Tuesday 22 October 2013

A decent week of training and a good Club ride

I was hoping for at least 10 hours of training last week and was pleased that I ended up logging over 13 hous in total.

Most was on the bike - in addition to about 5 hours of commuting / local training I enjoyed a longer 5 hour ride on Saturday with the boys from the Club.

We met at Portsmouth harbour at around 8:30am and caught the Catamaran to the Isle of Wight for a tour of the rugged coastline. Although I had visited the IOW on a number of occasions I was surprised on how hilly the coastal route was. There was a lot of ups and downs!

There were only 6 riders including me. Within the group were some of the most strongest and experienced cyclists in the Club so I knew it was going to be a struggle to keep up. As always the top guys were quite comfortable holding back the pace a little or waiting for the slower riders (Gareth and I) to catch up. I love these types of Club rides, although quite challenging there is always a healthy bit of banter going on, which makes them so enjoyable.

We were certainly ready for a lunch stop after about 70km of very hilly terrain, a couple of punctures, a spot of heavy rain, a few sprint sets and as you may expect some healthy competition. Fortunately as we dried out in a pub in Yarmouth, which served some really good nosh, and rested our weary legs the sun did come out, which made the afternoon cycling (another 40km) that much more enjoyable.

The hilly sections, although not too difficult, continued throughout the rest of the day. I was pleased that at the end I was not the only one with some weary legs. Even the strongest of the group had felt some leg burn during the five hours in the saddle. So the day ended with the crossing back to Portsmouth (this time we sat on the top deck) and there on the journey home.

I have just started downloading my training sessions to Strava, via Garmin Connect, which are public to view. You are welcome to follow me on Strava and check out the routes and my stats.

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