Heading for the hills.

This was my first visit to Sheffield. I have been past it many time on ths M1, but never had a reason to go into the city until now. It was good to meet up with John again for only the second time since the unfortunate experience on the London to Paris ride two years ago. Despite not having ridden a bike a year, he was keen to arrange the route and join in for the first 40 miles.

And according to the BBC weather forecast, the day was set to be quite good. I wonder if John (Bollada) has a brother who is a weather forecaster (See the entry for 20th May). The promise of dry weather with just a shower at the end of the day quickly evapourated as the black clouds rolled across. There was also a stiff westerly breeze to fight against after the late morning break and at one time, there was what felt like small hailstones in the rain as well. Not quite the York proportions of last year, but still enough to make us shelter under a tree for a few minutes at one stage. The weather was about as dry as the Chilterns afternon ride was flat on 19th May.

John promised us HILLs and he didn't disappoint us. As you can see from the profile, there is nothing flat in this ride, You are either going up or down. The morning was a series of climbs with shorter downhills in between. In the afernoon, there was a good downhill before the 'Surprise' (which is what the locals call it) - about 800 ft of cimb in 3 miles. Not excessivley steep, but it just kept going. Just what the doctor ordered as preparation for the climbs on the last day of the ride in September. This was 60 miles - the profile made it 59, but the least any of us clocked was 60.5. So not as long as previous rides, but pretty testing, nonetheless.

When the rain did stop from time to time, we were reminded what a lovely part of the world this is. From the tops of the hills the views are first class. There is so much to see in these islands that we really don't need to go abroard. As long as we remember the waterproofs, we can be content with the wonderful creation in this part of the globe.

There were five of us this time - John (Bollada), Alex (characteristically eating), John (Bush), Clare and me. This was at the top of one of the hills taking in the view above. Notice the next lot of rain sweeping in from the west about to dump itself upon us.

The next big test is the Isle of Wight Ferry Epic on 7th July. 100 miles starting in Brockenhurst, to Lymington, round the Isle of Wight and then back. That is going to be even tougher.

This challenge is taking a lot of preparation and hard work. It is for a cause that is not so well known as other ones, but just as worthy. Click here to go to my JustGiving page.