gear has been washed so it no longer stands up by itself and bike is ready to roll just as soon as I have had a fry-up breakfast.

Weekend plans

Weekend is approaching and plan is to do a long ride on one of the days. I will wait to see what way the wind is blowing before deciding where to go.
Had a call in at work last night around midnight. Got to bed around 2am and intended to drive to work this morning but i was in autopilot when I got up and was on my bike before I asked myself the question, "what the hell am I doing?"
legs were tired today so no big push on the rides. The wind decided to be a cross wind in the morning then a headwind coming home. No pub stop at the end of the ride since I still have one more night of being on call. Tomorrow will be a cycle to work today and maybe a wee stopover at a pub on the way home but my cycle clothes are into their 3rd day without a wash so will not be popular!

The route for the LEJOG has not yet been decided. I have been laboured with the task of plotting the Kendal to JOG section. Plan at the moment is to go up the west coast and hop across to Arran.

Training Update

So, feb 23rd and a little update. Got myself a Garmin Edge thingy to track progress on the bike. I post my rides on Garmin Connect under Braveheart99. Training is going well. I am riding to work and back most days which is 24 miles and then doing longer rides at the weekend. Total weekly mileage is over 150miles and aiming for 200 miles a week in March. I had a ride up from Cambridge of 40 miles and averaged 24 mph. Amazing how much faster you go with a good tail wind.
The daily rides to work are tough. 5am starts and wind and rain to contend with but the weather can only get better! Good lighting is the key and my front light pumps out 1800lumens and even comes with a dimmer switch which I refuse to use. From the rear I am lit up like a Xmas tree and I am visible from the moon.
More posts to follow..........