Tell us about your weekend ride

Yesterday was a day on offroad with tom.

[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97991844[/ame]

At Martins Heron we saw two other cyclists who looked a little lost so we offered to show them the way to Swinley and a few trails. They were nice chaps, one does some cycling, the other was a very fit rock climber - but as is often the case fitness for one sport is not necessarily fitness for another.

While out on the trails we found another couple of guys retrueing a wheel, so got chatting with them about bike bling and Ti frames. They both had a history of freeride and downhill riding, but one had given up such malarky due to injuries so they were both on hard tails for the day. Though they did not look amazingly athletic they flew around the trains, especially labyrinth. I could just about catch up with them on the ascents, but downhill was another matter. Plus they took full advantage of the smaller wheels for quick bursts of acceleration. It was really impressive to watch. The weather held out for most of the day with a couple of patches of drizzle.

Swinley is such a great facility (barring the terrible coffee at the lookout) and I am really coming to enjoy the challenges it offers, and am becoming more confident riding there. The new bike just feels so much more confident than the soma juice, all i need now is for the 100mm travel forks and it will be nearly perfect (and a 2x10 groupset, but that can wait a couple of years).

Today was a ride with Hounslow and District Wheelers.

[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98174169[/ame]

I had checked their website and the plan was for a near 100 mile ride. Since my operation the longest I have done is 60 or 70 miles so I was a little concerned. Next week I am supposed to do the Dunwich Dynamo as well so I thought this would suffice as a training ride.

I was planning on catching the train from Richmond to Staines to save a little energy this morning. I pumped up my tyres and went to say goodbye to Missmouse. Somehow my plans of a quick peck on the cheek did not quite work to plan and we started having an argument. I then heard a ppffffffft noise and shouted "Fuck". I think MM assumed I was swearing at her, though it was the frustration knowing my innertube had just given up the ghost.

Cue frantic tube change and the realisation I had missed my train. So my well planned lazy start turned into a rushed ride out to Staines. Arriving at the Bridge and Clubman needs a hand getting his steed out of his car. He was on a 1910 bicycle - he is trying to recreate the two consecutive 100 mile rides that were done by its original owner.

Everyone else was on modern bikes most 10spd a few with 11spd setups. Chris has a bike that weighs possibly 3 times my bike and only 3 speeds and rod brakes. He is an utter legend, sticking with the main group of us for the first 60 or 70 miles of the day.

The weather could not have been better, mildly overcast but no showers. The ride was fairly flat, which was great considering I was using this as a benchmark as to whether I would be fit for Dynamo. H&DW wheelers know all the good cake shops, so we had 2 proper feedstops and then one stop at a convenience store.

I had a scary moment. I am meant to carry an epi-pen as I am hyper allergic to wasp stings. Today the air was full of flying insects, committing mass suicide against us. I had them regularly splatting on my glasses and anyone with a white jersey seemed to be picking up fly corpses. Bombing down a hill something large flew into the corner of my mouth and exploded against my teeth. I spat it out but clearly it managed to sting me, as my lips started to swell. Typically I did not have the epi pen with me, also I had no idea what had actually stung me. I can only assume it was a bee and not a wasp because now my gum is almost back to normal size. I was a little panicked but luckily the person next to me in the bunch has some first aid training so I just warned him that I was not sure what had stung me but if anything bad started to happen I gave him instructions as to what to do.

I had an utter blast riding today, feeling strong enough to do some of the leadout, and also finding myself attacking hills. I was actually finding some of the group hill climbing difficult at the slower speeds so made a note to stay on the outside of the peleton in order to be able to peel off and attack rather than stay in the bunch for those moments.

My bladder as ever was my enemy, needing a natural break about every 90 minutes or even more frequently. Towards the end of the day we had been told that if we felt like breaking away it was not going to be a problem. I had no intention of leaving the bunch but on a hill decided to do a dash to the top so I could have a quick piss stop. Two others saw this as an attack so decided to counter. While I was at the top of the hill relieving myself they flew past and then the first people in the main pack started to go past. I hopped back on the bike, got past most of the main pack but could not catch the two in the breakaway, but also lost sight of the main pack.

At this point I thought I may as well navigate home, and was getting ready to put earphones in when Rob turned up. Rob is a wonderfully loud, opinionated man who rides fast and hard. He slightly reminds me of fiddy, as he has a collection of near perfect bikes, today he was on a Pinarello Dogma with Super Record. Though unlike Paul, Rob can really fucking ride, he also has an impressive collection of perfectly matching lycra kits, so actually wears appropriate clothign for long rides. So for the last 12 miles back to Staines he followed my wheel and we hammered it back to the bridge.

At that point I had done 100.3 miles but somehow still felt there was something left in my legs. I had been promising myself a train ride back from Staines but the buzz of the ride to Staines was still in me and I decided to pedal all the way home, to add an extra 10% to my distance did not seem like too much of a challenge.

I now have the warm elated exhaustion of a man who has probably done more than he ought to for the day. To say I am surprised at how well my leg has handled it would be an understatement. On the 22nd of April I was having muscle and nerve carved out of my leg. so to have ridden a 111 miles today feels like a miracle.

This weekend has been motherfucking awesome. To get in 2 substantial rides, one offroad and one on road has been great. I love riding bikes.