New Metric Century Challenge

Not coming Dave, I will be
Not coming Dave, I will be flying back from the Alps that day. Will have to make do with a quick blast up Alpe d’ Huez in the morning instead.

Next week I should be earning 3 points on Saturday with a bit of luck. Alfreton to Skegness and back…. A lot further than I have ridden before!

Back to my home ground in the
Back to my home ground in the Chilterns for a nice hilly, midweek 70 miles. The sun was shining, the roads were quiet and the world was a good place (plus, not being at work just made it that much better!).

This challenge is really
This challenge is really working for me – I’ve found myself extending rides so I can notch up another one, and I’m sure every extra mile I can get under my belt now will make my LEJOG easier in June.

Yesterday was a perfect example – I’d finished a lovely ride from Brighton to Horsham and back but found myself a few kms short of the magic ton, so I followed the A23 from the seafront to Mill Road, a mile-long climb at the edge of town, and hit that with as much gusto as I could (not very much as I’d done a 108-miler on Saturday) before heading home. There’s no way I would have done that if I’d not signed up to this challenge.

Saturday was a lovely day for
Saturday was a lovely day for a ride in the Brecon Beacons. All in, it was 85 miles going out via Swansea and over the Black Mountain via Brynamman. This was followed by a long fast descent that had he drafting a Transit van which couldn’t lose me for about 4 miles.

The ride up to Llangadog and then onto Llandovery was undulating and windy, but the beautiful landscape takes your mind off the toil.

It’s then a long uphill drag to Trecastle and onto Sennybridge via the A40, this is at about 3% for about 15km, it’s hard work, as it doesn’t feel like a climb but is always requiring effort.

A short sharp climb of up to 17% takes you out of Sennybridge along to Heol Senni and the joy of The Devils Elbow climb. This is so quiet and the stunning scenery makes the tough 2km climb more pleasant.

The drop down the secluded valley to Ystradfellte is stunning, then just the long quiet drag back up to Neath and on home for a bath and a welcome roast dinner…a perfect way to spend a Saturday!

A lovely day for a 100 miles,
A lovely day for a 100 miles, with a stop at Zappi’s in Oxford for a Brie and Bacon Paninni after 50ish miles.

I felt great, held a good pace despite this ridiculously persistent cough, and enjoyed the great weather.

The joy of hours of solitude, and no time restriction on when I needed to be back made it a very mentally relaxing ride.

I’m booked up and doing the
I’m booked up and doing the Club des Cingles du Mont-Ventoux ride.

I’ve done all three road climbs of Ventoux, but not all on the same day, so I aim to rectify that in about 8 weeks time.

Fringe, I’m pretending I
Fringe, I’m pretending I can’t see him and his insane amount of rides. 66 years old so I reckon this is a retirement present to himself, luckily, I’m inn no way jealous of having enough time to put that many miles in.

The bitterness comes from having just crawled off the turbo after a 2×20 session at just over 300W that crucified me! I’ve been pushing quite hard this last couple of weeks, trying to make up for some lost training time, and only 8 weeks left, which includes some tapering time, to get ready!

DaSy, i see you reign of the
DaSy, i see you reign of the metric c. has been pretty much ‘cancellara’d’ by one ‘peter s 1944’… 4220km and counting. :O