First Time Clearance

The weigh in
This week 99.6kg
Weight loss 0.3kg

This weeks miles 149
Longest Ride 120 miles (Gran Fondo Cymru)

And what a longest ride of the week it was. A ride of both mind and backside numbing proportions.
I made it 194km on the bike computer. Memory Map made it 4212 metres of climbing. That's 25km more than the Etape, 700m more climbing than the Etape, and I finished in 9:26:10, more than 1/2 hour inside Broom Wagon pace. I'll settle for that as a first time clearance of last weeks raised bar. Up it goes again. Let's aim for under 7:15 at the Polka Dot Challenge next weekend.

I'm getting to think that all the Etape can now throw at me is altitude. I hope I'm right. Certainly Wales threw everything else this weekend. Howling wind and stinging rain at least, and I'm sure the kitchen sink was in there somewhere. I have posted a full review of the ride on Cyclosport.org in an attempt to leave this blog more readable. I'll leave it to say that I really don't know where the inclination came from to carry on along the Gran Fondo route when the Medio finish was only 25 minutes away, but looking back I'm glad I did.

Only 149 people finished the full fat option, of whom I was 132nd. I'll settle for that. How hard was it? BRUTAL! Would I do it again? Hell, yes!!

The obligatory stats:
194km/120 miles
Climb 4212m/13818ft
Target Time: 10 hours
Elapsed Time 9:26:10
Ride Time: 9:06:37
Average speed 21.1kmh/13.1mph
Top speed 66.4kmh/41.4mph
Average heart rate 147
Calories burned 7,945

I'm getting fitter and faster, not only do I now stand on pedals early on in a ride, but I can also raise a grimace for the photographer at the top of the last climb, with 185km in my legs, and 2 pints of water inside my waterproof socks!