Week 6 - Badger Strike and logistical woes!
[hurrytimer id=”3294″]
Embracing the commute
Six weeks and 1219km down, twelve weeks to go, all of a sudden, my 7-in-7 challenge seems not far away. Blessed with benign weather getting up at 5 am for the dark commutes and riding home to the scheduled training session following long days at work wasn’t nearly as challenging as previous weeks.
I stayed honest to the training plan this week with all bar 20km of the weeks’s total of 236km ridden as close as possible, on the open road, as I could to the intensity and volume planned. Hopefully the improved “zone accuracy scores” are backed up by the old cycling folklore of winter miles equal summer smiles when I’m riding back-to-back centuries in Northern Ireland in three months time.
Kevin Sinfield – Going the Extra Mile
Friday nights powerful documentary on BBC2 revealing the strength of friendship between Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield had me like many other’s welling up I’m sure – no shortage of motivation for Saturdays long ride.
Beware of the Badger
I left home early Saturday morning for four and a half hours riding with new kit to play with; a new front light bought directly from Magicshine and some Sungod Velan cycling glasses to replace the Rudy Project pair broken last week. Reviews to come on both items but first impressions were good in both respects.
With the ride no more than fifteen minutes old and the sunrise still a short way off, I was sweeping down Lilley Green Lane towards Redditch when I was startled by a loud rustling in the bushes to my right. Within the blink of an eye, two badgers were in the road in front of me; as I screeched to a halt, clipped out and swung the bike to the right, my front wheel just clipped the rear end of the trailing road intruder, the two brocks scuttled away seemingly unharmed. I regained my composure, returned my heart back to my chest took some deep breaths and tried to figure out how on earth I had managed to stay upright.
The remainder of the ride was an incident-free enjoyable affair through predominantly gently rolling country lanes to the Market town of Evesham, passing some of the many orchards and fruit farms the area is renowned for. Returning back via Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester, Henley-in-Arden and numerous smaller historic villages, the only downside was my laziness in not putting the route on my Garmin and thinking I knew the area well enough to find my way around resulted in a short and unpleasant section along the A46, just as the traffic volume was increasing.
Saturday afternoon recovery was spent polishing trophies for Solihull CC’s 2022 champions whilst watching the Irish demolish Wales on the first weekend of the six nations.
Matthieu Van der Poel vs Wout Van Aert is one of those sporting rivalries which benefits not just the participants involved but the sport as a whole. The 2023 World Cyclocross Championships was the latest in an epic series of battles both in the field and on the road between the two, with MVdP triumphing with a devastating sprint at the end of a race of immense skill and physicality. How these guys can average nearly 30kph on a cross course complete with steps, mud, switchbacks, steep ramps etc., is remarkable and thrilling to watch. The atmosphere at the race in Hoogerheide in the Netherlands was akin to a football crowd in the UK. A trip to watch cyclocross in its homeland of Belgium or the Netherlands is well and truly on my bucket list.
How early?
I knew at the concept of this challenge that the logistical element could potentially be as challenging as the riding, and the news from P&O ferries this week has backed that view. Days one and two of this challenge will now both see a less-than-friendly 4 am alarm call. My ferry to Northern Ireland, initially booked for 8 am, has been cancelled, and the options given to me were a midday departure resulting in a 3 pm arrival time at my starting point and a few hours of riding in the dark for day two or a 6 am departure. I plumped for the early start and fingers crossed for an early finish to the second day’s riding, followed by a long, long sleep in Antrim at the Glendalough B&B.
Comments
Post a Comment