I - Quarter of the way to Iron!

Discipline: Cycling
Distance: 27.33 miles
Time: 1:46.51
Av Speed: 15.4 mph
Max speed: 37.2 mph

Hadn't meant to go quite that far (near as damn it a quarter of the 112 miles for an Ironman), had meant to do 25, but it's fiddly measuring accurately for a long route.

The route is shown here, and starts off with a lot of uphills, which of course has the plus side that there's a lot of downhill to come later! Flat and downhill I can really enjoy, or even short uphills, what I hate is the long grinding uphills where you have to drop to the lowest ghears and even then the quads burn. I think a regular hill training session up Banstead Road South is in order as well as the long ride.

Once I crossed the M25 though, things got easier - almost too easy, as there's a long and very steep descent into Reigate that was pretty scary at times, and I maxed out at 37.2mph, and could have gone over 40mph if I hadn't sh@t myself and hit the brakes and stopped pedalling!

I'm gaining confisdence at taking roundabouts quickly now, and more getting the hang of the gears. The route is distinctly busy though, and I don't think I'll be trying the aero bars on this route for quite a while! I did however like my cycling top I got at the weekend and my orange flavour high 5 drink :o)

I reached the turning point (stop going south, go east) at about 10.5 miles in 45 minutes, which I was well pleased with, given the amount of climbing involved. The next section was mainly flat which I find easy to do, and a couple of miles later I turned north up the M23. This was a mix of ups and downs, all mainly short, so not much that really hit my legs. The longer downhills were a chance to make up some time, and I made a point of finding a gear that actually did some work (about 90 cadence) rather than just not turning my legs over at all. However, one of the longest down slopes had a major tail back on it, due to roadworks, and I missed out on a really good long 25mph+ section, instead just going down the inside at about half that speed. Rather disappointing.

Then left round the back of Croydon, and a horrible long, gradual hill that killed my legs and saw speeds dipping to 7mph while my legs fried! However, eventually it was over, and I had a great downhill to come. Then left down Woodcote Lane (I think) past the smallholdings and farms, which rollercoastered up and down and made me use the gears a lot. Finally, right at the roundabout, and a major downhill past the prisons that really had the speed going close to 30mph. Finally, a short trip down the Brighton Road and then turned into my road for the last quarter mile.

All in all a great ride - the only really sore bit now is the middle of my neck at the back - we'll see what that feels like tomorrow, and of course everything else too!