The Rides of May

Training Update: May

With around a week to go until we begin LEJOG proper, here's a quick look back at how May has gone.

The final days of our French training camp included spectacular Roman ruins, Château de la Motte-Husson (from Channel 4's Escape to the Chateau) and the very aptly named Swiss Normandy (a bit lumpy).

Having seen the first hints of actual springtime in France, we returned to Albion’s shores to find that the memo had not made it through. Some inclement weather meant a bit more indoor training with Paul even clocking a near three-hour race in his garage.

Long to rain over us

We marked Coronation weekend with rides taking in royal scarecrows and village fetes, discovering more great coffee stops as well as some quiet republicanism along the way. We played our favourite game of dodge the showers on a long-planned 80 miler to Hayling Island and back, prompting Richard to invest in a rain jacket.

May's malfunctions

Not a month can go by without Richard continuing his audition to destruction test cycles and cycling equipment. A broken spoke, thankfully clocked by Paul, meant that our support crew (thanks Jacqui) had to be mobilised to rescue Richard, who used the wait time wisely to get the repair booked in. 

Amongst other lessons learned this month...always check your gear-changing batteries are fully charged. And yes, you do need to eat a lot of carbs!

As a pre-tapering treat, Paul planned a long ride taking in both Watership Down and Wolf Hall. This tour of the literary Ws enabled Richard to ride his first 100-miler and Paul to visit his ancestral home of Inkpen, with a graveyard littered with Batten headstones. It also meant our first foray into Wiltshire since the calamitous abandoned gravel sportif in March.

As Paul’s meticulously routed training programme wound down there was just enough time for us to road test our bespoke LEJOG cycling jerseys.

Ready or not bring on LEJOG – next stop Land’s End!

A quick reminder – we are doing this ride to raise funds for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care charity.  If you feel like supporting us with cool hard cash, please visit our JustGiving page.

THANK YOU

Richard & Paul




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