Well only 20 days and 9 hours to go to the 2011 Argus. Not that I am counting or anything; I have been too busy chickening out of doing the Ride of the Falling Leaves (Crystal Palace towards Kent and back). My cycling pal, Gareth, texted me yesterday that he was ill and the thought of me covering 65 miles today alone in this cold just turned me into a fully fledged Kentucky-fried cyclist. Instead I did 10 times Highgate Hill which sounds convincing but anyone who has done the road up to Crystal Palace after all the other ROFL hills will know I got off lightly.
One time Gareth and I were riding up the Crystal Palace hill when we were overtaken by a 9 year-old and his 13 year-old brother and father. I mentioned the ignominy and Gareth said the same family had overtaken him on the real ROFL back in September. I did not know whether to feel better or just give up on the spot.
Training for the Argus this time arounds feels less consistent and I worry that last year was just a fluke not to have ended up broken on those hills. Tim and Dominic are my companions again this year and although it will be a blast with them whatever, it would be nice to improve on my time. Though when I look at my current average speed in sportives, I genuinely don't know how I managed my time in Cape Town last year.
Tim gave me Willy Voet's book, Breaking the Chain, the 1990's exposé about the drug habits on the Tour De France and other competitions. I think he thought it would scare me off taking anything other than boiled sweets when cycling but when I am climbing hills like Crystal Palace after a 65 mile ride, then I often understand why drugs in cycling are such common currency.
Anyway enough of this, I have to go and see a man about some Belgian Mix...
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