Long Saturday

Did my longest ever ride on Saturday, 142 miles taking 9h23 mins: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/976295

The best bit was being overtaken by my mum (in her Golf), whereupon she pulled over and told me there were to be bacon rolls for lunch, in about 18 miles time... it was worth the wait!

Tried a few things out on this journey:

I drank loads more, which helped keep me going.

I used a few energy gels. I think these help when you're running low, but I do prefer stopping for a bit and downing a few apples. That approach doesn't work on the move as there is a tendency to choke...

I didn't wear a backpack. I used some panniers I bought a few years back. They are a bit bulky but they meant I ended the day with still-usable shoulders. For the real thing, I've bought a Lezyne Trunk Caddy with drop down panniers; it arrive while I was out on Saturday.

I wore a decent rain top. I've got myself a waterproof Gore Alp X III jacket, nice red colour. Like most of these technical fabrics, you do still get sweaty inside it if you're going at it for over 9 hours, but it kept the wind and rain out.

I'll be meeting one of my fellow LEJoG'lers tomorrow after work to compare notes.