First Test Of The Year on The Bike.

With the tortuous climbs of the French Alps in Sight at the end of August Aron and myself had our season opener reliabiliity ride at Birstall, just north of Leicester.
We rode out from the mud of the car park on a route through the Leicestershire lanes. The early hills were quite testing and I thought for a short while that I may be joining Joe Kinnear in the cardiac department as my chest got tighter and tighter.
The hills were still covered in snow and the roads lined in slush as we pressed on. The route had two options. A fifty miler and the one we had entered the longer 65 miler. I don't know where we went wrong but we ended up doing the shorter version. Pity really as I was feeling strong and another hour would be easily managable but it was not to be.
We finished still fresh and happy that we had set the wheels in motion (Is that a pun?) in our build up to France.
50 miles under our belts thus leaving me on 620 for the year so far. On Feb 15th last year I had only managed 229 so its been a good start to the year.
Bring on the Alps!!!!