My earlier ride left me wanting more.
And with the sun shining down, it felt like getting in a second ride would be a really good idea. Warmer than the morning, and hopefully still fairly quiet roads.
It didn’t take much convincing to get me back into my cycling gear and out for a second spin.
I pre-planned the route using the online Garmin Connect site. I knew the route I wanted to take, but more importantly I wanted to hit ~10km to get above 30km for the day. I also planned this so it was mostly left turns – still keen not to have to be out in the middle of the road at the moment, if at all possible.
My aim for this ride was to take it easier than the morning ride. Enjoy the sun. Enjoy the experience. And also have my first attempt at a proper uphill push.
Unfortunately my attempt at Kitchen Green Climb fell fairly short of my expectations, for two notable reasons:
- I’d completely forgotten how diabolical the road surface is down there. Seriously, it’s like the surface of the moon.
- It was packed.
I’d had a mild panic dodging two people on the descent which took me into a very deep and dangerous crevice, and then as I came into view of the climb proper, I was really disappointed to see a bunch of kids swarming the base of the climb, and a dad and his kid slowly trying to beat the 9% of fun.
As such my attempt was … not great.
I can definitely improve on that, no question. Not quite sure I’ll be troubling the top 100, mind.
The worst part about this climb?
I got a fly in my eye just after it. And with sun cream on my fingers… oh boy the pain trying to fish it out. Fun times.
Things went pretty well on the way back home, except for one point where a black BMW got too close to me at the bottom of Sherwood Way and I very nearly fell off. I only just managed to unclip at the very last second.
And that’s on a quiet day.
One crappy thing is I’ve got a bit of chest pain back again as I sit typing this. Acid reflux and hard exercise don’t mix well.
I’m thinking my next ride is highly likely to be a Zwift session. On both rides today Garmin has dropped my FTP by a single watt. Sad times.
My next outdoor excursion will likely be early Sunday morning.
