Snow and Falling Trees

Last Easter I was in Belgium standing on a Berg watching the pro's race across the cobbles in the sunshine. It was 22 degrees on that Sunday. This Easter my race was cancelled due to ice on the course at Dunsfold Park. I guess you know your race is going to get cancelled when the Boeing 747 in the middle of the course almost disappears because of the snow shower that's falling.

This weekend was cycling all the way supporting my team mate, Adam, in the Surrey League Easter 3 day and racing in the women's support race at Dunsfold Park on Sunday. Sunday's race for me had an added incentive as I have signed up to join the Surrey League women's team to race the Women's National Team Series. At the moment the women's team is oversubscribed which is a real positive step for women's racing in the South East. I wasn't that sure how I would go as my legs haven't felt good all week after my soaking on the Hastings ride and they only really came good yesterday. But it would have been nice to find out.

So I didn't really rack up the miles this weekend as on Saturday I did a few laps of the Milland Hill circuit to save my legs for Sunday's race that never happened. The weather played havoc with the Easter 3 day. The third cat's raced on Saturday morning on the Milland Hill circuit in strong, gusty winds and snow showers but in the afternoon the 1/2/3 race was cut short when a tree fell on the course. On Sunday the 3rds race was cancelled along with my race and the 4th cat men's race due to ice on the course. Yesterday morning's 3rd cat race went ahead in the freezing cold on the Lingfield circuit but the afternoon stage for the 1/2/3s was cancelled due to various problems, including the weather. But despite the weather and the disruption Adam finished in the top 10 on GC and gained his 2nd cat licence. So a big well done cause he really deserved it, and I still owe him a beer!

This Sunday I have the Sussex CA (2up TTT) in which I'm partnering my favourite wind break, Dave P. It's a hilly course and having driven it a couple of years ago I vowed never to ride it! And in less than two weeks I have Flanders. I think I said I would never do that either. Typical female.

Battle Commando

Tell me why two people using a page ripped out of an atlas and no particular idea of a route set out to Hastings at 7.30 am on a wet Sunday in March! To watch the 2008 Hastings Half Marathon of course - which we missed - but what else? Because neither of us would admit that we no longer fancied it -maybe? And because we were only going one way - yes and we needed to get another 100 kms in for De Ronde - definitely. Neil was already wet when he arrived at my house from 5 miles away but that didn't seem to put us off and it probably should have done. We knew we would have warm, dry clothes waiting for us in the car at Hastings. Obviously the marketing on Gortex really does work. We set off at about 7.45 in the end and arrived in the middle of Hastings at about 11.45.

We were supposed to be in Hastings for about 11.30, an hour into the Half Marathon. It was a war of attrition and appropriate that we were heading for Battle. By Ashdown Forest I knew we'd made a mistake but I didn't like to say anything that would make Neil feel like I was losing it. The forest was eerily quiet (and wet). Every time the map came out it disintegrated more and more and became papier mache. Almost time to start getting the toys out the pram at the point where our excursion down a road on the map turned out to be a bridlepath with more potholes than my Easton EA90-SLXs would like to mention and Neil saying something about it being good Flanders training as he rode away. The toys coming out is not an unheard of occurrence, just one of the things about me my team mates know and love. At this point we were outside Uckfield and decided to get on the A22 to get back on track, ending up on the Maresfield 25 TT course. Another scene of pain. We were outside Uckfield for a very long time because we kept seeing signs that said it was 5 miles away and we never seemed to get any closer.

I was't aware that Battle and Back has the reputation as a hardcore ride. There were lumpy bits followed by downhill bits, then by more lumpy bits and a couple of nasty bits. The colder I got the slower I got too. The uphills were never quite long enough to get warm and the downhills made you even colder. Arriving in Hastings we were starving, soaking wet and freezing cold and there were no signs of anybody or anything to do with the Half Marathon. "You'll pick the signs up from outside Hastings" they said, "it's so well signposted to the parking" they said. "We are on the second car park with the grass on it!" 45 minutes later we found the car with all our warm clothes in it after stopping to ask directions several times and phoning for directions even more times. We were even more starving, soaking wet and freezing cold by now, I'd started to vibrate from the cold. We stopped at a junction to ask for final directions. There were three alternatives from that junction, straight on at sea level, turn around and go back at sea level, the sea itself or climb Hastings' equivalent of the Mur de Huy. When Neil came back with the directions I knew from the look on his face that the car park was up the bloody climb. I don't know why he should find this amusing.

Lots of things went through my head on that ride. I didn't take enough food, I didn't drink enough en route, I didn't wear enough clothes to keep my core warm and I wouldn't do Flanders if it was this wet on 5th April. I can't say it was an enjoyable ride yesterday but we just had to get there I guess. There was no bail out.

Ham, egg, chips and beer helped in Battle on the way home. But the final insult had to be having to get changed in the back of the car in the centre of Battle and losing my pants somewhere. While the guys were showing me their finishers medals (and impressive times they got too) I was looking for a hairbrush and underwear in the back of a damp car. Is it only the Italians who make cycling look glamorous!

Not an ideal start to the week.

After racking up the miles at the weekend I had to visit A & E with the pain in my ribs on Monday morning. The pain had become unbearable by Sunday night and I haven't slept properly for almost a week. I thought it would be quicker to visit out patients than wait to see my doctor, who might just send me along there anyway. However, apparently this is no longer how it's done. After waiting for a while and being assessed I was told that I should have gone to my doctor first and had to wait while the nurse got me an appointment with my own GP. I really wasn't impressed. I mentioned the fact that what if my doctor sent me back to A & E (this has happened to me in the past) and I was informed that it was a possibility. Eventually I was told that there were no appointments available with my own doctor that day (I could have told them that) and I should wait to be seen by someone at A & E. I was confused to say the least.

However, I was seen by a lovely nurse who, after a long examination, informed me that I had a soft tissue injury in my rib cage. The treatment is rest, prescription strength pain-killers, anti-inflammatory drugs and avoiding activities that aggravate the injury, such as sport. It can take anything up to 12 weeks for a soft tissue injury to heal so I must have returned to training too soon after my bout of flu, which caused the sore ribs in the first place. I didn't mention to the nurse that I had ridden to Brighton and back at the weekend.

I'm taking a couple of days off training to rest and see what happens but I expect to be back on the bike sometime this week and out on the road at the weekend. I'm sure if I keep going along sensibly without losing too much fitness, the Belgian cobbles will sort me out one way or the other. I'm really getting excited about Flanders now and I'm also excited about getting back to some proper racing after the big event.

Telegraph, Galibier, Ditchling Beacon..

Brighton for Breakfast. Well not quite, but a 7.15am Grand Depart did mean that, in true Hobbit style, I was ready for my second breakfast when we got to Cafe Nero in Brighton yesterday at 10.30. Another windy Saturday in Surrey and West Sussex mean't that the weather wasn't as conducive as we hoped when we decided to do Brighton and back at lunchtime in different, warmer Cafe Nero during the week. I have to confess that my only two attempts at Ditchling Beacon have failed.

Walking on the first occasion and stopping for a rest the second time about a year later. So 'the Beacon' has always been in my mind as something I haven't managed to conquer in my cycling career. Ditchling Beacon is the third-highest point on the South Downs in south-east England with the ascent rising from 90 metres above sea level to the summit at 248 metres in just over 1.6 kilometres (one mile). I approached the bottom mentally ticking off the the climbs I've done since my last visit to Ditchling Beacon; Passo dello Stelvio, Madonna di Campiglio, Passo Pordoi, Telegraph, Galibier, Alpe d'Huez, Col de la Croix de Fer...

I was pretty confident I'd be OK this time.

It's not a pleasant climb up to Ditchling as the gradient changes and you can't get into any particular rhythm, but I did keep wondering when that one, really awful bit was coming. Luckily they must have moved it on this occasion. I just hope they haven't moved it to Belgium for next month.

The weather was very grim at the top with strong winds and drizzle. Waterproofs went on at the summit and we proceeded in a gale the 4km to decend into Brighton. Almost at the sea front, Chris picked up a nail in his rear wheel, but as that was the only puncture of the day for 5 riders, we couldn't really complain. Devil's Dyke on the way home was more grim than Ditchling had been with a chilly cross wind and thick drizzle. But we had a good ride and clocked up another 152 kms worth of Flanders training. Being tired at the end of the ride, the inevitable crossed my mind. It would take another 100km on top of what I had just done to complete De Ronde in about 3 weekend's time. But I clocked up another 65km on Sunday with tired and sore legs, sore ribs and a late night on Saturday.

My two turbo sessions this week have gone very well. I have done some intervals sessions and my watts have been higher than before Christmas. Unfortunately, my ribs are still hurting and I wasn't able to do any run or weights sessions last week. I guess it will be a trip to the GP if they don't improve soon.

Does What it Says on the Tin

The CTC Hilly 50K does what it says on the tin. It is 50km if you start at Ryka's Cafe car park, finish at Box Hill car park - and it is hilly. Even some of the roads leading to the hills are hilly. The 'tin' doesn't say hilly and windy, but as anyone who ventured out into the Surrey lanes on Saturday knows, it was very windy.

So there I was on Friday afternoon thinking about Saturday's club run when an email pops up from my team mate, Neil, asking if I fancy doing the CTC hilly 50K route on Saturday. As hills are now my friends after getting back from Mallorca and as there were a couple of hills on the CTC route that I had yet to do, I thought it would be ideal Flanders training. Especially as I have now officially entered De Ronde, the full 260km route that it. Oh yes! Even the hotel and ferry are booked.



So we set off to Box Hill into a head wind on Saturday morning and clocked up 100km by the end. I was determind to get up over all the climbs but I was very apprehensive about White Down Hill, an 18% climb with a nasty reputation. I've done Ranmore Hill a few times now and Leith Hill and Holmbury Hill. As well as being a White Down 'virgin' I've had problems with Friday Street in the past but not on Saturday. White Down isn't nice I have to say but it didn't kill me.

All hills were completed and we finished with the ZigZag at Box Hill in the sunshine. The most interesting stretch was Logmore Lane which had a few stretches where the road surface had been completely removed with no warning. A whole new off road section, in fact. Well, it was Flanders training after all.

Now Sunday's ride, that was a different story all together!