I missed our usual Wednesday jaunt on the 1st September, so as punishment I thought I’d put some mileage in on the following Sunday. Bicester to Milton Keynes and back seemed like a good idea, and as it happens, it was great.
Although it rained all morning, the cloud broke at 1pm and I cycled the round trip (click here) of fifty two miles in glorious sunshine... okay perhaps not glorious sunshine, but not a drop of rain at least.
I followed the NCN route 51 which actually runs from Oxford via Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Ipswich to Clacton-on-Sea (no really... it does... really, really). And even though 10 miles of my route was on gravel tracks, through gates and past fields (at one point I actually went through someone’s garden!), my road bike with skinny 23mm tyres stood up to the challenge. It only took three hours and forty five minutes averaging 13.8mph which I was really pleased with, although there were barely any hills involved to slow my progress.
I had meticulously prepared for the ride with the partaking of copious amounts of wine over dinner at Mr & Mrs D’s house. Not the best preparation I hear you say... Not to worry, for lunch just prior to leaving, I had a cup of coffee and two bits of left-over chicken from KFC which the kids hadn’t eaten the previous night! I did also have a banana on route along with an oat bar so it wasn't all bad.
On route, my energy seemed fine, I kept well hydrated and felt like I could easily have gone further. It just goes to show that all the info I’ve read (and frequently passed on) about nutrition has no meaning until we get to the stage of cycling proper distances!
After the ride I wondered how far I've cycled in training. I’m keeping a record of every training run I’ve done since 7th April (five months), and I’ve now cycled six hundred and ten miles... or John O’Groats to Shrewsbury on our ride.
From now on I’m going to think of my training as kilometres and our JOGLE as miles. It sounds much better if I say “980 done and only 900 to do”! “Kidology” truly is a science... Thank you to thirdcrank on the CTC Forum, I will defiantly be thinking along these lines from now on.
Come back soon to www.5blokes-end2end.weebly.com and please donate as much as you can at www.justgiving.com/5blokes-end2end
All the best,
Nathan
Although it rained all morning, the cloud broke at 1pm and I cycled the round trip (click here) of fifty two miles in glorious sunshine... okay perhaps not glorious sunshine, but not a drop of rain at least.
I followed the NCN route 51 which actually runs from Oxford via Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Ipswich to Clacton-on-Sea (no really... it does... really, really). And even though 10 miles of my route was on gravel tracks, through gates and past fields (at one point I actually went through someone’s garden!), my road bike with skinny 23mm tyres stood up to the challenge. It only took three hours and forty five minutes averaging 13.8mph which I was really pleased with, although there were barely any hills involved to slow my progress.
I had meticulously prepared for the ride with the partaking of copious amounts of wine over dinner at Mr & Mrs D’s house. Not the best preparation I hear you say... Not to worry, for lunch just prior to leaving, I had a cup of coffee and two bits of left-over chicken from KFC which the kids hadn’t eaten the previous night! I did also have a banana on route along with an oat bar so it wasn't all bad.
On route, my energy seemed fine, I kept well hydrated and felt like I could easily have gone further. It just goes to show that all the info I’ve read (and frequently passed on) about nutrition has no meaning until we get to the stage of cycling proper distances!
After the ride I wondered how far I've cycled in training. I’m keeping a record of every training run I’ve done since 7th April (five months), and I’ve now cycled six hundred and ten miles... or John O’Groats to Shrewsbury on our ride.
From now on I’m going to think of my training as kilometres and our JOGLE as miles. It sounds much better if I say “980 done and only 900 to do”! “Kidology” truly is a science... Thank you to thirdcrank on the CTC Forum, I will defiantly be thinking along these lines from now on.
Come back soon to www.5blokes-end2end.weebly.com and please donate as much as you can at www.justgiving.com/5blokes-end2end
All the best,
Nathan