The duo's first 100 miler?

It was our first ride out together since we were about 12/14 years old and it was to be an epic 100 miles through North and South Derbyshire.
Hoping to start out at about 9.00am we were delayed by one thing and another but got going about 10.30am. Our route took us down the A610 to Ambergate then along the A6 to Matlock.
After the first mile or so it was clear that a mountain bike was not a good choice, as Matt, being on a racer, took great pleasure at travelling past me at 30MPH and the fastest I could get out of my stupid 26" wheels was a miserable 22MPH!!
On reaching Matlock Bath, we took a break to assess my bike. My front derailuer was broken and I was stuck on the middle chain ring so we bodged it to make it so I was stuck on my outer chain ring hoping this would make thing a little easier.
We carried on the A6 through matlock and into Darley Dale where we made a right down a smaller B road towards a small place called Winster.
Two mega steep hills and a relativley flat ride later we hit the junction with the A515. At the junction we turned left, heading down towards Alsop-en-le-dale. At this point we were on top of the moores and the view was awesome so we stopped to take a few snaps......

It was a pretty good ride into Alsop and Ashbourne from here, with some fair hills. We stopped outside the co-op in Ashbourne to re-fuel, this is were I began to consider a more road-friendly bike.

We headed out of Ashbourne towards the A52 but the route took us through some of Derby's cracking little villages, Osmaston, Yeavley, Hungry Benltley and Longford. It was on this lovely detour we got lost, around a very small place called Trusley, after cycling around in circles I tried cosulting the google maps on my phone, but with an accuracy of 1Km it wasn't much help. We cycled on looking for a sign post or even a road name!!

We eventually found our way to Sutton on the hill a place refered to on my route, but by now we were pressed for time and the fact my knees felt like they had been stapled to my legs did not help either. So on reaching Willington where we were due to ride towards Repton and further, we made the decision to ride back towards Derby through Swarkstone & Chellaston. Finishing my ride at 70 miles approx. and Matt riding on to Ripley finishing off at about 80 miles, it was'nt a bad days riding, certainly a lot different from the last time we rode together over 10 years ago!

Finally The Training Begins!!!!!

So after a while of intermittant training at the gym, I have finally got around to doing a decent training run in "Real Life" opposed to sitting and staring at a wall!

A journey from Derby to Lincoln was the route, 55 miles of fairly flat road, on my mountain bike, equipped with fully laden panniers.

I set off from Derby at just after 11am and headed towards Nottingham on the Nottingham road (Shock). Passing through Borrowash and the very busy Risley, which had an easter egg hunt at Risley Hall, I joined the A52 just after Stabo. Continuing along the A52 until the QMC island, I headed towards town and through Lenton and onto Castle Blvd. Travelling out of Nottingham on the A612 I took a break at the 25 mile mark just on the other side of a small village called Lowdham where I stopped in a layby with a picnic bench. There, after not having any breakfast, I consumed what seemed to be my entire body weight in bananas (3 to be exact!). My stop was only about 10 minutes long which gave me enough time to eat and text! I felt mildly re-juvinated so continued along the A612 passing through Southwell where I made a mental note of the Hearty Goodfellow (Camra pub of the year 2009). At the junction with A617 I headed east towards Newark before taking the A46 to Lincoln.

All was well until just outside of Newark where it seemed my bike had been replaced by a space-hopper. I stopped to find I had gained a slow puncture. After pumping the rear tyre up to what I deemed was maximum pressure I continued on my way. However, half way between Newark and Lincoln, on the A46, the space hopper had returned so again I pumped the tyre up and continued on my way. I was now a mile outside of Lincoln and could see the cathedral so pulled onto the pavement to make a call to Claire (to make her aware of my arival) when my tyre deflated completely.

So, I was stuck outside the Walkers crisp factory with Lincoln city centre in view - but still, 54 miles aint bad in 3 and a half hours!

Safe to say I will carry a spare inner tube on a longer ride but as this was a brand new one fitted the day before I thought it may last, but riding over broken glass and an abandoned head of a rake didn't help.