Forgive me reader it is over a month since my last post.
Well I probably should have learned something recently.
First I went out for a ride on the downs with raa82, now he's been getting serious of late, riding road bikes almost exclusively. and as it turns out is much fitter than me, but patient, so we had a lovely ride on the south downs and I went home feeling pleasantly exhausted, with slightly achy thighs, put down to a slipping seatpost.
Then went out in Bristol for a quick mid-week hack around Leigh Woods with a colleague, nothing too strenous fitness coped, feeling good again. Except for a rational fear of steep, slimy, rooty slopes, that go on too long.
Then I lead the friday afternoon social ride; easy climbs, fun descents, introduction to off-roading, nothing to scare anyone. That was on Leith Hill on the North Downs. By which point I'm feeling much better about my riding than I have in months, I've been getting out more, and not seriously letting myself down.
So when the email came about the Tuesday Night Mile Munchers from http://brightonmtb.org/ i though what the hell, how hard can it be, I'll take it easy they're probably a bit fitter/faster but it will do me good. Cycling over Mark caught me up, and so suddenly I'm riding uphill at his pace, chatting and we havent started yet. So over the top and into the woods, OK, this is quick too, very quick, and we've not started yet. Still chatting to MArk he says "Oh there's only usually 3 or 4 of us on a Tuesday, dont worry it'll be fine"
He has a rigid 29er with only one chainring at the front, hmm. We arrive at the start and the 3 or 4 grows to 8. 7 thin blokes with hardtails, some rigid forks, many with less than a full complement of gears, i think the pinnacle was retrobike man on a mid-90s Pace hardtail with rigid aluminium forks and singlespeed and me, over weight, over sprung and over geared, it seemed. Still how hard could it be, only a couple of hours. After the usual faffing the torment began, as the kids would say "OMG!". So cut a long story short, smoked me up,down and sideways, I felt like a total beginner. To be fair they waited for me, then set off when I caught up, meaning I had very little recovery time.
I could barely walk upstairs when I got home. not been so wiped out since, I cant remember probably the C2C i suppose but possibly not even then.
Just for fun I had some time on easter weekend, and went out on the downs for a ride on my own and I thought I;d take the hardtail, the one that cost a fraction of the full suss'er, that normally has road tyres, but has knobblies at the moment. Wow, so quick, couldnt beleive it I did the training loop ive been using just to see if it made a difference, now this is not super scientific, it was dry, and stuff, but I averaged 10 mph, compared with about 7.5 mph on the previous outings. what a difference.
Anyway where does that get us. Well it seems logical at this point to buy a road bike and start using my hardtail more, especially when out with the beginners group, it occurs to me when oout with the mile munchers, i need to make sure I'm considering all abilities. I also now have a clearer view of the spectrum of abilities and fitness levels, and my place on it, I'm definitely nearer the left than the right.
I think I need to book some events for the summer/autumn to give my training some focus, maybe even a sportive to try out the new road bike. whats the worst that could happen, I might start to enjoy the pain. probably not.