120 miles of ups and downs

I set off on this ride late morning on Friday 28 April and made great headway to Midhurst, about the first forty miles. At this point my trip computer had a fit and generously added twenty km to my total boosting my average speed accordingly. So I reset it.
The next section is quite undulating preventing me from establishing a rhythm, making it quite tough and slow. Seeing my average speed down by about 10% and my increased effort, was quite demoralizing and by the time I reached Upper Beeding in unfamiliar territory I was quite fed up. My mood rose as I neared Haywards Heath and familiar territory, unfortunately this was short lived as I hit the evening rush hour and had to fight my way through the traffic. Some cars kindly moved out of the way, whilst others seemed intent on blocking my path (why???).
I soon reached Scaynes Hill where so often I have turned on to the A272 and found renewed energy. Again this did not last, as I turned north at North Chailey for the long slow climb in to Ashdown Forest I was greeted by a steady breeze in my face. I had to shout at myself and dig deep to get through the next six miles knowing I only had one more hill to go after this. I reached East Grinstead and pushed for home with a smile on my face albeit through grited teeth, taking the slightly longer but more direct A22 all the way.
About three miles from home I a heard a plonk behind me and a car toot his horn, I reached behind to find one of my empty bottles had fallen out. The kind driver in the car behind gesticulated wildly I assumed trying to tell me that it had just fallen off. About two hundred yards further on UP HILL I was able to pull over and turn around to go back for it (a very hard decision). There it was in the middle of the road squashed like a hedgehog. The kind driver had obviously been trying to tell me that he'd nailed it!
This was the hardest ride since my first 100 miles, not a great success but now I know I can get half way from Truro to Guildford.

I took this photo just North of Midhurst I though it was rather a sad but striking sight.

Drinking enough but not too much.

It’s been a strange week or so, I have not been out on a ride since the Easter weekend, not because I‘ve been lazy, just that my training has been in the gym or on the turbo trainer. Last weekend was for rest and recovery and by midday on Sunday I started feeling guilty and getting very twitchy, but I resisted the urge to get on my bike.
I had planned to go down to Truro with John on Thursday and cycle back to Crewkerne about 120 miles on Friday morning, but disappointingly work got in the way, so I have to be content with a local ride instead. It is surprisingly difficult to find new and appropriate routes when the starting point is the same.
I have two 100 mile rides to do this week with a turbo training day in between, after that I have seven rides building up to a 150 miles, totalling almost 1000 miles in May by then I hope to be able to complete the 240 mile challenge in a respectable time.
It’s great that the weather has been improving, but I am slightly concerned about cycling in over twenty degrees, all my training so far has been in cold temperatures so I get by on about half a litre (17 fluid ounces) an hour. The human body has very specific limitations for fluid absorption up to a maximum of about one litre (34 fluid ounces) per hour, but it can loose up to three litres per hour. Surprisingly over hydration is a greater threat than dehydration and getting the balance right over a fifteen hour period will be difficult. What it means is that if after six hours I am excessively dehydrated I will stay that way and will not be able to finish. Over hydration basically flushes sodium from the body in the form of sweat, when blood sodium concentration becomes too dilute, you can develop severe cardiac symptoms leading to collapse a condition called “dilutional hyponatremia” which can be fatal. Nothing serious then!
My plan to make sure I finish and don’t kill myself is two fold firstly experimenting in my training rides by weighing myself before and after each ride and taking a measured amount fluid at regular intervals, secondly is on the day, have a clear idea of what my nutrition and hydration plan is and have a member of my support team make sure I stick to it. All this is very boring but as important as training and all far more complicated than I anticipated when I set myself this challenge. Having said all this, training is going well and so far I have not suffered any ill effects, after my first couple of 100 mile rides I was very fatigued and it took me a day or so to recover, after the last one it only took three or four hours.