This weekend John & I travelled to friends in Bolton and then drove north to cycle a few hills in an AONB starting from Chipping.
A huge thanks to Neil and Jane for their hospitality and for getting together a group of friends aka The HLCC (The Heaton and Lostock Cycling Club). I was reassured that The HLCC were not an actual cycling club but a group of friends who enjoyed a weekly cycle and a few cycling challenges throughout the year. I did however feel out of my comfort zone cycling with a new group of people, just in case I was much slower than all of them.
My cycling speed / efficiency / power / stamina / balance / reaction time / can be quite variable from one day to the next and even variable within a single day. Today was absolutely not one of my best!
The group were great fun, had a great route planned with a couple of ‘little’ hills and had even arranged beautiful sunshine. They were incredibly patient and incredibly encouraging when, yes, I was by far the slowest! It does make me concerned about my ability to cycle 75 miles a day in less than three months for our LEJOG challenge.
Good training, good fun but a stark reminder of how much I still need to do.
The Cyclopaths 