The day after the 100 mile time trial I was cycling into town. I knew I’d done a good ride because I was getting overtaken by all kinds of commuters on 3 speed bikes. There might have been a time when my pride would not have allowed me to be overtaken by a young women on a sit and up beg bicycle. But today pride was working the other way. “I’ve smashed myself so much, I’m even getting overtaken by old lady on a a 1950s Hercules!” – That was a proper ride!
The interesting thing is that after a long ride there is a great sense of satisfaction that can last at least a day, if not longer. In a strange way, you still feel the movement and effort in your legs; you can still remember the speed of flying down the dual-carriageway. It’s a bit like the day after going to Alton Towers – you still have the feeling of the roller-coasters in your body. If you’ve managed a pb, you get a lot of joy just by repeating the time to yourself.
The other thing is that the day after riding a 100, you can’t wait to do the next one. It’s strange because your legs don’t at all feel like doing a 100. But your mind can’t start plotting how you can take off even more time off. – A bit more training, more power, better bike, less wind, faster course without potholes, and you can see your way to taking at least 15 minutes off your pb.
My next race is actually the National 50 in two weeks time. Hopefully, I will be in good form for that. Though, first I need to recover from this 100. Yesterday was just 6 miles cycling into town and back (very slowly). Today I’ll go out for 2 hours steady and on Wednesday, I’ll see how the legs feel for doing some intervals. It depends how the legs feel, I may need another day of steady riding, it’s hard to say – it’s a long time since I last did a 100.
I think this is all the attraction of long distance time-trialling – you really get value for money. The effort required is that much more, but you get an even more intense experience.