After some meticulous planning and some brownie-point storage, I went for my first "longer" training ride on Sunday. In total I covered just over 30 miles in around two hours. These statistics tell only a fraction of the full story...
In the words of Janice from Friends..."Oh My God!" Talk about dawning realisations. I had been plodding along quite happily until now. I had lost a bit of weight, I was training regularly and I was generally feeling well about things. However, what the ride on Sunday brought home to me was, I can do all of the short, half hour to hour sessions I like...but they won't prepare me for the big day. It appears that the only preparation for riding a bike a long way is riding a bike a long way! Doh!
There are some other mitigating factors in my calculations. I had planned to do some climbing during the ride because as well as covering the miles, I also need to teach my body to ride uphill before the big day. No mean feet when you are my size. With that in mind I headed for nearby Paisley and in particular the climb of the Glennifer Braes Country Park (Glasgow and the surrounding area has some good climbs, The Crow Road, The Tack me Doon, etc. some longer than Glennifer but it is the closest real climb to me).
The journey there was an eye-opener in itself. It was really windy and riding into a head wind is never fun. It made me miss my regular riding chums and also wish for the crowds of the Etape (a rider can conserve up to 30% of his energy by sheltering in the slip stream of others, one of the reasons professional riders need good teams).
Once there, another eye-opener. I was in nearly my bottom gear before I even reached the climb itself! There is a horrid short, sharp hill just before. I was not feeling super confident at this point. However, it was a nice day, sun was out and no rain. I managed it to the top! I had one gear to spare even on the steep bits (I was riding a normal road double chainset, higher gears than my usual triple chainset or the compact I will use in the Etape - all bodes well ;-) I timed myself and what do you know, I got to the top in 13 mins 13 secs - an omen?
Once I got to the top, I stopped for a call of nature and then went back down again. Yep, you read that right. I rode back down. 13 minutes up, about 30 seconds down! I had always intended to re-trace my steps as if there is one thing I am worse at than riding uphill, it is riding downhill! I am a total coward and the Etape has a pretty big descent in it, so I need to hone my bike-handling skills. The Braes is a bit odd in that there is no "down the other side" so you have to go back if you want any downhill. I managed down in one piece and then re-climbed the monster, 13 mins 30 secs this time although bizarrly I felt better!?
I continued the ride home, managing 30 odd miles in the end. About one-third the Etape distance. This is what I mean by "dawning realisation". This was under half-distance and although I wasn't dying on my return, I sure felt it (mainly in my neck and lower back). It is like a runner who is training for a marathon realising what is in store when they do their first run of an hour (ie they still have more than double that to go!). Hey, ho better to figure that out now. I will just have to work hard on saving up some more brownie points!
Take care and keep riding,
Col.
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