The one with the makeshift Audax

So a few months ago I wrote down my goals on a scrap of paper. These were the goals for the next 2 years effectively breaking the Ironman into tangible chunks. key amongst the goals were an Audax called the Staffordshire Lanes 100KM audax that I was to ride with my friend Nigel. However Covid has since come along and the audax has been cancelled. A few weeks back I mentioned this in my Blog. Nigel, read this and sent me a text saying we would ride it ourselves!

So here we are near the start of our ride. We met at the great northern at 09:30 in horrible rain conditions. We quickly got to following the route. Nigel has planned it out and it was to be a lumpy ride round the Staffordshire lanes :-). The first 45 KM the rain was Biblical. It seemed to be coming from every direction. About 45KM point the rain subsided and glorious sunshine, which quickly dried us out. However I had learnt a couple of key lessons here; 1) my waterproof gloves are not so and 2) my waterproof coat was equally non-waterproof. I was cold, wet and miles from home. But, this was not something a Picnic wouldn’t fix. We quickly found a south facing bench and sat in the sunshine eating soggy sandwiches. But no bother, I had a litre of tea in my flask. Nothing is a problem after tea.

Right, halfway point and the legs were still feeling great. We set off and headed back through Rolleston on Dove and the heavens opened again. It was special extra cold rain I think. Saved for cyclists. So we got drenched again. Then we stopped under a tree at the 70km mark at the gateway to Catton Park and my legs were on fire. I stretched and shook my legs out but it didn’t help. What ensued was the toughest 25km of my Ironman training thus far.

Now endurance sport is all about ‘digging in’ when the times get tough. At Tattenhall we had to cycle up a huge huge hill that about did me in. My legs were rotating the pedals, but my hamstrings were on fire and cramping. They are not used to this level of exertion. But the friendly and supportive encouragement of Nigel kept me going. I was told all I had to do was keep the pedals moving, it didn’t matter how fast. We stopped for another cup of tea and a stretch. Getting back on the bike was incredibly hard.

When we got to Hilton the rain was getting so bad we took shelter in a bus shelter for 15 minutes. This did the legs good. We then turned from there down to Sutton and over the back roads to Radbourne Lane. Now anybody that has rode that lane would know it was a gradual climb for 10km. Damn. Legs on fire. However at the top of the road is the football ground, it turns out they are selling beer in your own containers, so we duly filled our cycling bottles with beer. Nice!