3 Men in Lycra and 3 burst rubbers. Oooh Matron!

Saturday 28th April 2012

Cycling
05:29:18 – 79.02 Miles (14.40 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 74% Max / Cadence 79rpm)

The weather held up really well for my longest ride of my training to date.  I was looking forward to this a lot and I was joined by my friends Donald and Jim.
(Donald is doing IM Lanzarote in 3 weeks time after winning an all expenses paid entry via Triathletes World - nothing like a 5 week training plan to do one of the hardest Ironman events in the world!!)
The route was a lap around Lough Neagh - approximately 80 miles.  It turned out to be pretty windy for the whole ride and this probably slowed us down a bit.

It turned out to be a tale of punctures and soft tyres.  The tone was set after Jim punctured at about 1 mile in to the ride.
This was followed by another one at about mile 30 and then another at about 65 miles  - all of these were for Jim.  Nightmare for him.  He was also suffering with the tyre going soft in between punctures and having to stop and pump it up every few miles.

On the whole the ride was really good, I was pleased with the way it went but slightly disappointed in the pace.  I had hoped I could have gone a bit faster - but i did feel comfortable the whole way through and this pace would give me about a 7.5Hr Ironman bike ride - this is not too far off the pace I am looking for.

Big thanks to Jim and Donald for the company throughout and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.

Jim in the usual position of fixing a puncture

Donald full of concern at Jim's misfortune and taking the chance to refuel!