May has been an interesting month full of great rides with great people. Starting off after 6 weeks off the bikes a had two gentle ride outs on my own, chasing that up with a great day doing the 'Hope Cross' in the peaks with great company. The weather was perfect for this ride, 17c with clear blue skies and a slight breeze to help cool me down getting up the climbs. This ride like most in the coming months is meant to help build my confidence for Ard Rock. I could tell from the first climb that i had lost a fair bit of fitness during my time off the bike, but dug in all the same and attempted most climbs. Much to Marcus' dismay there wasn't an uplift option available in the middle of nowhere, much to my dismay also by the end of the day. Brutal climbs make for amazing descents though, happy with the upgrades i've fitted so far to the bike.
After managing to tackle the peaks and be relatively able to walk the next day, i figured i'd best get back to a full training schedule and back out with the bike club. During the previous week on my solo sessions, i appeared to snap my bike frame, which was swiftly resolved by my LBS. Resulting in me getting a 2017 Domane frame in replacement for my 2014. The new frame was built up in time for me to join the cycling club on the Lincoln GP, opting for the 60 miler instead of 80. As much as i like to push my luck, i figured i'd best play it safe. This resulted in one of the best sportives i've ever taken part in, great company and thoroughly enjoying the ride instead of trying to blast it. The finish was set at the top of the Michelgate climb and brought you into the Castle/ Cathedral square, so a rather picturesque way to end a ride.
Having managed to complete to hard rides, i contacted andy for guidance around where to pick up on my training schedule, with a race due at the end of the month. He gladly sent over an email filled with training plans, my current schedule is a little more fluid and its up to me as to which part of it i use for that session. This should help with me getting out with the club and my own personal targets.
Holkham hall was the backdrop for Pedal Norfolk's 3 day cycling festival, in its 5th year the event catered for all abilities and levels of riding from children's races to a 250 mile ride spread over three days. I was opting for the 3 hour Mountain Bike Endurance ride, run by Kings Lynn MTB club. Due to norfolk not being known for its masses of elevation change these guys and girls know how to get the best out of it. The course was 4 miles of grass track freshly strimmed making it harder work than that of a singletrack course, factor in the 23c heat added to the challenging conditions. The field of riders was mixed in abilities and not as big as i was expecting. I managed 7 laps of the course in the allocated time, with the winner completing 11. Overall i placed 18th out of 26, not my best result but a solid start on the road to full fitness. Lots to take away from this one, mainly don't drink over 5 litres of fluids in less than 4 hours. Many thanks to marcus for giving up his sunday to come and pit for me, loved the pink tent. Hope you didn't get burnt, i left you enough suncream
Onwards and upwards
