Matts May Post

Seriously...how hard can it be Cleve. 1 post a month!!!

I think that i got off lightly following Cleves post! He obviously forgot that i almost brought the ride to a halt after 5 miles!! Riding along i somehow managed to get my chain in a double knot! We couldnt figure out what had happened and spent a good 15 minutes trying to figure out a puzzle that was more difficult than the rubix cube. I just fear that each of the 8 days is going to be a comedy of errors where i manage to cause hours of delays by doing things to my bike that i cant figure out how i did it!!

The Ikley ride with Cleve was a good slap in the face for me. The rides have been going fine, but we headed out to the hills and covered 30+ miles of just hills. In fact, i dont remember coming downhill much so dont know how we managed that! The first 10 miles were ok, i then had a toilet break and nearly broke my ankle falling down a ditch before getting back on my bike. A couple of miles later and my knee was hurting - i suspect from my fall. The hills were therefore painful. I must thank Cleve though 100% for keeping me going. Although annoying when i as told that there was no more hills to find yet another one every mile that we went, the encouragement to keep going was very much appreciated. So lesson learnt that training needs to be done on the hills now. The distances and stamina dont seem a problem, it is just the mental aspect of tackling hills that last for miles and that are followed by more hills when you get to the top.

The real downside is the trouble that we are getting when we are out. Verbal abuse is a daily thing now and Jon has even had something thrown at him. Quite scary.

The other solo rides that i have done have been fine - much flatter and done without any difficulty. Everyone is doing great. Jon is out a lot, Cleve is out a lot and i am going out as much as i can do while fitting in charity work as well. The ride is becoming scarily close so think that we are now getting to the point where i am planning on daily rides to keep the training up.

PS. Cleve has (again) chickened out of our next team ride!