Highclere Cycle Ride

Today I did the 72 mile which was extended by 2 miles due to a change in the route. This was the longest cycle ride I have ever done by 18 miles.

This was a charity ride where there was two options the short 74 mile and the 115 mile option. The event started and finished in Highclere Castle, near Newbury in Berkshire.

As I was on the starting line in the small start groups it was quite misty and a bit of a chill in the air as it was about 16c. At this point I was wondering why I put on a short sleeve cycle top, tinted sunglasses and sun cream factor 30!!

As we started there was a few "gentle" hills until about 15 miles in where there was a 800ft ascent (according to my GPS device). I was in my lowest gear and was just about struggling up the hill and my heart rate increasing to I think the highest it has been when cycling. I was not alone with struggling up the hill. Once you reached the top it was a great view even with the mist still visible, I took the opportunity to at and drink some sports drink before the fast decent on narrow country lanes.

After another 15 miles with a few undulations was the first water station where I topped up one of my drinks bottles with water and had the second half of a banana. We continued heading south on the country lanes towards Winchester, which we turned north just after approaching the city. After 50 miles was the next water stop which also had some food, however they had already ran out of sports drinks as now it was 26c (79F) and I was glad of the kit I decided on at the start. At the this stop I topped up both of my bottles with water and also had a tea cake (with butter) and a slice of cherry and coconut cake. I took an energy bar for later on the route.

As I set of from this stop there was yet another long ascent although it was not that step but went on for about 0.25 of a mile. This type of undulations seemed to be for the next 10 miles during this time I eat 1/3 of the energy bar every 20 minutes.

Then their was another step climb which was not as high as the first big climb but was significant especially as this far into the ride. However at the top was the last water station which had some energy drink left but they had to start ration it out so I only got half a bottle. I decided to have one of my isotonic gels that I had taken with me. Then there was a nice long decent for about 1/2 mile followed by another 10 miles of undulations, then there was a relative flat section for about 1 mile as you past the main entrance to Highclere castle. As you got in to the ground there was about 2 miles left and a few more smaller undulations.

Overall I was pleased that I completed the distance in 4 hours 56 minutes which was an average of just under 15 mph. It was a tougher than expected course and then heat also made it even more difficult.

I also eat more solid foods on the bike compared to last weekend and when I finished I felt like I could run for a bit and my stomach was not upset like last week. I decided against doing a run as I did not want to overload my body after doing my longest ever cycle ride to date.

Afterwards to help my body recover I needed some protein source, so I had a bacon and egg roll.