So I thought I would try the fast club run, ~60 miles up towards Royston Garden Centre (actually in Shepreth near Royston). We set of at a fast pace and I was struggling right from the start. However coming to Datchworth, Peter W had a flat so we all got a breather. His mechanical problems took longer than normal to fix, so the first group of 6 set off with me included. I held on until after Watton at Stone, when I just could not keep the pace up the rolling undulations (small hills to me which slowed me right down). I went on my own thinking the second group would catch me sooner or later, but at Cromer (15 miles in) I was ready to peel off and go home. After phoning Peter, he persuaded me to carry on so I did and went reasonably well carrying on northwards and was caught by Josh just coming into Ashwell (21 miles). Peter had more mechanical trouble, so Josh and I cycled to Shepreth and the garden centre (33 miles) where we stopped for a sandwich and a drink, met up with Sarah and after 10-15 mins, Pete and Michelle joined us. It had felt quite a hard ride into a light but cold north wind all of the way. Refreshed we headed back towards home along the B1368 (fowlmere, barkway, braughing, puckeridge and along the old A10 back to Ware). Michelle and Josh left me standing, but Pete and Sarah stayed with me until Sarah peeled off home, leaving Pete and I. Pete had run out of spare inner tubes so as well as being generous to ride slower with me, he was also covering his need for a spare. Unfortunately for him, we split at Thundridge so he could ride back to Hertford and me to Ware, and he got a flat shortly afterwards, limping home trying to avoid damage to his tyre and wheel. I had forgotten how hard a 60 mile ride can be when you are not in top form. Still it is good preparation for the end of summer ride from Stevenage to Saffron Walden on 31st October in 2 weeks time.
One major milestone was that I passed 2000 miles today on my bike since Jan 31st!!!
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