rain miles count double

It was a tired and slightly reluctant me that dragged itself out of bed at 6:30am on a Sunday-friggin’-morning for a prearranged 50(ish) mile lap(ish) of the Ards Peninsula with Allan and Graham. Tired and reluctant due to being at a barbeque the night before, which was great fun and all, but had me feeling like the MEAT was still sitting in a solid, undigested lump in my guts. Still, up I dragged, got ready and set off for Newtownards. At least Graham was more tired looking than me when I picked him up.

Fast, Slow, Fast-Lost, Slow ... around the Ards Peninsula

The weather on the peninsula was much better than last week; still overcast, but not nearly as windy or humid. Good! But still, it was a slightly subdued bunch that set off from Newtownards down the coast road to Portaferry again. Apart from Allan, who was his usual cheery self, and set a brisk pace up around 20mph. That fairly woke me up and got last night’s MEAT digesting.

In fact we averaged over 18mph on these first 20 miles, a pace that was pr0bably helped by a few hill sprint contests. I don’t normally go in for those so I must have been feeling better. Graham, who normally drops me, was hanging on the back having a bad day, and I think welcomed the food stop at Portaferry.

So far so good, then we got lost coming out of Portaferry. I say “we”, but it was Cap’n Navigation here who was leading, so really … well you get the idea. I’d meant to take the A2 to Cloughey but we ended up on the decidedly more minor and circuitous Ballyblack Road. Cloughey was reached in the end but at the cost of a few extra miles and some hills. I’m sure the lads appreciated the detour though. It was fun, right? Lads? Hello?

Out of Cloughey and on the coast road to Ballyhalbert – a road who’s surface wouldn’t be out of place on the Paris-Roubaix – we continued to make good time until at around 30 miles in there was a snapping sound from the back and Graham fully dropped off, his off day getting worse. I also got hit in the head by some kind of flying buglet, which kind of half stung me in the impact I think, and at any rate forced a dismount and helmet removal to check for damage. An easy pace was maintained to the next food stop a few miles down the road in Millisle.

From there it was a climb up to the top of Movilla Road and a bit of a slog into a headwind across the top until we dropped back down into Newtownards and the end of the ride. Allan took the honours for the final sprint, darn him.

Despite the rough start I was pleasingly pleased with how I did on today’s 48-odd mile loop. I wasn’t totally exhausted at the end and I’d put in a good base pace and some hard sprints in the early sections too.

Today was also the final stage of the 2010 Tour de France. It’s been a tough three weeks, sitting watching it, and I wish I’d brought some Champagne out on the ride with us to celebrate. I’ll have to remember that for next year.