Aficionados of RRtY might have noted I have achieved 42 Series; not without cost, as I have often suffered a period of constipation after a ride - the latest after a lumpy (failed) ride on 17th Nov. I took 2 weeks to restore, to me, normal bowel movement. That might have been a signal to call it a day. And, indeed, I developed withdrawal symptons and drafted an article titled “Released”. On completing 42, I had to start again, which is what I did in mid-Autumn. So, entering December with Series 43 at 2 and a possible 44 failed on 1, I determined riding easy for a 1st December ride, rather than “leave the RRtY train”. I achieved this on 15th with my easiest route, the one I had designed after breaking my left femur and ridden on trike on one leg in Jan 2013. To recover from the ride, I re-hydrated well and ate a very light meal of soup and cheese Quiche followed by banana and custard.
My big enemy is age, now 77, and a noticeable reduction of pace, possibly affected by exercise induced asthma. I feel fine on the road but my Garmin is telling the truth, as I note a decline in my ride pace. Even on my 15 Dec ride it was 19.5kph; I had suffered 4xPs, fortunately 2 near home so I could re-start after changing a questionable front wheel; the next 2 costing 40mins of journey time. A year ago, my ride pace on this ride was above 20kph, leaving a comfortable margin for stops. With a reduced pace, this margin is dangerously short.
So, have Trevor Wale (jumped ship at 33) and I set the RRtY Challenge bar? I cannot see me achieving 50, a magic goal, as even 43 now seems a serious challenge. I was 57 when RRtY was introduced in 2003, so already running out of time. In the RAF, we have an expression of “Fleet Leader”, which refers to the lead aircraft for fatigue (one of my RAF jobs was fatigue studies) or flying hours. I am proud to be Fleet Leader within RRtY.
