Apart from a short acclimatisation ride following my bike fit, I hadn't been out since last Tuesday and I was starting to get a bit jumpy about it. Our daughter had been ill for a couple of days and we'd had some sleepless nights as a result. My wife had rightly preferred that I stayed around the house to help as needed rather than disappearing into the countryside for a few hours.
Riding wise I was starting to worry that my mileage target of 20km per day was slipping away and I'd had to decline a couple of rides with Warren to be on standby at home. As the kids haven't been sleeping well either I managed to get them both into bed not long after 7pm last night, so I raced to get out the door and get onto the road. Sunset was 9.01pm and as it was cloudy the light would start disappearing reasonably quickly about 9pm.
I'd planned a 50km route out of town via Hawkenbury, through Bells Yew Green, Frant and down to Groombridge – the usual 16km route away from home. I then skirted Withyham and climbed the steep hill on the way to Blackham, then another one on the way towards Chiddingstone Hoath. I didn't quite go that far but turned to skirt Penhurst and back up another good climb up into Fordcombe. Once I'd passed through there I headed back down Groombridge Hill and headed my usual way home. It was starting to get pretty dark under the trees. I don't have any lights on my road bike so I was wearing a white shirt to help visibility.
I felt good on the ride and pushed the pace as much as I could. The final stats were 48.19km average speed 28.07kmh and 680m climbed. It was a good ride, it was great to be out there again and fun to be chasing the light to get round the route before it got too dark.
