Wharfedale

Big race is 2 weeks away, so I decided to bring my planned long ride forward a little, as this week is going to be crazy!

Luckily we got an extra hour of sleep (Daylight savings ending) and made it out the door at 7.30am, in Oxford by 8.30, and then on my bike and away at 8.45. The mission, the Wharfedale Track, did it last year, well, last year and one day ago! To be honest, I wasn't overly keen, as some parts of the track aren't a lot of fun. Think wet, muddy, tree roots, -off-your-bike-a-lot because of all the small creeks.

But I took a concrete pill, and in somewhat chilly conditions set off. Same route, 25km up the Ashley Gorge, down, then 10km up Townshend Track, 16km over the Wharfedale, and then around 20 back to Oxford.

Despite all the recent dry weather, the rain of the past few weeks meant conditions were exactly the same as last year. Never mind, I was ready for it and actually enjoyed the ride a lot more. However, getting off your bike 50+ times to get across small creeks is a royal pain.

And then, sort of before I knew it, back in Oxford with a time a little faster than last year. I actually felt OK on the bike too.

That's encouraging. Feel as if I'll cope OK with Hawea, as long as the weather mostly cooperates!

Oh, in case you're wondering what the fuss is, if the tracking is as good as what you see here, there would be no complaining, at all!

And one more thing, my time on Strava was 4:48, that's around 15 mins faster than last year.