I should bloody know better

Rosemary and I planned to do quite a long ride today. She needs the miles for the Celtman, a slightly further than Ironman triathlon....in challenging terrain. Not to be outdone by my good lady, I've decided to do a Coast to Coast sportive which involves over 230km of riding and 4500m of ascent! The difference is, I've only been commuting lately and she is well fit at the moment.

The suggested route was from mine in Broadbottom, through Marple, Pott Shrigley, Macclesfield, the Cat and Fiddle, Buxton, Long Hill, Hayfield and home. The initial bit in my mind was meant to be relatively fast and flat but there was a slight miscommunication and R had somehow managed to plan the most direct, yet hilliest route possible. Fortunately, it was also very scenic so it didn't make it so bad.

Towards Bollington, after one particularly tough climb, R laughed and said "hahhhhh.....look at that, I hope we're not going up there" as we were faced by an almost vertical road ascending into the clouds. The previous day we had been in an outdoor shop full of cool technical climbing gear...shiny carabiner's, stickies, ropes etc.... I wish I had bought some. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as it looked! Still, faced by the next climb, R thought it was hilarious when I said "you're avin a giraffe".

By the time we reached the Cat and Fiddle, a rather famous 13km climb, we had already ascended approximately 900m. I had spent too many of my climbing pennies and my legs were feeling iffy. I let R climb it herself as she's much faster, eventually getting to the top 5mins before me. A GB rider went past....his tyres sounding as if 500 watts were going through them. I tried to follow.....I failed, not getting closer that 10m behind his rear wheel. Bad move!

I think I had the first "bonk" of the day when we reached Buxton. My brain glycogen seemed to be depleted. There was a slight disagreement between R n I on the way to go home. I felt she wasn't listening and my internal "chimp" exploded into a rage (read Steve Peters book if you wanna know more about the chimp). I rode one way, R caught up, made a suggestion that my chimp didn't like, and I exploded again. I then put the hammer down (or maybe a rubber mallet) in the direction she suggested. I was furious but after about 20 mins of riding too hard, my "ant" cut back in and I said sorry.

After that, I started to get really tired and finally bonked on a small climb. My legs just wouldn't turn. I felt dizzy n sick. On Chunal, a rather tough "named" climb, I had to get off and walk. My knee was hurting and my tank was empty. The rest of the way home was so tough. It was only 76km but with 1900m of climbing......not easy when you're not fit! Even worse when you don't eat or drink enough.

I should bloody know better. Last week I spent time with Nigel Mitchell, the Team Sky nutritionist, I've coached and advised some bloody good athletes, albeit not too much on nutrition. Yet, I had a wee CNP bar, some dried banana and one bottle of diluted fruit juice with a wee bit salt in it....for a seriously tough ride. Irene will have a kitten if she reads this. My 2nd water bottle will be attached before my next big ride and such foolishness will never happen again.

I was gonna say something about my Blip being inspired by Gillian Wearing, but Rosemary may accuse me of babbling pretentious pish again! I think I look quite regal in the pic though!