Glover Fan
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Almondsbury, Nr Bristol
What a difference a cloudless sky and that yellow round thing in the sky can make. I swear i'm solar powered!
Got home from a rather uneventful day at work and had a "proper" coffee from my lovely DeLonghi coffee machine. Looked outside and it really did look Mediterranean, despite only being 20 degrees.
Now, I haven't been on the bike for a week and 2 days, I completed a 200km audax the Sunday before last and rather bafflingly I lost all motivation to go out on the bike last week, plus the weather was iffy and work was doing my head in. Started feeling really guilty by the weekend whilst I devoured a 13" pizza all to myself, but I was visiting friends and family all weekend so couldn't get out on the bike then either. Managed to squeeze in a cheeky 3 miles run on Sunday morning with my mate, but that was about as far as I got to exercise.
So, back to today, got my cycling clobber on, full Katusha kit, felt like a pro (didn't really look like one, but I refuse to shave my legs). Got the bike out of the garage, still relatively clean actually. Now I have a 30 mile loop that I do from time to time as I know it only takes about an hour and 45 minutes to do and is relatively flat, but with a nice 20% climb at the end incase I haven't worked hard enough about 1500ft of climbing on the whole route through the Severn valley.
Now, I must state here, I wasn't planning on a fast frenetic ride, just a lovely spin of the legs through the lanes in the glorious sunshine and for the first 5 miles or so that was what is was. Then suddenly I hit a lovely bit of tarmac that had my spinning easily at about 20mph and suddenly I thought for the first time ever "have I ACTUALLY got a tailwind?!" Alas, no I didn't, but more importantly there didn't appear to be much of a headwind about either (hurray!!!!!). So now I hit the A38, which I loathe, but in the section between Thornbury and Berkeley there aren't many lanes that go parallel to this road and I did only want to do 30 miles today. I always find on these busy main roads with a good road surface that I sub-consciously up the tempo somewhat as I just want to get through to the end so after I got off the A38, I had done about 14 miles in about 45 minutes and suddenly I was thinking "Jesus! I might actually break a PB".
...That was it, I kept my cadence up nice and high, wasn't really going for it, as I like to know I have a bit in reserve incase I start to struggle. Now i'm on the lanes parallel to the mouth of the river Severn, I can see the hills of South Wales to the right of me and I literally am just loving the feeling of the air brushing my face as I effortlessly glide across the road passing field after field. Usually on this route, I have a 1.5 mile section where I literally just put pedal to the metal and just absolutely give it everything and so I did. I only averaged 22.7mph through this phase though which I was slightly disappointed with and my hamstrings felt ever so slightly tight. Anyway, only 8 miles til the end of my ride and it went largely without incident until the last incline to get home, where somehow I managed to give it everything I got and went up it on the 4th cog on the back dancing on the pedals like Andy Schleck and boy did it fell good, I was sweating like a mad-man, but somehow it felt so serene, like I was truly in the zone, like I had just injected top-grade heroin from Afghanistan. I was literally on cloud 9 (but to be honest I only saw 6 clouds on the whole ride). I got to the top and gently brought the bike back to the house and stopped my watch.
Now, my previous "PB" for this course was 16.8mph. But today I did it with little pain, but slight dehydration at an average of 18.2mph!!! Genuinely couldn't believe it. I already knew before I saw that data that it was my most favourite ride ever.
The highlight for me is that all the pain of cycling through February, March, April and May through headwinds that seemed to be a constant for a month of so, cold temperatures and more lately extremely wet weather seemed to be completely forgotten today. I'd go as far to say that i'd take 50 crap days for one like this today.
On a fitness level, the amazing thing for me was that I did this ride on a bowl of porridge, 1 unbuttered jam roll, a cereal bar, banana and a low fat yoghurt. I am absolutely starving now though. Oh and 800ml of fluid was noway enough.
No other real point to this thread other than to anyone who like me last week suffers occasionally from a smidgen of de-motivation, that there is a light around the corner and it will come when you least expect it. My love for cycling has been surpassed.
Got home from a rather uneventful day at work and had a "proper" coffee from my lovely DeLonghi coffee machine. Looked outside and it really did look Mediterranean, despite only being 20 degrees.
Now, I haven't been on the bike for a week and 2 days, I completed a 200km audax the Sunday before last and rather bafflingly I lost all motivation to go out on the bike last week, plus the weather was iffy and work was doing my head in. Started feeling really guilty by the weekend whilst I devoured a 13" pizza all to myself, but I was visiting friends and family all weekend so couldn't get out on the bike then either. Managed to squeeze in a cheeky 3 miles run on Sunday morning with my mate, but that was about as far as I got to exercise.
So, back to today, got my cycling clobber on, full Katusha kit, felt like a pro (didn't really look like one, but I refuse to shave my legs). Got the bike out of the garage, still relatively clean actually. Now I have a 30 mile loop that I do from time to time as I know it only takes about an hour and 45 minutes to do and is relatively flat, but with a nice 20% climb at the end incase I haven't worked hard enough about 1500ft of climbing on the whole route through the Severn valley.
Now, I must state here, I wasn't planning on a fast frenetic ride, just a lovely spin of the legs through the lanes in the glorious sunshine and for the first 5 miles or so that was what is was. Then suddenly I hit a lovely bit of tarmac that had my spinning easily at about 20mph and suddenly I thought for the first time ever "have I ACTUALLY got a tailwind?!" Alas, no I didn't, but more importantly there didn't appear to be much of a headwind about either (hurray!!!!!). So now I hit the A38, which I loathe, but in the section between Thornbury and Berkeley there aren't many lanes that go parallel to this road and I did only want to do 30 miles today. I always find on these busy main roads with a good road surface that I sub-consciously up the tempo somewhat as I just want to get through to the end so after I got off the A38, I had done about 14 miles in about 45 minutes and suddenly I was thinking "Jesus! I might actually break a PB".
...That was it, I kept my cadence up nice and high, wasn't really going for it, as I like to know I have a bit in reserve incase I start to struggle. Now i'm on the lanes parallel to the mouth of the river Severn, I can see the hills of South Wales to the right of me and I literally am just loving the feeling of the air brushing my face as I effortlessly glide across the road passing field after field. Usually on this route, I have a 1.5 mile section where I literally just put pedal to the metal and just absolutely give it everything and so I did. I only averaged 22.7mph through this phase though which I was slightly disappointed with and my hamstrings felt ever so slightly tight. Anyway, only 8 miles til the end of my ride and it went largely without incident until the last incline to get home, where somehow I managed to give it everything I got and went up it on the 4th cog on the back dancing on the pedals like Andy Schleck and boy did it fell good, I was sweating like a mad-man, but somehow it felt so serene, like I was truly in the zone, like I had just injected top-grade heroin from Afghanistan. I was literally on cloud 9 (but to be honest I only saw 6 clouds on the whole ride). I got to the top and gently brought the bike back to the house and stopped my watch.
Now, my previous "PB" for this course was 16.8mph. But today I did it with little pain, but slight dehydration at an average of 18.2mph!!! Genuinely couldn't believe it. I already knew before I saw that data that it was my most favourite ride ever.
The highlight for me is that all the pain of cycling through February, March, April and May through headwinds that seemed to be a constant for a month of so, cold temperatures and more lately extremely wet weather seemed to be completely forgotten today. I'd go as far to say that i'd take 50 crap days for one like this today.
On a fitness level, the amazing thing for me was that I did this ride on a bowl of porridge, 1 unbuttered jam roll, a cereal bar, banana and a low fat yoghurt. I am absolutely starving now though. Oh and 800ml of fluid was noway enough.
No other real point to this thread other than to anyone who like me last week suffers occasionally from a smidgen of de-motivation, that there is a light around the corner and it will come when you least expect it. My love for cycling has been surpassed.
