Done It!

Just got home after doing the Fred Whitton Challenge yesterday.  There were 6 of us on the day, and we all completed it.  My knees are a bit stiff today, but getting better all the time.  Hardly saddle sore at all, and I don't think it's because I'm completely numb!

I'm really glad to have made it.  I  was have a few doubts around two thirds of the way round, as my knees started to twinge, but popping a few painkillers was enough to keep me going.  And I felt committed because of the sponsorship I had received - Big Thanks to all who donated.

The weather was mixed - heavy showers for the first few hours, then brightening up.  I was very glad that it wasn't raining on any of the evil descents - Honister, Hardknott and Wrynose.  As it was, there was plenty of surface run-off making for very tentative braking, but it was usually possible to aim for the next dry patch to scrub off more speed.

Only fell off once, going up Honister.  I landed badly after my front wheel lifted, and couldn't get out of the cleats quickly enough.  Sore elbow!  Lesson learnt for Hardknott and Wrynose - going up them I took a number of "hydration" stops, and got out of the saddle for much of the rest of the time.

On the subject of hydration, Saturday was the first time I've added a salt/glucose suppplement to the water in the bottle.  The difference was really dramatic - I didn't feel drained at any point despite hardly eating on the way round (just a muesli bar, a bath bun, and a piece of home-make carrot cake).

Anyway, less idle chat, and on to the stats!  No official time yet, but the times I have are:

• Total time from start to finish: 11:22:25(*)
• Time spent at official checkpoints: 1:39:22
• Time spent repairing punctures and getting lost: 9:38

(*) I wasn't aiming to keep this time low - I was allowing time to regroup at checkpoints, so that the riders could meet up, and to make life easier for the two support cars (thanks Penny, Ruth and Sue).

So total time productively cycling is 9:33:25, but my official time (after Acts of God ;-) is likely to be around 9:43.  Which I'm very happy with - I was aiming for under 10 hours, by pacing myself for 9:51 - so beating this despite a puncture is great.

Other key stats:

• Time spent stationary other than the three official checkpoints: 28 minutes
• Average heart rate 143 (max 176 climbing out of Ambleside near the start, and again on Newlands)
• Ascent (from the GPS) was 3643m

In terms of perceived effort, Hardknott is far and away the biggest challenge, followed probably by Wrynose (possibly because it follows on so closely from Hardknott).  Then comes Honister, then Newlands, then Kirkstone, then Whinlatter, then all the others.

Would I do it again?  Possibly - I certainly want to take on some more big sportives.  I'd be tempted by the official Fred Whitton event, but it's held in May, meaning fewer long, sunny days to train in (especially if you live in Scotland).

We'll see!

Comfort

I've just discovered Assos shorts!  They are one of the best comfort upgrades you can get for your bike - it's like wrapping a duvet round the saddle!

They're not cheap, and it seems wrong to be paying more for a pair of shorts than you'd pay for a saddle.  I have tried for comfort; I've got a seatpost with Zertz elastomer inserts, and a Koobi PRS Alpha saddle with elastomer shock absorbers.  But the shorts have had by far the biggest effect.  Helen and I both have them, and can't recommend them highly enough.

And on the subject of saddle comfort, I posted a while ago, waxing lyrical about the wondrous new seatposts with fore-and-aft screws.  Well, I was wrong, wrong, wrong!  While they are good in terms of seat angle adjustment, but the need for a screw in front of the seatbost forces the clamp to be positioned above the seatpost rather than behind it.  So, unless your saddle rails go a long way forward, or your seat tube is angled well back, you end up with the saddle too far forward, putting too much pressure on the sit bones, and/or the hands.

20.5miles, 460m ascent, 16.5mph, 156bpm

5 laps of Arthur's Seat, with lap times ranging from 12:16 to 11:12 (on the last lap).  Felt really good - times were comparable to last time, but the ride was 150% longer and I had a lower heart rate.  The training must have done some good!

Next ride on Saturday - Strontian to Polloch and back, and repeat until knackered, or 100 miles, whichever comes soonest.

Slacking

Not a lot of blogging recently - but fortunately that doesn't betray a (complete) lack of training.

What happened, you see, is that we did the Coast to Coast Reivers route with Louise, Helen's sister - 170 miles from Tynemouth to Whitehaven.  The night before, I tried to get the route into my Forerunner, by inputting it into BikeRouteToaster.  To cut a very long story short, I eventually got the route entered at 1 in the morning, then the web site crashed and lost all my work.  I then traced the route on a physical map instead, on the grounds that paper doesn't crash.

This was the start of my fall out with electronic training aids, and without stats, what's the point of posting?  Suffice it to say that since last time I've done...

• Two midweek runs with the Edinburgh Road Club
• One Saturday run with the above (hilly route, got dropped!)
• Much of the C2C route, supporting Helen and Louise
• 96 hilly miles; Arisaig to Polloch and back
• 84 fairly hilly miles; Arisaig to nearly Kilchoan and back
• And probably some other stuff I've forgotten.

Sadly, none of the above counts, 'cos I've got no stats.

Plan now is a short ride tomorrow, then a big ride at the weekend, then (gulp) the Fred Whitton next weekend.  I'm not feeling prepared!