The forecasts were wrong & I woke to bright sunshine this morning. Just as well, as I was intent on squeezing in one last cycle before handing my bike in on Wednesday. I was cycling with a friend who had just purchased his first road bike & who would be cycling in cleats for the first time. My brief was a short (approx two hours), and a reasonably flattish ride. Keen to see what Vigo Hill, seemingly the steepest part of stage 5, was like, I devised a 30 mile round trip from Eynsford in Kent that would take in the aforementioned about half way round.
Map My Ride suggested that the climbing would be c320m in total & I figured that would be largely the two hills on the route, with Vigo Hill accounting for the lion's share. I, well Map My Ride, was wrong, as the route turned out to be anything but flat (635m of climbing), much to my friend's dismay. Vigo Hill was a 1:6 gradient, and clearly will be a tough ask 30 miles shy of the finish on the Slam, but at least there is an isotonic refreshment stop stop at the summit, which I am sure will do a roaring trade!
So that's it, the training is done. Bike goes on Wednesday & we follow on on Monday. Can't wait!
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