I’m lucky with where I live. Richmond Park on the doorstep, the Surrey hills down the road and the North Downs and South Downs not too far past that.
But this fortune comes at a price - other cyclists.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that so many people want to come and ride the roads and lanes in my area, to try the actual Olympic and Ride London routes, to emulate Wiggins.
But when you get to the end of the road and see twenty cyclists go past at pace, you are reminded that where you live is not conducive to a quiet weekend ride out.
Luckily this time of year, it is still quite pleasant. The fair-weathers haven’t quite roused from their winter slumber so it’s still primarily the hardcore out on the road.
So which way do you go? The latest run had to be a bit more gentle. I hadn’t been on the big for a week so my legs were going to be a bit stiff so thought I’d best go for a gentle spin so that ruled out the downs so where to go?
Richmond Park is a training dream for some cyclists, the smooth roads making a nice pace with Sawyers and Dark Hills giving a modicum of a challenge. Traditionally cyclists go anti-clockwise round the park so to maximise the chance to avoid scrubbing speed at the five roundabouts. Recently the smooth roads have had speed ramps added to them - not to slow down cars, which almost to the man all break the 20mph limit - no, these are designed to slow down the cyclists. With the various slopes in the park, it is entirely possible for the average cyclist to hit 30mph let alone some of those dedicated speed merchants.
However, for me the idea of lap after lap of a park bores me stupid and even doing one of my urban routes - such as Richmond Park, Kew Greenford, Southall then back - didn’t appeal.
So not Richmond Park. Surrey Hills? Again, the lack of wheels this week didn’t lend itself to a lot of climbs; beside which, I hadn’t climbed a Surrey Hill in anger for at least a year. What was that saying? Ah, yes: you fat idiot, get fit first!
Like a lot of cyclists I have timed routes so to speak. Routes that I know should take around an hour, or two hours etc, so dredging my memory for a nice hour and a half training ride I headed out on one of those routes.
On the way back in, I was overtaken by a South African and I returned the favour soon after as we headed back over the M25. Stopping at a junction in Cobham, he said: “You’ve got a nice little motor there, I had to work hard up that hill to pass you.”
Motor? What motor?
In the age of electric bicycles, mechanical doping has become quite an issue. While the commercial e-bikes have whopping great batteries usually as part of the frame or as part of the rack, in the road bike world, a small motor in the hub gives that extra push for the legs, gaining that degree of Mphs your need especially on hills.
Indeed, he said as much as we cycled towards Leigh Hill and added: “My wife could do with one of those for the hills,” nodding at my bike.
Confused, I pointed out that the bike was a Cube Agree Carbon C62 - no engine.
As I pulled away from him on Leigh Hill, I figured that either he was serious or it was his way of giving me a compliment. Either way, it was reflective of how far I have come in terms of cycling up hills since I started my job the other side of Epsom Downs with a 600-odd feet climb every morning.
Perhaps it’s now time to consider hill training?
Gulp.
Training Ride 4
Distance: 24.94 miles
Average speed: 15.3mph
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