More Miles Under My Belt

My attempt to do some longer rides continued yesterday with another long early morning ride on my Mountain Bike. Last week I managed 44 miles in just over 4 and a half hours, this week it was 53 miles in just over 5 hours.

Admittedly quite a bit of it was on the road, but as I’m trying to improve my stamina inĀ preparationĀ for a 12 hour solo MTB race next year. it’s the time in the saddle that counts really, not the distance. I know that modern training best praxctice advises against ‘Junk Miles’ and advocates ‘Training Smart’ rather than training hard, but when you need to prepare yourself for 12 hours in the saddle I can’t really see any substitute for the pain and character building of long cold rides on your own. Especially at this time of year which is ideal for working on stamin and endurance.

I realise that 5 hours isn’t that long, but I have to start somewhere and it’s a lot longer than I normally ride.

  • My legs survived, although my feet were likes block of ice by the end.
  • My back survived, although it was a little sore after 5 hours of painting and decorating in the afternoon.
  • My bike survived this week too – although I’ve yet to clean it so there could be something that needs attention.

I guess I should start preparing myself for 5 and a half hours next week! Although, the weather forecast at the moment is for NE winds and maybe attempt on my ‘Life Begins at 40 knots challenge‘, in which case I’ll be whizzing up and down in the estuary on my windsurfing kit instead.

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Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.