40 miler

Well we went for a ride today while the weather was in our favour, clear blue sky but a chilly 5-7 deg less the wind chill. When the sun did bathe us, it was very welcome but unfortunately was sporadic and short lived. We did a circular, well sort of, trip to the outskirts of Cambridge and back on a mixture of roads, cycle paths and tracks including a ridiculously high foot bridge over the A11 that had a helpful gulley to assist you in getting the bikes up and over the steps to the footbridge, well it did help a bit, but still not easy lugging 30+ kilo bikes up and over after riding 30 miles up and down the hills of the Suffolk Cambridgeshire borders.

We are pushing both the batteries on the bikes and ourselves to try and eek out the range in readiness for our trip to the peaks in June and the mammoth task of some 60+ miles of cross country riding as we do the 4 peak trail challenge. Doesn't sound too much of an ordeal, but there are some 1500 feet of ascents to do and we will be traveling well outside the theoretical range of the batteries capabilities. Off road riding is nothing like on road riding, wide knobbly tyres on heavy bikes on rough terrain for 8-9 hours cycling but the stunning views will compensate for our sore knees and legs, our shoulders, ankles and backsides will be feeling every gully, rut, puddle, tree root and hole in the road! That's why people raise there eyebrows when I say it is all going to be done in one day, hence the need to pedal as far as we can unassisted, so it wont be easy. Anyway keep watching as we continue to prepare for this punishment.