90 miles in the rain

The day finally arrived for that terrifying 90 mile training ride. The forecast was for torrential rain and thunderstorms all day, but there was no staying in bed - we had both taken the day off for this and couldn't afford to cancel it, so by 7am we were on the road and heading towards our meeting point, 15 miles away from our homes.  By the time we arrived we were soaked to the skin and really not looking forward to another 75 miles, but it was great to meet up and have company in our misery :-)
I had downloaded a route from the internet so we didn't really have any idea where we were heading, but it turned out to be a really beautiful route looping around the New Forest, Boldrewood, Lyndhurst, Lepe, Beaulieu,,,,,,,,,
Jenny was very pleased with herself, having stayed up late the night before baking flapjacks and packing an amazing calorie-filled lunch box to fuel our efforts.  Imagine her mortification when we had our first snack stop, only to discover that she had left the food behind, together with her first aid kit, puncture repair kit etc....
However, in spite of the rain and managing on my (more meagre) rations, we got through the first 40 miles pretty quickly, with just a couple of nasty hills to slow us down, and decided to stop for hot chocolate at a pub to warm up.  It was a great idea, and we felt so much  better setting off again 30 minutes later, until we unlocked the bikes and discovered that I had a huge puncture.  It took more than half an hour in the rain to finally fix it enough to set off again, but the pressure was low in the tyre and it didn't feel great.
Suddenly I found I was really struggling on the hills, and felt like I was trying to cycle a  tractor, so we stopped again and had a go with Jenny's pump and managed to get another 20 psi into the tyre. That made a huge difference, and before long the weather cleared a bit and we were cycling happily again.  By the time we reached  Lepe ( about 57 miles) the sky was trying to brighten and we were almost enjoying the ride.

However, we didn't stay dry for long, as we discovered that the road had turned into a stream, and the only option was to ride through it unless we wanted to backtrack about 10 miles....

Undaunted, we pedalled on with wet feet and stopped for lunch at a little pub near Beaulieu, where we got chatting with a lovely retired couple who had been keen cyclists for decades. When we left the pub, they sponsored us too!!
We had a short drink stop at 70 miles to chat to some New Forest Ponies...

The next 5 miles were pretty good, with not too much rain, and all too soon we reached our "meet point" near Rhinefield and sat down for a quick New Forest ice cream before parting company to do the last 15 miles back home on our own.  It started raining quite hard again, and I can't pretend to have enjoyed the last few miles, particularly the final hill back to my house, but the sense of achievement as my odometer clicked over the 90  miles was worth all the effort.
Just a few more training rides to do, and Paris here we come!

New bike for Jenny, and long distances are getting easier.

I am really really pleased to announce that Jenny has a lovely shiny new Specialized Elite road bike with all the trimmings, made possible by the government subsidies provided to employers by the cycle scheme. If only my employer would sign up to it <sighs>.
Having survived my very long trip out over the South Downs, my next ride was an easy 16 miles to Marwell Zoo, and it was good to realise that this does feel like a  nice short ride now.
On Sunday Jenny and I were booked for a 30 mile Sky Ride in Bournemouth, so we decided to up the mileage a bit (!) to meet our training program demand for 60 miles.  We set off early in the morning and met at the 15 mile point between our two houses. Usually I get there a few minutes before Jenny, but this time she beat me by at least 10 minutes, so the new bike is clearly a very good investment!  A quick 15 miles back to Bournemouth for breakfast, and by 10 am we were at Hengistbury head to meet the rest of the Sky Riders. We didn't have a great start, with poor Jenny having a fall, a chain jam and a puncture all in the first few miles, but after some hectic pedalling to catch up with the group, the rest of the 30 miles was a really pretty route and not too challenging.  We got to the end of the ride not really feeling like we had done 60 miles, and could have happily done more, so we must be getting more stamina.  Also, it was really noticeable how much easier Jenny was finding the hills on the new lightweight bike.
A couple of days rest, and then a 25 mile round trip to Winchester got me out of bed bright and early.  What should have been quite a pleasant ride became a bit stressful as my chain came off twice - once when pulling away in front of a lorry.  Not long afterwards and another big lorry decided it couldn't wait 30 seconds for me to pedal along a narrow section of road, and hurtled past me on a corner nearly taking me off my bike.  Heart pounding and adrenalin pumping for the next few minutes, I had barely recovered when my GPS ran out of batteries, and I realised that for the first time ever I had not brought spares with me.  This shouldn't have been a problem on a local ride, but I managed to get myself quite lost in Winchester and had to resort to Google Maps on my phone to get me back on track.  Even so, I made quite good time so it wasn't all bad news.
Our next ride is the longest yet - 90 miles in one day.  We have a tentative route plan which involves a fair few hills,  and the weather forecast at the moment is predicting heavy rain and thunderstorms, so this could really test our resolve..............................

Testing mobile update

I'm hoping to update daily on route to Paris using my mobile, so this is a test blog.

Over the South Downs..

With less than a month to go the training schedule is looking pretty scary now.  I started the week with a 'quick' ride to Winchester and back (22 miles).  My GPS is good for tracking rides, but doesn't give me any hill climbing data, so  I have a new app for my phone (Endomondo) so that I can see if I am doing enough climbing in my training. I was really despondent when I got home and looked on the wehsite only to find that I had climbed just 60 meters in total.  On the London to Paris we need to climb 1000 meters in a day!
So, determined to get some hill training in, I made a plan to send the family out to Petworth House in the car, and I would set off really early in the morning to cycle the 45 miles over the South Downs to join them.  I made it in good time, cycling up and down some killer hills, and could harldly believe it when I arrived in Midhurst in Sussex, 37 miles from home....

Getting to Petworth from there was an easy few miles, and after a good day out together (with a lift to Uppark!) I set off for the 30 miles back home.  My GPS thought it would be hilarious to direct me over the hilliest part of the downs, and at a couple of points I really thought I could not possibly climb another hill.  But I made it, without getting off my bike, and 72 miles after leaving home I was back again, certain that I must have some really good numbers on my hill climb data.
I was gutted to see that I had still only climbed 380 meters.  In fact, looking more closely at the elevation profile of my ride I knew that this had to be wrong! A quick trawl of the forums confirmed my suspicions - Endomondo climb data is way off!  So, being a geek, I imported the data into excel and calculated it myself.
The reality?  1483 meters of climbing!! And even my little Southampton to  Winchester ride is actually 370  meters of climbing.  So maybe I can do this after all....................

A peek at what my early mornings look like

I really didn't feel like rolling out of bed at 6.30 this morning to head out for 30 miles of training, but I thought that at least the roads would be fairly clear. Silly me - as if the A35 would ever be clear of lorries hurtling past me.  However, the New Forest was as beautiful as ever, and as I pulled into my 15 mile turnaround point I could almost believe that I was enjoying myself (almost).  This video is a snippet of what life looks like from on my bike.

More than 1000 miles in training and only a few weeks to go

Once again I have been incredibly busy and not updated the blog for ages.  The training distances are increasing every week and it's getting harder and harder to fit it all in.
However, sheer determination is keeping me on track (call it pig-headedness if you prefer, so long as I don't hear you!).
I had managed to get to the point where 50 miles felt okay (!) and then took a weeks holiday in Crete, with no training.  Arriving back home, a bit too relaxed and rested, I was not looking forward to a 60 mile ride on the first day back in England.  Let's face it - which would you prefer?

However, I rolled out of bed at 6am and pulled on the padded lycra before I peeped out of the window and discovered the pouring rain.  The temptation to crawl  back into bed at that point was almost overwhelming, but knowing I'd already missed a weeks training forced me out of the door and onto my bike.  However, the sense of achievement was amazing when 2 hours later I arrived in Bournemouth to join Jenny for breakfast, before cycling the 30 miles back again to complete my first 60 mile trip!  Mind you, I was extremely grateful for the hot shower and change of clothes.  No such luxury will be waiting for me at my food stops next month....

Two days later and I was out again, this time to do a 50 mile round trip in the New Forest.  With my muscles still protesting from the previous ride I thought I was never going to complete it, but the weather held out and the forest was so beautiful that somehow my poor tired legs churned through the miles without stopping, and in just under 4 hours I had done it!
Another days break and then an "easy" 11 miles with the family made me realise that my muscles were starting to really suffer, and not recovering between rides.  Even the small hills were painful.  So, alien though it is to my nature, I had to ask for a bit of help....
To the rescue came my wonderful husband and his sports massage skills.  An hour or so of painful but very therapeutic ministrations, and I felt like I could get back on the bike again, and so, a little nervously, Jenny and I prepared for our longest ride yet - 75 miles if we could make it!
Life got in the way a little, so we couldn't set off until 3.30pm, but we packed our panniers with dry clothes, tool kits and plenty of snacks and drinks, and set off for the first leg (Southampton to Winchester and back - 25 miles).  We made good time in nice weather, but cycling back past the house knowing we had another 50 miles to do was very depressing, and making a quick stop to refill water bottles had us very tempted to collapse on the sofa and not continue.
We hit a bit of a wall at 30 miles, but we were fighting a strong wind and cycling through the city at rush hour, so I think we were a bit despondent.  We soon got through it and picked up speed as we headed out towards Lyndhurst. The next 10 miles were pretty good but then poor Jenny started really flagging, and was struggling even on the flat.  We couldn't work out what on earth was wrong, until we did some quick calorie calculations and realised that she was a very long way into minus energy ( and those of you who know Jenny will know that she doesn't have a calorie to spare anywhere).  A big guzzle of a fortified energy drink and suddenly she was flying along again -  a good lesson learned for next time!
Arrving in Brockenhurst as our odometers clicked over the 50 mile mark was fantastic, although the smell of all the restaurants preparing dinner, and the fact that it was now 8.30 pm with another 25 miles to do made us seriously consider staying the night....
A short food stop and we were ready (?) to go again, although suddenly it felt very cold, and we had to put on jackets to  stop the shivering.  However, a few miles of hills and we soon warmed up.  55-65 miles was really amazing - we felt full of energy and powered our way across the stunning landscape lit up by the setting sun.  We saw rabbits, horses, donkeys and even some deer and finally felt like we were actually enjoying the training.
We got back to Lyndhurst at 9.30 pm, and the last 10 miles in the dark back through the city was less fun, but the sense of achievement when we got home at 10.30 having done 75 miles in 7 hours - well that was incredible. And thank you Vaughan, the muscles held up brilliantly!

We are certainly working hard for our sponsorship (1200 training miles so far) but the personal achievements along the way are brilliant.  It is definitely starting to feel like London to Paris is achievable.........