It doesn't stop hurting - you just get quicker.

This Sunday I have my second sportive ride, 86 miles in the New Forest. Keenly watching the weather forecasts which seem to change every hour. It now looks like it will be either wet or dry, the temperature will be warm or cold the sun may or may not shine but the one thing all the forecasts agree on is that it is going to be mighty windy up to 38mph! Fine when its behind but not much fun in any other direction.  Its going to be an early start as well to get to the New Forest by 7:30am. Very much looking forward to it .

What training to do between the two sportives though? Well I needed to get last weeks ride out of my legs and make sure I didn't overdo it in advance of next weeks ride. The answer has been a recovery ride on Monday followed by couple of  mid week medium length tempo rides and an easy spin the day before. The tempo rides went really well especially the first one, I would have averaged over 17mph for the 33 mile route had it not been for getting stuck behind a sightseeing bus in Eton and then a very slow passage through Windsor due to roadworks, traffic lights and lots of heavy traffic. The effort though is still the same as it was 6 months ago when I started. The difference is I am now much quicker, in fact 25-30% quicker than when I started out I'm also getting up hills much better, it still hurts but not for as long. Losing weight also helps with the hills. This week I reached a new milestone of 12st 8lb which at my height puts me into the "Normal" BMI range for the first time in I don't know how long. All in all then its all going according to plan (what plan is that then?)

To sponsor me for the Ride London 100 in aid of Prostate Cancer UK and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.