Hell of the Ashdown

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nope i cant ride bikes:angry:
 

Zoom

Über Member
no doing 130 (200 and something in real money) the day before

Classic route though; it now goes up Kidd's Hill aka The Wall

hard but fantastic
 
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Joe

Über Member
Oh god. It's slowly dawning on me just how much fitness I lost during those two months off the road bike and I am not looking forward to this atall!
Did 35 miles yesterday and bonked at about 30 despite eating more than I used to on that route!
Today I felt fine again and went for my first 50 miler since getting back on the bike. It was agony for the last 20 miles! Aerobically I feel fitter than ever but my legs don't last. I'm having real trouble pacing myself and getting my food intake right:sad:

Gonna have to cycle to and from the train station too, so it will be more like 75 miles for me!
 
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Joe

Über Member
hambones said:
Thinking of signing up for this. Good job it says mud guards are only 'advisable', because I haven't got any! :biggrin:
I don't have any either. But then, I don't envisage anyone being behind me;)
 

hambones

Well-Known Member
Location
Waltham Abbey
hey Joe that was going to be my line! :biggrin:

I'll race you for last place. :biggrin:
 
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Joe

Über Member
hambones said:
hey Joe that was going to be my line! :biggrin:

I'll race you for last place. :biggrin:
Sounds good! Keep an eye out for me hanging on your back wheel.:biggrin: No cyclechat jersey but I'll be on my old turqouise Giant, with a red and white Bell Sweep R helmet and probably my red Gore Windstopper jacket.
I'm actually feeling a little better about this now ,as I did a 77 miler yesterday and felt ok. My legs were feeling the burn but I managed to avoid the bonk by forcing myself to slow down and ended up with a decent average speed for me over that distance (16.3mph). Weather was good and it was no way near as hilly as this will be though!
 
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Joe

Über Member
Well that was a great day!
I finished in 4 hours 31 minutes and it hurt:biggrin:
I was flying for the first 50 miles, especially on the climbs. I don't recall anyone passing me uphill. True, they all flew back past me on the flat but there was always another hill. Kidds Hill was my favourite, people were really suffering on that one:evil:
At the final checkpoint I cracked and it became just about getting to the finish. My stomach was killing from too many energy bars but I needed more energy! And my calfs were twitching like mad as if about to cramp, though thankfully they didn't. That last climb, which barely registered on the way down from the start, was a total killer in that state!
I ended up doing 85 miles including rides to and from train stations. And had to get up at 4:30am to get ready and to the station for my 6:15am train. Only three hours sleep is not the best preperation but it didn't seem to effect me. My half an hour wait at London Bridge in the mornining in my cycling gear was tortorously cold:eek:
Wasn't impressed with the positioning of the feed station. My two bottles were dry by then and I had to pay for water (despite tea and coffee being free):biggrin:
Still, it was a great ride and I feel suitably cleansed.
How did you get on Hambones? Anyone else there?
 

Stu99

Über Member
A challenging course which I managed to get 'round in 4hrs 47 mins. Felt great until Groombridge (which probably would have been a good spot for a refreshment station).

Organisers did a great job in organising this. Thanks to all who helped out on the day

Suggestion for next year: increase fee to £10 and lay on some sponge cake/ bananas as well as tea a little earlier in the course.
 
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Joe

Über Member
Yep. Those Marshalls letting you know when it was clear were ace.

Thankful for the weather too, some of those roads would be real dangerous in the wet.
 
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