That's January's in the bag. It wasn't pretty, but it was a century. Let's call it a grind. My 92nd overall, but only my second ever century on a fixed gear bike. I've had a sore throat for a couple of days, was a bit worried about the heavy rain forecast for today, was concerned about the amount of debris and flooding in the Kent lanes, and the weather isn't nice enough for the Pinarello fixed, which meant I had to ride the Alycon - and that has no bottle cages. All of which made me decide to do some local loops, bringing me back to home each time for refreshments. Also gave me an easy bail out option if I needed it.
First loop was 29 miles out to Erith then up the Thames up to Deptford and back home via Lewisham. 15 minutes indoors for a cup of tea and a mince pie (that's all there was, honest), then out for the second loop which was out to Greenhithe, around Bluewater to Dartford and across country to Swanley and back via Sidcup. 26 miles. I made that my half way break - so a 45 minute rest and a bowl of porridge. The last loop took me a different route to Erith, and then via the same route (up the Thames) via Greenwich to The City. I completed three laps of Rotherhithe, then headed home via my usual commute route (Lewisham, Eltham). I struggled over the last 10 miles due to a gentle head wind and tired legs, but made it home before the rain with 101.3 miles on the clock and a 14.93mph rolling average. One of my targets for 2014 is a Century a month on fixed, so I'm doubly pleased to have got this in so early in the month.
Oh, and I didn't see many other cyclists, but there were loads and loads of runners out there today.
