JOGLE day 7

I can not believe we are back in the Westcountry already, only four days ago we were still cycling through Scotland. Due to the huge distance and climbs we had to complete today combined with the nasty weather forecast it meant a 5am alarm call. These early starts and routes in excess of one hundred miles have almost become normal now but only a month ago I was still complaining about the Sunday group training rides starting too early at 9am and I even thought forty miles was a big challenge.

Today on paper was definitely the hardest challenge of the whole route, it was equal distance to my furthest ride with about double the amount of climbing, so it is a little odd that this has been my favourite so far. The fact we were all prepared for the worst probably helped, expectations were not high and we therefore hit the road in good time and started out at a decent pace. After the last few days of plodding through various urban areas it was delightful to reach the countryside again and for me the highlight has been passing places I recognise, although I was glad I didn't know the exact hills ahead of us as ignorance can be bliss.

I think I am actually adapting to cycling, I feel stronger now than when I started. I'm doing my best to keep this quiet as I think I'm one of only a handful of the six hundred riders not to be sporting an injury or illness (touch wood), I just hope that my enjoyment whilst out on the bike is passed onto my team mates. It was exactly this time last week that I was sat in my tent in John O'Groates nervously waiting for the challenge to start and just hoping to get that first ride ticked off. Seven days later and today I was actually disappointed when I saw the finish line, I was happy to do another twenty miles.