Training ride 19-20/3/06

We have just got back from our training ride out to Bridges YHA and back. The image above was taken on top of The Long Mynd. The weather is still very cold, with a biting east to northeasterly. As we swooped down the Tally Ho, you could see the snow still clingin to Clee Hill. We arrived in Ludlow feeling quite exhilarated. The long climb out of Ludlow over Bringewood knocked us back a bit. This climb felt much harder than the ascent Clifton on Teme, and psychologically more demoralising as you cannot see the top. With every turn the hill goes on. One thought I had on hills, as you slowly ascend all you are focused on is the road ahead, generally unaware of the developing view behind. And on the descent as you tear down the other side you have little time to appreciate the vista. Leintwardine and the area around the river Clun is excellent cycling country, virtually no traffic and beautiful coutryside, if a little bleak in this weather. I'm amazed at how many buzzards there are these days. There was barely any part of the ride that did not have at least one circling overhead. Frequently they were engaged in a sort of aerial dogfight with the local crows. Overall we were both quite pleased with our progress. The last 10 miles or so to Bridges was pretty hard going, very hilly, and I know I was feeling tired. We covered over 57 miles, which is less than we will be aiming to do on a lot of days on the real thing.
The trip back home was deliberately hilly, much hillier than it is likely to be for the big trip. And again we coped with this very well - we feel much more confident now. The wind had swung around to the north so for part of the journey we were heading into it. Again this is excellent cycling country. This is part of a song I have heard, I don't know who wrote it, about this part of the world.

"From the lower slopes of the old Brown Clee
From Ditton Priors to Diddlebury
Look o'er the patchwork panoply
In that southernmost of dales"

We learned a lot on this ride, how our bodies faired, how our mounts worked, and what kit we should'nt take. I have included the hyperlink below, just in case you would like to make a donation to the British Heart Foundation - for whom I am doing this ride.
http://www.bhf.org.uk/sponsor/johnsmithe2e

6 weeks to go

It's only 6 weeks until we set off on our journey. I hope the weather improves. At the moment it's pretty cold with plenty of snow up north, so it's hard to do much training without freezing. Next weekend we are going on our first training ride fully loaded. It will be interesting to see how we get on. Especially my dad, Alan. He's been complaining that his feet are getting really cold out on bike rides. I hope it is just the cold & not the beginnings of peripheral vascular disease. I should also mention that I too have a few health problems, the main one being the occasional attack of atrial fibrillation. Obviously I'm hoping I won't be having any of those on the trip.
This will be our only attempt. Dad is getting older & my daughter will be at school later this year, so I won't be able to use my leave so extravgantly in future.