The longest day. So far...

Really I should be training for the 26km run I've signed up to do at the end of the month, but the combination of a free Sunday and a beautiful late Autumn day persuaded me to get out on the bike for a spin down to Surrey.

Even without the couple of minor wrong turns, it proved to be my longest ride on the bike, so here are the stats:

Distance: 95.2km
Time: 4hr 22min
Total Climbing: 1,160m
Average Speed: 21.8kmh (13.5mph)

As well as going over Epsom twice, the 3 main climbs were:

White Downs Lane - they're not lying with that 18% gradient sign. Made it to what appeared to be a WW2 bunker before dropping onto the smallest chainring. Wonder if I'll ever make it to the top on the middle chainring...

Crocknorth Road - just a lttle longer than is comfortable. Could've stood on the pedals but wanted to save some energy for the last climb.

Box Hill - still the best road surface, despite the speedbumps. Everyone seemed to pass me on this today.

Other plusses were improved nutrition habits - ate and drank regularly and even learned how to open an energy bar on the go without falling off.

My feet were frozen though. Hopefully some kind soul will buy me overshoes for my birthday!

The thought of doing twice that distance and 4x the climbing scares the bejesus out of me, but hey, little steps...