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Northumberland Training Weekend

Phew, its a long way to Northumberland, but thoroughly worth it. I spent 12 hours driving 720miles there and back and 11 hours riding 185 miles. Rode with some great guys, all of whom are training for significant events; The Raid Pyreneen, The UK Ironman or a personal ride of the Marmotte route. No slouchers then.

Saturday - 85 mile leg loosener.

Actually we kept up a good pace. Neil (Marmotte guy), John (Pyrenees Raid) and Quentin (Pyrenees Raid) and me (Wally) hit the quiet roads of Northumberland and cranked round 85 miles in a whisker under 5 hours. A fairly hot pace.


Sunday - 103 mile Trip to Scotland.

Ian (Raid Pyreneen), Glen (UK Ironman), John and Quenting again. A very fast and hard ride to the Scottish border and back over some undulating hills. Have to say that undulating hills are so energy sapping - you dig in to get over a rise then have no recovery time before you are doing it again and again and again. Highlight has to be the lone piper playing in the mist at the top of the Carter Bar on the Scottish border. Welcome to Scotland indeed. We even cranked up the 100 miles in just over 5hr 34mins which is a bit of a result given there was such a lot of climbing
- although Ian did a lot of the hard work into the seemingly constant headwind!

My thanks to Quentin and Lorena who gave me a taste of Northumberland hospitality that I will remember for some time to come. Not to mention the endless supply of food! Many, many thanks - hopefully I'll be able to repay you some day.

Got my mojo back. Even a hint of confidence shining through.
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