@SatNavSaysStraightOn - Congratulations on getting back on 2/3 wheels, hopefully will help your recovery no end.
I'm doing it (nice they have released the gpx so early, not so nice they have added 20km to the total distance!). Really looking forward to it, but am behind where I need to be for it atm.
My day on Saturday went like this:
2.30am Woke up and went to work
2pm Got home and donned new fancy long legged bibs I had bought for the horrible cold weather, even though when it arrived it was typically sunny and mild!
3pm Set off southbound wondering why I was wearing winter clothing when it was 16 degrees outside, albeit a little windy.
6 miles in: Hit the second bad climb on How Lane, and began to wonder why I was doing this, after no sleep.
17 miles in: Had a wee rest at the bottom of Box Hill and with the sun peeking thru the trees, felt much happier about the whole cycling thing.
Of course I had to climb Box Hill, which put a dampener on the moment, but even that was a little fun, and totally worth it at the top!
Went back to the Box Hill Cafe to top up water, only to find it was closed!
Oops!
Headed off to the Giro cafe in Esher as was down to half a bottle of water at this point which I sipped economically thru Leatherhead and Oxshott, cramp was also becoming an issue here as well as a bit of neck ache.
33.29 Miles in: Reached Giro!
Who were about to close!! :O
But fortunately let me take on some more water, and sold me two bits of much needed cake.
So I ate the cake, rubbed my legs a bit, and looked at all the traffic building up and the sun going down. Switched the lights on, and after setting off again, I hit the first bump in the road and the front light went off!
I found a little technique of waiting for the light to reboot itself (its supposed to be a fancy dan one) and then hitting it quite hard, would get it to switch back, on, but only till the next large bump.
So began, over the next 11 miles or so an interesting game where I was trying to get home as it got colder and darker, while keeping my light on by avoiding any bumps, and hitting it very hard when it did go off before a car could get the opportunity to run me over!
To be fair it DID take my mind off the cramp and neck ache.
And at 7.15pm I finally got home, in need of a very hot bath, a new front light, a bike wash, and lots of food and drink.
Long legged bibs had been useful after all, keeping me nice and toasty throughout.
It felt like an odyssey. It was 43.5 miles........ In my defence that did include 2,379ft of climbing so!
Rubbish average speed, rubbish fitness, but it is another distance milestone this year, and I had been awake since half two in the morning working!!
https://app.strava.com/activities/264496754
