less than a week to go...

Saturday 31st May will see me going round and round in circles up in Scotland, it's the 10 under the Ben race at Fort William.

Trainings going well

Feeling the fittest I have felt in a long time

Been training at a high intensity with the idea that on the day I should be able to go for longer at a lower pace...just got to remember to go at a lower pace!

Settled in on the Superlight now, mind you i think the merida in wales helped a lot with that!

Energy gels and drinks a plenty purchased

new cycling shorts (extra padding!) bought

still to get disc brake pads and spare tubes

need to start eatin lots of pasta!

and overall, really looking forward to it in a strange 'I can't wait to go to Scotland and completely knacker my entire body' kind of way

again and again...oh...and again

for yesterdays ride I decided to give myself a taste of what is to be at 10 under the Ben at the end of this month. 10 under the Ben (for those who dont know) is a mtb race in the foothills of Ben Nevis, its a 10 mile course and you have 10 hours to complete as many laps as you can or want to! I have entered this as a solo rider and with me will be the family to give me support, food and drink.

So, Saturdays ride...

the route: home - Low Ackworth - Rogerthorpe - Upton - Hemsworth Bypass - Home (10.5 miles)

terrain: mix of off road and tarmac (I used the tarmac to really push myself and maintain a high pace)

conditions: warm, slight breeze (which was behind on the homeward stretch!), muddy tracks

laps: 3

total distance: 31.5 miles

lap time: 45 minutes

overall, felt good after doing this, the hardest thing I found (and this is the reason why I decided to do some laps) was the mental obstacle of doing the same tracks over and over, but i need to get used to this for the end of the month. Physically I could have carried on, which is good news as on the day I think the atmosphere will hopefully carry me round also and take away the monotony of lap after lap