Managed to fit in an afternoon spin today. It was raining, so I didn't much fancy trying to beat the time I set for the 14 mile circuit I did on Friday. In fact, I didn't much want to go out at all.
In fact, the more I thought about it the more I thought that trying to beat the time was a daft thing to be trying - it'd only encourage me to take more chances, sneak through a red light, cut through a bit of traffic or something similarly silly. I don't need to be putting myself at risk trying to shave a few seconds off a trip. Let's face it: I'm a big heavy bloke on a big heavy bike - I'm not going to be setting any records. Yet.
So I did the ride in reverse. I forgot to reset my trip meter, so there was 2.08 miles on there from Sunday, when I nipped to
Decathlon for padded shorts (they were quite good today, but did seem to push me further forward on the saddle). Sorry, I digress. Today I did 13.88 miles. Couldn't initially fathom this...
...but today I did a left-hand circuit, as opposed to a right hand circuit on Friday. This means I've taken the short way round all the roundabouts, so a wee bit less distance.
The reverse direction seemed tortuous compared to Friday. The Queslett road is one long uphill drag, the undulations of the Aldridge Road had me scrabbling for lower gears than I've ever been in, and then I got to Beacon Hill. This is the bit that I reached 33.6mph coming
down on Friday. Gulp.
I'd already ridden a fair way by then - on Friday it was near the beginning of the circuit, and a long, gradual incline. This way round it was fearsome (for me, at least) and I'd been thinking about it as I struggled along the Queslett & Aldridge Roads. I was already experiencing some pain in my hip joints by this time.
I'd dropped to the little ring (sorry rules, it was a choice of ride, or not ride
) and found myself in gear one almost immediately. I've
never been in gear one before. Fortunately, I could see a road sign near the top indicating lane choice, so I knew I didn't have far to go. I was determined to either make it to the top or grind to a halt and fall off in the attempt.
It was close.
I didn't fall off, and the lovely, blessed traffic lights at the top changed to red so I could stop and have a wheeze for a bit. Mostly I don't much like red lights, but this one was a godsend.
A fairly easy descent back home from there.
My time was 1:14:25, but I had to take off around 10 minutes from Sunday, leaving 1:04 ish. Friday was 1:07 but I had to stop and mess with the chain for a couple of minutes, so I've done each circuit in almost exactly the same time. This surprised me, because I was dying at points out there today.
Hope everyone else has had a good start to the week.
)
So I climbed the hill. The Strava segment is here. And it's categorised! My first categorised climb! 
Now I know it wouldn't rate so much as a blip in the Tour de France, but I'm pleased. Even more so when I changed up a gear about halfway because I wasn't making fast enough progress. 
