Yes, I finally got my bum in gear (it will never forgive me for it too) and got the bike up onto the Downs 🙂
I looked at the terrain and thought that going from the Beacon to Black Cap and back should be reasonable for an old, overweight duffer like me !
After crossing the Brighton / Ditchling road I set off and was soon surprised by how well I was flying along, then dozy realised I hadn’t turned the GPS on DUH !
Turned GPS on and set off towards Plumpton Plain, downhill I flew but uphill soon got me acquainted with the low gears, a sore undercarriage and tight thigh muscles – uhoh missus !
I reached Black Capand decided to carry on to Mount Harry and then to the fence beyond before turning and heading back at which point the legs decided to disown me – it’s at this point that 2 thoughts cross your mind:
- Walking uses a different set of leg muscles to cycling (in my case calf as opposed to thigh) and don’t they let you know !
- 5 years plus out of the saddle does tend to lower your confidence, and weaken the saddle area :-O
Overall I was surprised how fast I covered the 7 miles, but I know from having taken frequent rests, and the odd stretch of pushing the bike that there is plenty of room for improvement.
This track will need tackling a few more times to toughen up the muscles and undercarriage but impressed for a first time using the bike in anger !
