Early morning pre-life ride this morning, which ended up being shorter than I would have liked because various people had to be organised, and routes juggled…but hey, at least I got out, and it was nice to see G and S.  Left at 8:00am, in nippy but bearable weather, and was home just before 10:00am as required.

Cycling time: 1:40:49
Distance: 25.653 mph
Avs: 15.3 mph
ODO: 7461.9 miles

Not the fastest, but there was a degree of nattering going on, and no-one was pushing it, so I’m fairly happy with that.

Thursdays is often a day when there’s a group cycling, and today it was M and I, plus C who joined us for the first time – she races velodrome I think.  We did an hour or so together, a little slower than I’d have liked, and then they had to get home so I did a extra chunk on my own, which I enjoyed more as I could go at my own pace – which as it turns out, was faster than it was when we were together.  Although there was little wind, it was a tad chilly, and really foggy and gloomy.   So much so that even Glastonbury I couldn’t see the Tor!  Stats this time:

Cycling time: 2:12:11
Distance: 34.936 mph
Avs: 15.9 mph
ODO: 7436.3 miles

Much better average speed, which is cheery.  I’m feeling pretty good after it too – not too worn out or anything, though I am going to have a long bath to soak my muscles and back.  I think I’m starting to feel the effects of having given up smoking (again!) three weeks ago, which is good motivationally speaking.

OK, so the back pain continues, and the head has a habit of throbbing…but I was fed up of sticking to the gym, and the weather was OK, if a bit grey and gloomy.  Not much wind though, and not too cold.  So I decided to go riding this morning, and it turned out that M was around, so I had company after all.

Cycling time: 2:14:16
Distance: 31.707 mph
Avs: 14.2 mph
ODO: 7401.2 miles

Average speed was up on the last time, and would have been faster if we hadn’t been nattering the entire way around. Still pretty painful at times, but after an hour or so with the endorphins/adrenalin kicked in, it got a little better.