 |
| Finally Arriving At Lydd- Glad to get Out Of The Wind |
For todays club run I had mapped out a new ride over the marsh called the 'Wittersham Wonder'. Light winds are essential for any Romney Marsh riding and today's did not disappoint with only light easterly winds and the promise of lots of sunshine. Ivan and Malcolm just made it to the Harrow as we left bang on 9:10, Malcolm had a good excuse in that there was a tiny leak in his front tub that would require a pump up every 30 minutes or so.The ride out across the Marsh on the main road to Lydd was hard as even a light easterly wind gets to be a drag after 15 miles and we didn't work together very well being all strung out along the road in about 4 separate groups. Turning north West from Lydd onto the maze of marsh roads was a great relief and we could enjoy the wind shelter from the hedgerows. The route through these very quiet lanes free from potholes was very pleasant and we made very good time arriving at Ruckinge where we had to ride along a fast B road before turning off for Appledore heath. Ivan had dropped a little bit behind us at this point, we all turned right to head towards Wittersham but he missed the turn and ended up going straight over the road junction for Appledore.When myself and Paul B realised he was missing we rung him up to find out where he was but Ivan told us his legs were blown and he was going home along the direct route via Appledore. We set off after the others who had not realised there had been a problem. From here a few more hills started to appear and with just the two of us there was no chance for much drafting. The old legs started to feel tired. Despite this I really enjoyed this lumpy section riding through Wittersham and onto Peasmarsh. Myself and Paul had given up hope of ever seeing the others when the familiar appearance of a HSCC top appeared with Malcolm waiting at the side of the road. He told us the others were only just ahead and that he had stopped to shed some excess clothing. Before too long we were all together except for John and Andy who had set off on a more direct route home, anxious to get back to see Rugby/Roubaix on the telly.Malcolm's leak seemed to have got a little bit worse as we were having to stop about every 20 mins to pump it up, Malcolm was apologetic about the hold ups but I was secretly glad as it gave me a bit of time to flush out some lactic acid from the old legs. Simon left us at this point as he needed to get back home but he had a rough idea of the route and said he would complete it by riding up battery Hill.Going down the Udimore road instead of up (Fri chain) was a treat but once we got to Winchelsea the easy riding was well and truly over and more work was going to be demanded of our tired legs. First obstacle was the 8% climb up the Winchelsea ramp. Next up was negotiating the ups and downs of Wickham rock lane.Then, rather than continue along panel lane (as I was expecting) the route took us along watermill lane. This is a lovely piece of road with a roller coaster profile i.e you are either going up or going down. Normally I would have really enjoyed this segment but all I could think of was getting up to the coastguard cafe and stuffing my face with coffee and cake. The final hurdle before this dream could be realised was Peter James lane which brought us halfway up battery hill. It was all I could do to keep moving and had to slump over the handlebars at the end for a few seconds to let my heart rate drop down to something near normal before finishing the climb and into the delights of the cafe.At the cafe I got a text from Simon who had just got back home telling that he had never gone up battery Hill so slowly, so its good to know that I wasn't the only one with tired legs, however by the time he got back he had done 88 miles, lol.
 |
| Malcolm's Tub Trouble Allows Me A Much Needed breather |
Everyone really seemed to enjoy this new route, I would definitely say its one of my better ones and it has acted as good training for the far harder 'Hell of Ashdown' next Sunday (5,675 feet of climbing as opposed to just 2,580 feet on this ride, yikes!)
I just hope my fitness level increases in time otherwise I will suffer even more.
No comments:
Post a Comment