Final team training ride - day 1

Up until this weekend, there has always seemed to be a long way to go and a lot of training to do efore the main event. Suddenly this no longer seems the case. John & Tim both stayed the weekend for this ride, and when we said goodbye on Sunday having cycled 250 miles we realised the next time we'd see each other would be on the race itself.

Indeed there are only 3 weekends left before the ride after this team training ride, and one of those is supposed to be a rest weekend. So I guess we are about as ready as we are going to be!!

John & Tim arrived late on Friday night. All of us had had a busy week, and all were ready to get a good nights sleep in time for the ride on Saturday morning.

7 of of the 8 riders had made it this weekend (Rich is on holiday). At 7am we all set off on the Guildford-Brighton-Portsmouth-Guildford route we've done in the past.

In Brighton we cycled along the sea-front on the brilliant cycle-lane. Tim somehow managed to hit a glass beer bottle despite many calls of "bottle" from riders in front of him. Luckily he did not get a puncture & we all complimented him on his steering abilities.

After 90 miles and 5 hours in the saddle, we arrived at The George pub in Cosham, just outside Portsmouth. We were met there by Jules and spent an hour eating a hearty meal and taking team photos. We were all feeling pretty good, although the drunk guy in the pub managed to upset Jules by giving her a hard time about how much money was going to charity and how much was going to us. Having put him straight (by the way, we are essentially funding it out of our own pockets, so all proceeds go directly to CHASE; indeed everything on the JustGiving website has already gone to them). We left him a card with the website address on it, so hopefully by now he has read the site and decided to sponsor us!!

After lunch, Jules joined us for some of the route again taking photos of us, but this time on the road. It kind of worked well as a practice for the support vehicles on the ride itself. We met up with her a few times up until Wickham, then the route got a bit complicated, so we next saw her just outside Arlesford. Here she produced cakes & nuts & bananas which were a much welcomed change to the energy bars!!

Just after this stop, we noticed Simons rear tyre had a strange kink in it causing vibration to his back wheel. We all agreed it didn't look healthy, but having no spare tyres with us we pressed on. After 130 miles, Simon's tyre finally gave up with a pop that sounded like a gunshot. Unfortunately this meant he missed the last 20 miles or so which he would regret the following day.

After our fall a couple of weeks ago, Paul & I were keen to avoid the Hogs back, so we got off the A31 at Runfold & rode parallel to it through quaint little villages.

We finally arrived back after 8.5 hours in the saddle and with 145 miles under our belt. We all felt great. Henry had beaten his longest ride by 50 miles, and John's knee was fine.

In the evening, Simon had invited us all round for dinner. This was a great opportunity to discuss the logistics of the event itself & raise any concerns people have. Richard (and his wife Debbie who must have been bored silly) and Jules joined the riders for many bowl-fuls of pasta & sauce.

Should sleep well tonight!