Adrian Fitch’s Training Blog

San Fairy Ann Sportive

Riders were sent off, a dozen at a time, every two minutes so groups of similar paced riders formed early on. For most of the first couple of hours I was in a group of six and we worked hard to keep the speed up. I was managing a good pace at 80-85% when I was taking my turn at the front and then sitting in at 75-80% while others took theirs.

When we hit the first control I realised we were managing a little above silver pace (29.5kph) and figured I could probably keep this up until the end. During this middle section some riders started to miss their turns on the front and eventually drop off the back. Only four of us made it to the second control together. Before we reached it, we came across a vehicle you never want to see blocking the road half way down a hill.

When cycling against the clock you don’t like being held up, but when it is for an ambulance you wait patiently until allowed past and then pick the pace back up. When that ambulance is treating a rider from your event then picking up the pace is done with a little more apprehension.

The last section of the ride was into a blustery headwind which caused many groups to be blown apart. Some riders couldn’t keep up the work rate while the rest of us got into our drops and rode as close to the wheel in front as was safe. I settled in with three others and we pushed each other as hard as we could until the finish. Legs were burning at the slightest incline but we finally rolled into the car park to get our official time. Mine was 4h 1m — the silver cut off was 4hrs!

This is undoubtably the friendliest ride I’ve done and amongst one of the best. The route was fast and following, singage excellent, marshalls at all the main junctions plus the feed stop had a huge tub of jelly beans. I had such a ball, and to miss out on silver by only one minute, you know where you’ll find me this time next year!

This week I’m in recovery mode so my training schedule is quite light:

Today: 4hr San Fairy Ann Sportive
Tuesday: 30min recovery pace on the trainer
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 90min in two easy commutes
Friday: 90min in two easy commutes
Saturday: 4hr club ride at a moderate pace

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/04/2009
• Time: 09:00:00
• Total Time: 3:56:00.00
• Calories: 3712
• Distance: 117 km
• Average Speed: 29.75 kmph
• Ascent: 1,125 m

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