Back In The Game

A few 'cross rides in now and the legs are used to going round and round and round again, the long slow drag up to where I once was is hard. There have been tired legs, there has been 'I used to be able to ride twice as far as this', there has been effort and reward. But it is now time to step up to the plate and get back on the road bike and an easy group ride with friends offers the perfect opportunity. A gentle ride along the coast taking in The Best Bit Of Tarmac Ever, turn round for home the pretty way via a pint in the pub.

Ah, it must be longer than I thought since I was last out on the road; the orthotic insets are still in the pimpy white Sidis that only come out when there's no chance of any moisture; no rain, and not a hint of puddle on the roads. Hmmm. Swap the inserts into the September-to-July shoes then.

I'm sure this bike was custom built to fit me, but at the moment it feels like I've borrowed someone else's big brothers bike, what are the bars doing all the way over there? And my hamstrings aren't enjoying things, at all. Should have stretched a bit maybe.

Ride with friends, play domestique, slipstream scaffold-lorries recklessly, ride The Best Bit Of Tarmac Ever both ways, stop for a pint and cheesy chips, and ride into the dark to go home the long way.

85 miles by mistake, all joyous. The legs only warm up to what they're supposed to be doing after 60 miles.