Right, recovered a bit now. Having only completed 2 rides of 100km before today, I figured the best bet was to plan the ride in advance, rather than do it ad-hoc, so I planned a 62.2 mile route on ridewithGPS and uploaded it to the Garmin last night.
Forecast this morning was cloudy but dry until 1100hrs, then heavy rain. Set out just before 8, and sure enough it was cloudy but no rain. For about 10 minutes, after which it started raining very lightly, just not enough to warrant stopping to pop on the wet weather coat. Started out well, dutifully following the Garmin route until I got to Chertsey when I figured I'd put an extra loop in to the bridge, might mean I can skip a hill on the way home later
Well that led to adding another extra bit out to Walton, then another to Esher and so on, you get the picture. By the time I arrived back at Staines where my planned route would have me on 5 miles I'd done 31 miles
Now this is my usual stopping point, and if I've learnt nothing else it's that you need to manage your energy, so McD's called. Coffee and a sausage/egg McMuffin later I was back on the road, still in light rain, and off towards Eton where I did 2 laps of Eton Dorney. Back home via Windsor and Thorpe saw me back home on 63.3 miles, or 101.9km. Very surprised at my pace, I'd told SWMBO not to expect me back until 1pm, but I was back just after 12, having done the distance in under 4 hours, well pleased with that.
Roll on February, I think one of these each month will be enough for me
). Forest of Bowland fogginess for me.
