More solo miles.

I rode to Bedford early this morning with a plan to join the Beds Road Club run and get some miles in my legs whilst sitting in a group and having a chat. Sadly only myself and a beginner turned up so I ushered the other cyclist on to a group from iCycle and went off on my own.

The wind was blowing from the North-North-East and I made the decision to go out towards Grafham Water again, into the 10mph headwind.  I paused in Great Staughton to take a photograph of the espalier trees and Triathletes competing in the Nice Tri event.

The road into Perry was being resurfaced so I turned left and headed to Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire. From there I began my ride back, with the tailwind, going through Rushden, Sharnbrook, Oakley, Bromham and Kempston.

From Kemptson I took the B530 back towards Ampthill and as I got to the turning for Millbrook I recalled that a Strava segment had been created up Ampthill Hill.  With 70 miles in my legs by this point I was still feeling pretty good so I started recording my time and attacked the hill whilst trying to remember what was the time to beat.  I dropped down to the granny-ring mid way up the climb to keep my cadence high but the Garmin showed my speed had dropped to 9mph which didn't bode well for getting in the top 10 on the league. I crested the hill with my legs burning and freewheeled down into Ampthill.  I stopped outside Waitrose, pulled out my iPhone and uploaded my time - good enough for 3rd in the league!  Not too shabby and I think I should be able to get to 2nd with fresher legs.

Total distance covered 70 solo miles, 18.1mph average, average cadence 80rpm and average heart rate 133bpm.

If anyone cares to join me for a pedal then feel free to comment here or reach out to me via http://www.cyclingbuddy.com/.