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The big training ride - 295km

My biggest training ride before the main event

A lot of long-distance riding is in the head. When I entered my first 100 miles, my partner made me do a ride a few weeks before of just over 100 miles. It rained a lot, it was miserable, I think I cried at one point as my foot slipped, clipping into a wet pedal, and I landed on the bar. But the outcome was that I knew I could ride 100 miles, which set me up much better for the Ride London a few weeks later.

With the Mallorca312 just 2 weeks away, I decided to try a similar strategy. I set a route for 295km.17km less than the full 312km, but I figure if I cycled 295km on the day, and haven’t got 17km in me, I have bigger problems.

I set a route from where I like in Suffolk, to my parents’ home on the east coast of Norfolk; I’ve done this route before, but the difference was I’d cycle back, 295km altogether.

The challenges of this ride were:

The weather was forecast to be dry all day, and varied significantly in temperature from just 5 degrees in the morning, getting up to 20 degrees in the afternoon, so planning what to wear was a challenge; I went for:

  1. Bib shorts
  2. T-shirt base layer
  3. Short-sleeved top
  4. Arm Warmers
  5. Winter socks
  6. Fingerless mitts
  7. A rain jacket for an extra layer in the morning/evening

Fuelling would be key for this ride; I would need to eat every hour. I recently bought a tailfin top tube bag to allow me to store more for longer rides. Packed in this bag I had:

  1. A spare tube (2 altogether)
  2. Cable to charge the phone
  3. Electrolyte powder
  4. Snacks

I would also need lights to be seen, but I would need to see if I lose the light. I have thick handlebars, so finding a light has been tricky, but I came across this company, Ravemen, who make lights that fit on the Garmin mount, then the Garmin mounts on top of that, problem solved!

Snack list:

I’ve found that fuelling works for me when I have a variety of snacks and enjoy eating them. I’ve never been able to get on with gels, so they are out; this is what I took on the ride:

  1. 2 OTE energy bars
  2. 2 OTE due energy bars
  3. 2 small sausage rolls
  4. 2 small cheese and onion rolls
  5. Mix of mini cheddars and rice crackers
  6. Mix of marmite cashews and corn snacks
  7. Mix of jelly babies and squashies

I planned to eat every hour to keep the calories topped up – I stuck to that, and it worked. Most of this was eating on the bike, so I had everything with easy access in my pockets or top tube bag.

I broke it down into four stages, with the halfway point at my parents’ house for a quick lunch stop..

I set off early, at 5.45 pm. It wasn’t completely dark, so I could see where I was going, but I had my lights on so people could see me. But it was COLD. My hands were freezing, and it took a while before I warmed up. Before I felt comfortable, it was probably 9 am. I have since bought a warmer jacket from Albion – learn from your mistakes!

I stopped at 57 km for a quick “nature wee” and to take off the rain jacket layer, then kept plugging away until a stop I had planned at 113km to top up the water supplies. I generally felt good, with a little wobble at around 90k, in which the landscape didn’t help – flat, fields, not much to see, I found that hard, and time seemed to slow down.

The stop arrived at a favourable time, as I’d just run out of water. I topped up, got rid of the rubbish in my pockets, rearranged my pockets and then pushed on to the halfway stop, with a chain ferry crossing to get across the broads!

I arrived at my parents’ on schedule, clocking at just over 23km/h pace. I'm back on the road with a quick charge of the batteries, a sandwich, a sausage roll, and a water fill.

The ride back was a touch faster up to the last 25km, which gets undulating, so it felt ok. My biggest issue was my shoulders and back being sore. I took some Nurofen, and it eased off a little. I stuck the music on for much of the ride back and started knocking out the km, and the time went down. I had to stop and refill my water with about 70km to go.

I arrived home just before 8 pm, so whilst it was still light – result!! A nice bath, a glass of wine and lots of food.

The next day, I felt sore- my legs, shoulders, and bum – everything really, but it was an achievement and has put me in a better frame of mind for Mallorca312. I know I can do the distance; I just need to manage the climbs!!