audax: Green and Yellow Fields 300km
May 7, 2017•219 words
We set off a few minutes before midnight. This led to an odd feeling later in the day thinking back on what had gone before. All I remember of the predawn stage is the illuminated back-end of a tandem. All good training for the LEL in July/August.
Pleased with the effort. Especially pleased to still have something in my legs at the end. I think that was down to the gentle elevation, slip streaming the tandem for the 75km between Manningtree to Barton and hanging on to a fast paced group between there and Burnham. The second half of the ride I did pretty much on my own which is what I am used to. It's more of an effort but I find it is more relaxing than riding with an unfamiliar group.
I did some mindful body scanning when I was feeling it towards the end. That just means I focused on each part of my body and explored how it really felt and not get into the 'I'm shattered!' self talk. As it goes nothing hurt that much at all which could not be sorted by shifting gears or my position in the saddle and on the bars. That together with some three-phase cyclical breathing got me to the finish feeling pretty good.