Still going strong (ish)

Distance 40miles     Av Speed 19.0mph

Another day, another ride. Not quite in the league of the guys cycling 30 days of April as I missed a few days at the beginning but now wish I went out for them. Nearly didn't go out today as my body was telling me to rest and the sun had disappeared and it looked like the wind was picking up. After walking around the house for an hour it had brightened up, my legs loosened but the wind still getting worse. Out I went.

Todays mission was to sit in the drops as long as possible! Two sets of temporary traffic lights are still situated in the most inconvenient positions on Edenfield Rd climb. Building those stupid retaining walls. Excuse my ignorance but is this a massive waste or what? My journey came across many more sets of temporary lights but my focus was being concentrated on the Easterly (main), Northerly and Southerly winds gusting around 17mph. The wind helped me put more power down and I was thinking alot more about technique. All the climbs were done 'Pantani' style , not my mate Pete but the real Pantani where he ascends in the drops. Infact around 95% of the trip was done 'aero style' and it  was so comfy on Scottie.

 Had a puncture at Rawtenstall where I found a massive gash in the Michelin Pro Race 3 tyre. Don't think Ill buy these again. Ive had them for a while but not used them too much. They are supposed to be 23's but are more like 25's, disintegrate quickly as the rubber showed loads of cracking and wear and the red colour looked grey after a couple of rides. I guess they are for racing only with a short shelf life, a seasons/half a seasons worth. The contis on the other hand have lasted me close to a year and half, a Gp4000s which gashed last week and a Conti Attack which is going strong after thousands and thousands of miles of commuting and sunday riding. Actually it was a Bontrager tyre that gashed last week after a few days usage ,the Gp4000s had a gash for a little while longer but never puctured with them. The contis are still in use on my pro lite 88mm clinchers which I have TT'd to work on.

All in all a good ride without going too hard, just glad of the lack of climbing compared to Sunday. Tuesday, tomorrow will only be a around 20 miles but 8miles of them will be a Time Trial. Its lumpier than L101 and it will hurt....alot.