Morning Walk

New Year walk

Evening Walk (aka keeping the streak going)

15km Hilly Progressive Repeat Long Run

Progressive Run

After a bike fit and a new shorter crankset (165mm) I was optimistic this would go well. The ride from Guildford was uneventful, although the routing from Strava sent me down a paved track above hindhead tunnel I was a little wary of. Met up with Charlotteville riders, set out with grand intentions, but going down the first descent, my rear light came off and shattered, never to work again. Tried to keep up with Jeremy and Tim with some initial success, then coming over another hill, suddenly I couldn't shift to the big chain ring and not obvious why. After stopping to investigate, I gave up try to follow Tim and Jeremy and just cruised out. I was starting to feel a bit weak at this point and stopped at the first feed station to seek out a mechanic with no luck. So I set off from the first feed station and shortly after that Dr. Winder overtook me on an uphill climb, but at least got a chance to meet him on our 3rd joint Little Lumpy.  I began feeling weaker and weaker but not totally dead. I joined up with Richard Taylor and came down a descent behind him, terminating in a T junction where he went across and right and followed him, noticing a vehicle coming up from the left at the last moment. This alarmed me enough to try and get right next to the kerb after I made the right, but still had too much downhill momentum pulling me to the left and I tipped over into the nettles on the left, causing a small traffic jam while everyone enquired after my health, although mostly I was just embarassed. I think the nettles kept me from picking up any actual road rash, but they stung plenty.  While the nettles did wake me up a bit, I was still feeling sluggish. At the half-way point, I looked for a mechanic with no luck and stayed on the small ring, which given the hills and my state, was no bad thing.  From here, it was just an unpleasant slog while I tolerated the apparent bonk, and feebly made my up every incline. Still no mechanic at Chalton and not feeling much stronger. From here, it was quite unpleasant and I had sit down in Buriton.  I stopped at the Chalton feed station and found a mechanic, but while he seemed to temporarily repair the defect, which seemed to be inside the shifting levers, the issue returned nearly immediately after leaving Harting, heading for Lurgashall and Blackdown.  For no obvious reason, I started to recover a bit at this point and was able to maintain a decent pace on the flat and climb Blackdown without too much trouble, if not as fast as last year. I found the Charlotteville riders waiting which was good of them and although I planned to ride home, Andy was kind enough to offer a lift which I gratefully accepted. Somehow, this managed not to be slower than my first little lumpy in 2017, but it was way off last year's pace which I had hoped to improve considerably this year. The bike fit made riding on the drops more comfortable which was a big help and I had pretty much no knee pain which might have been the shorter crankset or just my feeble climbing. I will have to research options for fueling for the next big one.

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Mark Blackman

outbound from Guildford + Little Lumpy 2019 + Andy's house to home

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Segments

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Morning Walk

New Year walk

Evening Walk (aka keeping the streak going)

15km Hilly Progressive Repeat Long Run

Progressive Run

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