Day 6 – 3 Counties, 1 Day…

5 days down, 2 to go! Everyday and every morning feels like a groundhog day at the moment. The porridge is tasting worse day by day, the regime each morning is now finely planned, get up, eat, lotion up, cream my saddle sore, get the snacks ready for first 40-50 miles, then get out on the road.

The conditions this morning were not the best, there was a mist in the air which made it feel cooler again. The whole day was actually a bit more windy than I would’ve liked, it makes it very challenging cycling when a huge lorry goes past in the opposite direction. Head wind and a lorry means you got about a 3 second delay before the gust hits you and pushes you all over the road! It’s days like this that I miss the Raiders and cycling in a group, could have done with tucking in behind one of the guys and being dragged along at a fast pace!

Each day I try to get as far as I can before the “Support Team” catch me up, seeing Mum’s face when she passes me is a good sight, probably more so for her seeing me and settling her nerves! Having that first cup of tea goes down a right treat, especially with the couple of chocolate digestives.

Dad had predicted that day 5 would be a tough day, more from the mental side than physical, but actually it’s both. The first stint was tough today, took a while to get the rhythm going in the legs. I actually think I get stronger as the day goes on, yet still have to get out the saddle every now and then to ease the pain in the buttocks!

I think I am starting to lose my marbles a little bit, days are blending into one, and I can remember where we have been, stopped, or what I have missed from the views. So I am normally pretty sound with my mental arithmetic, yet the losing my marbles was evident today when I got to 60 miles. I knew I would have another 60 to go, that was a simple 120 split in half. Yet I then thought about when I meet Mum and Dad at mile 80, I would also still have 60 miles to go!

I thought to myself today, that across the last 600 odd miles and 41 hours of cycling, I have only been beeped at by cars 4 times. Surprisingly these were as a sign of thanks! On some of the small lanes I am driving down, the lorries or cars tend to wait behind me for a gap to over take. Now I give them a signal when it’s all clear, they pass and sometimes, not all times, give me a little beep to say thank you. Have to believe in Karma from time to time.

When I bought my new bike I had the bike setup to exactly how I like to ride, I went with a 50-34 compact configuration. Now when out for a casual 30-40 mile ride, I would typically use all the gears available, however to save my legs from burning up too much with back to back to back 100+ rides I have not used the larger chain ring once. So although my legs have been spinning like crazy, hopefully I’ll be able to have some fun on the last day!

I could tell that I am getting stronger and stronger by the day, not just because my legs look and feel like Luke McCallisters, but also by the fact that at mile 100 I was cycling up hill (not very steep), and averaging near on 20 mph!

I think what got me through most of today was waking up to lots and lots of well wishes and support messages. It meant a lot to me knowing that people have my back and a general concern for my well being. Although with all the pain I am in across the body, one piece of advice I can not live by at the moment is my own “listen to the body”, it’s what I say when training, and knowing when to push the body or not. So I guess this week I am definitely not practicing what I preach!

If you are still reading this, 5 days in then I want to firstly say thanks for being part of this with me. I also want to ask that if you haven’t already, please try and contribute to my fundraising page. As you can see, I set this up to be a challenge, and hopefully you can see that it is. It will all be very very appreciated, not just by me, but by all the families impacted by the charities.

Here are the stats from today’s ride.

124.96 miles
8:04:58 riding time
33.3 mph top speed
15.5 mph average speed
88 rpm cadence
5183 ft of climbing
4412 calories burnt
6.4 litres of water

For the record, Garmin said I only need 16 hours recovery!