2 weeks ago I was in a bad place. Our plan was to ride more than the 60 miles from the previous week.. As per normal I was dressed in a full-length Big Daddy (see previous posts) as the weather had been so terrible I hadn’t ever made it into shorter cycle gear. First 31 miles were okay-ish. But during the second part of the ride the temperature rocketed. It was searing hot outside. Hmmm I am no good when it is hot and humid. Never have been, even as a child. Wayne was really good though and made me keep stopping for drinks and shade. Then it dawned on us that I was basically cycling in what looked like a material wetsuit – designed for the winter. Keeping cool was a challenge. Anyway we limped home having done 62 miles. Very dejected. Probably the lowest point in our training. What if on the day the temperatures were so hot? For sure I needed to wear something more suitable in the heat but I have not been a shorts wearer for a long time. I prefer a nice sarong/pareo on holiday! Hmm, rethink needed. 

The next training was miserable. Not for the heat but just very tough going. The subsequent one was better … enjoyable even, dare I say it? The next day a new Big Daddy arrived for me (summer weight) as well as some knee warmers! Really! 

One week ago, we drove the Surrey Hills of the ride. Oh my. They are tough. Scared ourselves again! We will just do what we can do. In hindsight (always wonderful) we would have gone earlier and actually ridden them. The gradient is 13% at its highest on the worst hill !!!

Next training was the next day … target 76 miles. We’d had a break of 3 days and it was a good call. The ride was tough (quite a bit of climbing) but manageable and we felt vaguely human after it. Breakthrough! At last.

That’s it. Then we tapered this week. My cycling app  (oh I love a spreadsheet / statistic!) tells me I am in form (balance of fitness vs being tired –  worked out from my bike computer / heart rate monitor. So we are all set. Registered. 

We’ll be in yellow jerseys for Marie Curie but you won’t mistake us for Chris Froome! 🙂

Thank you for your ongoing support.  We won’t promise an full update tomorrow but will try to do a quick post to confirm we are in one piece! No news is good news 🙂

Wayne and Andrea xx