Cycle - 4.9 hours - 06/15/2008

We only got 30 kilometres into our three day, 180 km ride from Brighton to Sandwich when we had to pull out.

The National Cycle Route we were following took us along everything from a glorious segregated bike path along the cliffs out of Brighton to a couple of very busy A road sections and along muddy, potholed tracks strewn with gravel and rocks.

All of this was a little too much for Mandy who isn’t the most experienced cyclist so we cut our losses and headed for the closest train station and home.

Sunday was my last opportunity to get a long ride in before next weekend’s Circuit of the Cotswolds but the big London to Brighton charity ride was on so my regular route through the Surrey Hills would be a little too congested.

Instead I worked out a fairly hilly 120 km route starting from Crystal Palace and heading out into the North Downs between East Grinstead and Sevenoaks.

In my enthusiasm I started the ride a little too hard and payed for it later.

I was deliberately pushing the pace to see what happens when I maintain a heart rate around 80% of max instead of last weekend’s 75%.

The first long drag up from Elmers End to Woldingham (20 km) was fabulous but I could feel that my legs weren’t happy.

They weren’t warmed up properly and didn’t feel comfortable working at that rate so early.

The descent down Gangers Hill over the M25 and on towards Lingfield offered a few opportunities to rest before a fairly lumpy 10 km section as I looped down towards Edenbridge and back up towards Westerham past Churchill’s Chartwell.

Westerham is the ride’s mid-point so I stopped to fill my water bottle and grab a Red Bull.

That perked me up and despite the stop I was still slightly ahead of my Garmin’s Virtual Partner.

I then looped back over the M25 briefly before turning south and starting the climb up Brasted.

The descent of Toy’s Hill was spoiled a little by a car going far to slowly but it forced me to take it a little easy before the loop around Bough Beech Reservoir and on to Ide and Star Hills.

These last two hills weren’t particularly tough, they just went on forever.

By the top of Star I had very little left in my legs so the few short sharp inclines on the route back to Crystal Palace through Downe were unusually debilitating.

This weekend I’m not going to be able to ride so hard and I’m going to have to force myself to hold back for the first third of the course.

After the first feed stop I’ll step it up a bit if I need to.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 06/15/2008
• Time: 09:00:00
• Total Time: 4:51:42.00
• Average Heart rate: 143
• Calories: 5650
• Distance: 120.77 km
• Average Speed: 24.84 kmph
• Ascent: 1,654 m