Back In The Comfort Zone

I was back in my comfort zone today, on the bike.  Cycling was what got me into triathlons in the first place so today was always going to be enjoyable.  Or at least it should have been enjoyable, but I was far from looking forward to it last night!  Now I’m not going to have a moan about being unwell and how severe man flu can be.  All I’ll say is that I haven’t been well all week so it’s hardly the best preparation for a bike ride and that coupled with the heave sleet/snow shower that hit Abertillery last night left me feeling far from thrilled at the prospect of hitting the road this morning.  If you have read any of my posts from Christmas time, you’ll know the experiences I had of riding in bad weather and I wasn’t ready for a repeat.

Anyway, once the rubbish weather had passed, there was a bit of good news for me.  My friend and cycling buddy Paul had rung to ask if he could tag along which lifted the spirits, if I was going to suffer, at least I’d have someone suffering with me!

Come this morning, all the worries about the weather had gone and I even regretted not taking sun glasses with me.  As for the cold, it was still there but was a little better so it was good news all round.  The route itself was 46 miles, starting and ending at Caldicot Castle.  We headed out along the Gwent Levels and then (I have no idea where we went or how we got there!) up through Wentwood Forest.

The first 26 miles flew by and we were going at a brilliant pace.  The roads also allowed me to test out my new tri bars which I had bought with some of my birthday money.  Good practice ready for the tri season!  After the 26 mile mark though the real test began as we were presented with a series of hills to climb.  This wasn’t a surprise to us having done a similar course 2 years ago.  In fact, it made it a bit worse because we knew what to expect!  Needless to say the speed dropped but this time, unlike last, we didn’t walk a yard, we cycles every bit of the way which I am very pleased about.  It shows how much we have improved with our cycling.

Overall I was really pleased with our time of 3hours 45 minutes and it was good to get back on the bike and get some mileage under my belt ready for the next event which is an 87 mile ride in the New Forest.

As usual there is a photo from the finishing line at the bottom.  I have to apologise, firstly for the horrific camera angle that makes me look like a baby elephant and secondly for having my one arm behind my back!  I have a load of stuff in my hand and for some stupid reason though it would be a good look to hide it all.  I was very wrong!  Finally, thank you to those who have already sponsored me and if you haven’t yet but would like to then you can at www.justgiving.com/huw2013.  I’ll hopefully have a sponsor form as well sometime next week so if you see me in person and would like to sponsor me that way, you’ll be able to.