An interesting off-road night ride with a bit of drama

To bring you up to date on my training over the last week:

Sat - Swim: Club session (1:00)

Sun - easy off-road run with plenty of hills 17km (1:50)

Mon - Cycle: one-way commute - easy incl. 15min tempo (1:10)

Tue - Run: 8km tempo set (0:40)

Wed - Run: strides set (0:30) / Cycle: off-road night ride (1:25)

Thu - Cycle: 20km fartlek - easy, hill-work, fast sections (0:50)

Fri - rest day

Every day I have performed between 30-100 calf raises, which seems to be helping with the ongoing Achilles tendonitis.

Wednesday was a little different - I decided to miss the normal Club swim session so I could attend South Downs Cycles monthly off-road night ride (first Wednesday of the month - starting at 6:30pm at the Storrington store). I hadn't ridden with the guys from South Downs Cycles for well over a year. I used to be really in to off-road cycling and one of the main reasons for getting involved with triathlon was to get fitter so I could keep up with the guys I would ride with each month, normally 8-15 pretty hard-core mountain bikers.

I was amazed how the event has grown - close on 70 riders took off in 3 groups. I chose the middle group with 4 of the guys (total group of around 25) I used to originally ride with. Once we got to the top of the South Downs via Kithurst Hill, it was pitch black so a good set of lights was essential. Many of the mountain bikers were using USE Exposure lights as they organised a demo of their kit for the evening ride. I use a 3 LED Exposure light, pumping out 700+ lumens, which I purchased 2-3 years back and is still going strong - a quality bit of essential kit if you plan to cycle at night. The new Exposure lights are even better - up to 6 LEDs and 2,000 lumens - very nice, albeit not cheap (£350-£400).

Within 10mins of getting to the top we were picking up speed down some decent single track and proper off-road terrain. Unfortunately before we knew it the lead rider, a very experienced biker and one of the best road cyclists in the Sussex area, had a nasty fall, landing on his shoulder. He seemed in a lot of pain and it was obvious he had done some serious damage to his shoulder or collar bone. The next 30 mins involved the Group sorting out a solution to move the injured rider off the Downs to the ambulance that was called to the road about a mile below. Fortunately a farmer with a 4x4 came to our rescue. 

After all that drama there was at least 2 puncture incidents that split the group further and a pretty dangerous decent that made me think I certainly needed a bit more practice on my mountain bike (Ellsworth Ephiphany) before I commit to another night ride, or am I simply getting old - self-preservation becoming more important!

Anyway, still a good night on the bike and nice to be back on the old mountain bike. I might try that downhill again on Sunday morning, this time in the light.

Thanks for checking in and reading my blog - 'Keep the rubber side down'