Preparation

The last 4 months have been chock-a-block with rides either side of my course in an attempt to regain the fitness from the end of 2018 following a fun couple of wrist fractures. Thankfully my girlfriend (who is also crazy about climbing) has been there sitting in my wheel and dropping me on the climbs, giving me something to chase!

Training has generally been anything but. Long rides specifically targeting the climbs featured in the Top 100 greatest climbs and Another Top 100 greatest climbs by Simon Warren. Living near enough to the peaks meant plenty of opportunities to venture out and conquer them. So far, we've ascended 26/200 climbs. Not an insignificant amount of climbing.

More recently, we have returned to many of the climbs, more recently a route around the Peak District containing 5 large climbs. The route - 100km with 1900m elevation - was one we had completed before (in the run up to my exams as a getaway). While the wind was atrocious, especially up Winnat's Pass, it was great to compare times from 3 months ago. The biggest improvement was how I felt in general. Previously, I struggled to get round, legs blowing up after only about 30km, whereas this time, the legs felt great. PRs up Peaslows, Snakes Pass and Burbage Moor, a quicker time up Mam Tor (v last time).

The first hill climb is in 2 weeks. Hopefully the weather improves and allows some post-placement training, otherwise it may be a long season ahead. Some gentle efforts tomorrow to open the legs should help.