Preparation Is Key

I managed to get out for a good ride on Sunday- one of the first days of the year above 10 degrees and, pleasantly, the sun was also out. What was especially good about the ride was that it involved hills (which, on a good day, I love) and I rode with 3 other guys who are better than me.



I quite like riding with people who are better than me because it keeps the pressure on. It's all too easy to think you're tired and lay off the pace but when there's pride on the line you will tend to find out exactly how tired you can get without dropping the pace. I found out on Sunday that it's not just distance, pace, conditions or food intake that can determine how quickly you get tired, but also whether or not you spent 5 hours shopping down Oxford Street the day before...

On the upside, I got to know 3 other guys from the triathlon club I'm training with, found some more hills south west of London, and made a pact with myself never to go shopping the day before a ride.

If you want to see the route we took, you'll have to check this link because I can't work out how to embed a map with Garmin Connect (yet another corporation that has bought out and ruined a perfectly good, functional website because they couldn't make a good one on their own). Garmin Connect

While not big hills by any standard, it's the best I can get in the south of England, and I can tell you that on Sunday these hills were enough! Below is an elevation map that suggests I should have eaten more for breakfast...


Looking forward to doing it again.