A long ride

In what most people would consider a nightmare for their Sunday, I rolled out of bed at 4:30, packed my bike into a car and travelled out to Marburg to then ride the furthest I'd ever ridden.... 183km.

Even though it was a training ride and I spent over 6 hours riding I had a great time.

This was a big test of how my training for the Smiddy Event would go in June  The morning started off very foggy, it was so bad with my glasses all I saw was water. It was nice cycling out in the country side with only a few cars passing us  on the whole trip and lots of friendly waves from the locals. Almost the whole ride is done as a group rotating through the riders to make sure no one gets too fatigued on the front and just long enough to start a chat with the rider next to you. Every so often there is an "expression session" which is basically code for "king of the mountain" or "Sprint section. I always told myself "just go easy there is a long way to go... no need to smash out a great time". As it turns out I'm not a great listener and always took off as soon as there was a break away. 

The pea soup on the way out to Marburg

Waiting for the start

Everyone assess how they went on the first "expression" session of the day

The pack riding through Laidley

Some of the less pleasant terrain, the poor SRAM wheels weren't a fan

A break away pack on a hill "expression"

Not the normal patronage for the Plainlands Hotel on a Sunday

Rehydrating

There are always plenty of riders lending a hand for those who were struggling

The last ride for these gloves... the only real casualty of the day.

Despite my worry about being fit enough and whether I'd done enough training I felt pretty good after the ride and didn't collapse as soon as I walked in the door (that happened about 9pm on the couch). I'm really looking forward to the Smiddy Event now, not that it won't hurt and I'm sure my legs will be feeling it at the end but yesterday was one of the best trips out on a bike I've had.

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