The last ride of the season - and what a way to finish off the season before I head to Cuba, off course..!
Stayed over at Ryde and chose a starting point near to the hotel. Nothing to brag about the hotel (Abingdon lodge hotel). Quite expensive to any comparable hotel and the service was well below par (no one to man the desk for almost the entire day on Sunday..!) The only positives to come from this chapter would be the decent breakfast and the opportunity to sleep before the ride.
Was at the starting point by 8:30 - smallbrook stadium. Swiftly pass the registration and off the saddle before 9 am. We were given a map and asked to follow the bicycle signs all over the island. It was then I realised that this was not the usual marshaled, sign posted, tailor made route, but this was a normal round the island route we had to follow. In other words this route could be replicated anytime of the year. All we had to was to follow the bicycle signs (blue bicycle with white background indicates clockwise and white on blue is anti clockwise) and reach back where we started.
Stayed over at Ryde and chose a starting point near to the hotel. Nothing to brag about the hotel (Abingdon lodge hotel). Quite expensive to any comparable hotel and the service was well below par (no one to man the desk for almost the entire day on Sunday..!) The only positives to come from this chapter would be the decent breakfast and the opportunity to sleep before the ride.
Was at the starting point by 8:30 - smallbrook stadium. Swiftly pass the registration and off the saddle before 9 am. We were given a map and asked to follow the bicycle signs all over the island. It was then I realised that this was not the usual marshaled, sign posted, tailor made route, but this was a normal round the island route we had to follow. In other words this route could be replicated anytime of the year. All we had to was to follow the bicycle signs (blue bicycle with white background indicates clockwise and white on blue is anti clockwise) and reach back where we started.
As, you, the reader of this blog, by now would have guessed how this is drifting - yes organisation wise there was hardly anything to be done. It was only a mere awareness for BHF, which I truly appreciate, but apart from that there was nothing to brag about.
However all was forgotten as we progressed into the ride. We were taken across absolute steep hills (most of which I had to walk), clear blue skies, mesmeric landscape and off course the clear sparkle of the channel near the coast. An absolute fabulous ride that pushed my strength to the absolute limit.
Completed the ride in around 5 hours. This was a perfect way for me to complete my season of cycling. Now I am on my straight stretch for the ride in Cuba. Just going along with my weekday runs and weekend rides to Richmond park and back
Taking a break from blogging for a bit. Should be back for my Cuba ride preview. Shall be updating the blog as and when I make progress towards my ride.
One word of advice for anyone wishing to ride around the island - try avoiding single speed/fixies. Not an ideal place for it. Its completely laden with hills and more hills, each steeper than the other!
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