Final training ride today, with my good friend Tom. Tom is a much more experienced cyclist than I am, and even occassionally goes riding with a cycling club. He mentions his cycling club occassionally race up hills. I have no desire to join this cycling club.
Anyway; it was a great ride. Hard work, yes, but I think that was the idea. Tom described it as a 'gradient ride'. Basically there were a lot of hills. Still, for the first time in ages, it didn't pour with rain as we were cycling (it was overcast) and the new and improved bike (armoured tyres, shorter stem) felt good (albeit in need of a service).
I'm not too sure where we went, but wherever it was, there was a disappointing lack of a tea and cake shop. We went fairly close to Chartwell, Hever Castle and numerous golf courses. The way back took us over Ide Hill (long, steep), Sunbridge Hill (very steep. I found this one the most difficult of the three) and past the Crystal Palace radio mast (a long climb right at the end of the route). All in all, it was reassuring. The hills were tough, but I got up them. The bike felt good. I was tired by the time we got home (after 102km) but that isn't really a surprise.
Austria still scares me, but I'm really quite eager to crack on with it now. I think it will scare me less once I start.
Time to the Pink Panther ride: Less than a week!
Confidence: Improving.
Weight: No idea. Suffice to say that my suits are all now quite a bit looser than the were.
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