I am planning ahead, and this time I may even decide to do 20 Km each way by BIKE (to and from the event). This is the route.
Now for the real thing…
I just discovered that I can also use the underground to get there. Handy if I am totally zoned out. Also – not taking the car gives me the opportunity to call home and get a lift – but I do hope this is not going to be needed.
Weather forecast is quite gloomy. Not too cold and windy – but rain galore! I am not going to give up as yet.
Update – post event.
Weather was REALLY nasty for about 30-45 minutes. I don’t know exactly how long – but it was certainly long enough to totally completely and utterly soak me up. There was a time, I confess, that I thought to just call Miri and ask her to come and collect whatever will be left of my dripping self. At the end I didn’t and am very proud of it. So this is the first time ever for me to cover 145 Km in a day! I cycled 20 Km each way to the event and about 105 in the event itself – so overall I am really pleased.
Other than the weather, I am also quite happy with the fact that I did not give up when we had a really STEEP mountain/hill/ascend to climb. It was not very long, but it was long enough and steep enough to force several people to just give up and walk. I didn’t. Mind you, I don’t think I would have been able to cope much longer, but luckily my endurance was not put to such severe test!
When I came home to the beaming with pride wife I was not as shattered as I thought I would be. Having said that, I though to myself that I covered just 10% of the LEL distance – and when going to sleep I was pondering if I would ever be up to such a huge challenge. The next day, while cycling to work, I was a bit sore – but not too bad. The amazing thing for me was the Tuesday, where I found myself totally at ease with riding the bike at speeds rarely contemplated before – and doing so uphill too! Clearly my body (muscles primarily I guess) develops after such ‘shock’ to the system and I am then able to cope with higher demands with greater ease. Bottom line – there may be chance for me to do it after all 🙂 Only one more year to go!
The certificate: