Oasts and Coast 300

Uhmm!! Naahhh!!!

Come the first climb and I new it wasn't going to be a good day from the fitness point of view.

It is not that my legs were terrible but they were not fresh. At least not as fresh as they should be to ride a 300 with a fair amount of climbing in the first third (1,500m in the first 120k).

I was definitively paying for my overconfidence. On Thursday night I went for a hard session on the turbo, I remember telling my wife "it's only a 300".  But now it was clear that I was not totally recovered.

Not that I had any problem riding with my companions (Gavin, Sefi and Sarah) but it just felt harder than expected.

Came the flat section (25k before the control at 150k) and, as usual, we got into the head wind. I still managed to make some good turns in the front but as always happens to me in this section my power and my hr dropped and by the time we got to the control I really was looking forward for a good break.

You are tired when you see your power dropping like that riding 25 flat ks into the head wind

The good news is next 100k are mostly flat and slow because you have to ride through Dover, and a few cycle paths. You still have to steep climbs to tackle but I used this section to ride easy and recover.

By the time we approached the last 50k I was in a much better shape (within the circumstances) and saved the last climbs of the day with that feeling of "felt tired but could have pushed it a bit more if needed".

Fitness apart this was a great ride. I really enjoyed riding with Gavin, Sefi and Sarah, weather wasn't that terrible (we were lucky that the hail storm found us enjoying a break inside a cafe) and the scenery is really beautiful. I'll be back for more.

The ride in Strava.

Take care
Javier Arias González