IOW Randonnee

So the day was a total of 76miles fully loaded on the Trike (67around the IOW and 4500ft climbing)

It was a great day out the ferry was packed with lots of Lycra and expensive carbon. Everyone was super supportive and lots of interest in the ICE Trike I was riding. 

What did I learn ? 

Several things that will be useful for the St Malo 2 Nice Trip, which is fast approaching! 

First my cut down rear rack ( details can be found in my blog archive) is working well . No rattles or loosening off during the bumpy trip, so far do good. The footage from the days ride seems to have turned out ok and I’ve posted that on YouTube . 

I’ve also cut down an old Marino wool base lay to make it short sleeve , so now I will take a fast wicking summer base layer and the Marino one . Reason being I can just layer up a bit more in case it’s a little chilly. It was only 1 degree when I left at the weekend and with the thin jacket I’m taking to France the extra warm layer could be very useful!

Gearing seems to be ok on the IOW I never got to the very granny gear but was closer on a couple of the very short steep hills on the island. Obviously it’s no Ventoux and my legs were a little heavy the following day. As a result I shall almost certainly try and granny the hills a little slower to conserve myself even more , not that I was pushing hard by any means . 

My pace was as expected just over the 10mph for the day. This means on my longer rides I shall be likely to be around 10 hours on the Trike ! Those days are going to need short breaks and an early start. 

Nothing to do with the ride but I’ve been following a fellow cyclist currently traveling through France . He also has plotted his own route only to find on occasions the ‘roads’ being... well more like a farmers track ... so route checking again over the next week 😁

All in all pleased with where I am in preparation for the big day.. could I have done more ? Well yes you’re always second guessing how fit you are , are you fit enough, are you ready etc but the truth is I am where I am and we will take each day as it comes 👍🇬🇧🇫🇷😁

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