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I have now had a day to get my head straight, and although still mightily
disappointed am trying to look at the positives. The first being that I rode
3200km which is approx the same as the Tour de France this year and did
it in 11days (the tour does it over 23), so im happy with that as training rides
go the delay when I was ill well that's if her navigation holds out, both our
Garmins broke a few days ago so we have been using paper maps and Jaynes
not a huge fan of map reading!!

I have now had a day to get my head straight, and although still mightily
disappointed am trying to look at the positives. The first being that I rode
3200km which is approx the same as the Tour de France this year and did
it in 11days (the tour does it over 23), so im happy with that as training rides
go smile emoticon

Jayne has taught me a lot, and I would like to think that in just 11days I have
become a much better bike rider thanks to her wisdom. She has also
constantly reminded me that she has ridden her bike nearly everyday day for
15 years, in all sorts of disciplines and all over the world, and that it takes
a long time for the body to have ingrained cycling muscles like hers. My 3 or
4 rides a week for the four summer months of the past couple of years isn't
really enough for the expectations I put on myself.

I have found the TCR/ultra cycling community incredible. No matter whether
you are at the front or the back everyone is willing you on with such amazing
support. It's worlds away from the competitive world of sportives, where it's
all about your tan lines and how expensive your bike is. Ultra cycling feels
more like a large family and I love it. ...Although I will confess that Jayne and
I did occasionally take a teeny weeny bit of pleasure in when we would catch
up with a fit strong male TCR rider who would second take us and increase
their speed, as if to say 'what are girls doing here' (seemingly known as being
'chicked'), but this was quickly swapped with smiles and chats of the scale
of our misery. The moral boost of seeing another rider when you may have
not seen one for a day or two is immense, particularly if you are solo. We
came across emotional broken men who were crying at messages from home
and struggling to find the will power to continue, but on seeing another rider

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