At Last!

A glorious sunny day, at a weekend and not a day when I'm stuck in the office.

I got onto the road at 9:20, at the same point my wife was leaving in the car. "It's minus two degrees" she called. I had already noticed despite all the layers. Nevertheless, I managed to stay tolerably warm for most of the ride, though the toes were complaining a bit for the first couple of hours.

My intention was to ride a 100km course from home, with a bit of climbing over Cannock Chase. The climbing certainly happened. However, with the day warming up, I phoned home to inform Mrs H that I would cut short, and we would both go out after lunch.

The best laid plans etc, etc. Within 2 miles I started to feel the departure of the legs, and immediately laid into the apple and pear I was carrying with me. These are pretty much the only items not on the banned list that I can take with me on a ride.They do not reach the parts that Carbo Bars, Gels and Cafe Stops are so effective at reaching.

Within 2 more miles a full-on energy bonk was in progress, and for the last 7 miles home all I could do was watch the average speed tumble. Arriving home just in time for dinner, I almost collapsed into it twice when eating, it was all I could do to hold my head upright. 60 minutes snooze in the sunshine helped, but the afternoon ride was never going to happen.

I am therefore shelving any plans to ride the Jodrell Bank Sportive next week, as I simply couldn't finish without proper fuelling, and proper fuelling is impossible on this diet. I will have to content myself with shorter rides until normal intake is restored on the Thursday prior to the Cheshire Cat (sounds like a good excuse for Hut based carbo-loading if I ever heard one).

Today's Stats
90.5km (56 miles)
Average speed 23.6kmh (14.6mph) Not bad, considering
Bonks 1

I estimate, though, that the ride burned about 2,000 calories toward the weight loss cause. Lets find out on Thursday.