7 Weeks To Go!

Just returned from 10 days in glorious sunny Spain. I had taken come cycling kit, shoes and pedals and found a great little bike shop in Javea and hired a GMC road bike with aluminium frame, carbon forks and 105 components. The bikes were all a bit battered but functional and could be hired for 12e a day, so I hired it for 3 days of great riding and got quite attached to it.
The best ride was from Moraira out to the Jalon followed by a route called the Coll de Rates which took me all the way into Callosa. It was a long winding 14km climb followed by a fantastic descent into the next stunning valley. Unfortunately I didn't take a camera but took this picture from the bottom the following day. I also found these pictures on the net as it is quite a popular route. http://www.cyclingcols.com/asp/imageframe.asp?cl=7601
From Callosa it was back to the coast at Altea and back up to Moraira, total distance approx 55 miles. I really could get used to living out there!

Three White Horses

The week following the Magnificat, I managed to get food poisoning, so I had to take nearly a week and a half off training. The first ride back was a 60 mile club ride last Sunday, which I found a real struggle. I couldn't even keep up on the flat never mind the hills and my heart rate was way over its normal average. Still I completed the ride and got back into my training program for the rest of the week, I completed 16 miles Monday, 30 Tuesday and 30 Wednesday, by the weekend I was feeling much stronger.

This Sunday we had an amazing club ride we did 95 miles and visited Three White Horses. Ten of us turned up at the Weyhill church and set of towards Pewsey, then Devizes and onto Westbury.

It was a stunning day with tempratures getting up to 25C, but whilst we were riding along the light breeze kept us nice and cool. The climb up the hill at the back of Westbury nearly had a couple of us walking, but we all made it, even me who yet again was the last up the hill, puffing and panting like an old man. From there we headed to a nearby garden centre for lunch, we were 65 miles in and famished. The poor girls in the cafe had just started to wind down for the day as "Sunday afternoons were usually quite", with the sudden appearance of ten sweaty cyclist, they were really struggling to get the orders out. It was 45 minutes before we were back on the road and the lactic acid had built up so we started off slow to get rid of that, before hammering the pedals all the way home. I would recommend this ride to anyone it takes in some beautiful countryside along quite lanes and through lovely sleepy villages. I'll certainly be doing it again soon. My next big event is the Isle of Wight Sportive, starting at Brockehurst, then over the ferry around the island, back across the ferry and then through the New Forrest back to the start, lets hope the weather holds for this one.