Last Friday William and I took the day off work and set off on a 3 day training weekend, staying in Houghton with a group of friends from St Lukes Church. We took a 70 mile route to get there meandering south of Stevenage, west of Cambridge and approaching Houghton via St Ives. We took about 6.25 hours in total, including rest stops and lunch. All went well apart from one scrape with a pothole when William's wheel got caught in a trenchlike pothole in the direction of travel and he came off. Fortunately he got away with a grazed arm and a torn jacket and the new bike came away unscathed. Two local joggers and a passing motorist rushed to assist and we all lamented the state of the roads...On Saturday we had a 'rest day' which meant a 40 mile round trip to visit Ely in wind and rain with three other friends. We found the Prince Albert pub for lunch (as recommended in the Good Beer Guide) and enjoyed huge quantities of food and a pint of real ale - I chose Flankers Tackle in honour of the England-France rugby we were to watch that evening. In order to aid digestion, I then did my tourist bit and went up the Octagonal Tower at Ely Cathedral. The weather had brightened temporarily and the views from the top were superb. We then cycled back to Houghton straight into a strengthening wind and the drizzle that started up again.
Sunday was a much better day weatherwise, with springlike sunshine though the wind was still a fresh south-westerly. And guess what? We had to head in that direction to go home so we had wind in our faces almost all the way. This time we took a 72 mile route heading down to Sandy and Barton Le Clay. We ascended the edge of the downs at Sundon which has a long and extremely steep hill. After over 50 miles we were quite pleased that we managed to make it to the top without having to get off and walk. A total journey time of 6.75 hours, but with the hills and the wind I was glad to get off the bike at the end!
So now we only have to do half as much again, in 3-4 hours more for 10 days in a row - a bit more training needed, I feel!
Graham.