Oakley 20: a blustery morning in North Bedfordshire

Today was my first chance to run the Oakley 20, previous years have clashed with long standing arrangements to deliver navigational training. With clocks going forward by an hour and a disturbed nights sleep I was not feeling in the best place for this long run.

Despite what seemed an early arrival, by the time I had queued in traffic and been directed to the far side of the village to park and walked back to the registration point in the village school time was running out. Due to the rain no one was willing to leave the building, which made queening for race numbers and timing chips a  nightmare. Finally sorted and bag dropped with minutes to spare before the start time!

The race was along various quietish lanes and consisted of two loops, the first big loop and then a smaller second loop. This did mean quite a few miles were replicated. It started well, but my energy levels were seriously low, I didn't have my blood glucose monitor but if I did I'm sure it would be close to empty! The pounding on the roads took it out of my legs as well and it is a rather undulating course with lots of short but steep climbs, more so the second time around. To complicate matters the wind was pretty strong and we were buffeted by it as we ran, rarely did it come from behind.

As I approached Oakley at the end of the first 12 miles, the race winner came roaring past on his final lap. annoyingly still looking rather fresh and ready for more. The second lap was tough and I did give in on the hills and walk them. With little energy I'm sure to run them would have taken longer. Finally the school came in sight, but not the finish as we had to then run around a housing estate and enter the school from the other side. Somehow I kept going and managed to find enough energy to get across while the official clock was still on 3 hours 30 minutes. The chip time came out as 3:29:46, a bit slower than I would have liked, but considering how I felt it was a good time. Surprisingly it came out at 17 minutes faster than my last 20 mile race. Another 20 miles towards my Tanzania Challenge - 112 miles this week with walking, cycling and running. Tomorrow a day's rest, maybe the bike on Tuesday and then a week in France

Sunny morning ride

Contrary to the weather forecast, this morning turned out to be a great day to get out on the bike. Recent 'rides' have been confined to the turbo, so it was a pleasant change to be outside. The sun was shining, the wind whistled through the air so the temperature wasn't that great, but it was still pleasurable.

Getting out of town was a problem, as art the top of the hill my back wheel seized and became dislodged, due to poorly adjusting it after the turbo. A quick fix and return home to double check everything, and I was off again for my first ride outdoors this year! Sadly, the weather was against me on previous possible trips. I had hoped to do the Wiggle No Excuses ride back in February, but the invite to the Raleigh weekend clashed. As a result I missed out on this opportunity.

It was good to be out on the roads again, mostly minor roads which took me out towards Bedford, before heading back. The return was actualy longer, as I headed east through Houghton Conquest. Leaving the village took longer than anticipated as I took several wrong turns before finding London Road. This took me out towards the A6, then a sharp right to Malden. On this windy road I was stick behind a tractor with tailor for several miles.

As time was on my side, I took a short loop around the outlying lanes before heading back into town. In total just under one hour and a half in the saddle and 20.6 miles on the clock. After a few months on the turbo I found the long hills a real chore, I need to get out more obviously.

So another 20+ miles done towards my Tanzania challenge to add to the runs, walks and turbo rides :)