Well, I’m still on a high after cycling my first imperial century yesterday!
It was a great day out, and the group of triathlete ladies I was cycling with were quite a set of characters!
The winds must have been around 30mph, as at one point we were battling against a headwind, changed course and found ourselves coasting on the flat, completely free-wheeling at 33.5mph (without so much as a pedal stroke!).
I was really nervous before the event, thinking I’d be the weakest of the bunch, but in the end, I surprised myself completely by being one of the strongest! The hill climbs were hard but a small group of us found ourselves waiting at the top of each hill for the rest of the group to catch up. I’m used to averaging around 15-17mph, so the pace seemed slow for me at 12.5mph, but it was a wonderful experience cycling as a group (especially a group of 15 women!), having something to judge your fitness against - and having other people who share your passion!
We’d actually on managed 95 miles when we got back, so had to cycle 2.5miles up the road and back to make it a century!
I thought I’d be really dead on my feet at the end of the ride, but could have actually gone on about another 20 – and today I feel fantastic!
Obviously the long training rides prior, and fuelling up properly did the trick(can definitely recommend SIS PSP22 http://www.scienceinsport.com/)
I’m now on a complete high, and already thinking about entering my next event! The ladies suggested I try time trialling, so it might be fun to give it a try!
I’m so excited – cycling is just brilliant!