A long way for a short ride

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

My employer went in for the London Triathlon Corporate Relay in a big way.  Aware that I was a cyclist I was drafted into one of the teams and was quite happy to take part, thinking it might get my head back into time trial mode after a couple of years off.  However, as the year panned out, with lots of amazing long rides, I didn't get the chance to do much speed work.  So there I was committed to hanging around in London for about 5 hours to do a 25 mile ride with four loops around an Exhibition Centre.

I decided to make a day of it and ride up to the Excel Centre from home in Basingstoke and then down to my caravan in Selsey to meet the family afterwards.

Heavy rain showers were forecast as I set off at 7.50am.  It was strange doing my occasional commute up to London on a Saturday, for a start there were cars on the A30 up to Bagshot, but Chertsey was empty, as was Kingston.  Richmond Park was full of cyclists.  Then it was away from familiar roads to pick up the Cycling Superhighway towards Waterloo.  My cycle computer had died on the Galibier (at about the same time as my legs) and so I dropped into Evans Cycles at Waterloo for a new battery.  It turned out the computer had died (not just the battery) so it was slightly more expensive, although the new Cateye worked on the old mount and with the old transmitter.    I knew my way to Tower Bridge, the first time I'd crossed this on a bike, and picked up Superhighway 3 which took me pretty much to the Excel Centre.  I then spent about 45 minutes trying to find my team etc etc.

There's something about pinning on a race number.  My heart beats faster and I can get more speed out of my legs.  But the course was tight twisting and horrible.  As soon as we got out of the lee of the building we got hit by a fierce headwind.  Then there was a steep climb up a flyover and then a descent to a narrow 180 degree bend before going back over the same flyover, starting from an almost standing start.  Unlike a time trial there were hundreds of other cycles on the road so it was impossible to get any rhythm.  What's more the course was long by about half a mile.  So posted a disappointing time despite emptying myself and then was subject to the thunderous noise of announcers, motivational music, and lots of people reliving their moments of fame.  It was good to get away at 5.15pm, fight my way through the closed roads, to the start of Superhighway 3 and my 80 mile jaunt back to Selsey.

Into the wind.   

I stopped to hydrate at a friendly little shop in Poplar and then battled with traffic lights. 

[Ruth]

A long ride, with a bit of a sprint in the middle?   

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Pt 2

I'd anticipating being tired and so I kept the navigation simple, aiming to pick up the A24 and then the A29, as once I reached Billingshurst I would be on familiar roads.  However, the A24 was straight into the wind and with red traffic lights at least twice every mile, so I was struggling.  I'd found the intensity of the Triathlon wearing - lots of loud announcements and pounding music with people triumphant in their achievements.  As I'd not done a great time trial I wasn't feeling particular triumphant.  I was also in danger of missing out on the 10pm to 11pm arrival time that I'd promised Mrs CET.  I laboured on past Epsom and then, finally, the roads opened out so that I could ride for more than a mile without an enforced stop.

There was a long descent on the Leatherhead bypass and at the top I saw a sign to Headley which brought back happy memories of watching the Olympic Road Race.  Fortified I carried on towards Dorking, thinking that would be a good place to find a small shop and eat something to fortify me for the rest of the ride.  There was an Esso Petrol Station but on the far side of the road and that was it, as the A24 actually passes between Dorking and Reigate.   So I found myself on a lonely dual carriageway, the sort of road on which Petrol Stations and Little Chef used to be plentiful but are now nearing extinction.  Fortunately the Leith Hill petrol station remained open.  Here I could get a BLT, a milkshake, crisps and a black coffee, none of which probably feature on a Triathlete's menu (I can't imagine the Brownlees or an Ironman competitor taking time out for such a feast) but as a seasoned Audaxer this was my staple diet.

I fixed my lights and set out into a fine evening, encouraged by the wind finally dropping.  At last I found my diesel engine and evened out the bumps on the A29 through Billingshurst and Pulborough until the ominous bulk of Bury Hill.  This was done mostly out of the saddle with the fond thought that it was the last proper hill before Selsey.  I began to feel empty again at Fontwell but merely upped my cadence and counted down the miles (13 from Westergate, 9 from the turn of the A259, 6 from Hunston, 4 from the Anchor Pub, 3 from the Highleigh turn, 2 from the end of the causeway.

My recovery food was a small doner from Box Rocks in Selsey (experience has shown that a large doner is just a bit too much just before bedtime) and I was back at the caravan by 10.45pm having made up time in the last 50 miles from Dorking.  I'd done 165 miles in the day, 25 at race pace, and turned a rather underwhelming race into a fine day out.  I was asleep by 11.30 and woke smiling.