63 hard miles

I took these photo at St Catherine's viewpoint today. The delicious irony of the warning on the left is that this is uphill of the corner on which I fell off my bike 12 days ago. I have never spotted it before, despite passing this way 100's of times.

Above right are the spectacular views looking west along the southern coast of the Island, towards the chalk cliffs and Needles in the far background.

I planned an early start and a long ride. Route planning on the Island is limited, so I chose a 30-ish mile circuit taking in some of the nastiest hills, and long sections along the windswept and badly surfaced Military Road. I then repeated the loop, believing that the mental toughness this develops will be good for me. Leaving the house it was freezing cold, and I had to immediately turn around and get warmer clothes, gloves and a windjacket. The northerly wind was wicked, gusty and relentless, and I really suffered. My feet went totally numb. Towards the end I was bonking, but was saved by a Mars bar and two cups of tea from the van at the viewpoint carpark. I didn't take enough energy drinks. I like Mark's idea of hiding bottles at strategic points along the route. That would have been easy today, so why didn't I do it?

I'm hoping that training on my own with noone to offer any wind protection at any time, plus the mental strain of being alone (with the demons in your head telling you to stop and go home) is going to stand me in good stead. I also like the idea of overcoming the cold and the wind.

Before the ride, I slightly moved my seat forward on the rails and raised it a smidgen, and I certainly didn't seem to get much back pain today. I did get a lot of gip from my shoes which are rubbing at the front where the tongue is a little long, and is being pressed onto my ankle by the strap. My feet are going numb underneath. Do other people get this problem with numb soles?

When I got home I was zomby-oid. I need some of that ReGo? stuff. My 'rego' technique was 8 weetabix (protein from the milk, complex carbo's , no salt, a little sugar) and gallons of tea. Then a very hot bath. Traditionally, a hot bath is the cure-all for tired limbs, but I see that many athletes (Paula Radcliffe for example) are now in the habit of climbing into a wheely-bin, half filled with icy water to immerse the legs. We all know that the initial first-aid treatment for musculoskeletal injuries is to apply ice in order to reduce the swelling and the release of tissue damaging agents. So the wheely bin idea sounds plausable, but very unpleasant. I'm not about to try a cold bath

So, I need to speak to Jacko and get some shoe warmers.
I also need to organise some sponsership because at the end of all this hard work I want to raise some money for a Prostate Cancer charity.