Team GB set out again today – this time with bigger fish to fry.  The Mad March Hare is in 2 weeks and this season I have yet to do any serious milage, so I really needed to get a 50 mile ride under my belt.  GB put together a route, which meant that all I had to do was go along for the ride…

We set off at 12:00 sharp.  We did a long loop which wasn’t entirely flat, and was quite similar to Friday’s route.  Considering that my gears started playing up somewhere around Shapwick, going uphill became even more troublesome than usual.  So much so that, since I couldn’t get into bottom gear at the time, I had to stop briefly going up Brent Knoll, and going up to Banwell Castle wasn’t much fun either.  Lack of gears and my legs are out of practice.  Annoying because I know I can do those hills better…honest!  Looks like I’d better get my bike serviced in the next week or so.  Ah well, I haven’t thrown money at it for at least a couple of weeks…*grin*

Cycling time: 3:14:31
Distance: 50.62 miles
Avs: 15.5 mph
ODO: 3286 miles

We were lucky again – in that the weather was good, and the wind was lighter than on Friday.  Mind you, it was variable enough to be in our faces more often than seemed fair.  The roads were wet and occasionally slippery which made downhills ever less enjoyable for me.  I should take lessons from GB who shoots down them in quite enviable style.

On a positive note, my knee was fine.  My shoulder twinged a bit and is a bit sore now, but that I can deal with.  I also feel less tired than I did after the shorter and bizarrely slightly slower route on Friday, but I can definitely feel the burn in my legs.  I was very good, not only did I wash the bike as soon as I got home, I even stretched my legs afterwards too – and I never do that!  🙂

So there you go, 50 miles as planned.  I pretty much enjoyed it, and I feel a bit more positive about doing 74 in two weeks time now 🙂

(Charlie’s take on the ride can be found here.)