The plan was an easy 90 minute ride concentrating on cadence and pedal efficiency.
The morning was glorious, very little wind and not a cloud in the sky. Lazarus arrived 5 minutes ahead of departure at 7.10am, so a brisk check of the bike and we were off. The legs were ok after the tempo run, although I was feeling the calves slightly I knew the main effort was going to come from the quads this morning.
We headed for East Hyde and then up the hill towards Peters Green. Then it was a swift left to Tea Green and from there the hills to Preston.
It was a good morning with little traffic but an unbelievable number of squashed rabbits, never seen so many! The ups were comfortable with HR reaching 151 and the downs were fun, maxed at 35mph which was sweet.
After Preston we headed for Langley, skirting Knebworth and seeing a family of deer for the effort. Just there we were taken by a car who proceeded to run over a dead rabbit. It popped like a bottle of champagne but the stench as we passed was gross.
Langley was interesting a tough climb in, short down out followed by another climb to Coddicote. From there it was back to Wheathampstead, passing the golf courses which were already busy.
The wind had started to pick up at Langley and as we came down towards Wheato it was in our faces and making it tough to maintain pace.
In Wheato we hit the hill hard and worked our way up at a good romp. On the top we threw in a couple of drafting sprints all the way to Harpenden. That was a killer, the wind adding to the difficulty. On reaching Harpenden the fatigue hit and we cruised along Top Street Way to home.
Excellent ride. Good cadence was maintained and the pedals felt efficient and balanced.
25 miles in 1h32m, average 15.9mph,, max 35mph and 1575cals burned. Lovely start to the weekend and my wedding anniversary.
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