Ride Across Britain Day 1, A lesson in suffering

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What would become the normal 5:30 start of breakfast, changing, packing, dropping the bag off and being ready to start by 7:00 was unique on the first day. The ride started OK, the first climb of the day and the descent into Penzance and the view of St Michael’s Mount lifted the spirits. However this soon descended into a world of hurt. I weigh 92KG and the laws of physics dictate that the greater the mass and the steeper the gradient the more force is needed. One of the facts of cycling is that when you go into ‘the red’, that’s over your lactate threshold you will eventually stop with cramps. Throw in hot weather, dehydration, relentless climbs, technical descents and no flats to recover, the day was a complete lesson in suffering but I made it.

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