One of those days...

Today was one of those days.

One of those days that you surprise yourself feeling strong. Especially after a week in which I felt very tired on Tuesday (slept 12 hours that night) and only had a 90 minutes of easy pedaling on the turbo. But the reality is I surprised myself, maybe the coffee I had at home has something to do with that. 

Today was also one of those days that it was difficult to get your clothing right. Felt cold early in the morning but suspected temperatures would be mild around midday. I spent half an hour trying to decide what I was going to wear.

It was also one of those days that soon after you start riding it starts to rain. Not a lot but that type of rain that if it goes like that for the whole ride you know you are going to end up soaked. Luckily the rain didn’t last long. Still a reminder I was back in the UK.

Today was also one of those days that felt that everyone was really stressed. Car drivers in particular. At some point it felt that everyone was driving like a maniac. Like the rain, it didn’t last long, it was just statistics at play, it soon felt that drivers were behaving as usual.

It was also one of those days that climbing up the Puchbowl I surprised myself holding Ed’s wheel. To a point that I thought I was going to take the climb. I even attacked sprinting for the KOM… Only to find I got the KOM line wrong and there was still a bit to climb. Not much, but enough to see Ed disappear and Denis passing me while I was at the edge of a heart attack. Yes, today was one of those days.

Today was also one of those days that I didn’t know where I was 90% of the time. Yes, I know I have ridden this route many times. I just couldn’t remember it. I was recognising the roads, at times I even knew what was coming. Like when I realised that Hog hill was coming (about 1km before the hill). I really dislike that hill, it is short and steep. I started to pray for a road full of cars that wouldn’t allow us to take it at speed. Unfortunately as soon as we turned left I saw the road was completely empty. Did I mention that today was one of those days? 

Yes, today was one of those days that because you feel strong you put in a bit too much effort and when you are around km 100 your legs send your brain the message that they are getting tired. Your brain knows you still have 30km to go and to make things worse you are told the ride finishes with the Esher sprint. It is not only that I was feeling tired, it is also that I couldn't figure out how we were going to get to Esher from where we were. For some reason I was thinking we were finishing with the sprint at Hampton!! A sprint, that riding with GC Denis and Goat Ed, in normal circumstances, I shouldn’t have any problem taking. Now, the Esher sprint… riding with Ed… feeling tired… That's a completely different story.

But today was one of those days that I skipped just one turn, but it was the right one to skip. That left Denis on the front and me on Ed’s wheel. Ed slowed down, Denis opened a gap and I waited, and waited, and waited. While Ed was constantly looking back. At some point he said something to me but I didn’t understand a single word. I was busy measuring Denis’ gap, calculating how far the line was and getting Ed’s cadence looking back to attack a second after he looked back. 

And that’s what I did. For some reason Ed didn’t follow me, in my dreams I imagine it is because of the moment I attacked. I only had to deal with Denis. It turns out Denis didn’t know he had a gap so he was riding at a constant pace, the pace he rides to launch us “sprinters”. I passed him and took the sprint.

Today was one of those days.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/6120836349/ 

Take care

Javier Arias González