2012 Week 7

Week 7 (w/e 19 February)
Miles: 116.1

The weather for the first three days of the week was benign: overcast but mild. Good cycling conditions for winter, although the wind was often whipping in from the Irish Sea to slow me down. I got off to a reasonable start on Monday with a 20 mile ride in the afternoon. I more or less did the same on Tuesday, although the wind was noticeably stronger. I pushed on to almost 40 miles in spite of it. On Wednesday afternoon my usual ride took me to 57 miles. I went back out mid-evening to top that up, since conditions were good. I rolled home with 65 miles. That's an excellent score for the close of play on a Wednesday.

The weather changed on Thursday and dank, drizzly rain greeted me all afternoon. The early evening showed a bit of promise but then a wave of firmer rain blew in, so no cycling was done. Unfortunately, Friday panned out in the same manner. I didn't want to leave too much to do at the weekend. Psychologically, it always feels better going into the weekend needing 20 something miles rather than 30 something. So I dashed out in the evening despite the dankness. It started to rain lightly but firmly when I was 2 miles away from home, but I got back with 73 miles on the clock.

Saturday began with lashing rain, but this had cleared by mid-afternoon. I cycled into town* and then did another 30 minutes worth at teatime which took me to 89 miles. I didn't bother going out again in the dark because it was cold and windy. So that left Sunday to mop up the remaining 11 miles. Conditions were clear and cold and gale-free. So I took myself out at 4:30 and rolled home later with 108 miles. I dashed back out mid-evening for another half an hour, thus ending the week with 116. It was comfortable in the end.

The stats:
Time taken to get 100: 6 hr 37 m.
Total for 2012: 719.9
2012 average weekly mileage: 102.84
Consecutive 100s: 6
Miles needed for 6000: 5280.1
Percentage of target reached: 11.99%
With 45 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 117.3

A slow 100 this week due to the north westerly wind.

* I usually make a trip to my local town on Saturday afternoon around 3:30 - 4 pm. This means that I get home around 5 pm. Today was the first occasion this year when I didn't need to put my lights on when going home. Excellent! It's a milestone I always look out for with some pleasure. Spring must be just around the corner!