Evans Ride It 60 mile report

Just a quick report on Sundays 60 mile ride on the ElliptiGO. Organised by Evans Bikes the Ride It events are great value for a choice of distances; either 30, 60 or 90 miles. 60 would be the furthest I had ridden on the GO. I arrived early and registered with much interest being show by other riders in what I would be riding. Most couldnt believe that Idai and I were attempting that distance.
Anyhow we were ready and I was thoroughly looking forward to it. The route was waymarked through out with pink arrows at every junction. The route itself kept to nice quite country roads for the most part which on a Sunday were clear of any traffic. Evans had rated the route a 2 difficulty rating out of max of 4. So neither easy nor difficult but somewhere inbetween. We assumed 2 = few climbs so were suprised to find a mile long climb in the first 3 miles up to the top of Great Brickhill. We were rewarded though with a long descent back down the otherside. To be honest though I love hills and like to attack them. The GO performs very well when climbing and I found throughout the ride that we would always reel in those in front on the hills. Normal bikes would of course be far quicker on the flats and downhills.

The plan was to take it easy as this was a final training run/ride before next weekends Lightning12. We reckoned on about a 13mph average speed. And we pretty much stuff to it. Flats were faster but climbs slower so all evens out. The weather wasnt too favourable as we were pelted with rain for the first 1-2 hours but it dried out and was soon forgotten about. Idai and I were both testing Gore jackets and gloves offered for free by Evans as part of the Ride It deal. Both offered good protection from the elements. I felt strong throughout the ride and didnt feel any drain as the miles mounted up. The highlight scenery wise was cycling through Woburn Park where we were greeted with an amazing sight of between 20-30 very large deer in a herd. I was tempted to stop and capture the moment on film but we were ascending a steep hill at the time and wasnt too keen to lose momentum as I also caught and passed cyclists in front.

All in all a fantastic ride which was very well organised. At just £12.50 great value too. We completed the 61 miles (a minor detour in my home town of all places!) in 4h45mins. This was spot on what we aimed for so very pleasing. Now just a week of very light running in preparation for Sundays next challenge where i'm hoping (optimistically so) to go one lap further than last year which will be around 130km. Failing that I would more than settle for 12 laps in a faster time than last year. The weather will be a factor in this!

The provelosupport (the Lightning 12 event organiser) will be posting live updates from their Facebook page and twitter account if you want to follow progress. I will also try to send a few FB status updates on my page too. Always fun texting and running at the same time and helps to take mind of things and connect with the world outside....