Super Bling

or the shoes that Huggy Bear would wear for audaxing! After problems with two pairs of Shimano custom fit shoes breaking (M230's) the nice people at Shimano have decided to keep me a happy bunny by upgrading me to super bling status with a pair of these bad boys. I am expecting appropriate amounts of stick on the New Forest ride tomorrow!

5th Sept : New Forest On and Off Shore 200k

so RRTY starts with the New Forest On Off Shore 200, a 100k spin around the Isle of Wight followed by 100k round the New Forest. As usual it's an early start, catching the 07:45 ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth to begin the IOW loop. Feelings of Deja vu will be strong as this will be my thrid loop of the island this year having been round with Jonty in January and with Rik in May. This ride will certainly be a wake up call to the body as it's the first ride greater than 100k or so that I have done since the Bryan Chapman 600 back in May and a ride following three weeks of overindulgence in the south of France! It all has to start somewhere and will be taken at a gentleman's pace possibly with a pint along the way sat in the late sumer sun. Ride report to follow.

" A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step"

...or rather a journey of a thousand (1200 to be precise) kilometers starts with one turn of the pedal. So here we go ...the preparation for Paris Brest Paris (PBP) 2011 begins in earnest. The ride itself does not start until August 21st next year but I have fitness to regain, kilos to lose after a summer off from audaxing and fitness to retain through the coming winter months. Then there is the qualification Super Randonneur (SR) series (200k, 300k, 400k & 600k rides) to complete by mid June. To keep me motivated through the coming year I am aiming to complete the audax award of Randonneur round the year (RRTY) which requires completion of a 200k ride or longer for 12 consecutive months. It all sounds so easy in print!

So pop by this blog from time to time to catch up on planned rides, ride reports and general progress towards the big one!