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General => The REST Room => Topic started by: jman on March 10, 2014, 08:40:09 AM
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Anyone else do much cycling??
I'm a bit of an amateur cyclist.. I bought a Saracen Urban Cross 1 hybrid bike last year, bit of a low-end bike, cost me just under £300 which was a pretty good deal I though.. current RRP is still £370.
But I was driving around a bit of an old banger car at that time and wanted a bike to do the 10 mile round trip to work each day when it was sunny (funnily enough, the bike cost more than the car)... I started using the free MapMyRide app to keep track of all the rides I've done and in the 3 months after I bought the bike.., I racked up 500 miles on it.. which I thought wasn't too bad.. it paid off £100 off the bike in petrol money and I lost nearly 2 stone in weight doing it too. I stopped cycling after I got back from holiday last year though as I bought a shiny new car and found it a real struggle to get started on it again.
Anyway, I signed up to do the London to Brighton charity bike ride in June this year.. 56 miles I think it is.. the most I've done non-stop is only 22 miles.. so I started training this weekend as I know it will take a while to up my fitness again.. did 8 miles on Saturday and doing the 10 mile round trek to work today and probably again later in the week.. I tell you, the worst part of cycling again is getting used to the saddle.. I've got a gel cushion.. but even with that its bloody uncomfortable.. my ass feels like I've been stuck in a Mexican prison with Pedro who likes it when you drop the soap - if you catch my drift!
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Good on you, mate. :D
I think the commute is the best time to squeeze it in. Wish I worked within cycling distance, as I could definitely do with the exercise and the petrol savings (unfortunately I have a 28 mile commute). As it is, the last bike I was on was a local soak called Angie, and that was about fifteen years ago.
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Way too dangerous to ride a bike in London...you're a braver man than me jman :o
Can't believe there are so many bad drivers in London. If anyone's having trouble passing their test just pop on over here and take it. There was a girl I used to work with, Nikky, who couldn't drive to save her life and she passed first time. After she passed her test we were on our lunch break and went for a drive to get something to eat and she hit a few wing mirrors going past parked cars lol ;D ;D ;D
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It's not the cars that I'll need to watch out for in the L2B bike ride.. its the other cyclists.. there are usually around 30k cyclists that do it each year.. my boss did it last year and some silly cow drove into him and wrote off his bike.. which cost around £700.. he obviously couldn't finish the race either.
They cone everything off though and once you are out of London (you start in Clapham Common) its pretty much all back roads until you get to Brighton.. which culminates in first going up Ditchling Beacon hill.. a mile long hill that goes up to around 813ft above sea level - and then coming down the other side to the finish. I am doing it with a very experienced cyclist though.. (he's done route 66 on a bike!!).. so I have a few training/pub sessions with him in the next few months to get me ready for it.
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Yeah saddle soreness can be a real bitch! Usually wears off after a couple of weeks as you probably know. I'm hoping to start again after minor knee surgery in April - want to cycle to the TdF stages in Yorkshire come the summer.
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Was having a really good commute this morning until some dickhead spoiled it >:(
So 4 guys, crossing a road diagonally in front of me.. judging by my speed and the angle and pace they were crossing the road, I could see from a distance that we might cross paths... now I'm on the road, I have right of way to pedestrians.. they should stop.. they don't... so the first 3 just make it across, at this point, I have had to pull out into the road only very slightly to ensure I didn't hit them.. but the 4th guy just stops bang right in front of me (I'm unsure if he did it on purpose because he could of made it if he had upped his pace, or there wouldn't be a problem if he stopped a second earlier).. so I have to fucking swerve out the way, across the road (thankfully no cars were overtaking me) to avoid this ignorant cunt.. and he has the gall to say to me I should "watch where I'm fucking going" >:( Sorry, but you are a WANKER son!!
Generally I don't have many problems riding on the road, although I wish they would implement some kind of cycling infrastructure in Reading.. there's absolutely no cycle lanes I can use on my way to work - it often feels quite dangerous which is a shame.
Even when I use back-roads.. I'm still not safe apparently.. doing a leisurely ride when it was sunny the other weekend.. was doing about 20mph at the time as I was going downhill and went past a lady and child walking a dog.. and the dog tries to attack me as I'm going past.. it properly goes for my leg, but I just raise my knees and the dog hits my pedal instead (haha).. and whimpers... the dog is on a lead, so the lady is not completely at fault and to be fair she apologised.. but if your walking a dog.. make sure you can actually fucking walk it !!!
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...the dog hits my pedal instead (haha).. /quote]
lol. I can hear the "clack" of it's jaw snapping shut as the pedal whacks it now.
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Perfect weather for cycling recently.. been doing 4x10 miles for the past 2 weeks now and will continue for the next couple.. much fitter than I was.. am planning to do a non-stop 30 mile bike ride in the next week or so now as I only have 3 weeks and 6 days left before the L2B bike ride. I've planned the route out, although I probably need to get my bike serviced before I do it.
I'm not really doing the L2B bike ride to raise loads of cash for charity.. it was merely set as a challenge/goal for myself this year and to ensure that I don't stop cycling as I do enjoy it and the weight loss is a nice side extra, but the early morning rises each day (6am) do get a bit long in the tooth after a while - especially when the weather isn't great - with this I have no choice but to train.. I set up my justgiving site properly last week and I do intend to get the sponsorship forms out to people at work within the next week or so - I hate badgering people for donations though.. I've done a few charity events in the past 2 years and raised a couple of hundred quid - so I'm not too worried about how many people donate.. but its nice to have a few donations to make you feel like the effort is for something worthwhile.
So here's my sponser page link (https://www.justgiving.com/thelovelylads) if you want to donate (excuse the stupid wording - just an in-joke with the guy I'm doing it with) - you can donate as little or as much as you want - its all appreciated.
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Got my London - Brighton ride tomorrow, did a 35 miler last weekend, didn't feel too knackered at the end of it, but I did have a nice nap afterwards lol...
Bikes been serviced, I'm ready - got myself new bike kit (shirt and shorts) and looking forward to it.. (except that I might miss one or two World cup games).. 9am start - reckon it will take 6 hours - cant really go out drinking tonight for the England game if I want to be fresh for tomorrow >:(
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Well, Doctor Harv says: Because beer dehydrates the body a little you need to drink as much as possible to counter the effect. If you go out tonight to watch the football you need to drink twice as much as you would normally to properly prepare your body for tomorrow.
8) ;D 8)
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Good luck tomorrow, Kieran. :D
Watch out for loonies, and play it safe!
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Cheers chaps ;D
Getting picked up at 6:30am, so it'll literally be bed straight after the match, will definitely be having a few beers after the bike ride don't worry Harv ;)
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What you need to do is drink alcohol before, during and after the bike ride. You should get someone to drive alongside you and hand you a cold can of lager. Quite easy to ride your bike one handed. ;D
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Well I did it.. started at 09:06am.. passed the finish line at around 17:45pm.. lol.. 8hrs and 40 minutes.. an absolutely fucking ridiculous amount of people doing it... at least 42,000... it took 2 hours to just do the first 9 miles and get out of London - it was so frustrating. We took a 30 minute break across the day (beer/fag breaks).. and my trip computer showed actual cycling time at the end was 5hrs and 45 minutes.. which meant we got stuck (and in a lot of places had to walk our bikes to continue - because of the mass of people) for 2hrs 25 minutes!!
This is a picture of the first hill we went up.. it wasn't that steep nor was it very long, but you can see what I mean when I said it was busy.. as soon as you got to the top, everyone was cycling again.. so the queues were literally down to people who couldn't do the climbs - although there were 2 serious accidents yesterday which had a bad knock-on effect also.
(http://s30.postimg.org/70uw7dcs1/IMG_20140615_121321.jpg)
Got back home at 11:30pm because of some really nice long delays on the M25 too.. all in all, I feel totally fucked today and glad I took the day off work!
Would like to do another lengthy bike ride again - but certainly not doing this one again.. the ride was picturesque and nice.. but it was absolutely manic and way too many people - the one thing I did like were the hundreds of people who just sat outside their houses all day cheering the bikers on.. I know you get it with the London marathon - wasn't expecting it with this though.. the end was great - we got stopped at some traffic lights before the run-in.. I was at the front, so burst from the pack and there were thousands of people just cheering/clapping everyone on - of course I got the biggest whoop because I was at the front of that particular pack ;D My missus said she saw someone stack it on the run-in - was doing some stupid celebration and went head-over-heels and ended up with the bike on top of him.. he was alright, so it was good to laugh.
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Damn but that's a long day! Glad you made it through unscathed mate :D
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Yeah missus was unimpressed.. she went to Brighton to do some shopping and then pick us up.. ended up getting stuck in Brighton for 3 hours trying to park the car (we had already pre-paid for parking in a specific area).. by the time she had parked up - all the shops were closed and we weren't too far away.. so they just picked us up and we all went home.. the M25 could of given us a break, but long delays for 4 junctions added another 1.5 hours to our journey. The set-up for the whole day was a bit shit.. the council and organizers could of done so much more to prevent it being this busy.
I didn't quite manage to cycle up Ditchling Beacon - the massive hill at the end - got about 8/10ths of the way up riding in the lowest gear possible but my back started really aching - as soon as I stopped - I couldn't face getting back on... was happy with how far I got.. loads of people walked the entire thing
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Spring is on its way which means back on the bike time!! So the last time I got on the bike was 23rd July 2014 lol... but I'm due to start training for this year on 2nd March.. so gearing up for it (pardon the pun) with a few bike rides I've organised this year..
I've committed to the Oxfordshire Classic with some friends and a bunch of people from work - 60 miles around the Oxford countryside.. this is on the 3rd May.. was really looking forward to it until I realised it was the day after the Reading Beer Festival which is something I always go to.. so could be doing the ride in a pretty rough state lol... I believe the route is fairly flat though.
Also signed up for the CYCLE ON challenge on 12 July.. I'm raising money for the Royal British Legion who I personally think are an outstanding charity and I always donate a bit each year. I will be riding from my house to the start line at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, then onwards to the RAF base in Odiham and finally down to the Naval Dockyards in Portsmouth, thus linking all her majesty's armed forces in one route! Pretty cool route to be honest and I'm really looking forward to it.. with the extra distance from my house to the start line.. its approx. 75 miles so it will also be the biggest single ride attempted by me to date. As I said, I am raising money on behalf of charity for this ride, so if you have a few quid spare and want to donate, that'd be great - Link (https://www.justgiving.com/kegron/)
I'm hoping next year to perhaps break the 100 mile distance in one trip.. but I think for now, 75 miles is scary enough, so we'll see how it goes. ;D
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"...until I realised it was the day after the Reading Beer Festival..."
lol :D
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hehe..
I realised after I confirmed my place and put it in my diary that it was the reason I didn't do it last year... I'm kinda dreading it now because I wont be able to wimp out on the Beer Festy.. its the lads annual tradition! Last year was a 12 hour session :-\
thanks for donation btw buddy :D
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1st day in training for the Oxfordshire Classic.. 2 months and 1 day to train for a 60 miler... its leaving it a bit late because I know I'm so unfit.. I did 5 miles this morning.. was out of breath after 30 seconds ;D
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75 miles done in past two weeks now.. that's the equivalent of what I'm going to do in one day in July.. lol.
Getting back my fitness slowly but surely.. finding it much easier to get back into the routine from last year.. I'm not even using a gel pad this year and no real saddle soreness!! 7 weeks to go until my 60 miler though.. aiming to get around 350-400 more miles done before then. Fucking miserable today.. hoping the weather starts perking up soon, I've been enjoying most of the rides to work and back but not when its like this.
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Attempted my first longish ride at the weekend - 20 miles non-stop.. I've done the course with no problems quite a few times last year.. but I was fucking dead after 10 miles.. my legs just went to jelly.. I finished the course without stopping, but been aching like a muh'fugga all weekend. Not good news considering I've got my 60 miler in less than 5 weeks now :o ;D ;D
I can feel my fitness and muscles coming back in spades.. I've already clocked over 180 miles this month.. so perhaps it was a case of too much, too soon... :-\
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Yeah, I'm no fitness expert but my (rather substantial) gut says it's got to be better to increase steadily rather than risking an injury.
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Yep I toned it back this week.. and felt rested enough to try it again this morning.. went out at 7:15am.. must be mad I know.. but its nice with not so much traffic on the roads.. I pretty much hit the same pace (13mph) but found it so much easier and apart from my legs feeling a little stiff I'm good.. so I'll probably attempt again on Monday (weather permitting). :D
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2 weeks to go now... did a 38 mile ride at the weekend.. it was nice to begin with.. but I seriously underestimated it.. set off at 6:40am, the roads were nice and empty but it was a bit fresh.. so I wrapped up... completely forgot to take any food supplies with me though.. to be honest, I wasn't hungry when I got up and the thought of being on a bike for the next 3 hours didn't really strike me as "oh I better have something to eat before I go"
Did 20 miles no problems.. stopped for 10 minutes, refuelled with water and got back on the bike.. Got to about 34-35 miles in and my legs just went.. I came across a bit of a hill.. managed to get up it, but I was done in after that... I literally had nothing left in the tank.. This was at around 2hrs, 30 minutes.. the next 3 miles took me about 35 minutes to complete :o ;D
I was ravenous by the time I got home.. I couldn't think straight.. I scoffed my fucking face in and nearly made myself sick lol. Must prepare better in future :-[
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Smacked into the back of a car the other day.. ::) :'( Wont go too much into details but basically a car made an unexpected movement, I wasn't paying enough attention and I hit his rear light as I couldn't swerve/stop in time... I went flying off the bike, few scratches and bruises on me.. very small crack inside his light.. one of my brake levers got bent out of shape and my rear derailleur seems to be bent out of position slightly as I can hear it hitting the spokes everytime I go down to bottom gear...
Cant bend the brake back into place as I know it will snap off if I try.. also cant just replace it either.. so a bit pissed off about that. Will have to have a look at the derailleur next week.. at the moment I cant use bottom gear at all, too risky because if it gets caught in the spokes it could end up being very costly.
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So I completed the 60 mile Oxfordshire Classic yesterday. It was tough, frustrating and painful. >:(
Got to the venue at 8:30, made my way to the start line and my new chain snapped, so had to wait half an hour for it to be fixed
Finally started at around 8:55, absolutely pissing it down, did the first 20 miles quite comfortably, was going round a corner, and hit a drain cover and my bike slipped out from under me. Cut my knee quite deep and had to stop for 45 minutes to be seen by paramedics.
Got going again, it had stopped raining by this point, but 10 minutes later, I got a puncture which took a while to sort out. Another mile later, I got another puncture, which really tested my patience. Finally got going again and stopped at the 43 mile point for a beer and to refuel. Cue 1hr of torrential rain.. it got to a point where it wasn't raining so hard, we just had to get going again. Got absolutely soaked to the skin for the next 5 miles but at about 50 miles in, someone else in our group got a puncture. Just to top things off, I got another puncture a few miles short of the finish line.
Finished at about 4:55, so 8 hrs it took, wasted so much time with all the stops and my knee (which is still quite sore today). But it's done at least!
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Congratulations on making it, mate, but that does NOT sound like a fun day at all!
Bad luck more than anything - hopefully it'll not totally discourage you from cycling. (It would me - I'd be throwing my bike off a cliff!)
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It wasn't fun.. at all.. lol. I was ready to chuck my bike and give up after that 2nd puncture. >:(
This was just after I stopped..
(http://s27.postimg.org/y4d4gc183/11162518_10152719191115974_2276057046044442137_n.jpg)
doesn't look too bad in this picture.. it hurts more now as its trying to scab over and bending my knee keeps ripping it open again...
I had my thick insulated gloves on thankfully, they were completely ripped to shit where I had put my hands out.. also ripped my cycling trousers and got a bruise on my other leg. It could of been much worse I guess... but I wont be cycling for a little while now.. time to take a break for a bit!
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Injury scabbing over nicely.. its pretty grim to be honest... and the one on my kneecap still keeps cracking open everytime I stand up...
Ordered a few new bits for the bike this week, brake pads, inner tubes (because quite clearly I've run out!) and two new tyres. Usually I'd just go to the shop and get all that fitted.. but I'd rather start to learn how to do some basic maintenance and get better at the stuff I do know, so will fit all of that when it turns up and get back out on the bike next week. Did have 38" tyres on my bike.. gone with a pair of 35s now.. obviously the thinner you go, the quicker you can go, it weighs less but you don't get as much tread/traction.
9 weeks until my 75 miler... dreading it a bit after that awful last experience lol.
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Fitted all my bits quite nicely at the weekend.. brake pads were easy enough to install.. I could really do with a track pump though so I know what tire pressure I have.. think I haven't inflated mine enough.. as got on the bike this morning for the commute to work and could feel the tires slipping a bit
Yeah, Reading council decided to close one of the two bridges that go across the Thames for two weeks starting from today.. 25k cars use that bridge every day.. and 34k use the other bridge.. I use the other bridge anyway.. and I start work quite early.. but it was fucking carnage already this morning... think I'll be cycling to work every day for the next 2 weeks now - last time a bridge was closed, Reading came to an absolute gridlock.
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Doing the 35 mile Wokingham bikeathon on Sunday, its an official ride and I haven't had much luck with these yet... hopefully it wont be as bad as the one I did in May lol.
As its a relatively short distance - I'll be taking things nice and slowly.. although cycling to and from the start/finish line will add another 10 miles onto the journey. So if I start at 9ish, I should be home by about 2ish I reckon. I've cycled most of the course before.. so know what to expect.. its pretty sedate.
But got the GPX file for my RBL bike ride which is the big one in less than a month...
(http://i61.tinypic.com/34rhm6r.jpg)
Damn that looks hilly!! Well the first 25 miles in should be absolutely fine.. then 20 miles of up and down.. that will be the killer...
Going through the North & South Downs, so was expecting it to be quite hilly..
But this is just the 60mile route as well.. I've got approx. 13-15 miles to cycle just to get to the start line before hand ;D ;D Then a long car journey home (probably) and I've got work the next day lol. I am going on holiday the week after though, so its not too bad.
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Wokingham Bikeathon downed.. was fairly easy.. 4.5m to the course start and finish so I did about 44 miles in total. I stopped twice for two 5 minute breaks.. and finished the course in around 2hr, 25mins... worked out at about 14miles per hour.. which I'm quite happy with. Could of kept going, my bum was feeling a bit sore towards the end and after getting home my legs feel like they've seized up a bit... Knowing that in 3 weeks, I would have another 30 miles to do at that stage is a bit daunting... :-\
Least it stayed partially sunny today and no injuries this time :P
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Did a nice brisk 22 mile cycle on Saturday.. was my last real chance to get some training done.. as my 75 miler is on Sunday!!! Haven't felt this nervous about a ride since my London - Brighton trek last year :-\ ;D Also hit 800 miles cycled for this year (last 4 months).
Gotta stock up on the old Jelly Babies, Jaffa cakes and cereal bars this week lol.. always laugh that tons of cyclists swear by Jelly Babies. Its because they are high in GI, and they can give you a quick carb hit to increase energy levels... but hey, I won't be going against their advice...I fooking love Jelly Babies lol... and I always bite their heads off first.
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The best thing for a quick carb hit is honey.
Can't stand the stuff but always took it before a fight.
The reason it is good is that it requires minimal digestion and gets straight into the blood stream from the gut as it has effectively been pre-digested by bees.
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I'd highly recommend Asda's cheapo Liquorice Allsorts. Just 4 sweets is 20g of carbohydrate, great for bringing me out of hypos.
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Cant stand honey (straight) and would be a pain to carry round with me... and pretty much hate Liquorice Allsorts (the only good ones are the bobbly blue/pink ones)... 8 jelly babies = 42g of carbs (I bought a pack last night).
I took a banana on my previous 60m cycle.. wont be doing that again.. half way through the ride, I opened up my bag and the banana had somehow split and started turning into mush inside my bag ;D
Bit pissed off, after all this sunny weather we've been getting recently... it looks like its going to be miserable and likely to rain for parts of the day on Sunday... fucking typical.. >:( >:(
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Best of luck tomorrow, bud!
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Cheers mate.. and thanks again for the donation. :D
Finished it.. and can honestly say it was one of the toughest things I've ever done in my entire life!!
So surprised at the small turnout... there were only 42 people doing it.. I finished 41st of 42... lol. The guy who finished last was a DNF (I was with him when he gave up).. so whilst I was the last to go past the finish line, I did actually finish it and very proud of myself! Apparently there was a group of 3-5 people who finished in the 5 minutes prior to me and then about 2 or 3 more in the 5 minutes before them.. so I wasn't too far behind a lot of people.. and I had done an extra 15 miles cycling than everyone else. My total cycling time was 6hr, 35mins to do 75miles.. think it works out a little over 11mph.. so I'm happy with that to be honest.
My god, the hills.. they absolutely killed me.. I did the first 10% gradient hill... went down the other side to be greeted by another one.. which I also did. Then there were about 5 or 6 more like that, some of which I had to walk up them because I was totally fucked at that point...even walking up them was a bloody mission! The last hill was the ride up Portsdown where you got some amazing views of Portsmouth and you could even see the Isle of Widget from there too.. so it was a very picturesque ride.. but you couldn't pay me to do it again.. no fucking way lol.
No punctures, no injuries.. but it did rain non-stop from the start to about an hour away from the finish, only a light drizzle, but enough to make you feel cold and damp though. In work today, just one more week and then I'm off on holiday.. I need one.. my legs, thighs and hips are absolutely caining today!
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The last time I rode a bike was in the late 90s, ended up taking a corner too fast and the person I borrowed the bike from neglected to tell me that the back brakes weren't too clever lol. Had a choice between crashing into a wall or going over the handlebars, choose the latter to avoid broken bones lmfao :o ;D ;D ;D
Just scratched my hands up a bit, nothing serious...probably due to my SAS/Ninja training :P
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The Isle of Widget sounds amazing.
Well done mate! :D
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Portsdown Hill.
I know it well. Not actually that far from where I live. About 5 miles.
Congrats on the finish.