2012 Week 19

Week 19 (w/e 13 May 2012)
Miles: 103.2

Another week of difficult circumstances meant that the bare target of achieving 100 miles was in some doubt right until the final day. It took some application to get there, but I scraped home on Sunday afternoon.

Monday afternoon was overcast. Then drizzle arrived. A little later on it became fine for a couple of hours but by the early evening showery rain rolled in. The rain stayed put for the rest of the evening, turning heavier as the day headed into night. I was recovering from the previous day's fun run anyway - or rather, from the post-run beer celebration - so I wasn't too bothered about missing out on cycling for a day. But then...

...Monday night into Tuesday saw me felled by either a touch of food poisoning or some nasty gastric bug that I'd picked up at the weekend. I pretty much spent 36 hours in bed, feeling very grim indeed. So that wiped out Tuesday and Wednesday. And I still felt ropey for a couple of days afterwards, which didn't help the chase.

Thursday. Although back on my feet again, I wasn't feeling tip top. The weather was also fairly dank, with plenty of showery rain floating through. With one eye on the clock and the other on the 100 mile target, I really wanted to get out that evening, even for just 9 or 10 miles. But the weather was drizzly and horrible and I didn't make it. Which thus meant that I had only 3 days to cobble together 100 miles. I decided to set myself a target of doing 33.3 miles every day so I'd get there by Sunday. As you've probably grasped from this blog so far, I tend to do my cycling in short bursts of an hour or so. For this challenge I also decided to attempt to get the 33.3 miles every day in one go, or at least get myself close to it... weather permitting, of course.

Friday. The skies were mostly clear but there was a fierce wind blowing in from the NE. I took myself off in the afternoon on a 27 miler. It was flipping hard work on the way back with that gale howling, especially since I was still feeling under par. I topped up the miles in the evening with my usual loop to finish the day with 35.8 miles. So that was the first target achieved then.

Saturday. The best day of the week, weather-wise. It was clear and sunny and the gale had mercifully eased. I went out on the bike in the late afternoon and did a 29 miler. For this ride I headed south into the Fylde for a change, crossing the River Wyre at the Cartford bridge and then performing a loop through Elswick, Roseacre, Wharles and Treales (over the M55 and back) before coming home through Inskip and St Michael's. I topped this up in the evening to clock up 36.5 miles on the day, bringing the total to 72. Good effort, especially since it brought the final target under 30 miles. Things like that help mentally.

Sunday. So, one day to go. 28 miles required - that's two hours of cycling - but with the distraction of what turned out to be a gripping final day of the Premier League season. The weather also took a turn for the worse, with increasingly leaden skies and rain moving in threateningly from the west. To add to the woe, the wind had whipped up again, this time from the south west. For the middle of May it was decidedly chilly. I watched the first half of Man City v QPR at 3 pm and would have very much liked to have stayed on the sofa and watched the rest of the match. But those miles were calling me. It's funny how these things work out; had I managed 10 miles on that dank Thursday evening as I'd wished, I would have only needed 18 miles to get to a ton, so I would have had enough time to watch the footy and then dash outside to complete the chase. Tsk, typical. Never mind, I took my radio with me stashed inside my rucksack, and listened to the commentary of the unfolding drama as I pedalled inland. For this final trip I headed east to Garstang and Scorton. I'd just reached the latter when those late goals went in. I yelled out loud in delight and got a funny look from a sheep. I followed the NCN route for a couple of miles and then came back across the A6 to head for home. This final stretch was grim due to that ruddy wind. 12 mph all the way. What a grind. It also reminded me that a hybrid bike isn't great for these kinds of trips and conditions.

I rolled home at 6:30 with 103 miles, having ridden 30.9 on the day. The rain eventually arrived at 7:30 and two hours later it was belting down. The great escape!

The stats:

Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 46 m.
Total for 2012: 2224.6

2012 average weekly mileage: 117.08
Consecutive 100s: 18
Miles needed for 6000: 3775.4

Percentage of target reached: 37.07%
With 33 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 114.41

The slowest time this year to get to 100 miles reflects the tortuous grind of having to cycle into strong winds. With a total barely above 100, my averages slip back a little as well. Just to show how tight these averages are, and how quickly they can slip away from you, in order to get myself back to the peak weekly average so far this year (119.2, set in week 13), I'd need to do 160 miles in the next week.