We bumped into Jock at the top of the zigzags and finished up with a brisk 20 min scramble back to Epsom. I still had more in the tank as well. Can’t wait for the Puncheur next Sunday…

Rode this one today with Jonny. 54 miles, we did it in 4-5 hrs including a couple of breaks. I felt fine after the short layoff, but ate badly so bonked twice. Had to refuel in Peaslake (chicken samosa, ham sandwich). Really need to remember to eat more in the first 60-90 mins of riding, and not wait until 90 mins before having a banana. Sloppy eating = bonk. Believe.

HRMax once again set to 150, I rode Box Hill at a steady 160, although hit 164 at one point.

It’s good to be back though. This week I booked La Marmotte and the Ventoux – Beaumes de Venise sportive in early June. No better time to remember that I have legs and need to use them.

Rode this last Sunday with Joe, who was over for a Christmas visit. It came after 5 days of parties and not much sleep, and the temperature was sub-zero: the water in our bottles was slush after a couple of hours. We completed it in 3 hours.

I am now ill and missing out on this weekend’s training!

This is a really nice round route from Epsom. Not that long, but hilly. As well as going up and down Box Hill in both directions, it has all the best stuff around Shere, Peaslake and Coldharbour, but there’s loads of room to extend it – which I will be doing / posting in due course.