Another painful cycle trip, 70 miles total. SKo, AM and I started out in the morning expecting to get there mid-afternoon, but in fact only got there in the evening. Unlike the route for the Dunwich Dynamo, which I described as ‘undulating’, this was a truly hilly route — we must have done at least 25 climbs. Thankfully, the downhills were much more rewarding than those on the Dynamo. The first 3 hours were pretty good, but the rest was sheer pain. Seriously. And I think I spent most of that time with at least one leg cramping up.
Overall, we had a very leisurely pace, not least because of all the breaks we had to take. Other points: * I didn’t take a backpack this time and was grateful not to have the extra burden * I lost some money on the way — seems to just have fallen out of my sock * My bike is crap. A little before Ditchling, we were taking a break and struck up a conversation with another cyclist who was also headed to Brighton, who grimaced at the fact that we were taking mountain bikes on the route. * Strangers can be very nice. A couple of kind elderly couples stopped to ask if I was OK when I was taking breaks, and people offered advice on routes themselves. I stopped to ask for a glass of water at an inn in Ditchling which turned out to be more of a B&B. The old lady there very kindly poured me two glasses and gave me an apple to boot! She was actually quite interesting — she had been to Pakistan just before independence and worked for the British government in the Codes & Ciphers department. * My behind doesn’t hurt! My quads, though, are seriously sore. Wonder if it would help if I started working my hamstrings a little more.
Anyway, we had a bite to eat at a pretty stuffy place in Brighton and then took the train back. AH, I’m really glad to have another bike trip under my belt. I still can’t see what the point is — it’s much less bearable than running. I think I’m going to look for less masochistic routes if I continue to bike.
On another subject, this is an interesting read. It’s about a peace initiative in the Middle East that brings Israeli and Palestinian kids together to play basketball. It’s a long read, and somewhat sensational journalism, but it’s nice to know things like this are going on.
I know, there was supposed to be a question mark in there. So here it is “?”
Nope, haven’t seen it. I watched Wedding Crashers a couple of days ago…hilarious. Also watched King Arthur, which looked promising but was in fact crap. Oh, and I watched Shopgirl, which is a ‘Lost in Translation’ wannabe…the voiceover kills it but otherwise a decent movie.
I’m going to go buy whey protein today: http://bulkwhey.co.uk
you don’t need the protien if you get enough meat from your diet. All that Nihari is probably enough.
Dude, I’ve been nihari-less for almost 12 months. Thanks for bringing that up.