Well, what on earth possessed me to ride this again after only a few weeks, I am utterly clueless about. I never ride anything over 300km unless it's a qualifier. LWL was conquered on the recumbent, so having kind of retired that particular bike, I thought I'd give the old Peugeot a whirl. Bad move. In short: it feels as though both cheeks of my arse have been in combat with a blow torch. Think I'll be sitting in a tractor tyre for a few days. Goodness me.
In contrast to the weather on LWL a few weeks ago - this was a gloriously warm day - T-shirt, shorts and fingerless gloves during the daylight hours, and not that much more during the night section either.
Bare bones - which meant a return to the old Severn Across A4. I wonder how many folk ventured over the Lambourn downs after Membury? I was having none of it, nor where a few other riders - two of which I rode with after Membury, Barbara and Liz. Very welcome as that was, we did part company all of a sudden due to variations in our respective GPX tracks, which was a shame as I never had chance to say goodbye, so if they're reading this - thanks for the company and good luck with the imminent 600!
One thing became blatantly obvious for me yesterday - I'm not altogether sorry I won't be riding PBP this year. Big note to self: more speed and training will definitely be required to lift the experience from the dungeoans of an agonizing stressfest of riding against the clock to one that is even marginally enjoyable!
As far as the longer rides go - that'll be my lot for this year.
Thanks for getting out of bed at unsocialable o'clock on Saturday morning Liam.