Life In The Saddle

Things seem to be going well on the preparation for the Island Games: kit orders are in, British cycling license has come in the post and the course has been checked over by the UCI officials (I have yet to ride it or see it though). So things are looking good, and training isn't going too badly either - I'm back at uni now and not getting quite as many miles in as when I'm at home, but that was to be expected. I'm on the bike 5-6 days a week for at least 90mins each time. On Tuesday and Thursdays I'm attending the evening "bash" which is a conglomeration of the fastest riders from the clubs around Warwickshire, taking part in effectively a 30mile road race twice a week. You do your stint at the front, at a pace normally close to 25mph and then there is a sprint finish at the end. It's great fun and fantastic fast pace training - not often you can put in a 46mile ride in the evening! (the start is 8miles off campus). It certainly makes me want to do so...

Every year the Wayfarer Cycle Touring Club, an active and very friendly (if a little geriatric) group of riders from the Isle of Wight organise their free "sportive" type event 'The Isle of Wight Randonnee'. It follows a signposted route around the perimeter of the Island, taking in some of the best roads, climbs and sights that we have to offer on the Isle of Wight. This year, the route was to go in an anticlockwise direction around the island; with many of the roads that the route follows having been resurfaced already under the Private Finance Initiative, the route can be a fast one, especially if there is a prevailing South Westerly wind to blow you along down the back of the island. However, today's wind was not South Westerly, not even a bit; it was coming from the East with a good 25mph volume. From the outset then, today didn't look like it was going to be one to set a record time on the route; but the legs felt good and I set out around 10, to complet...