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 Scooby Snax |
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| Posted: 13/09/09 23:55:15 15 |
We came across a guy out there on his own battling it away. he was doing good so we tucked in behind for a bit, but after a bit of a rise his pace fell off and I realised he was plain bushed. I was feeling a bit better so I dropped a gear and stepped in. Gave him a tow for quite a few miles. We tanked it for a bit at around 20 - 25 mph. We needed too! Turns out this guy had dropped off from his mate. He got back on and thanked me for the ride. Cheers and no probs it is all swings and roundabouts!
I must say that my matey number one was fabulous. He kept me working hard thoughout and took no prisoners. This really worked for me as I am proud and will kill myself to keep up! But I have to say credit to him as I literally died at the end and he literally dragged my ass in!
Time? We came in on 5 hours and 31 mins so 9 mins under gold time - WAYHAY. GOLD!!!!! Average speed? Including stops we did 17.5mph. Excluding so just ride time - 18mph. Not bad for an old bird!!
Placings? Don;t know yet. Will find out tomorrow. I hope to have done well against the women.
Feelings - FLIPPEN hec!!! WHAT a day!! Emotional, cry, legs totally dead, stairs a challenge and WOO FLIPPEN HOOO!!!!! |
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| Scooby Snax |
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| Posted: 13/09/09 23:48:23 23 |
After this stop matey number 2 pushed on as had got in with a group he felt comfy with. Good luck and see you at the finsih. Matey number 1 and I carried on into the most GOD awful headwind. It really was terrilble. We had hit checkpoint 2 averaging 18.4mph so my head went down as I saw my average speed slowly start to go down. Sob sob! All the time I was keeping an eye out for girls. I only saw one ahead of me and knew she was really really strong.
Lanes, hills and headwinds made for a real struggle. My legs were screaming at me - stop now! But on we went trying to get them to respond. Eating and fuelling as much as I could. Please don't cramp! Matey number 1 looking strong and just ahead checking to see if i was in sight- I was! But I could not get on his tail. Too strong for me! Average speed slowly slipping away NO NO NO. 17.9 mph, 17.7 mph, 17.5 mph. For GODS sake when is this headwind going to relent. No-one to latch onto for a tow either, It was so so so grim. Eventually we came out of what had seemed like an endless slog to discover one last climb. My heart sank, I dispaired, my head went down. My legs would not respond. Oh dear, I was suffering now! None of the climbs were serious I might add. Nothing like we do down here, but then I would not be tanking it at that speed down here with the climbs we have! So nothing for it but to JFDI.
Now our average was a mere 17.3 and I thought we would lose gold. We came across matey 3, he'd got dropped due to cramp but he told us to go on and he'd see us at the finish., so we pushed onj.
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| Scooby Snax |
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| Posted: 13/09/09 23:36:30 30 |
Southern Sportive - a cycling challenge!
Well this was not my fault, a guy says ''how about going for a gold time'', as a bit of banter! So what is to be done? Yep we go for Gold!
However, I knew this would be a big ask. To get a gold time you had to do the distance (approx 97 miles) under 5 hours and 40 mins which equates to 17mph average over the distance including the 3 check point fuelling stations 2 with timing chip mats that had to be ridden over.
So how to approach. Well I listened to my mate who is a very experienced cyclist. He headed out at one hec of a speed with me and my other mate in hot pursuit. Flippen hec! 25 mph on the flat and i was wondering what on earth he was up to! I mean MAJOR blow up later on??? I had a quick chat with my mate and we decided to hang on. I also chatted to the other guy and he said that he knew he could not hold this pace for the whole ride, but we needed to hold it to the first fuel station 35 miles in. It would be better to have time in the bag early on rather than chasing times later. So I trusted him, out the hammer down and went with it. We hit a few climbs and some lanes and our average pace was around 18.5mph. We then carried on and discovered a rather nasty headwind. Matey leader latched on to a group that was simply too fast for me, so me and matey 2 swapped leads and got our heads down. It was grim. But then along comes some London Dynamo club doing a paceline and as they go by the wind just got sucked away. WAYHAY, they invited us along for a tow so I latched onto the last guy and off we went. 20+ mph and zippadee doo dahs! Caught up matey number 1 who also joined in on the fun!
Did that for around 10 miles or so. Thank you guys,  Then we stopped again at around 50 miles. I was starting to feel it and concerned as there was still a long way to go. Sometimes you just have to have faith and bite the bullit! | |
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| Scooby Snax |
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| Posted: 11/09/09 00:09:27 27 |
Evening all
DD - well done on the 3rd, great time there, but DD in 38C!!!! Flippen hec! I'd die! I ran once in Rhodes last year, a litlte cloud came over around about 4pm, so I left the pool, dashed upstairs to our hotel room and threw on my running gear. By the time I got out the little cloud had all gone away and MR Sunshine was back - BIG time. I got so hot I thought my head was going to boil right off from my neck. Mr Scoobs had to put me in a cold bath!! Dear oh dear! So to run a 5K in that heat and in that time!!.. to me is - um - apart from mad? VERY GOOD!
AF - I'm with NZC KM markers are great. It feels like one is going so much faster than one actually is! Well that was my one experience of them!
NZC - eeek - running in the dark off road. Wibbles! Well done, it does sound like great fun!
Isn't the weather fab? Loving it!
Yesterday I cycled 31 miles. Mr Scoobs wanted a pootle so we went out to Burrator reservoir. He headed home after a lap. It was so lovely I did another and then headed on up to a place called Sheepstor. It has the most fantastic views up there. So i stopped and took them in and enjoyed the silence. I did up the pace after leaving Mr Scoobs and was very pleased to discover I averaged 19.2 miles per hour for the rest of my ride. )
this evening I did a recovery easy ride of just over 19 miles. Av speed 13.5mph, I chatted for England!!
Rest now until Southern Sportive on Sunday when I shall see what I can do on a bike over 100 miles. | |
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| Scooby Snax |
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| Posted: 08/09/09 22:50:43 43 |
What
Saturday - I biked 40 odd miles all around the coast at a fair pace, worked hard. Good ride
Sunday I biked 65 Audax miles - very good fun and a lovely day out with a few blasts up the hills.
Monday - I returned to the pool that has not seen me for dust for 3 months - eek! Needless to say my swim was dire. Technique forgotten, appalling really. But ho hum at least I'm swimming again!
Today - I biked 33 miles. Warm up ride out, then sprints x 3, then recovery ride home. Lap 1 - slower rider gets a 20 second head start (there were 3 of us), we then sprint to try and catch and caught we did, but it hurt. Lap 2, the other 2 head off with a 15 second head start and I solo it trying to catch them. I just missed it by about 1 sec at the end - killed myself trying - ok I'm still alive really! Lap 3 I head off with one other and other one tries to catch us, which he did just before the end. By now I am seriously dying. Wobble legs are me - hehe. Fab ride!
Why: first time trial on 27 Sept, 100 mile sportive on Sunday
Happy days. | |
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