Training Log Archive: OllieIn the 1 days ending May 14, 2008:
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Wednesday May 14, 2008 #
Cycling long (London to Brighton) 5:03:41 [3] 100.1 km (3:02 / km) +1080m 2:53 / km
slept:9.0 shoes: £20 Lightweight Running Shoes
Cycled from home in East London, to Brighton. Finish point was the east end of Madera Drive. Note this is my moving time - my actual time, which included lots of stops at traffic lights in London, a number of short rest breaks and a long (30 minute) break for lunch, was 6h 20m.
Route was Adrian Fitch's: See here for the route, which I converted to TCX using the extremely excellent Bike Route Toaster and programmed it into my Garmin Forerunner GPS. Apart from a couple of missed turns which were soon alerted by the GPS, it worked very well not having a map. Summary of the route is: Stepney Green - Elephant & Castle - Clapham Common - Mitcham Junction - Carshalton - Chipstead - South Merstham - Smallfield - Turner's Hill - Lindfield - Wivelsfield - Ditchling - Brighton.
Main differences from the 2007 race route (apart from my prologue) are: (a) I cut off the Garratt Park corner just after Clapham Common, (b) I bypassed Hayward's Heath to the east taking a route through Wivelsfield Green, and (c) I went over, rather than around, Hollingbury Hill on the outskirts of Brighton.
The worst section was going through south London - very stop-start. Carshalton, which I've never been to before, was very pretty though. There were a few big hills - getting through the North Downs, up Turner's Hill, and up Ditchling Beacon, were the most notable ones. After the highest point (224m) it was a very nice, fast descent down into Brighton. I got caught in one rain shower, going through Ditchling village, but it stopped as I started the big ascent. It was pretty much dark as I hit the outskirts of Brighton. I'm pleased that I didn't have to walk the bike up Ditchling Beacon - I was expecting it to be The Ultimate Challenge but it really wasn't too bad in the end.
Taking my time from Clapham Common, which is where the official race starts (although their route is, as noted, slightly different) I did the 87 km in around 4h 25m, although this doesn't include stops/breaks - with them, I took 5h 36m.
Next up will have to be the 2007 TDF Stage 1 route - although at >200km, I think I'll need to do a truncated version.
Route was Adrian Fitch's: See here for the route, which I converted to TCX using the extremely excellent Bike Route Toaster and programmed it into my Garmin Forerunner GPS. Apart from a couple of missed turns which were soon alerted by the GPS, it worked very well not having a map. Summary of the route is: Stepney Green - Elephant & Castle - Clapham Common - Mitcham Junction - Carshalton - Chipstead - South Merstham - Smallfield - Turner's Hill - Lindfield - Wivelsfield - Ditchling - Brighton.
Main differences from the 2007 race route (apart from my prologue) are: (a) I cut off the Garratt Park corner just after Clapham Common, (b) I bypassed Hayward's Heath to the east taking a route through Wivelsfield Green, and (c) I went over, rather than around, Hollingbury Hill on the outskirts of Brighton.
The worst section was going through south London - very stop-start. Carshalton, which I've never been to before, was very pretty though. There were a few big hills - getting through the North Downs, up Turner's Hill, and up Ditchling Beacon, were the most notable ones. After the highest point (224m) it was a very nice, fast descent down into Brighton. I got caught in one rain shower, going through Ditchling village, but it stopped as I started the big ascent. It was pretty much dark as I hit the outskirts of Brighton. I'm pleased that I didn't have to walk the bike up Ditchling Beacon - I was expecting it to be The Ultimate Challenge but it really wasn't too bad in the end.
Taking my time from Clapham Common, which is where the official race starts (although their route is, as noted, slightly different) I did the 87 km in around 4h 25m, although this doesn't include stops/breaks - with them, I took 5h 36m.
Next up will have to be the 2007 TDF Stage 1 route - although at >200km, I think I'll need to do a truncated version.