L2A Day 2 - one long Time Trial

Following a pretty rubbish night sleep at Calais I was at breakfast for 6:30am. Leg was still a little sore and on top of the groin strain I've badly bruised my ankle which I didn't realise at the time.

It was going to be a make or break day. If I could ride the first couple of miles without too much pain I would get to the end of this challenge. If not, then it would have meant retiring for medical reasons. Lucky for me, the former was true and there was little to no pain when cycling.

Following a short briefing, we left about 8am and it became immediately obvious that the roads were so good it would be a quick pace all the way to Bruges. At one point I was at the back of a group pushing 27mph - that didn't last for too long and I dropped my pace back to a more comfortable 23mph.

Idyllic locations

The first feed station was on us very quickly. 28 miles had flown just due to the sheer pace everyone was riding at. This feed station was set on the banks of a river and offered a lovely rest and some great coffee.

The segment before lunch saw us through Dunkirk before stopping for lunch Newport by the beach in Belgium (there is a proper spelling for that but don't ask me to try!).

Following a very random but tasty Belgian lunch we only had 38km to Bruges so the target was to see how quickly we could get there and get in the bar! I managed to close the distance out in about 95 mins and had showered and feet up in the bar by 15:30. All in all a very enjoyable Birthday on the bike.

Bonus Ball

Thanks to everyone who participated, as announced last night the winner was number 48 so a cheque for £105 will be written for Martyn Cox! Congratulations but also gives me another reason not to come to the office any time soon 😄

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