Training.
Bloody training,
I hated training when I played Rugby and I hate training when cycling even though it’s an evil necessity to train for 100 miles as there is no way any normal cyclist could just go out and ride a century.
The problem with training is that you have to keep yourself motivated. When commuting, the motivation is simply - you have to go to work. But when you wake up on a Saturday morning, the skies are dark and gloomy, winds batter the trees outside and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse were playing knock down ginger on your door, the motivation is to simply roll over and go back to sleep.
So you drag your carcass out of the warmth of the duvet, stagger into the kitchen and inject enough coffee to wake there dead, let alone your sorry self.
Then there are the questions:
Do you want to eat before the ride or after? What type of ride are you going on? Is it climbing today? Or a nice flat run at a high pace to get the juices really flowing? How long shall I go out for?
You look out of the window to see a Kansas farm fly past and hit the net to see what the weather looks
like. You go to accuweather, the BBC, The Met Office, you consult the auguries as they are probably more accurate than the aforementioned websites. Shall I take a soft shell, a waterproof. Which gloves? Which baselayer? Will I be too hot? Will I be too cold? Will I be wet?
All this before you’ve even taken off your dressing gown.
You look at the map, shall I turn left or right? North or south? East or west? Which way will the wind be when I’m heading home.
A million questions to be answered before you’ve got on the bloody bike.
If you have a bike computer, you check that it’s charged. Ditto with the phone. Make sure you have some cash, your debit card. Have you got food? Do you need food or get some when you're out?
Oh, stopping... Have I got my cafe lock in case I want to pop into a shop or have a coffee?
Eventually, after the millennium has come and gone, you finally step out of the door to begin a morning’s training.
First training ride:
32.16 miles
Avg speed: 16.2mph
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