Wicklow 200 - The aftermath

Well, it's a bit of an anti climax really. I was tired today, but not sore or anything like that. I had expected to feel some tightness in my back or my legs, but no, I was alright.

It was a long day yesterday. It didn't start out too well with Greg sleeping in after his alarm went off. We got to UCD and on to the road by about 8:30 though so it didn't delay us too long. The first bit was fine, chilly but dry. We met some other groups on the road and said hi to them. I noticed that my HRM wasn't working properly and stopped to fix it, then TT'd my way back to the lads, nice to go fast, even if it was a little early.

I don't remember much of the order of how things went, but we climbed Sally Gap, Glenmalure, Slieve na Mann and Djouce over the day. The uphills were a struggle for Waggers who just didn't have it in his legs to push on the hills in any way. I found the descents the worst because I wasn't entirely comfortable on the tri bike at such speeds without knowing the roads.

Overall it took us about 8 hours of riding and 10 hours in total to get around. I reckon we could have done it about an hour and a half quicker if Waggers wasn't so weak on the hills and had actually done some training for it. The funny thing is that he was the one that talked me into doing it :)

I really enjoyed the day in a weird way, the uphills were long and hard, and the weather stayed dry all day long. The marshalls and the volunteers were brilliant and even in the wind at the top of Slieve na Mann were in great spirits. That was the longest I had ever ridden and now that I know I can do it, it's another step on the road to putting that back to back with a 3.9km swim and a marathon.

I have no other races or anything planned for the summer, I might try and get an entry into some longish race at some stage, or else do some long days on my own. But for now it'll be back to football next weekend with a challenge match on Friday evening in preparation for the Championship.