Almost done!

My plan from the start of the festive 500, was, if possible, to complete it before Thursday.

If I don`t get run over by a bus tomorrow, then I will have achieved my goal.

The reason for this is that I have a part time job as a spinning instructor. I know its a bit "no-no" but it helps pay for bike parts and most of the true enthusiasts I know have either worked as a spinning instructor at some point, or a cycle courier.

Anyway, most things I do are usually done to the best of my ability and I want my customers to go away thinking that I have given them their moneys worth. In a spinning hall, that means I also have to be motivated enough to motivate them.

I personally like to think of myself as a MTB racer but my only god given talent, is my height. I can train loads, but I just don`t get any faster and always end up as cannon fodder, middle of the pack. The most important thing is that I enjoy doing it. Otherwise I would have given it up years ago.

Right. Back to today.

My neighbour pulled me out of bed, kicking and screaming at 07.00am. My body is really feeling the miles and I could have easily slept all day.

We set of in the dark as usual. What wasn`t usual is that it wasn`t raining, nor was there sleet. After about an hour, the sun came up and the wind died down a little.

I used the first 2 hours to get my legs to wake up and then the last 2 and a half hours of pure numbness just spinning and trying to think about what I would eat when I got home. When diesel cars drive by, and all you can smell is chicken, you know your body needs re-fuelling!

We stopped at a petrol station and I bought some chocolate chip buns. Whilst we were there I finally tightened the top out screw on my front derailleur as my chain had been thrown past the big ring on several occasions the past couple of days. I just havn`t been bothered to take of my gloves because of the cold. Today BTW, the temp was around 7 Celsius on the flats and 4 Celsius when we gained some height. the roads were clear in the lowlands but there was still ice on the hill up to Drivenes.

We totalled 104km today on our slow ride shown here on Strava , which means I have now ridden a total of 469km in 4 rides. ( which is what I would normal ride on the road in a good summer month) .

I have something completely different lined up for tomorrows ride, so stay tuned!