Rocked the Mod

I think it's fair to say I underestimated the hills on the Mod Rocker sportif in Northumberland. I knew there was 6000 feet of climbing over the 66 miles length; what I hadn't thought of was it being a route that was almost constantly up and down, making it difficult to get into a rhythm, especially as most of the uphills had a sharp turn before them, making it impossible to create momentum. 

The biggest climb was also the sharpest, and had me almost grovelling. That was at 12 miles. This shot (courtesy of SportSunday Event Photography, and yes, I paid for personal, non-commercial use) was about 35 miles in, and I was feeling good enough to hit a couple of the smaller inclines. By the 42nd mile I was having a little internal strop after seeing yet another climb rearing up. 

The climbing of the route indicated in the average speeds. About 14.2mph for me; one of the fast guys back quickly had 'only' cleared 17.5mph. The training seems to have been working though, even if it is aimed at one hour all-out cyclocross efforts.

Arm hurt a bit; lower back hurt more; bike stayed in one piece as a fall-back option (though the saddle started tilting back the last 12 miles, and I couldn't be bothered stopping to sort it); the little Mini took me down nae bother; and the finisher's pack had beer in it, which was consumed at my sister's place a few miles away, with the cycling cap also in the pack keeping the sun off (my arms and legs have those proper sharp cyclist tans now).

As a first reintroduction to road riding 'proper' (rather than just upright commuting) after the arm break last year... I could have chosen an easier option... But done, and feeling good.