Long Ride Sunday Lessons || London to Brighton 25.6.17

Let’s just start by saying, in Mollies own words… “it wasn’t as fun as I thought it’d be”. Apparently cycling from London to Brighton (with an added 10 miles because we all live east and started at the Olympic Park rather then Clapham Common) seemed like a wonderful day out in my head. This post is the reality.

It took so bl**dy long to get out of London. The traffic lights were against us and cars were in the way! Haha!

Crossing London Bridge was beautiful especially seeing the memorials for the victims who lost their lives in the recent terrorist attack. Makes you that little bit more grateful for what you have.

Knowing the locations of random toilets is so useful and great. Just great.

I don’t like change. When I plan a route, I like to stick to it. I don’t wanna be discussing route options as we are about to set off.

I should learn how to use my gps properly. There were moments when I wanted to ride over it in rage but to be honest it was still kinda useful even when it gave up telling me where to turn, showing “end point” for the last 45miles of our route, but at least it still showed the map.

Stopping multiple times adds up. And when your gps informs you that your virtual partner has reached their destination and you’re still in the middle of nowhere you wanna fling it in a bush.

Packing a tuna sweet corn bagel was the best thing I’ve done in a long time. You know when you are just so thankful to the “past you” for being so organised?!

Start eating early on. And don’t stop.

Haribo is decent fuel for hills.

This was the first time ever I saw how spin classes could benefit actual cycling. So many times in spin class I’m like “erm, my legs never move this fast when I’m cycling” but today they did. When it comes to short sharp hills I like to stay in a higher gear and power up then recover at the top. For those sneaky steady inclines today I realised that getting in the granny gears and spinning my legs was the way forward.

Some pubs clearly don’t like cyclists. We stopped at one a couple miles before turners hill and honestly, it was the most unwelcome reception. Beautiful garden but I wouldn’t stop there again in a hurry.

Adding a seatpack wasn’t too bad. The biggest difference it made was when I lifted my bike up to carry it up stairs; then it felt a lot heavier than normal. I borrowed an Apidura seatpack from my cycling friend Anneleen and I think I love it. I’ll practice packing my entire Paris kit list in the next week to see how it fits and what I might be able to leave behind.

What rhymes with ditch?! …yeah, that’s Ditchling Beacon. The craziest hill I’ve encountered. So far. I cycled about 30% of it and walked the rest. So next time. I’ll just have to cycle a few more meters and I’ll get a PR. I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t have cycled faster than I walked anyway. The views at the top were spectacular though… still wondering if they were worth it.

It’s pretty much downhill to Brighton from Ditchling Beacon. Getting your first glimpse of the sea is both beautiful and quite a relief.

Being in Brighton brought back some great memories from my university days (I went to the University of Brighton, Eastbourne campus).

Seeing the pier was almost magical. Although it wasn’t quite the fanfare that riding the official London to Brighton race one week earlier would’ve been, it was still very special.

Pizza for dinner is a great idea. I couldn’t eat it all so I got my leftovers wrapped up and I finished it when I got home, washed down with a can of Gordons gin and slimline tonic which I swear has never tasted so good (thanks for the goodies for National Gin Day!)

I could still talk cycling all the way home in the train. Sorry Sophie. But a lot was made clear re Paris on this ride.

We did it. The end.

Todays Total: 113.7km

Elle