The thing is, I’m surviving the hills rather than relishing them though. I was going to explain here, but actually I think I’ll do a dedicated post about it, especially with reference to John, the guy I rode with on Sunday.

I was on BikeRadar earlier today and read a post by a 17 year old from Hebden Bridge who did the ride three hours faster than me – that’s pretty impressive!

I’m okay with conceding maybe an hour to somebody 36 years younger than me, but three! I’m going to continue getting my weight down and the miles up with a view to doing these rides a lot quicker next year!

I’m lucky to average 12 mph on the hills now, but I was managing about 16 mph in 2001 when I was slimmer and fitter. I’d like to get back to that kind of fitness again. I don’t feel that my age is a big problem – I’ve met a lot of very fit 65-70 year olds so I can’t see why I shouldn’t have at least 15 years of hard riding ahead of me yet.

I like to include a few pictures, otherwise the blog is just a wall of text. I want to attract people to come to the area to enjoy the countryside the way that I do.

Loving the pictures btw.